Sony Network Walkman NW-HD3 20 GB > Reviews (24)

This MP3 player is so good, I'm selling my iPod on eBay because it has rendered the iPod obsolete in my eyes.

This is a 20 Gb model - identical to my iPod - so I can make a fair and direct comparison.

THE DESIGN:

My inital reaction was 'Wow - this looks cool'. And it does. It's also smaller than the iPod, and it's also lighter. It's very well designed and fits into your pocket a lot easier than the iPod. The navigation facilities are good, and using play, fastforward and rewind is very simple. There's not too many buttons, and the only criticism I have-is that Sony don't have a click wheel, which makes searching for albums a little bit time consuming - especially if like me - you have many songs on your MP3 player. Nevertheless - that for me - is a minor criticism - becuase there are so many positives from this MP3 player.

Another thing to note - is that Sony has developed a sensor, which means if you drop it from a height of 1 meter onto concrete - (which can happen when you're walking on the street etc..) - then nothing is damaged. I nervously tested this three times - and nothing happened - so I'm convinced. Having said that - dropping your MP3 player onto the ground is not something I'd recommend!!!
BATTERY LIFE:

iPod - 12 hours - at best. Sony NW-HD3 - 30 hours. OK - it's not quite 30 hours. I tested it - I played music non-stop at full volume with EQ settings - and just left it playing, and it went for 28 hours. That's SERIOUSLY impressive, and is by far the most impressive thing about this MP3 player.

SOUND QUALITY

It's excellent. I compared the sound using the same pair of headphones with an iPod and the Sony unit. The Sony unit came out on top. The stereo image is wider, thus giving a fuller sound, and the frequency range is higher. I then proceeded to convert my files into ATRAC 256k format (a style of digital audio) - and was very impressed with the sound quality again.

SOFTWARE:

The Network Walkman comes with software called SonicStage. I find this very easy to use, and a little bit more intuitive than iTunes. The Connect Music Store has a huge range of music, but it's expensive (99p a track). I think that prices will eventually crash in the UK, and a lot of people will start using Sony's store - mainly because they acquired BMG, and have a lot of big big names on their books - and they'll be able to use the Internet to sell.

ACCESSORIES:

A very short instruction manual, with another more detailed one included on the software CD. It's testament to the good design, and the ease of use, that this unit has such a short quickstart manual. If you want to go into detail, you can use the CD manual - but you probably won't need to.

There is no iPod dock style thing for the Walkman. You can charge it directly from your computer, and with the same connection, you can also transfer songs. Very clever considering it's just a USB cable. (iPods do this as well - but you have to have the dock connected - a bit of a hassle). Charging time with out an AC adapter is 5 hours.

With the AC adapter plugged in it takes between 1-2 hours. Again - excellent.

The earphones that come with the Sony Walkman are excellent (Better than Apple's iPod earphones) - they have a good frequency range and an excellent stereo image.

Other accessories include a small carrying case, and a number of different adaptors, and obviously the warranty.

The final thing to commend is the number of languages that the Sony Walkman can be used in - which is many (including symbol languages such as Japanese, Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin).

This for me is the best 20 Gigabyte MP3 player on the market. The price is high, but it's well worth it. I bought it in Japan so I got it for about 120 quid cheaper!! Nevertheless, I would still buy it over here, and I'm glad I'm selling my iPod. Yes - the iPod is cool - but it's not the best MP3 player on the market. This or iRiver's MP3 player is. This is an excellent product, and if you're tihnkig of getting an MP3 player - get this one.