Sony NW-HD3 20GB Network Walkman / MP3 Digitial Audio Player - Silver

The only issue with the NW-HD3 is that it has a volume limiter to stop kids from blowing their ear drums. This, however, is easily fixed:

This simple hack, via the service menu of the NW-HD3, will disable the built-in output restriction thereby raising the max volume by a good amount.

1) To enter the service menu, first make sure the player is on (i e plays a track).

2) Stop playback.

3) Set the player to HOLD before the player switches off.

4) While holding down the MODE button, enter the following key combination on the navigation wheel:

RIGHT RIGHT LEFT LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT UP DOWN

5) Now as you disable HOLD, the display goes dark and says "POWER". You are now inside the service menu.

6) Click UP so that the display says "OTHER".

7) Click RIGHT so the display says "G TEST".

8) Click UP as many times as needed until the display says "SP SET".

9) Click on the PLAY button. If the display says "OFF", than you might just as well leave the service menu (go to step 11). However if the display says "ON", it means that it the player is set to restricted output.

10) Click on the MODE button so that the display shows OFF.

11) Press the PLAY button to store the new setting. Now the display should say SP SET.

12) Hold down the MENU button until the unit performs a normal startup.

13) You must now enable the backlight again by using the normal Menu function.

Watch those ears and don't tell the kids!

As for the player itself, I can't really fault it... except for one minor irritation that if you are skipping through the menus, you can't get back to the information about the track you are listening too without skipping on and back or waiting for it to do it itself.

The lack of a remote is a drawback, but the famous online auction site has the correct one (Sony RM-MC40ELK) that will come from Japan for £30. While this makes the whole bundle up to £250 - bear in mind that this is the price you pay for it in the shops! - the fact that the player is so good, more than makes up for it.

THe sound quality is excellent, without the Bass problems you get on the Ipod. While there is an automatic volume limiter on European versions, this is easily removed via the service menu (accessed by using a certain combination of buttons). Do not pay for this on the auction website, like many are, but do a search on the internet to find it for free.

In short, after removing the volume limit, having the remote shipped from Japan, and now adding cds straight to sonic stage, I am a very happy man indeed. I have had the thing for a week and have listened to it on the way to work every day, and I still haven't had to recharge it yet!!

Buy one, straight away....

The good news:

ITS SMALL: The NW-HD3 is remarkably small, offering iPod capacity within an iPodmini sized machine
ITS STYLISH: It looks great, leaving the Rio, Zen, etc.. looking cheap and tacky in comparison
IT HAS A GREAT BATTERY: Four times the stated Ipodmini time, in reality about 6 times after a few weeks use.

The bad news:

ABYSMAL SOFTWARE: SonicStage is by far the worst music software I've ever come across. Its as if Sony had never bothered to understand why users use Realplayer or become itunes addicts....

NO PLAYLISTS: If you want to create playlists you basically have to make new compilation albums... so you end up having multiple physical copies of the same song on your player. Which, if you're not pressed for space should be ok you'd think.. but because the player has these multiple copies and registers from which albums these originally came from, you end up seeing duplicate, triplicate references to albums in the artist browse function. Extremely annoying!

NOT REALLY MP3 NATIVE: Yes, the device does now play MP3s without converting to ATRAC... but:
*SonicStage cannot rip files into mp3 format: I had to do this through RealPlayer then "import" these into SonicStage. Not difficult but more complicated than it needs to be.
*It places a wrapper around the files so that you can't put on, or remove files from, the player through anything but sonicstage. The only improvement from before is therefore a reduction in transfer time.
* It wont convert WMA files you've bought from tescos, mycokemusic etc... as these are digital rights protected. I had to download a shareware conversion programme to make these MP3s.

POOR CASE: Essentially, Sony's supllied case is an ill fitting furry pouch that I defy any user to use more than once- you can't get the player in and out and once in you cant see any of the display or controls. I've ordered the accessory version but even that looks poor- and essentially hides the beauty of the machine in a rough black cover.

NO REMOTE: If you want an in-line remote you'll have to fork out vast amounts of cash to rogue Sony Shops or online sites as these aren't being marketed in the UK. My old Minidisc remote has limited functionality with the player- volume, track skip etc- but its hardly what you'd expect.

NO BASE STATION: Seen the nifty looking docking station for the HD1? Well, Sony seem to have abandoned that. What you get now is a flimsy, ugly USB clip that seems at odds with the obvious build quality of the actual player... and looks awful next to your PC. You need this to charge the player also.. so expect a rush of replacement requests to sony shops soon as these snap or jam.

After much deliberation, I've decided to keep mine, mostly out of a hatred of all things apple... am hoping upgrades to SonicStage may remove some of the drawbacks but am not particularly confident. Think before you buy!