Sony NWA3000B 20 GB HDD Walkman - Black

 

 

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After 3 defective Ipods eroded my faith in that device completely (yes Nano's really do scratch without provocation!) I plumped for the 20GB Walkman. Overall I'm very happy:

Pros are:
- Sound quality is excellent (although recommend replaceing the in-box phones with some decent Sony or other earbuds). To me the sound feels richer than the ipod (and the player lets you tweak equalizer settings)
- Has a feeling of real quality and certainly doesn't scratch as soon as you look at it
- Generally easy to use (not quite as quick as the Ipod click wheel but pretty good)
- Looks really good
- High memory capacity
- Long battery life
- Software is easy to operate (it mimic Itunes in reality)

Cons
- Although I haven't found the software too bad (on a decent computer) it does seem less robust than Itunes and slower
- Some of the shuffle features seem a little gimmicky and pointless
- Some might find it too big/heavy for jean pockets

On the whole, if you like your music and you're after a player with looks, capacity, quality and the reliability which the Ipod seems to lack, this is a great option.

I read the other reviews on Amazon (admittedly after I actually bought the item) and so was a bit worried about the problems mentions (namely the software).

The player arrived promptly from Amazon and Sony seems to have gone all out on the packaging on this product which far outshines its other audio offerings. The player itself is very pretty to look at, has a phenominal battery life and is easy to use. However this is where it misses the mark. There are a few tiny niggles which really let it down.

The first and formost of these is the hold button. On other Sony audio products Ive used, it is a slide switch which means you can toggle in on hold when you're not using it and it won't start playing if any of the buttons are pressed while in your pocket. However, for some reason Sony have gone with a button on this model. The trouble is that the button only works while the unit is on (ie playing or paused). You can't put it on hold when its off. This is very frustrating and I often find it playing in my pocket when Im not using it. The only way I can see round this is to get a hard cover case (I bought the Sony soft cover one and its no use for this problem).

The other problem is one of volume. Now either Im going very deaf or this has a fairly low top volume. Admittedly I don't use the provided headphones, choosing to use the superior Sony MDR-EX71SLW earphones, but I find that even at top volume it can be a bit quiet. This is without the Auto Volume Limiter so not sure if this is the reason behind the good battery life.

The "20 GB" drive is plenty of room for all your songs, although Sony have chosen to use 1,000 MBs to the GB instead of the true 1,024MB. This means the drive is actually only 18.1GB (for some reason - Think it must use an amount of space for swapfile or something). The manual is very amusing as Sony tries to convince you that this is a good thing !!?! Personally I think its a little bit like a lie :)

Finally the screen is.. simplistic. Having been wowed by friends Ipods but wanting something different I was hoping that Sony would have produced a screen that was smooth and easy to look at. However the resolution of the screen is fairly blocky and has a low refresh rate so looks a bit cheap, which is a great shame given the overall looks of the item.

These are niggles and gripes mostly. Generally I've been very happy with the item. The Connect software has been fine and dandy. As long as you install the software (AND let it update from the internet which can take 10 - 15 mins) BEFORE you plug in the player, you should be fine. I've had none of the problems mentioned in other reviews so I can only assume either Sony has fixed the issues or there was an installation problem.

Overall I would say its worth the money as an alternative to Ipod, but the control system is not as easy going as Apples offering nor as good on the screen, but beats it hands down for battery life. If I had the chance to buy again I have to say I would probably go with something else tho, only because at that price I would have prefered something without those niggles.

The player itself is fantastic - it looks very stylish and sound quality is great with a decent peice of headphones. The battery life is also very good. The one thing that put me off buying this was all the bad reviews of the software. If you are unsure I suggest you download sonic stage off the sony connect website and see if you like it. Personally i found the software perfectly useable - a good buy.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Superb machine, poor software
I have had this player for some time now, bought on the back of the good name of Sony. I am nowhere near filling its huge 20gig memory which is a plus. Read more

Published on 28 Aug 2007 by D. Girtchen

5.0 out of 5 stars Great device
Well, the gods of computing have smiled upon me. Had mine for several months now, and had absolutely no problems at all, and yes, I'm using Connect. Read more

Published on 2 Dec 2006 by Hawkstone

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice player, so long as you have patience
This is a nice piece of hardware, let down by the software. The supplied CONNECT Player is appalling but (once updated over the internet) does successfully perform the very basic... Read more

Published on 13 Aug 2006 by Gareth Moore

2.0 out of 5 stars What a disapointment!
I bought one of these even though there was a mix of good and bad reviews about it. The first one i got didn't work at all and the software crashed my computed completely... Read more

Published on 12 Aug 2006 by A. Welsh

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant !!!!
This item is a top class piece of kit, in fact it is so good I recommended it to my 24 year old nephew who is equally impressed with his. Read more

Published on 9 Aug 2006 by Blackevo

5.0 out of 5 stars NWA3000B
Bought this as a Christmas present to myself. Initially, I had trouble with the software but this was soon resolved. I paid £136 through Amazon which is fantastic value. Read more

Published on 6 Aug 2006 by RICKY GUILMOTO

4.0 out of 5 stars Many, many pros, but also some cons...
OK I've calmed down a bit now (see second pararagraph) so I'll go through this pros first. This is a great machine, with a huge memory capable of easily holding my entire music... Read more

Published on 21 July 2006 by R. M. Goddard

1.0 out of 5 stars not usable due to SonicStage
Hardware awesome, software a flop. Since you HAVE to use their software the package is destroyed. I will give you the final nail on the coffin for me. Read more

Published on 11 July 2006 by BuyerLSD

1.0 out of 5 stars Nowhere near as good as iPods
My iPod was dropped and broke, so I made the decision to try something new and bought the NWA3000B.
I can only make a direct conparison with a 60Gb Colour iPod, so here... Read more

Published on 22 Jun 2006 by L. H. Lavis

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding player, but learn how to edit mp3 ID3 tags...
I've been using one of these for about 3 months now and I'm 99% happy with everything about it. I'll cover some of the good points first and then explain what all the fuss is... Read more

Published on 11 Jun 2006 by Mr. J. Dodd

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