Shinji Ikeda

The best advice is to get closed ear headphones, or to a lesser extent noise cancellation headphones. From what is understood, there is no volume limiter on any of Sony's current range of Network Walkmans. Sony's would have had to release the NW-S203F with different volume levels in different countries. In other words, Sony would have had to release a volume limited model in Europe and a non limited volume in Japan. This does not seem to be the case.

The transfer speed on the NW-A800 series is fast. There many additional work that SonicStage seems to do when transferring tracks to the NW-A800 series. It has been reported that the direct copying files to the NW-A800 series without utilizing the supplied software is very quick. SonicStage does a lot of work before transferring tracks to the NW-A800 series. It would be better if Sony moved some of these functionality to the NW-A800 series in order to improve transfer times. I am unaware how using the Intelligent features in SonicStage effects the transfer speed. Transcoding however does effect the transfer speed. SonicStage has two transfer speeds. The speed at which the tracks are actually transferred to the NW-A800 series is the first. The second, is the time that it takes a track to be prepared to be transferred to the NW-A800 series. The latter does not transfer tracks, but prepare them to be transferred.

This is one of my main complaints about the NW-A800 series. I wish that these media players had an index search, which would make it possible to go to an exact point in a track. Or even a 5 minute jump would be a welcome feature. I am really surprise that you have tracks over 5 hours . The longest podcast I have is just over 56 minutes. I think you are using the fastest method of doing cuing through a track.

I was able to download and install the lastest podcast from the link that was provided at 40kbps. The sound quality was not the best, but it worked. From what I remember that the NW-E400 series only support MP3 playback with MP3 file manager. MP3 have to be converted to ATRAC for playback on the NW-E400 series. The only advantage to convert the MP3 files to higher bit rate is the ability for playback on the NW-E400 series. However, there are other programs that can be used other than SonicStage such as GYM. The lowest bit rate that SonicStage supports is 40kbps. You will be required to use either ATRACs.

Congrats on your purchase. I believe that in the manual it suggest to change it for 3 hours. The screen on the NW-A800 series will display full on the same batter in the lower right corner on the screen when the battery is full. In other words, give your new NW-A800 a full change before using it. However, you can transfer tracks while it is charging.

We would like to know what version of SonicStage that you have. It is suggested that you use SonicStage 4.2 or 4.3. These version support the audio files that you want to listen. However, you may require to transcode to higher bit rates in ATRAC inorder from them to be supported. With the NW-E400 series they also support drag and drop play back for MP3 files, with MP3 File Manager. The NW-E400 series players will only support limited MP3 formats.

There are things that I like about SonicStage. The learning curve can sometimes be difficult, but I am satisfied with how well it works. SonicStage can be slow, however this depends on the configuration. My complain about SonicStage that it can be a resource hog, thus I ensure that certain applications are not running or can be started while using SonicStage. My experience is different, but it could be that I love working with computers.

I am just curious why you want to rollback to the previous firmware. I am also unaware if there is a hack to do this, but I would strongly advise against rolling back the firmware.

It seems that Sony branded Network Walkmans and MiniDisc Walkmans do support some form of Unicode. What is known for sure is that using Apploc it is possible to title in Chinese, Korean and Japanese with SonicStage. I am unaware if other languages are supports, but it can be suspected that it is possible since Apploc provides the support for Unicode. Unicode is not universally accepted as some may believe. The support of Unicode is sporadic in Japan for various reasons. Unicode is also criticized for failing to allow for older and alternate forms of Kanji, this complicates the processing of ancient Japanese and uncommon Japanese names. For the average user Unicode is good enough. Some of the problem related to supporting multiple languages exist with other systems, however clever developers have designed work arounds. For complete support of a language the computer needs to be configured to in target language. The reason for this is that file structure naming convention is different between languages. On a Japanese Windows directory structures uses the yen symbol, while English versions of Windows uses slash. In other words, to get correct support for Japanese the computer needs to be a full version of Japanese Windows. The user does not lose the full support of English, since Romaji is part of the Japanese character set. The character order in Japanese and English are different. Thus, even if SonicStage had full Unicode support, functionality will still be restricted. Most English users will notice that all non-English tracks will occur after the last English track. Additionally, these tracks are not in correct order. This problem persists when transferring track to the ATRAC Audio. On the Japanese version of SonicStage tracks are order in the correct Kana order and it uses Haragana to index the tracks. Additonally, full support of Japanese on the ATRAC Audio device exist. Finally, the support of Non-English languages on Sony devices are more comprehensive that others media device, including the most popular one. The Japaneses character of island しま　"島" and　"嶋" are supported by Unicode. However there are 7 Kanjis, all correct and technically identical, which seem to be missing. The issue is more complex that the support of Unicode in SonicStage. The problem relates to how to provide correct multi-lingual support, among some other issues.

To clarify just but looking at the "Transfer"-"ATRAC Audio Device" will update/change the modes between Advance and Simple on the NW-A800, NW-S700 and NW-S600 series Network Walkmans. I am not aware if other models have the Intelligent features, but if they do then it would work the same say. It intelligent that Sony has buried the setting the feature, since it is something that should not be changed frequently. It could be suspected that the Intelligent features reduce transfer times. I will have to verify the need to retransfer tracks, but I suspect that this is not need.

I am waiting to see the pricing of this new model, but I will not sell my old PSP. The thinner and lighter are the key selling points for me on this player, since the PSP does seem bulky at times. However, the more that is reported about this unit the more appealing it is.

Now that is a better deal. However, it seems to be only available in pink.

Information on this players is scant, which leads to the conclusion that this will be only release in China or other markets that Sony want to get a foothold in. I would agree that this model will not be available in Japan nor Canada. Also, there is absolutely no way that it will be sold in the USA.

Cool Rock, I might be wrong, but Metal is talking about a different feature. An album of 14 tracks have been loaded onto the NW-E010 or NW-A800 series Network Walkmans. Play back is started at track 3. Then track 4 and the other tracks in sequential order. Once track 14 is finished playing, track 1 is played. Finally, playback stops at track 2. That is (ii) that Metal is trying to describe. The playback mode that I described for the NW-A800 series, in shuffle mode works kind of like (ii) when placed in group mode. If 14 tracks exist in a group, then all 14 tracks are played once (if repeat has not been set). I have not tested this on my NW-S706, but suspect that playback shuffle playback works the same. Also, for the NW-E000 series and NW-E010 series. But again, I might be wrong.

It is funny reading many of the predictions about how Sony would redesign the PSP. - 33% Lighter - 19% Thinner - Improved battery life - TV out Also: The impatient among us will be glad to note that the PSP Slim & Lite can temporarily store game data from UMDs, reducing load time during game play. These are nice improve. Sony will not drop the UMD drive. The UMD drive is a definite flop for watching movies, but the addition of TV out should resolve this issue. UMD drive are required to load games. As a person who daily uses the internet, having sporadic performance is the major reason that I will never download games. This is a good move Sony.

Is this not a scam? This ia really hard question. I would say no. This product is not sold in the USA, thus it is defined as gray market. In other words, Sony America will not provide any support for it. Based on the warranty period, I would suspect that it is end of inventory items and an Over seas model. For the warranty period you will have to send it back to the Seller for any problems. If you really want the NW-S706 and do not care about the warranty, get it. It is unlikely that you will have problems with it within the first year. Find out what the seller offers for the extended warranty, before your purchase. Ask questions, ask many questions.

Sorry I was not very clear in my original response. You need to get Sony branded silicon ear buds. Radio Shack probably will not stock these items. Your best bet would be ebay. The ear buds that are supplied with the MDR-EX90 are designed to create a seal around you ears. DIY would not work with these ear phone. In Japan most electronics shops have them. Your local Sony Store may sell them, or electronics store. If not they can be bought on EBay.

If you are unable to find these at your local electronic shop, then I would suggest purchasing them from eBay. Anyways, where are you located? Someone may be able to let you know if your local store has one. Any replacement ear buds for Sony will work.

The problems listed above are related to 'Simple Mode' and 'Advanced Mode'. The features described as missing are those activated when 'Advanced Mode' is set in Sonic Stage. Having installed firmware 1.02, I like juli have not encountered this problem. Please ensure that 'Advanced Mode' is set in Sonic Stage, and select transfer to 'ATRAC Audio Device'. The next time you reconnect to Sonic Stage the libraries on your NW-A800 series Network Walkman will be work.

On the NW-A800 series on standard group play back, when playing an album starting at track 3 play back will stop after the last track has finished. In shuffle mode the all tracks will be played back. However, if play is stopped, all tracks will be played back starting with the current track. In other words: the NW-A800 series will play back all tracks in random mode with the current track being tagged as the first track. The NW-A800 works as (i).

repeat

repeat

It is hard to compare hard drive to flash memory. Technically both storage mediums are different in many aspects. Currently flash memory is more expensive than hard drives. Depending on the amount for flash memory, it is significantly more expensive. Yes, it is disappointing that the price between the two formats are not equivalent. The current situation is the state of the market, and not specific to one manufacture. With the NW-A800 series the price also includes a large colour screen. The video play back is a nice feature and is better than other players, but just a feature. A longer player would do better job for video play back. Additionally, it could be strongly argued that most owner of the NW-A800 series use their players primarily for music play back. The premium issue does not exist, unless it can be considered that all flash based media are selling at a premium. If one can not justify spending the extra money for a flash based play, so be it. That is their choice. To expect the cost of flash based players to cost the same as hard drive based players is not logical.

That is an interesting situation. The library function is set within SonicStage. By default the player is set to "Simple Mode". This does not deal with the USB mode, but with some additional feature that you get in "Advance Mode". It can be suspected that the transfer rates would be slower in "Advanced Mode".

Your problem does not make sense. It is hard to determine why these folders are not visible in SonicStage. The software can search any folder even the ones that are hidden or protected. Are there My Music folders in the various backup folders that you have. Option and privileges are the same thing. Are there any settings/options that are set that denies access to a folder for a user?