pata2001

What does this have to do with Apple? Are you suggesting that Atraclife to start reporting Apple news now? Is this news is so insignificant that other tech blogs like engadget, gizmodo, dapreview, etc already reported it? What's the point of Atraclife then?

Well, even dapreview and gizmodo covered this. Hello Atraclife?

Presumably that you can actually buy the player, that is. What's the point of a perfect player if people cannot even buy it?

Sonicstage is still supported. This series ships with Sonicstage CP, Media Manager for Walkman, and "Walkman launcher" (whatever that is). Hey, Engadget beats Atraclife (again).

Is that a trick question?

http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/walkman/lineup.cfm?Series=A Thanks to Kakashi from t-board for finding the link from Sonystyle.jp. Flash based, up to 16GB. Supports MP3, WMA, AAC, HE-AAC, Atrac, AAL. Looks like the 1st NW that ships with Media Manager for Walkman software. Pluses: -Noise cancelling -built-in stand -seems like it comes with a digital TV tuner? (an antenna pop-up) Minuses: -Only support 320x240 video. C'mon, when was the last time you find 320x240 video? Even podcasts are going at least 640x480. Wanna bet this is going to be Japan only? FU Sony! PS: C'mon Atraclife mods, can we at least pretend to be excited by putting this in the front page? Oh wait, forgot to put the keywords: iPod, sound quality. There you go.

Since when Sony did that with its Network Walkmen? The only significant firmware update they did was for the Vaio Pocket, adding MP3 and gapless playback. Other than that, firmware updates are extremely few and far in between, and those are only for bug fixes, not to "freshen" the player.

What OS are you using? If Vista, make sure you use SS4.3. If XP, make sure you have SP2 fully updated. If you have all your music on your computer, than I would just re-initialize the player and start fresh with the Asia Pacific version. Well, you said it yourself. iPods are not necessarily better quality, but definitely easier to use so I spent more of my time listening to my music than dealing with the software.

The E00x player can play MP3s, so as long as you set Sonicstage to "transfer as is," you're fine. As for sound quality, the E00x headphone out is quite noisy, not something I consider for an "addict of good sound."

Well, that's what you get for buying a Sony DAP. Welcome to the world of Sony. 1st thing I would do is to use Asia Pacific version of Sonicstage. At least with that version, it should not ask you to re-initialize the player everytime you update the software. Wow, 50+ views and no respond? pettsay, you need to add keywords like iPod and sound quality, and I bet you'll get more responds.

Why would one read a wall street journal for a review of an electronic device? Who is the target reader of wall street journal? Besides, I haven't seen any other ABX test between iPods and any other DAPs, other than what bangraman did.

The only way to know is to do ABX listening test yourself. Some people will find 64kbp transparent, some will find 132kbps transparent. Most people find 128kbps AAC to be transparent. Do your own ABX instead of reading other people's highly subjective opinions.

Regardless of the resolution or pixel-per-inch, IMO watching movies on a 2" screen is still stupid. It's great for video podcasts though. I would simply look at the specs of the videos you want to watch, and buy the device that matches that to reduce any transcoding.

There's always the Asia-Pacific version of current SS, so no worries for those that don't have any tracks purchased from Connect. We'll see what happen in the future.

Sony doesn't allow 192kbps for AtracCD. The only bitrates supported for AtracCD are Atrac3 bitrates (132kbps, 105kbps, 66kbps), and Atrac3+ (256kbps, 64kbps, and 48kbps). Anything other than those will be transcoded. Period. I'm amazed that people are happy to give wrong information here.

That is assuming Sony will release any updates to Sonicstage internationally, or better start learning Japanese.

Oh yes I do (forced option by the dealer on the model that I want), and the sound is nowhere near what I expected for a premium sound. I've experienced much better car sound system than Bose. You can't talk stuff you haven't experienced. I'm sure you're proud of your overpriced Monster cables too huh. :D

OK, whatever you say. I'm sure you're very credible.

PS3 vs iPhone? Huh? How about PS3 vs Wii. By your example, that means Nintendo is also bad since everybody lining up for the Wii, even though it's just an overclocked Gamecube (and at $250, Nintendo is making a profit, unlike Sony/Microsoft on their respective consoles). OK, let's try this again since you fail to provide any other example except for 2 unrelated products. Bose: Do I even need an example for this... Monster cable: People buying $$$ cables while same/better quality cables can be bought online for a fraction of the price Nike: Hundreds of dollars for shoes having Jordan's name slapped on it, and kids are lining up for it Toyota Prius/Highlander hybrid: People are getting into year long waiting list just so that they can get the status quo of driving a hybrid, and dealers are selling these cars at much higher prices than MSRP.

The same thing can be said for Sony, Bose, Monster cable, Nike, etc. It's not the company's fault that they did a successful marketing campaign to the point that they reached brand name recognition.

Which reviews did you read? Cnet? Who trust Cnet reviews anyway... This is from the guy that did the iMod at headfi: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=259258 I doubt any professional reviewers out there did what Vinnie did.

LOL Now they put it in the front page, that is after PSP news.

Looks like it's just a line-in WM-port adapter, connected to the EH50's headphone out. That does mean the S71x can record.

Well, when Sony released S61x and A81x in the US, it looks like things are going for the better, yet here we go again, Japan gets the better stuff. S71x is S61x with noise cancelling + noise cancelling earbud. Even better, the S71x supports HE-AAC! http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/walkman/product...amp;KM=NW-S718F Yup, US got jibbed again and again, and people wonder why Sony is loosing marketshare. Edit: IMO this is not funny anymore. I got tired of Sony during the PCDPs and MD era, where Sony always release the good stuff in Japan (more color variations, more units, player only units, kanji remote, etc), but neutered everything in the US (1 color unit, no kanji remote, no LCD remote, etc). And now this? Japan got Noise cancelling and HE-AAC, US got play-for-sure? To give Apple credit, they release the same iPods anywhere, even Japan is going to get the iPod Touch. I guess Sony USA is just, well, dumb. By the way, shouldn't this make into the frontpage? Even engadget caught the price drop on A81x and S61x in the US. Will Atraclife ever be updated outside PSP news?

Yeah, AAC is so "propietary" that it was co-developed by Sony themselves, and used by Sony, SE, Nokia, Zune, etc. Good job on the facts.