lamewing

sold

This is the third time I listed this player on ebay. If it doesn't sell this time I will donate it to good will for a tax credit.

Rerip an entire collection? Riiiiiight. I have over 800CDs. There is no way I would rerip all of my music just to get them on a particular player...I would rather just get an iPod....oh, wait, that is exactly what I "settled" for.

You can always do what I did....sell it all off. I got tired of the NWZ series nonsense. Why do I need to use multiple programs to just load songs and video onto my player? Use WMP = no AAC. Drag/drop = no cover art. etc etc. There are many other players out there.

I simply gave up on Sony because I wanted simplicity in many areas of my life. Example: New Sony Walkmans with drag-drop and Windows Media Player support. Sounds great but there are problems. 1. If you use WMP you cannot transfer AAC files. 2. AAC files can only be tranferred by drag/drop and then they loose cd art. 3. Videos must be converted with third party software as the Sony software costs an additional $13.00...and doea a worse job than the free software. The lack of a single piece of software to manage my music and support all my file types was too much for my lazy brain. I love Sony hardware and I have regretted how nice it made my office look (compared to an ugly white brick), but ease of use is more important at this point in my life. Plus, my hearing is so poor that I cannot tell the difference in an mp3, aac and atrac file of the same bitrate.

I am selling the last ATRAC item I own. It is a Sony NW-S703F player, along with the recording cable and charging stand. All have been owned about 1.5 months and have seen less than 2 hours of use. I simply don't need thhis stuff anymore. I have placed it on ebay at about 50% of the original cost. I am asking $85.00 with full shipping using buy it now and paypal. Ebay Item number: 140230714637 If you have any questions feel free to PM me or email me via ebay, which is preferrable as I don't visit this site much anymore. Why? I have moved on. My iPod Video 5.5 works perfectly and sound more than "good enough" for when I am out and about. I hope some ATRAC fan will give a good home to this player. Joe Edwards

If it were an updated HD5 with video capability, high capacity HDD, and no reliance on SSCP, sure, but that will never happen.

From Sonyconnect.com: "Now that the music store is closed, you will not be able to purchase or download music, but you will be able to continue to use several features to maintain your library through the end of 2008." Check out their website for more information.

I played with a A720 from Best Buy for a few days and I was able to change the menu to Japanese.

I will be Tokyo from May 23 to June 2. Joe

I made a comment earlier about the A728 having a plastic back and the A818 having a metal back. I think I was wrong regarding the A818. Maybe the plastic is thinner on the A728, but perhaps it is just a matter of the A728 having a wider area, who knows. I returned the A728 but after using it to watch videos of a distance learning class I must say that the larger 2.4 inch screen trumps the 2.0 inch screen. The Zune's screen is great, but it is a weird trade-off. There seems to be slight vertical interlacing on the screen, but at the same time the COLORS looks so good that it is like looking at a plasma TV screen. The iTouch didn't do it for me as I really like having physical volume controls. The Zune works well in this area, but the Sony is the best with true dedicated volume controls. I think I will hold off and wait for a 32GB model in the next iteration. If I was more confidant that we (in the West) will still be able to use SS a year or more down the line I would pick up a ATRAC-based model in Japan this May, but I fear Sony will close the servers and then we're out of luck.

The Sony players (unsure about the A900 series) can display the menuing system in multiple languages. My A818 is in Japanese right now.

Pics on ebay. 24 hours left. Price dropped to 125 dollars.

Price dropped again on ebay. ONly three days left.

That sort of is the point. The plastic on the backside of the player doesn't provide the feeling of "well built" say compared to heavy plastics used in other products. it is very lightweight (too much so) and sound very hollow and weak when held.

You may be right. I thought about this for a while and if someone uses a hard cover for the player (like the one for the A800 model) then the point is pretty moot as to what the A820 is made of. I don't think there are any plastic cases available yet...maybe in Japan.

That advice worked like a charm. No more MTP for my Sony's.

Let the player get cold and compare the temp of the body versus the A820 and you will feel the difference. The A800 is metal.

You are right, the A800 does feel more substantial with the case installed. I guess you might be able to use the cradle without an adapter and keep the case in place, but the A800 would wiggle and might put undue stress on the WM Port. I had this happen with a 5th gen iPod while using a iPod Photo dock. The PC board ended up damaged and I could no longer transfer files via the iPod connector.

I second the comment about the PLASTIC backed player. I returned mine within 15 mins of opening it. Heck, I came home, opened it, thought "damn", and then returned it to Best Buy. I really wanted the extra memory, but not at the expense of downgrading the exterior from the metal A818 or A808. There is ONE THING that would have convinced me to keep the A728; recording capabilities like my S703F has. Sure I had to buy the cable ( and NO Sony doesn't sell it int the U.S. - idiots) in Japan but I can do simple recordings in PCM just like my old minidiscs could (maybe not as well, but it works for me). If Sony keeps this up I may just have to jump ship someday.

Price Drop: $150.00 SHIPPED.

Nope. The front isn't too noticeable as the control area is aluminum and the screen takes up the rest of the front, but the back and sides are clearly a cheap plastic. Sony needs to figure out that 1)Metal bodies are better and 2)keep a body style more than a year. They need to see that stability this has given Apple and apply it to themselves.

Hey, would you be kind enough to answer a question for me? What is the current price for the A808 models in Japan in yen? I am curious how much of a mark up is involved with the ebay sellers and whether it is worth the wait or not. Thanks. Joe edit.... I just looked on amazon.jp and the new A808 run 25,000 yen. With the current terrible exchange rate, that is the same as what the sellers on ebay are adking or even a little bit more. No need to wait because I don't think our economy will magically improve in the next two months. Joe

I had a chance to get the clear plastic case in Japan last year, but didn't. I waited and waited for it to be released in the States, but finally I just imported it. Cost me an extra $15.00 and I can tell you it was still worth the money. Sold, easy to use, doesn't affect the controls or viewing of the screen. The only time it could be a problem is if you use the cradle and then you would just have to open it up. If you use the cradle a great deal, consider the Sony leather slip case with the O-ring. Most of this stuff is sold on the U.S. Sony website now. Joe

Not going to happen. Japanese company = Japanese mentality. I love Japan and my Japanese friends are great, but they are so very fickle. The flit from fad to fad constantly. Look what Sony has produced in the last few years...HD1, HD2, HD3 (changed), HD5 (changed), A1000/A1200/A3000 (changed), A800/A810 (changed), A728/A828 (changed)...kinda following a pattern. I upgraded from the A816 pink to an A818 silver (neither color shows fingerprints like the black does). I think I will import the A808 model soon. Could someone save me a bit of money and tell me how hard it would be to find one of the A808 models in Tokyo this coming May? Thanks. I really wanted the extra 8GB of memory, but oh well. OH. Does anyone know if there is a way to turn off the MTP transfer on the A818 and just do true USB like on a Mac or Linux machine? Or does Windows always default to MTP??? Joe