lamewing

Okay, maybe I am missing something. If the programmers couldn't get the features to work in Connect...how do they plan on getting them to work in Sonic Stage, especially since Connect was written (supposedly) from the ground up to handle the new Sony Walkmans? You would think that if they can get SS to work, then they could do the same with Connect. It looks like Sony is about to fall another iteration behind the pack leader with this nonsense.

Browsing the songs via a folder method is simple and has never caused me a single problem. My X5L is a sweetheart. Sounds great, WIDE format support, SOLID construction, about 30 hours of battery life...a nice machine indeed. OH...bye the way. GET A REPLACMENT PLAN on particular Zen model as there has been many reports of the headphone jack becoming damaged. No matter what, don't leave your phones (earbuds) plugged in and then wrap the cord aroudn the unit. It puts stress on the headphone jack and in this particular case is BAD MOJO. Just a friendly bit of advice. Joe

And admist it all, the infamous iPod, will continue to dominate while the competetors fight amongst themselves. Heck, that is one of Apple's strenghts; they aren't fighting with themselves!

But, unless you really want a NetMD unit, you are lucky to have found one. They are around, but the etailers want more than all but the most expensive HiMD units.

Um, maybe I read this wrong, but this is a Sharp MZ-DR77 - an update to the lovely Sharp MZ-DR7. This unit is not NetMD capable. It is a MDLP unit, and a nice one at that. All the stand will do is allow charging of the battery. There is no way to use this unit with Sonic stage.

BlueRaja Several =/ a few Actually I found locally two Sharp DR7s..so that is the few I meant. I bought them both because they were in good condition and DR7s are hard to come by. Why these instead of just jumping into HiMD again? I just don't like the construction quality of some of the HiMD recorders compared to the older units. Plus some of the HiMDs are just ugly...NH1, NH3, and EH1 excluded.

Well, three months ago I would have laughed at the silliness of this thread, yet the last couple of weeks have changed my mind 100 percent. After using a mp3 player and a PMP (which I really like, but seldom really used) for the last few months I have found my way back to minidisc as well (I really cannot believe it either). It seems there is no escape!!! To be truthful, I need a recorder for my classes and an occasional music player. Why buy a dedicated player when it is used so infrequently? That question has prompted me to buy a few older model units and possibly a HiMD unit or two in the future. I may even go old school and just use my CD/MD deck to make discs. Who knows.

ALL PSP's are region free when it comes to games. The only region encoding is for the UMD movies.

Hey thanks for giving the Cowon unit a thumbs up!!! I have used an X5L and have been very impressed with it. The sound quality and construction are top notch. Yes, the UI is a bit of an annoyance, but it has SO MANY features compared to either Sony or Apple....and it uses a simple "stick" control; no touch pad. I would have to agree that the HD5 needs to be looked at in a critical manner when you consider that Sony tried to save a few bucks only to make a control device that breaks under normal use. I would have expected better from Sony.

This is the same elitest nonsense I hear from the Apple fanatics. It is rather humorous to see that the Apple folks aren't the only ones who think this way. I really don't think Sony is the end-all-be-all of the electronics world. LOOK around at all of the screw-ups and failures that has taken Sony from leading the pack. If Sony was so great, then why can't they compete with iPod "garbadges". Sorry dude, but no matter how nice the hardware is, if the software and human support system isn't there, then it is just a pretty door-stop. I think the A-series could have been a nice product, but it seems to still be in the beta stage. Wouldn't it have made better sense to have evolved the HD5 (with a nice removeable battery) versus dumping it and starting over ..... again. I think the HD5 had so much potential, if only they had fixed the problems; instead Sony just dumped it and tried to wow everyone with the "new" walkman...yet it has crappy software and the folks at Sony cannot even answer our questions about the product.

That is what was said two years ago.!!!

Valder, Love the Bubblegum Crisis CD cover icon. I have collected every BBCrisis and BBCrash CD that I think has been made. Wonderful music (and even a live action show). Do you have many of the BBC CDs? joe

100% disagree. I am from the time of the LP and LOVE/NEED/WANT album art. Even if the album art is on a small LCD, it is there! The Pocket Vaio had/has the ability to allow browsing of albums by album art. This was a WONDERFUL idea!!!! I agree that the music is the most important aspect of a DAP, but to turn away from such an option, then Sony isn't thinking. The Pocket Vaio had great battery life, so that isn't really a problem with a color LCD. Heck, Sony was unwise to have killed the Pocket Vaio versus adding to the Walkman line. First, Sony has put a color screen on both the Pocket Vaio and the DH10P HiMD units (both of which are high-end units) so obviously Sony felt that top end equipment should have such screens, and that the lower end stuff shouldn't. It is too bad they chose to use the OLED since it is unreadable outside or under strong lighting conditions. Also, the better MD units had nice remotes!!! Where is the (optional) LED remote for the A-series HDD DAPs? If Sony was so bright, why didn't they just provide support for the current high end remotes? Also, I have an iPod...a 2nd generation mini, which I got after trading in the larger 60GB unit. Would I liked to have had the color LCD? Heck yes, but the price was too good to turn down. I really wish Apple has chosen to keep the mini design with the nano flash memory and color LCD. I don't think this DAP is at all a bad machine. For all your comments, you never really stated what the problem with the iPod is. In the end, I don't think the iPod or the new A-series (or older Sony DAPs) are better or worse than one another. I think each unit has a benefit for the owner..whoever they may be. I did trade the 60GB iPod in since I don't need that much space and I am willing to consider the A1000 when it comes to the States...as long as I can return it if it isn't what I need. I still think that it should have a color LCD, but hey, what do I know. Joe

This is poor thinking on Sony's part. Do like Apple does and provide the same hardware for all zones, just choose your language for the menus. ALSO, add 100% support for unicode like iTunes/iPod so that anyone, anywhere will be able to use it with any music. To purposely cripple a product for a region, when the MAJOR competition doesn't is a foolish idea. THIS was the ONE reason I gave up on Sony - I was tired of the nonsense of making an assumption that one region won't use an option. Most of my music is japanese, korean and chinese. I want such support and when it actually take more work to REMOVE/CHANGE the options for each region something just isn't right. If the new players handle those languages 100% and CONNECT (I belive it does) does the same, I will look at the new Sony equipment. It is too bad Sony dropped the nice color LCD from the Pocket Vaio for the Organic LCD....worhtless in the daytime. I couldn't even read the E507 in bright light...outside it was totally worthless. While this might be fine for 1GB of music (a la the Shuffle idea) it is BAD MOJO for 6 or 30GB of music.

Stuge may be right. Sony may be holding off from releasing the A-series until they fix the software. I guess they realize if they put it out here, their new products will fail miserably based purely on the software, as iTunes and the iPod pretty much reign supreme here. If Sony would at fix the software to be as stable and usable as the current version of iTunes then, while they may not beat Apple (not going to happen in the near future), they could at least start rebuilding their customer base and bringing the Walkman name back into the light. Anyway... I wrote Sony and they wouldn't comment on whether and when the U.S. will get the new players. I guess it will one or the other for the U.S.: 1. Sony, sometime in the future, will provide their new players to the U.S. consumers. OR 2. As some rumors state - the U.S. will never get the new players. Which basically means Sony will have given up on the U.S. market and the NW-HD5 is the last DAP we will get from Sony. Kurisu, can you give us a nod as to whether they will come to the States or should we Americans just find another DAP? Joe

Yep, that is how things turned out, but I seriously doubt that Sony intended to run a microdrive unit against a flash-based unit. They were expecting to run against something like the mini and well, Apple trumped them. I don't think the review can ever be complete until Sony gets off its duff and write decent software. Right now there are features that aren't even usable on the A1000. I just don't understand how Apple can write a nice program like iTunes (it is stable and does trasnfer well) while Sony cannot seem to do the same. Can it really be that hard?

While I am not please with the screw-ups Sony is making (Connect software)....I should say, repeating... It should be noted that this player really should have been compared to the iPod mini. It is too bad the A1000 (and A1200 in Japan) couldn't have come out a YEAR ago. This is comparing apples to oranges. The comparison to the nano should be the A608, etc. The author of the article makes a comment that seems rather odd. He says he wouldn't be cause dead with the white headphones...as he doesn't like following the crowd. Really, who uses the crap earbuds that come with ANY player, white or not?

I tried checking my Cowon players and there is no hiss at all. I have constant ringing of the ears (tentinitus - sp?), but the hiss on the E507 is not from my ears or from the earbuds in my ear canals, it comes from the player. I can put the player on play with the volume all the way down and it is still there. It IS the player. Why is this so hard to accept?

I think you are looking at this from the point of view of a person with more than average knowledge regarding daps and a lack of understanding of the average buyer/user - no insult intended. I can admit it the truth when I see it; Apple has sewn up the portable music player market for YEARS to come, just as Sony did with the walkman when I was growing up. Yes, there were other brands out there, but all I wanted was a Walkman. The same stands true for folks today. Folks want a simple and easy-to-use player that sounds good - not great mind you, just good. The iPod and iTunes combination do the very well. Sure some computers might have issues with an iPod/iTunes but most don't. Sure it seems there are many more iPods with issues than other players, but when you look at the number sold, of course the number with issues will be larger. I don't think the percentages will be much different. Folks aren't willing to put up with crappy/buggy software (in the US at least) when they want to just take some music with them. Some folks here may be willing to work hard to get SS or Connect to work correctly, but the average (this DO NOT mean stupid) person has no interest in do this. Just look at the hoops one has to go thru to get east asian languages to show up on a Sony player with SS. iTunes is unicode and does it natively. Connect does this too, but it isn't stable enough. Heck, folks are listening to compressed music and can live with it (I am guilty as well with my music). They are not audiophiles using high-dollar equipment and reference speakers. They also don't care about gapless playback. I listen to some classical and I can live with the minor gap, as can most folks. Only the most picky (true lovers of the music) will care enought to buy a player based on gapless only. While the build construction on some of the other units is better than an iPod, none are eaiser to use. I have been a very strong supporter of build quality, but after Sony dropped full metal bodies on the MD units, I had to learn to live with some plastic...sigh. I now admit that plasitc doesn't necessarily mean poor quality construction; my Cowon A2 is a prime example of a SOLID plastic body. Overall, though, the construction of the iPods is more than acceptable for all but the most abusive owners. Now, Apple is a bit to focused on appearance (which helps sell the product I guess) and because of it, the iPods get really scratched up. This is unfortunate if you want a pristine unit, but most folks don't care, and some people like having a unit that looks well used. Heck, my original 5G iPods looked pretty ragged, but kept working for three years until I sold it to get back into minidisc (I tried that twice, never again). If you can get past Apple's hype, the fanatacism of the fanboys (on all sides) and the emotional baggage some folks carry regarding any-and-all DAPs you will find the iPod to be a good unit. Could it be better? Yes. How? 1. Add a real EQ 2. Provide better battery life. The new 5th Gens could have double the battery life if Apple hadn't made them so thin. A factor of the appearance factor I guess. Questionable additions: 1. Some want an external battery but heck even Sony gave up on that with their DAPs. I don't think it matters that much. As long as you recycle the old battery, all is well. 2. Some want a radio feature. My last DAP had a radio and I might have used it two or three time to listen to NPR when walking to class. People don't buy DAPs for the radio feature and the only folks who claim it to be important are those that don't have much of the DAP market. 3. Some want recording capabilities. Most folks, once again, just want a player. I would like recording capabilities, line-in and mic, but most recording DAPs just have a built-in mic (ick) and not all record in both WAV and lossy formats. It would be nice, but once again, I used the reocording capabilities on my iAudio X5L about 6 times since the mic was so bad. In the end, no matter how ubiquious the iPod is, consumers will continue to buy them, unless something much better comes along. There were naysayers about the Walkman and it lasted 20 years. Will Apple last that long? I don't know. If they are smart, they eaisly could, if they keep providing a good product. If they fall to hubris, like Sony did, then all hell could break loose. It is funny to watch human nature. Whenever someone is on top, there are always folks who want to take them down, for whatever reason - good or ill. Political example: even if the U.S. (I live here) were to do everything right, without pissing in the worlds corn flakes, there would still be folks who would want them to fall. That is just the "Rich uncle on the hill" syndrome. If it wasn't Apple, it would be someone else. I think it just pisses folks off that it was Apple that pulled this coup. Apple, the small, no-nothing computer company. In regards to the pundits...they always nay-say Apple and have been doing so for 20+ years. The camera issue isn't quite the same, as there was never one specific camera that owned 75%+ of the market. Now, will DAPs (as a whole) become ubiquious? Yes, and when that does happen, the quality, for the most part, will nose-dive, like it did when the Walkman's competitors began to crank out cheaper copies. Overall, I really wish the zealots on all sides would just give it up and use what they want instead of bashing each other. All it does is waste time/energy and produces nothing constructive. Just my 2 cents...

I have tried multiple songs, from classical to jpop, with atrac and mp3. The hiss is not loud, but in a quiet environment I can clearly hear it. I never heard this static on my old Pocket Vaio, nor do I hear it on my Cowon A2 or my iAudio X5L. I have no clue why Stuge doesn't hear it, but others do. Nonetheless, the hiss is there and it is enough of a problem for me to take it back. Sorry, I don't have a Sony store in Fort Worth and my E607 was purchased at Best Buy. At this point, I just don't care anymore. Sony has not provided a date for the new equipment even thought it is available in the U.K., Japan, and Canada. It seems that Sony has decided that the U.S. market is not worth supporting. Maybe it is for the best that I return this flash player and just find a different brand anyway.

I have used three sets of earbuds and one earphones and my E507s provide static in all of them. It is going back as well. /sigh

The funny thing is that there are good players out there that do direct drag-and-drop. Sony is just unable and/or unwilling to see that that method is the simplest choice. YET, the allow it on the PSP.

/sigh Seems like many folks want to look at the auction for my mic, but no one has bit, even at 50% off. My last offer is for: $20.00 + $5.00 shipping. Thanks.

I don't think there is a solution. Unless you can use the backup program beforehand....does that even work with different computers? In either case, if you don't prepare beforehand, Sony's DRM nonsense will make you reload your music...a difficult proposition when your HDD crashes, etc!!! I have been through that, and that is the main reason I am gun shy about another Sony DAP. The flash player's aren't as big a deal as I am not going to be lucky enough to have an entire collection on it at any one time to trasfer back to my PC. I guess Sony feels that it is your responsibility to reencode 100's of CDs if something bad happens or you get a new PC. I loved my old Pocket Vaio, but this very problem put me off of Sonic Stage. God only knows what will be the case with the Connect Software.