navsimpson

For me the battery life difference is almost a third - i.e. 7-ish hours versus 12 or 13. However, my unit is getting close to 2 years old, and I use quite high bitrates, so that might account for that. Perhaps someone with an NWE002 could tell us? -Nav

Nope - all current (and most past) Sony players support MP3, so you can just stick with that. This from CNET's review of the NWE002: "Finally, I must point out that Sony is taking a step in the right direction by adding AAC and WMA support to its latest MP3 players, and that includes the NW-E000. Of course, it also plays MP3 and both protected and unprotected ATRAC files (WMA and AAC must be unprotected). This is a surprisingly open attitude from the company that once didn't even directly support MP3 playback." -Nav

Hey, no worries! If you're using LAME, then I'd probably just stick with that. The primary benefit of ATRAC now is that it gives you better battery life on Sony devices. A LAME VBR 0 file will probably sound better than most ATRAC files, except for possibly ATRAC3plus 352kbs. You might save yourself a lot of space if you just stick to LAME VBR. -Nav

Hiya, Any bitrate under 'ATRAC' that is not explicitly listed as ATRAC3 would be ATRAC3plus. So essentially, any bitrate you select other than ATRAC 132kbs will be ATRAC3plus. As a bit of an aside, lots of people say that 64kbs is acceptable for music, but I think it sounds like the music is being played underwater. To each their own though - and apparently, for some types of music, it sounds much better than others. Hope this helps, -Nav

Wow - haven't had a chance to listen to those test files yet, but thanks! This is really helpful -Nav

No need to worry - that's just how the HD5 displays the bitrate of VBR files. Sometimes it will say 204, sometimes 183, sometimes it will be a happy face followed by an ampersand. Ok, not that last one. But yeah, your files are untouched, it just doesn't know what do with them. -Nav

If you want to stick with ATRAC, then I think 192kbs is a good compromise. If not, you might want to consider using LAME and creating a VBR file - it's probably the best encoder in terms of sound quality to size ratio. The only reason I now continue to use ATRAC is because of its power efficiency - MP3s use almost double the battery power on a Sony player. Let us know what you do -Nav

http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/07/01/20/0350207.shtml This doesn't bode particularly well for the new Walkman. It seems even if it does have wifi, you won't be able to share songs... -Nav

Thanks for the review Stuge... Looks very nice! One question - that part where it says that is supports lossless, but only during direct recording: does that mean that it doesn't playback lossless files transferred from Sonicstage, only ones recorded on the device? -Nav

Yeah, they did - very cryptically - say they were working "on a device that does images", or something like that. I think that Sony has their own little mini-CES in February, so perhaps they'll announce it then - and the ship it six months later -Nav

Ishiyoshi, you're such a tease! Looking forward to what you have to tell us... -Nav

If you're looking for in-ear headphones, then the Sennheiser CX300s might be worth a look. They're reasonably priced and Sennheiser ususally make quality stuff. You could always think about Shure or Etymotic headphones if you wanted to go further up the price scale. -Nav

Yeah, second that - LAME is all you need. I use CDex, because it's completely free and seems to work quite well. -Nav

Sony Centres in the UK are actually independently owned stores - usually electronics shops that used to sell many brands, but then switched over. Sony then helps with marketing, displays, rebates etc. I'm pretty sure that the extended warranty thing works a warranty company rather than the shop, so you should still be okay, as long as you have documentation. -Nav

I was just using task manager - omg jukebox was the process I was checking. While when you first open SS, it's doing nothing (1 or 2 percent) after a while, it spikes for no reason - and, thus, so does my fan. -Nav

You could always try the Sony Store - they might be able to order in things that they don't have on display. -Nav

Thanks for the feedback guys... I check for viruses/spyware pretty regularly, and nothing has showed up. Perhaps it's because my PC is old? (P4m 1.8GHz). Well, I guess I'll have to suffer with it until I can afford a new laptop... -Nav

I'm curious to know - is something wrong with my PC given that Sonicstage is often at 20 - 40% CPU usage when it's doing absolutely nothing i.e. just open, not even playing a song. My venerable old laptop gets hot quickly and using SS just heats it up for no good reason. Is anyone else having this problem? Or is this just the way the software works? -Nav

I dunno if this is what you mean, but if you simply want to remove genre from what you can see on the screen, then right click on that top bar where it says 'Album', 'Artist', 'Genre' etc and a little list will pop-up with check marks next to it. Uncheck genre and it will be gone from the list. -Nav

Pata, I agree with these and your previous comments - although I think that Sony's successful Cybershot line contributes to memory stick sales significantly. I also think that 16GB just isn't enough for an audio/video device. I have less music than most people and my HD3 is completely full with music alone. Particularly if you want to tie it to a download store, tonnes of storage space is a necessity. I suppose I posted this in the wrong thread - what excited me about this wasn't the idea of a PSP with a hard drive, but a 'Playstation Walkman' - a PSP-esque device with a 60-80GB drive in it. If it keeps all the other functions of the PSP, minus the UMD (i.e. games and UMD movies), I would think it would represent the first major competition to Apple. -Nav

Sega Genesis Collection! Perfect emulation of 30+ games is perfect for a handheld system, particularly if you have fond memories of Genesis games. The collection includes Sonic 1 & 2, Vectorman 1 & 2, Phantasy Star II-IV and a bunch of other really playable games. I would highly, highly recommend it. -Nav

Ishi, that sounds a little too knowing to me Here's a guess from PSP Fanboy: "PSP Prediction #1: Sony will introduce a new portable addition to the PlayStation brand. And it won't be a PSP redesign. In many ways, it will be exactly the same as the PSP: it will feature an upgradeable XMB that features Photos, Music and Videos. It will even be compatible with PSP accessories, such as the headset, GPS, and camera. Heck, it'll even play UMD movies. However, there's one thing it won't do: play games. The device will be set as a competitor to the iPod and will feature a portable hard drive. It'll be smaller than a PSP, feature a video-out, and will be compatible with a revamped PlayStation Store (see prediction #2)." http://www.pspfanboy.com/2007/01/01/5-psp-...tions-for-2007/ This to me is the smartest thing I've heard so far - at least in terms of guesses - and, if it's released, I know one thing: I am really going to regret putting aside money for a Wii! -Nav

Stuge, you think I'm new here?! Yes, I read the posting I just thought some people might find this interesting. I personally feel that a PSP with a 30gb hard drive would be the perfect portable device. In fact, if that were possible, I wonder - would Sony even bother making a video walkman? -Nav

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/psp/rumor-son...-psp-222790.php This is only based on a survey that Sony has sent round (though I don't know where) that asks, among other things, whether or not current owners would buy another one if it included a hard drive. Would I? Considering I didn't pay for the one I have now, probably -Nav

So, to continue this thread about the PSP's sound quality... What say all of you about the equaliser settings? I say 'Jazz' sounds best, but that's just me. Thoughts? -nav