Ishiyoshi Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 NW-HD5 [20GB HDD] PictorialExpected to go on sale in Japan: April 21, 2005 with an expected retail price of 35,000 Yen or USD$323Update, April 8, 2005: AV Watch ReviewSonicStage 3.1 will be release concurrently with the NW-HD5. A few notable improvements:1) Improved transfer time/ATRAC3plus encoding time2) Mp3 ripper/encoder3) further improvement of playlist functionThe NW-HD5 incorporates a seven-line liquid crystal display with LED backlight to improve visibility of the fonts. Lithium Ion battery - LIP-880PD B [approx. 4,935 yen or USD$40] NW-HD5 - iPod ComparisonSize: 59.9×88.7×14.2mmWeight: approx. 135g (inclusive of the battery) Diagram Illustrating its rotating screen: Vertical & Horizontal UsageDiagram Illustrating evolution of its UI: Navigation of music filesThe UI of the NW-HD5 has been completely revamped. Now it operates with an operation key and the four surrounding buttons under the liquid crystal. The retrieval mode prepares five modes of Artist/Album/Track/Genre/Playlist. In addition, the retrieval mode has been improved by strengthening of the playlist function and incorporation of the initial search function – "one step search function." This function allows the user to return to main menu by a simple menu button.The LED and UI OperationMain Retrieval Menu - Artist/Album/Track/Genre/PlaylistArtist Selection MenuThe Playlist MenuHorizontal and Vertical Screen Option MenuBundled AccessoriesMDR-E0931LP/BCNW-HD5 Specifications Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 That looks mad!Is that a Hard drive player? Or a mp3/ATRAC memory card kinda thing? Like 512Mb....The red unit looks very nice!Buttons look a little odd... but looks good!Is this a direct competitor with the iPOD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
streaml1ne Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 That's kinda... ugly.I wonder if the faster Atrac encoding includes better encoding too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted April 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 That looks made!Is that a Hard drive player? Or a mp3/ATRAC memory card kinda thing? Like 512Mb....The red unit looks very nice!Buttons look a little odd... but looks good!Is this a direct competitor with the iPOD?←Yes, it is Sony's NW series HDD based Mp3/ATRAC player. The NW-HD5 unit also sport a G-protection that shields/protects the HDD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted April 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 That's kinda... ugly.I wonder if the faster Atrac encoding includes better encoding too ←I definitely hope faster encoding implies better encoding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Stamp Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 the front says "AtracAD" whats the AD stand for? is this a different codec? an improved version of atrac3plus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Nice. Between the replaceable Li battery and the USB charging without a cradle and 30 hours of battery life at 128kbps encoding, this unit closes the book on battery life. Outstanding.Search by track will be interesting. The speed and acceleration for lists will have to be improved from the HD-1 I have to make this useful when searching a list of 5000 items. If it works well, it will be nice.The size is interesting as it is only marginally different from the HD-1/2/3: about 1 mm thicker. Slightly more weight at 135g vs. 110 for the HD-1.Too bad they didn't announce a larger HDD. I would like minimum 30 Gigs as my HD1 is full. That should be coming soon. Excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 How many GB's of data will it hold?Buttons are ugly though...And all the fancy up printed graphics on all the other buttons looks a bit unnecessarily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted April 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 How many GB's of data will it hold?Buttons are ugly though...And all the fancy up printed graphics on all the other buttons looks a bit unnecessarily←20GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxc Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 (edited) They will be releasing a 30GB special edition in the UK according to reports.With the revamped UI, can anyone see if it means they have implemented real playlists? ie a song that is in 2 playlists is only copied over once?Also I wonder if the Hi-MD card reader thing will work with this? Edited April 7, 2005 by sxc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rule Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 I love the way it looks, espcially the Silver one.It'll probably be expensive as hell though, knowing Sony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrain Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 $us353 converted from japanese street price. what the actual prices for end users in the US, Europe & Australia actually are, who knows? lets hope they continue to delflate the prices of new units to compeditive prices, as with the new nw series, new himd pricing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxc Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 (edited) $us353 converted from japanese street price. what the actual prices for end users in the US, Europe & Australia actually are, who knows? lets hope they continue to delflate the prices of new units to compeditive prices, as with the new nw series, new himd pricing.←Given the UK pricing, signs are looking good. The HD5 = GBP 199. The 20 gb ipod = GBP 209.It will be interesting for me what the HK prices will be. So far the new Network Walkman pricing is totally out of whack compared to overseas pricing. Compared to the ipod shuffle, the 512MB flash Sony is more than double Apple's pricing. In the US the premium over the ipod is much much less (10% I think).EDIT: I just realised that Sony has revised the pricing of all the network walkmans in the US and matched Apple model for model. Which makes the HK pricing look even more ridiculous. Edited April 7, 2005 by sxc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted April 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Update: Main post updated with AV Watch Review link and additional pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxc Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 From the AV Watch review:In addition, also transfer function of the play list is improved. Although it corresponded to the compilation of the play list with Ver.3.0, until recently when the music file is transferred to player side transfers the play list in spite, overlapping, because it was transferring the same tune, it presses HDD capacity, there was a harmful influence such that transfer time becomes long. But, with NW-HD5 this repetition transfer was not done, when there is a file in the substance, only the list was transferred, the music data reached the point where the file of the transfer being completed is utilized in the substance.Judging from this, it looks like real playlist functionality is implemented.Now if only the generation of playlists in SonicStage 3 could be improved so that playlists were generated automatically. Anyone know if any more updates like this are on the horizon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted April 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 SonicStage 3.1 is supposed to push in that direction. Slowly but surely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxc Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Yes SonicStage 3 is okay if you can take the time to create your own playlists, but iTunes and Windows Media Player will make their own playlists such as "4-5 star rated songs" based on how often you listen to a song, and "Songs you haven't listened to for a week".The ratings from the player based on what you listen to on the player also get transferred back to the computer for further enhancement of the playlists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breepee2 Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Amazon UK has is for 200 pounds.http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/sto...3099060-9385447 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted April 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Update: Special Edition NW-HD5.I believe it is only available from Mora - via lottery for those who spend more than ¥ 2000 of music purchase. Anyhow, enjoy the pictures:YUKI editionASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION edition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted April 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Amazon UK has is for 200 pounds.http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/sto...3099060-9385447←That's not too bad. It’s about 70usd more expensive than the Japanese street price of ¥ 33,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spare Tire Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Okay, so it displays japanese characters. Does it display unicode? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananatree Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 If the HD-5 is simply a gimmicky HDD player... then Sony probably makes the coolest gimmicks ever.That screen seems completely useless, but soooo awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wundoo Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 The following is an extract from the Sony site.The NW-HD5 is quite simply one of the smallest 20GB HDD players around. With its incredibly light aluminium body and tiny credit-card-size dimensions, this ultra-compact model gives new meaning to the word ‘portable’. Don’t let its diminutive dimensions fool you: this sleek little player is capable of storing up to 900 CDs worth of music. That’s a staggering 13,000 of your favourite tracks on tap wherever and whenever you want them. You’ll always be able to find the right tune for the right moment. It goes on and on and on 40 hours of battery life With so many tracks at your disposal, you’ll need a really powerful battery to be able to listen to them all. Luckily Sony has thought of that: the NW-HD5 offers 40 hours of battery life. It leaves the competition standing and you listening to your favourite tunes as long as you want.What’s more, the battery is removable meaning you can carry a spare or pick up a new one while you’re out. Easy to use, easy to love A superior user experience The NW-HD5 is extremely user-friendly. Sporting an exceptionally large and easy-to-navigate 7-line LED screen, the attention to detail in the design of the player is obvious. From its bright backlight display through to its elegant front and its adjustable screen colour, the NW-HD5 provides a superior user experience. What’s more, its technologically-advanced ‘follow turn’ feature means the display is synchronised to your hand movements, flipping from horizontal to vertical depending on your every move. Now there’s no such thing as the wrong way up. Just in case of accidents, this player carries extra insurance in the form of a sophisticated G-sensor. The NW-HD5’s specially designed sensor kicks in when dropped, providing immediate and effective shock protection.The NW-HD5 comes supplied with SonicStage3.1 software, making all your downloads and track transfers simple. Available in a choice of three stylish colours: black, silver, or red. I was going to get Hi-MD player but am starting to get persuaded of the merits of HD players. This one looks brilliant particularly the size of it and the long lasting replacable battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schwerminator Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 does anyone know, how much the hd5 will cost in japan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted May 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 does anyone know, how much the hd5 will cost in japan?←At the moment, the NW-HD5 retails for about ¥ 29,000 in Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schwerminator Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 does the japanese model also have a german interface? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted May 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 does the japanese model also have a german interface?←Most likely no. However, I can't be certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 You may be able to apply a region code to allow such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryzir Posted May 14, 2005 Report Share Posted May 14, 2005 These are starting to show up on eBay.Sony NW-HD5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenewbs Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 hello i am new to this forum and i am thinking about buying this mp3 player and i was wondering since i haev to use their sonicstage software if i'll be able to add mp3's i already have on my pc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted June 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 hello i am new to this forum and i am thinking about buying this mp3 player and i was wondering since i haev to use their sonicstage software if i'll be able to add mp3's i already have on my pc.←Welcome to MDCF!Yes, you can indeed transfer Mp3s to the NW-HD5 using SonicStage 3.1. However, you can't use "drag-and-drop" to add your Mp3s onto the HD5 via Windows Explorer at the meantime. But Sony indicated that it will release a "drag-and-drop" utility soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenewbs Posted June 12, 2005 Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 ok sweet cause i am most likely going to buy this one cause of the battery life. i was worried cause i've heard that u can put mp3s that i dled from like limewire on to the player thx man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted July 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 Update: "You are the NEXT!" Project HD5 seriesIn conjunction with the "You are the NEXT!" Project, Sony will release two new designs of the HD5 [20GB capacity] by artists Otani and Hirashi respectively. Naturally, these are special limited edition units - 100 units per design - and it will cost about 36,800円. --> Please click here for further details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted July 1, 2005 Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 The 1st pics look good.. like fire/dragon kinda pics.. other 1... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skmetal07 Posted July 1, 2005 Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 they look so....excited... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted July 1, 2005 Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 they look so....excited...←Ahaha, they do don't they! Ishi, do you know if anything has been said about the cracking/breaking buttons on the players? Aparently people experienced cracks in the buttons, reported it to Sony, and Sony replied saying they must have miss-treated the unit :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted July 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 Ishi, do you know if anything has been said about the cracking/breaking buttons on the players? Apparently people experienced cracks in the buttons, reported it to Sony, and Sony replied saying they must have miss-treated the unit :|←Yes, I am aware of the cracks in the buttons of the HD5. Apparently, the buttons were poorly designed as one piece instead of individual pieces. Thus, it's more susceptible to cracks. However, I am not aware if this problem is prevalent in Japan. I will have to search around for further details; but I am pretty certain that there are reports of it.they look so....excited...←Haha.... they sure do like a bunch of kids posing for DUI offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-EJ915 Posted July 2, 2005 Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 Those guys are like...why're we here...?Anyway, I think the lion looks cool, if he were on the front (with the display) and coloured and the "robot" on the back where it's at...that'd be sick..except different colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishiyoshi Posted July 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 May I suggest we move the discussion to our new ATRAC based device forum - [http://www.atraclife.com/index.php?act=ST&f=7&t=27&st=0#entry39]ATRACLife Colloquium - accordingly. Thanks. Note to all: Please do feel free and transfer all your relevant posts accordingly to ATRACLife Colloquium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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