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Sony VAIO Pocket VGF-AP1L Pictorial

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Ishiyoshi

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atrain Newbie

atrain

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no i didn't, i saw that but i'm on holiday for awhile on monday so i just went for the cheapest buy it now. us$300 although the shipping was cheaper than that guys. i was watching that auction though. sadly it'll probably arrive end of next week leaving my mate minding my house with a package to sign for.

remember the 50 free songs offer is not open to australians... time to learn how to use an IP proxy

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Auvi_Joe Newbie

Auvi_Joe

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Just a warning, I don't think it works with Canon cameras tho.

True. Figured it out long ago that USBOTG connection to Canon DSLRs and P&S are a no go. I don't expect AP1L to connect to them, but my light duty F717 and PC105(Mini-DV) should connect to it.

Besides, even JPG slideshow function for verfication is crude from what I read. So, verifying Canon RAW files(what I mainly shoot on my Canons) on AP1L is out of the question. But, I may be still able to attach a USB card reader(with or without power supply) for reading(copying) CF cards and memory stick contents. I will play with it once I have it.

My understanding up front is that AP1L is just not made to do heavy duty photo organization and slide shows on the road. Just look at the size of its cradle for USB connector blink.gifblink.gif I will be happy to do just some light photo storage and limited playback on the run. And lots of music playback, on the run or parked securely on a beach. smile.gifsmile.gif

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Auvi_Joe Newbie

Auvi_Joe

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I can confirm that the it won't work with Canon Powershot series; I have test it with my G5 and the EOS 1Ds MkII.

@ Auvi: Glad to see you here.  wink.gif

Thanks Ishi.

AP1L will be my travel light companion when I am not lugging big bag of EOS gears.

You need an Epson P2000(may be you already got one, who knows) for the 1Ds MKII serious storage/organization and RAW verification but I have never seen a good deal on one of those. Strictly list prices around $500. tongue.gif

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chenfurfur Newbie

chenfurfur

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Heyyy Joe I'm just as excited as you! I probably ordered the Pocket Vaio around the same time as you from Ecost...so hopefully we should be receiving it around the same time. Let me know when you receieve yours! I'm hoping someone will be at my house to sign off for it when they deliver it. Did you receive a tracking number through email yet cause I don't think i did.

OK.  I grabbed one from ECost as well.

Got an email flyer from Ecost yesterday and noticed that it was in the bargain countdown bucket for $239.  Was contemplating......  Then I saw buy.com 10% coupon deal with same price so I tried to add that dang thing to my basket for about an hour with no luck what so ever.  I just gave up and grabbed one from ECost, they got about 9 more left I think. smile.gif 

Buy.com deal would have been sweeter but hack.....  For $20, I will just press my gas paddle easier for next 30 days and I should recover it.  smile.gif

I am absolutely looking forward to this.  I kind of wanted one when Ishi did a preview sometime last year but was going for 400 bucks.  Now, this is much better with superb gapless playback and MP3 as well as 20+ hour of playback.  I am not sure I'll be using to download from my camera much but I don't mind. 

Just for a portable USB2.0 hard-drive with 20 hour battery life alone is worth the admission already. Thanks again Ishi for all your enthusiasm on the Vaio pocket.  I am sure next release of this player will be much better but I will cross my fingers on sony enhancing photo management features of this little baby with future firmware updates.  I can even hope for gapless FLAC playback.  tongue.gif  biggrin.gif

And folks who are wondering about ECost, these guys are just fine.  I have gotten a couple of really good deals and most of my experiences with them are very pleasant.  Only gripe is that I had to pay sales tax cause I am in California. Dang!

Edited by chenfurfur
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Auvi_Joe Newbie

Auvi_Joe

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Heyyy Joe I'm just as excited as you! I probably ordered the Pocket Vaio around the same time as you from Ecost...so hopefully we should be receiving it around the same time.  Let me know when you receieve yours! I'm hoping someone will be at my house to sign off for it when they deliver it. Did you receive a tracking number through email yet cause I don't think i did.

Good for you. The only thing I received from them was an automated email confirmation of the invoice. I don't expect any shipment from them until the earliest Monday next week. They usually send an email notification of the shipment and their website also has order status and tracking information. If item is not back-ordered, their shipments are very much on the mark. The only thing I worry is that their inventory system fouls up and oversold more than what they had in inventory. On clearance items, the back-orders are not likely to be filled because Sony may not have any more new units to ship.

I cheaped out on the shipping and opted for $1.99 UPS ground so I will not be getting it for 5 business days if coming in from warehouses outside Calif. If within Calif. then may get lucky within a day or two. Knock on wood. biggrin.gif

I have a feeling a bunch of other stores will be clearing out this player as well in near future, sounds like newer Vaio Pocket player is in the pipeline. I like this one because it has the maturity, lots of firmware bugs/short comings have been worked out. You know what they say about Version X.0 releases, right?

I will update here once I receive the tracking # here to keep you company. tongue.gif

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Ishiyoshi Newbie

Ishiyoshi

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Thanks Ishi.

AP1L will be my travel light companion when I am not lugging big bag of EOS gears.

You need an Epson P2000(may be you already got one, who knows) for the 1Ds MKII serious storage/organization and RAW verification but I have never seen a good deal on one of those.  Strictly list prices around $500.  tongue.gif

Indeed. The VAIO Pocket serves me well during long-haul flights; however, it's definitely not an ideal medium for serious photo storage. I had considered the Epson P2000; perhaps another time. wink.gif As for serious photo storage, I use the Sony PCG-TR5B sub-notebook (approx. 3lbs) to compliment my EOS gear whenever necessary.

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Ishiyoshi Newbie

Ishiyoshi

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Hi, do you know anything about unicode support in VAIO? Or this machine displays english/japanese letters only?

The VAIO Pocket supports English, Japanese, Chinese*, French, German, Italian, and Spanish language. *Chinese characters are supported using the several thousand Japanese kanji characters.

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Auvi_Joe Newbie

Auvi_Joe

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Indeed. The VAIO Pocket serves me well during long-haul flights; however, it's definitely not an ideal medium for serious photo storage. I had considered the Epson P2000; perhaps another time. wink.gif  As for serious photo storage, I use the Sony PCG-TR5B sub-notebook (approx. 3lbs) to compliment my EOS gear whenever necessary.

Sub notebooks such as PCG-TRxx series are just wonderful photographic tools. I've also been using my trusty 2 years old Fujitsu P5010 for similar task. Sometimes I just wish that I do not have to boot into Windows OS to empty the memory card in the middle of a shooting. I know I can put it in standby mode to minimize boot up time but still....a waste of battery and more importantly time for all that unnecessary OS based hd activity.

Only if Sony or Fujitsu or some visionary sub notebook company could enable ability to copy memory cards into the notebook's preset hard drive folder(or a dedicated partition) without having to get into the OS, it would be just awesome. Will totally eliminate the need for something like an Epson P2000. Memory card slots are very commonly found on these notebooks today. Sony, Fujitsu, Dell.....if you are listening.... smile.gif

Anyway I am getting off topic from our main thread. I am very excited about my Vaio Pocket and looking forward to it. Wonder what Sony has in plan for its replacement? Hope they don't abandon this line up in favor of the other hd based Sony players because Sony products are competing against themselves in different divisions.

I also hope that Sony keeps polishing/improving its interface software(Sonic stage) and firmware with one eye on compatibility with their existing devices, just as a reward to their old customer base for putting up with deficiencies of earlier versions. biggrin.gif

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Auvi_Joe Newbie

Auvi_Joe

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ughh i still never got mine!! You got an email stating the shipment notification?

Yes. eCost sent me a link with UPS tracking number. Mine is coming in from East coast via UPS ground so it will take about 5 business days I am afraid. That's fine. I am in no hurry.

May be you used different shipper? I am sure you will be hearing from them anytime now.

Edited by Auvi_Joe
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chenfurfur Newbie

chenfurfur

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Okay yeah so I still didn't get an e-mail with a UPS tracking number, but when I log in on ECost and go to my order status and click on the tracking information number, it leads me to a UPS tracking page and says that it was checked in in Memphis, Tennessee today at 1:59pm. I chose UPS ground as well. I find it weird that I still never got an email about it...I just hope this is the right product and right tracking number for me.

Yes. eCost sent me a link with UPS tracking number.  Mine is coming in from East coast via UPS ground so it will take about 5 business days I am afraid.  That's fine.  I am in no hurry. 

May be you used different shipper?  I am sure you will be hearing from them anytime now.

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Auvi_Joe Newbie

Auvi_Joe

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So i still didn't get an email from ecost but i checked the tracking info number through ecost and my scheduled delivery date is tomorrow! Didn't expect it to come so soon, don't think I'll be home to receive it which sucks.

May be your spam filter ate it? biggrin.gif

Mine is scheduled for this Friday, I will make arrangements so I can enjoy it this weekend. Will try to use it to connect to my Sony F717 for the July 4th fireworks show, and for background music. We''ll see how well it goes.

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chenfurfur Newbie

chenfurfur

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wooohooo i finally got my pocket vaio today, i'm sooo excited. i just opened it and am now charging it...didn't get to play around with it yet. it is pretty small, smaller than what i expected it to be...but it's a little heavier. I'm gonna install the software now, let's hope i know how to install the new firmware.

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Auvi_Joe Newbie

Auvi_Joe

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Nice.

I played with it in the store some time back and know exactly what to expect size and feel wise. I just don't know what to expect for the Sonic Stage since I am not a SS user currently. I think I'll go ahead and install it on my Laptop so I'll be ready to go when it shows up in 2 more days. Counting down...... biggrin.giftongue.gifrolleyes.gif

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chenfurfur Newbie

chenfurfur

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Hi Ishi, yeah i'm at the process of transfering music onto my system and I'm just a little confused on how you got the japanese/chinese font to work. when i copy and paste the song names and titles under the song properties, i just get question marks..will these songs names show up on the vaio pocket still? Please let me know b/c i'm a little confused.

Also I want to try to convert some of my songs to ATRAC..which program do you use to do that? i only want to do this to see hear the sound quality and to maybe try out the lyrics view...

thank you again!

I'm glad that your unit arrived today. Do read the end of the first post for links to the firmware and what not.

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Ishiyoshi Newbie

Ishiyoshi

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Hi Ishi, yeah i'm at the process of transfering music onto my system and I'm just a little confused on how you got the japanese/chinese font to work.  when i copy and paste the song names and titles under the song properties, i just get question marks..will these songs names show up on the vaio pocket still? Please let me know b/c i'm a little confused.

Also I want to try to convert some of my songs to ATRAC..which program do you use to do that? i only want to do this to see hear the sound quality and to maybe try out the lyrics view...

thank you again!

Titling Japanese/Chinese characters using a non Japanese SonicStage 3.1 has been discussed before within the software section of the forum. Nonetheless, to enable kanji/kana titling using the English version of SonicStage 3.1 currently installed in your system, you will need to run a simple registry edit for SonicStage 3.1. Please follow the instruction below and run SonicStage 3.1 in Japanese with Microsoft AppLocale. If you need Microsoft AppLocale --> click here

If you follow the steps below, kanji and kana characters will show as it should. Once again, please remember to run SonicStage 3.1 with Microsoft AppLocale in Japanese language after the registry edit.

--> Using regedit, go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Sony Corporation\OpenMG\PD\{D887F25F-02A3-44D7-841F-583DD5231B5F}

--> Then locate the entry called "AreaCode" with a value of 2 for US version.

--> Change it to 40000 hexadecimal. That's the value on the Japanese install of SS.

You can convert your WAV or Mp3s to ATRAC3/ATRAC3+ using SonicStage 3.1. You will use SonicStage 3.1 for lyrics input as well.

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chenfurfur Newbie

chenfurfur

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When you said to run SonicStage 3.1 in Japanese with Microsoft AppLocale, did you mean for me to d/l the japanese version of SonicStage or just run the regular English version? Also when I run the AppLocale, I'm a little lost on how to work it. Do I select "Launch an application"? And then if I select that, what do I put under "the application for which you apply Applocale"? and what goes under "arguments"? so sorry for these questions..thank so much for you help again!

Titling Japanese/Chinese characters using a non Japanese SonicStage 3.1 has been discussed before within the software section of the forum. Nonetheless, to enable kanji/kana titling using the English version of SonicStage 3.1 currently installed in your system, you will need to run a simple registry edit for SonicStage 3.1. Please follow the instruction below and run SonicStage 3.1 in Japanese with Microsoft AppLocale. If you need Microsoft AppLocale --> click here

If you follow the steps below, kanji and kana characters will show as it should. Once again, please remember to run SonicStage 3.1 with Microsoft AppLocale in Japanese language after the registry edit.

--> Using regedit, go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Sony Corporation\OpenMG\PD\{D887F25F-02A3-44D7-841F-583DD5231B5F}

--> Then locate the entry called "AreaCode" with a value of 2 for US version.

--> Change it to 40000 hexadecimal. That's the value on the Japanese install of SS.

You can convert your WAV or Mp3s to ATRAC3/ATRAC3+ using SonicStage 3.1. You will use SonicStage 3.1 for lyrics input as well.

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Ishiyoshi Newbie

Ishiyoshi

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When you said to run SonicStage 3.1 in Japanese with Microsoft AppLocale, did you mean for me to d/l the japanese version of SonicStage or just run the regular English version? Also when I run the AppLocale, I'm a little lost on how to work it.  Do I select "Launch an application"? And then if I select that, what do I put under "the application for which you apply Applocale"? and what goes under "arguments"? so sorry for these questions..thank so much for you help again!

You run the regular English version of SonicStage 3.1 with Microsoft AppLocale in Japanese language.

--> The application you select to launch with Microsoft AppLocale --> C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Omgjbox.exe [and ignore the "arguments" box]

--> Select the language of the target application: Japanese

--> Create a shortcut: For example, SonicStage 3.1 JE or whatever you desire.

Have fun titling. wink.gif

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nocloo Newbie

nocloo

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I just got my VGF-AP1L to replace my Zen Micro due to lack of space and here are my first impressions.

Pros: Nice looking. Well build.

Cons:

1- The product manual is dismal. It's almost non existent.

2- I haven't figure how to create proper playlist yet. What I do is to chose each song, play it and chose the heart icon and click on it to add. I guess I got spoiled by the Creative software which enables me to create playlist using my computer. I hope they will all some software/firmware to support named playlist. Without a named playlist, it's difficult to remember which song is on which playlist.

3- Cannot fast forward within a song. I've lots of audiobooks and some of the books is an hour or two long in a single Mp3. I want to be able to fast forward to a certain part of the book without having to listen all over if I decide to listen to something else in between.

3- Doesn't come w/ a clip or case, it doesn't fit well in my pocket. A bit on the heavy side.

4- The software is not easy to use nor intituitive as itune or Creative Labs.

5- Have to use their software to transfer files. which means I cannot transfer the music on my player onto my friend's computer. I think there is also some DRM when I load the software for the first time, asked me to register or I will not be able to use another computer to transfer file to my player. I hope it's not true, I have not register an account or anything but I am planing to transfer a few files from my laptop.

Overall, Sony should learn to build something much easier to use and more open if they want to have any future in the MP3 palyers market. Nice hardware w/ crappy software doesn't help.

I'll just have to get used to it and hopefully someone from Sony will listen to their users.

--

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Max Spider X Newbie

Max Spider X

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1- The product manual is dismal. It's almost non existent.

3- Cannot fast forward within a song. I've lots of audiobooks and some of the books is an hour or two long in a single Mp3. I want to be able to fast forward to a certain part of the book without having to listen all over if I decide to listen to something else in between.

To answer some of your questions:

1. The full manual is on the CD-Rom.

3. If you hold the FF key, it will FF within the song.

I have got a question. How do I connect this to a car stereo using the line out?

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haiphan02 Newbie

haiphan02

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3- Cannot fast forward within a song. I've lots of audiobooks and some of the books is an hour or two long in a single Mp3. I want to be able to fast forward to a certain part of the book without having to listen all over if I decide to listen to something else in between.

--

i was able to fast forward with the remote control.

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nocloo Newbie

nocloo

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To answer some of your questions:

1. The full manual is on the CD-Rom.

3. If you hold the FF key, it will FF within the song.

I have got a question. How do I connect this to a car stereo using the line out?

Thanks !! I was able to figure out how to FF. smile.gif Got used to the Zen/iPod way ... smile.gif

I'll check the manual out ...

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chenfurfur Newbie

chenfurfur

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omgg i've had my Vaio pocket for only 3 days and it already froze on me! The player froze on me when i was fast forwarding a song and then when it didn't stop fast forwarding, i decided to stop the song and then turn the player off....in the process of turning off...IT FREEZES!!! So now on the screen it says "Switching Power Off"...and i tried turning it off and on and i pressed every button...STILL FROZEN!!

I didn't know that it was possible to reset the machine by poking a paperclip through the hole on the bottom of the machine...i just hope the player isn't like damaged now. This better not happen again, i'll be really upset.

OH and does anyone know how to delete a certain song from a playlist or delete the entire playlist? I accidentally added 2 of the same song on the playlist and want to get rid of one. Thank you!

Edited by chenfurfur
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Auvi_Joe Newbie

Auvi_Joe

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biggrin.gif Piece of cake....

get into playlist

highlight the track in the playlist you want to delete

move finger(thumb) into middle 3 columns of g-sense area and press-and-hold

advance Op buttons move up, down, delete will be displayed.

select delete o-x button ---- confirm delete and

bye-bye track ... you are good to go...... blink.gifblink.gif

See??? I told ya wacko.gif

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chenfurfur Newbie

chenfurfur

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omg...hahaha i sooo did not know that...totally a piece of cake. So lucky to have such helpful ppl in this forum! THANK YOUUU!

biggrin.gif  Piece of cake....

get into playlist

highlight the track in the playlist you want to delete

move finger(thumb) into middle 3 columns of g-sense area and press-and-hold

  advance Op buttons move up, down, delete will be displayed.

select delete o-x button  ---- confirm delete and

bye-bye track ... you are good to go......  blink.gif  blink.gif

See???  I told ya wacko.gif

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bestillmyheart Newbie

bestillmyheart

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woah 3 times the first day? how did you know it was due to a file corruption? restarting constantly won't damage the machine will it? hope it won't do it often..

My player froze on me 3 times during the first day. I had to do hard reset by poking a needle into that hole. It was a file corruption during the transfer.

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