US Release for NW-A3000

[rtn]

I guess when it will be at the stores in the US.

Are they having serious Connect Player problems to delay the launch?

Another question, can i use Sonicstage AND Connect on my pc, what if i have an MD and a HD player?

[Guest Stuge]

Sorry to say but A3000 it still not confirmed whether US will get A3000 or not .

I think "Connect " software is the main issue thats why A3000 is still not released in US

[lamewing]

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

Edited December 19, 2005 by lamewing

[sylikc]

Amazon is no longer offering the NW-E507 themselves, maybe new players will come once the supply of the 5x series dry out? Don't get your hopes up!

(from the other thread that got locked)

::shudder:: I _almost_ got an NW-E507 from Amazon before my curiousity whether there's a 2GB model led me here and reading about the NW-A608. I have a very good feeling that if Amazon doesn't offer it anymore, it's coming!!!

Too bad though, I was going to get myself one for my Xmas present

[Ishiyoshi]

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.

←

Rest assured. The rumors have no basis in fact.

[pata2001]

The A6xx flash players would probably make it to the US, as I have seen Bestbuy's and Target's placeholders on the shelves (currently filled with E5xx).

Maybe it IS a good thing that the A1xxx/3xxx is not coming to the US (other than the higher price to import for those who want them). Sony USA messed up so frequently (disabling kanji display, ditching accessories, little to no marketing effort, preffering low-end units, etc), that they could probably screwed the A1xxx/3xxx even more.

[Ascariss]

Last time I checked sony is releasing quite a few accessories for the new A1000/A3000, they are by no means cheap, there will be no low end units here, this is HDD we are talking abut, kanji display really isn't such a great importance in the US market, with english as the main language, but i do agree on marketing, at least in north america for their music players at least.

[lamewing]

Last time I checked sony is releasing quite a few accessories for the new A1000/A3000, they are by no means cheap, there will be no low end units here, this is HDD we are talking abut, kanji display really isn't such a great importance in the US market, with english as the main language, but i do agree on marketing, at least in north america for their music players at least.

←

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.

Edited December 20, 2005 by lamewing

[amigoguapo]

Smart SONY, never put a color screen on the music players, really, what's the point, it's for music listening, not viewing, if you want something with picture and movie features, there is PSP, beside, who's gonna watch on such a small screen the other stupid MP3 players are offering, completely useless, and draw away the real meaning and purpose of a true music player should be - Music Listening!!!

Until the time that techo to a point that ppl need watch what they listen to, and won't hit by a bus while walkin on the streets, then hey... SONY put a color screen, Smart choice and this just shows how mature SONY is, and how focus SONY is when doing their high end products!!!

I'm not saying that SONY is doing well on the marketing and software cuz sometimes I even wondering what the hell is goin on. maybe the guy work at that department should be killed!!! anyhow, hardware and the company's phyolospy still is the best when making the world best and most expensive electrioncs!!! Good work SONY, and don't care what stupid ppl have to say about it, the truth is, so called Good Ipod, is just piece of.... and for ppl who dont really understand that real music enjoyment!!! Period!!!

Edited December 21, 2005 by amigoguapo

[Ascariss]

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.

←

I don't use the asian version of CP so i have no idea what the unicode support on it is but I've seen screenshots and it seems to support it. Both my A1000 and A3000 have options to change the language to japanese, korean and chinese, and one more asian language. All togther there are 9 languages supported by the units. Why would english only be the option for the players? French, german, spanish and italian. This covers the main european countries as well. so nothing is removed or changed physically in the player, only using software which you can change.

the players are 20 gigs not 30, perhaps a larger unit will come later. OLED is much tougher than LCD, sony doesn't cover defects in LCDs so I am glad its oled, next, doesn't oled use less energy? It looks better than LCD as well. As amigoguapo mentioned, why do i need a colour LCD on a music player? to look at album art? I seriously doubt many people look at album art when listening to music on their pc, or via a radio in their car. The only reason I have some album art is because the Connect player adds it to some albums, which I remove sicne i have no use for it.

Sure the OLED is useless in the daylight, so was the LCD on my minidisc, it had no backlight and I couldn't even read it in normal light.

[lamewing]

Smart SONY, never put a color screen on the music players, really, what's the point, it's for music listening, not viewing, if you want something with picture and movie features, there is PSP, beside, who's gonna watch on such a small screen the other stupid MP3 players are offering, completely useless, and draw away the real meaning and purpose of a true music player should be - Music Listening!!!

Until the time that techo to a point that ppl need watch what they listen to, and won't hit by a bus while walkin on the streets, then hey... SONY put a color screen, Smart choice and this just shows how mature SONY is, and how focus SONY is when doing their high end products!!!

I'm not saying that SONY is doing well on the marketing and software cuz sometimes I even wondering what the hell is goin on. maybe the guy work at that department should be killed!!! anyhow, hardware and the company's phyolospy still is the best when making the world best and most expensive electrioncs!!! Good work SONY, and don't care what stupid ppl have to say about it, the truth is, so called Good Ipod, is just piece of.... and for ppl who dont really understand that real music enjoyment!!! Period!!!

←

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

[amigoguapo]

lol , someone doesnt even know exactly what he needs, nor what will be needed, has no position talk about right or wrong!! only wise ppl can understand wise desicions made by wise company, and it is easy to understand why someone cannot understand thus disagree!!! jajaja joke!

[pata2001]

Last time I checked sony is releasing quite a few accessories for the new A1000/A3000, they are by no means cheap, there will be no low end units here, this is HDD we are talking abut, kanji display really isn't such a great importance in the US market, with english as the main language, but i do agree on marketing, at least in north america for their music players at least.

←

Wa are talking about Sony USA. Just go to local Bestbuy/Target, and you'll only find lowend PCDPs. Lately, they start putting the Exxx series also, but HD5 is hardly available other than at Fry's.

Just because you don't use kanji, doesn't mean everyone doesn't. Creative, Dell, Apple, all provides easy way to display kanji characters on their players. Sony, on the other hand, intentionally disable kanji capability in units such as the NE20, NE920, RH10/DH10P, ditching kanji capable remotes, etc. Why? It doesn't make sense to me. This will actually increase cost since Sony would have to make 2 different firmware and create 2 different products for the same model, rather than just ship one from the assembly line.

[pata2001]

I don't use the asian version of CP so i have no idea what the unicode support on it is but I've seen screenshots and it seems to support it. Both my A1000 and A3000 have options to change the language to japanese, korean and chinese, and one more asian language. All togther there are 9 languages supported by the units. Why would english only be the option for the players? French, german, spanish and italian. This covers the main european countries as well. so nothing is removed or changed physically in the player, only using software which you can change.

←

Again, we are talking about Sony USA. You never know what they would do. Just look at the NE20/NE920. Sony intentionally disable kanji/hangul capability on the US version.

DellDJ only has English as the menu language option, but it can display kanji and hangul flawlessly for song titles.

[Dinko]

Smart SONY, never put a color screen on the music players, really, what's the point, it's for music listening, not viewing, if you want something with picture and movie features, there is PSP, beside, who's gonna watch on such a small screen the other stupid MP3 players are offering, completely useless, and draw away the real meaning and purpose of a true music player should be - Music Listening!!!

'coz it's a lot more interesting. On some players you can pick a picture and put it as your wallpaper behind the menu/track details. So it acts like computer screen wallpaper. Completely useless from a functional perspective. But it makes life much more interesting.

As for watching the player... given that the new Sony players stop after they finish playing a playlist or an album, you'll be spending a lot of time looking at the screen to make it play music again. With the new Sonys, the risks of getting hit by a bus aren't any lower than with a colour screen. It they had a colour screen it would at least have been a more pleasurable experience than just plain text (which is good enough until you move to colour - it's so hard switching back to monochrome - looking at my HD1 next to a friend's Gigabeat is like watching TV in B&W vs Colour).

His Gigabeat showcasing the Walkman Bean:

Do forgive the muddy picture, I just can't learn to take digital photos.

[Ascariss]

Wa are talking about Sony USA. Just go to local Bestbuy/Target, and you'll only find lowend PCDPs. Lately, they start putting the Exxx series also, but HD5 is hardly available other than at Fry's.

Just because you don't use kanji, doesn't mean everyone doesn't. Creative, Dell, Apple, all provides easy way to display kanji characters on their players. Sony, on the other hand, intentionally disable kanji capability in units such as the NE20, NE920, RH10/DH10P, ditching kanji capable remotes, etc. Why? It doesn't make sense to me. This will actually increase cost since Sony would have to make 2 different firmware and create 2 different products for the same model, rather than just ship one from the assembly line.

←

I bought my A1000 at bestbuy, and futureshop, london drugs have the A1000s as well. Only the sony store carries the larger A3000. I don't see why the bestbuy in the US wouldn't carry them as well. I don't know why the US arm of best buy, where it is originally from, has less choice for HDD players when compared to canada. perhaps you should email them and ask, since our market for Mp3 players is 1/10 of what it is in the US.

I am sure a large majority of US buyers of the Ipod are not buying it because it has kanji support. It is an english based market after all and you market english products in such markets. No sense in offering a french product in china right? Perhaps on the west coast here, we might need kanji support since many people are from asia, and of asian decent, but the rest of canada, really has no use for it last time I checked, french on the other hand would be, which the units support as well, in addition to the other languages I mentioned.

The firmware in the A series isn't like the NE20/NE920 discman last time I checked. It is a bit different. I did mention you can change the language right on the units by yourself? They are shipped most likely with the language set to the region it is going to. But hey, if I wanted a german menu, I could change it in 5 sec if I wanted to, but I have no need for it, but 9 language choices are there.

Japanese

English

French

German

Italian

Spanish

Simplified Chinese

Traditional Chinese

Korean

I am sure the support for kanji was also removed from the canadian units (NE20 and NE9320). the firmware on the players seems to be global, people have installed non canadian or non european firmware from japan onto their units and have had no problems.

as for a LCD remote, I might have agreed with you before I got the unit, since both my discman and MDs had LCD remotes, but now that I have the unit, the remote would be useless, since the remote I would want would need to show the same info on one screen like the main unit has, this would make the remote somewhat larger than I would want it.

just wait for the units before you make any judgements, if you won't like the new players fine.

[mgillespie]

The simple reason the NWA-1000 and 3000 have not been released, is that US customers simply would not accept the problems with Connect software has. EU customers are unwilling beta testers...