NW-A3000's USB Cable

[kaledi]

Hi all,

I have the chance of buying an A3000 but it does not come with a USB cable! Can anyone tell me if it uses the same connection as the MZNH1 HiMD player? They look similar, but of course that doesn't mean anything!

Thanks

[halfm]

You can probably order one from Sony customer service at your area. cost around 20usd.

[kaledi]

Try £65 or $100 from a local UK Sony store!!

[Ascariss]

Ouch, tried ebay?

[Pulse]

Try £65 or $100 from a local UK Sony store!!

Was that a quote from one of the shops? If so thats criminal. I'd quite like to take my USB Cable to uni with me to use the player as a UMS but I haven't due to being too afraid of losing the cable. I definately wont be taking it anywhere out of my house if thats what it will cost to replace officially!

[Guest Stuge]

as said before by Ascariss..Try to search on Ebay.Don`t ask Sony they will charge a lot.

At that price you can easily buy a secondhand A3000 with full accessories .

[MDX-400]

They are just as stupid-expensive on eBay! But (and I don't mean to insult anyone that has paid $60+ for this thing already...) you have to be stupid to buy one at that price.

Why? Well hmm lets see... You can get a BCR-NWU1 (the dock/cradle for the A3000 with line out, DC-in, and standard mini-B USB connections) for around $60 US or less, on eBay.

OR you can get the speaker stand for about $140 US or less. (The speaker dock also has USB and DC-in jacks on it).

Why buy a cable for the same price as you can buy the dock for? Or why not spend some extra money and get the speaker dock (if you'd like one of those)?

Really it makes no sense at all to get the cable that plugs in the bottom because it is the same price as the dock, where you get a stand, line-out connections, and can use a standard mini-B USB cable...

[halfm]

The BCR-NWU1 cradle doesn't come with a data cable. It only come with a charging cable.

If you want to use it for charging + data transfer, u need to plug in the usb cable that's come with your player... or buy another cable.

and i have no idea that cable is soooo expensive in UK. In singapore, you can order one for SGD39(and I thought that's expensive). Take about 1~2 week to arrive though.

In the first place, why Sony make the usb cable a proprietary one? If it use those standard small usb jack, we can just buy any usb cable for a few dollars.

Edited March 20, 2006 by halfm

[MDX-400]

The BCR-NWU1 cradle doesn't come with a data cable. It only come with a charging cable.

If you want to use it for charging + data transfer, u need to plug in the usb cable that's come with your player... or buy another cable.

Are you sure about that????

According to this eBay auction, you can connect to the PC with the cradle...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-BCR-NWU1-Cradle-f...1QQcmdZViewItem

You can't plug in the USB cable that comes with it for PC connectivity while it is in the cradle either--doesn't it also go in the bottom??? If the unit is in the cradle, you can't use that cable. Unless it also goes on the dock??? But that's a$$-backwards... If you can't connect the mini-B USB on the cradle to the PC for regular connectivity that is a senseless move by Sony... Why on earth would they have it take up the connector and then have a USB cable for charging only? Though I don't put it beyond Sony to do something like this, the auction does say you can sync to the PC and it does show a mini-B USB cable...

and i have no idea that cable is soooo expensive in UK.

Well everything is expensive in the UK, LOL But it isn't exactly cheap elsewhere--maybe Singapore but in North America it will be not much better... Look at the price of the stupid USB "mini-dock" BS attachment on the HD3, it is like $65 US from Sony DAPC USA...

In the first place, why Sony make the usb cable a proprietary one? If it use those standard small usb jack, we can just buy any usb cable for a few dollars.

I think "dollars" is the answer... They want to gouge people when they lose/damage the cable! Honestly it's true. Out of the HD1, HD3, HD5 and the A1000/A3000, only the HD5 has normal DC-in and USB jacks. The HD1 uses a cradle that is expensive, the HD3 uses a stupid "minidock" that is just as expensive, and now the A3000 uses some proprietary cable. All of which cost Sony a few bucks and then they sell as replacements for much much more.

[kaledi]

The cradle and speaker unit do not come with a data transfer cable. They come with a cable to connect to the power supply to allow charging and there is a seperate port to plug the data cable in. In this instance I expect part of the reason why Sony don't just use a USB cable (a la HD5) is because there are docking stations available, which require audio output (and possibly other features?) from the unit itself - iPods are no different!

I spoke to a friend who also has the A3000 and thought he had lost his cable and went to the local Sony store and got quoted £25, therefore I will have to go and check again. However, the original shop I approaches was adamant it was £65 as they had just sold one!

MALFM, I used to think the UK was very expensive compared against the rest of the world - and it was, and we all felt very agrieved about it too. But in recent years, I actually think that buying electronic goods is cheaper here in the UK than the rest of Europe and North America, but probably not compared to Asia. I go to the States from time to time, and don't even bother looking at buying gadgets over there anymore as I used to. I am however going to look when I'm in Bangkok next month - best places to go anyone? Sorry I'm digressing.