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NW-A608 compared to NW-E400/500

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Fyda

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I own an NW-E407 and have been quite enthusiastic about 1) exploring the software potentials (watching for mods/hacks), and 2) seeing the GUI improvements in the NW-A608.

Last night my friend got his hands on the latter (2GB player) and of course I proceeded to make a guinea pig out of his shiny new MP3 player...

My findings so far:

1) MP3 File Manager software:-

I sent him the .EXE to install it onto his player. Unfortunately he got a 'Function Limited' warning. We did not know what this meant until he finished loading some songs onto the player and unplugged it from the computer - the "Intelligent Shuffle" option was greyed out on the GUI.

I am assuming this is due to MP3FM not being compatible with the newer database features of the NW-A608 (which the CONNECT Player probably taps into). Of course, MP3FM is intended for the E400/500-series, not the A600... what else can one expect?

2) Additional Display Screen:-

The E400/500s had that firmware update (from version 1.00 to 2.00), which allowed the user to create a directory '\NWWM-SCR' on the player (manually, through accessing it as a UMS drive), into which he could copy an .NWM file (Display Screen - Sony offered 2 such files for download).

As far as I know, there is no documentation for this feature on the A600, but we tried it anyway. It worked! The A600 is the same as the E400/500 with firmware 2.00: it accepts up to ONE .NWM file.

3) Just the new GUI in general:-

I am sure there are already good reviews of the A608 which cover this area.

I find it interesting that in the new player, you can access 'Display Screen' and 'Date-Time' from the main menu DURING PLAYBACK, whereas in the E400/500, you have to STOP playback in order to access those (along with 'Advanced Menu' and 'Repeat Mode'). Also, there are more built-in Display Screens included with the original firmware. Interesting. I don't suppose there's any point to offering the same functionality to E400/500 users? (As in, someone could mod an E400/500-series player to behave like an A600? But is that legal?)

Anyway, just my thoughts... I am wondering what others have found about the player?

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