S200 Series MP3 Players Now Available in Canada

[Ascariss]

saw this on sonystyle's website just now

http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/C...tionPath=n46881

1 and 2 gig models, pink, black and silver available on oct 3rd or so. not bad price for 2 gigs, but I am hoping for something with just more room and well better look. Looks like a freaking MD remote. lol. although that is not a bad thing. up to 18 hrs battery life using atrac3+ 132. radio from 87.5-108Mhz. 5 band equalizer. Would have to check out the sound before I would buy it, which I won't in the end.

[DSP]

I think the fact that it looks like an old MD remote is just awsome! Soundquality will be allright. not as good as my nw-a1200 or the MiniDisc, but it'll still beat all the ipods, like my nw-e307 does.

The design is really fun and stylish (if you'd go for the black one) but the price is just not good.

I'm absolutely NO ipod lover, but the new nano 2GB costs 150€. the S200 2GB costs 179€.

I have to be honest on this: the ipod DOES have a colour screen. I'ts no advantage, but it should be more expensive.

So I think sony is completely missing the point here.

If this thing wants to compete with the ipod nano, the 2GB version should be at a price range of 120 - 130 €. Then they can compete with the nano.

still a wonderfull little walkman!

If the prices drop I might get one for myself. But that really depends.

greetz

Edited September 27, 2006 by DSP

[OCedHrt]

Why is it that only in the US do we get shafted on color choices?

[pata2001]

Why is it that only in the US do we get shafted on color choices?

You want my take on that? If you look at the pictures from Sony Japan, the colored units are obviously can display kanji. Now, read my sig. I'm guessing Sony USA is too lazy to disable kanji on those, that they just make 1 color for the US.

[kerfuffle]

We don't get pink here in Australia, so we're shafted on colour choices too.

Not that I mind. The pink version doesn't look good to me.

[gr00vy0ne]

I've had the US domestic black model (NW-S205F) for about a week now and it transfers and plays tracks with Japanese characters and kanji just fine. It's not a limitation of the player but rather of the venerable but still atrocious SonicStage.

I'm running the Japanese version of SS 4.0 CP on one system and the US version of SS 4.0 CP on another. The one thing that annoys me is that the Japanese version doesn't like accented characters and refuses to import or recognize their existence. Therefore, I must resort to using my other system to transfer. Otherwise, the hardware itself is great.

Seriously, they need to start a brand new codebase using Unicode from the beginning. I suggest asking the guys who wrote the MP3FM to start off the project since they did such a wonderful job making such a tiny little program work so well. Or perhaps they should nab people from the Sony Media Software who actually make good software such as Vegas, Acid and SoundForge.

[Ascariss]

gr00vy0ne, I was wondering if you could give some information on the player, like playlists and if they can be made on the player?

[Techno Pride]

It's too expensive compared to the 2nd gen 2GB Ipod Nano here.

surely the armband and sports earphones are not worth the price premium!

[pata2001]

I've had the US domestic black model (NW-S205F) for about a week now and it transfers and plays tracks with Japanese characters and kanji just fine. It's not a limitation of the player but rather of the venerable but still atrocious SonicStage.

Well, that's good to know, but still doesn't explain why US doesn't get the other colors, while Canada does. Maybe Sony USA is too lazy to disable the kanji, but to protect US consumers from the evil of kanji, they limit the availability of the device by not distributing the other colors. Hey, it's Sony USA we're talking here, where logic has no place.

[grenert]

I've had the US domestic black model (NW-S205F) for about a week now

I couldn't tell from the video I've seen of that player if the jog wheel just toggles up and down, or if you can actually spin it around to scroll through menu items. How does it work?

Thanks!

[kerfuffle]

It's too expensive compared to the 2nd gen 2GB Ipod Nano here.

surely the armband and sports earphones are not worth the price premium!

Don't forget that the NW-S20x series are waterproof. Maybe that's why they're ridiculously priced.

[gr00vy0ne]

Ok, I'm going to try to answer a bunch of these questions together.

gr00vy0ne, I was wondering if you could give some information on the player, like playlists and if they can be made on the player?

To my knowledge you cannot create a playlist on the player. You can however create playlists in SonicStage and transfer those over just fine.

I couldn't tell from the video I've seen of that player if the jog wheel just toggles up and down, or if you can actually spin it around to scroll through menu items. How does it work?

The jogdial works a lot like the original NW-E507 series. It swivels left and right and can be pulled up two notches. The first notch toggles songs within your playlist, genre, etc and the second notch toggles your entire lists, genres, etc. In it's normal state, it acts as the HOLD. I'll have more info soon on this as I need to put it through more trials before I can pass judgement. If anything, it's superlight, it feels good in the hand, it's well-made and the screen is actually readable in daylight (not great but way better than my NW-E507).

Regarding the colors...that's my number one complaint about Sony. I don't think they realize how much they close themselves off from the market by not releasing the same color models that they have in Japan. With more and more demographics buying electronics (i.e. women/girls/non-geeks-like-us), you can totally attract more customers by offering a wider selection. Everyone sells a silver colored digital camera! Perhaps Sony USA is lazy and don't want to have to deal with offering different SKUs.

[Techno Pride]

Don't forget that the NW-S20x series are waterproof. Maybe that's why they're ridiculously priced.

splash proof, not water proof

anyway, i saw some pics of the NW-S20x. It appears that the packaged earphones may not be of the sports type???

[kerfuffle]

O.O So splash-proof means you can't take it swimming with you, but if you spill water on it, nothing drastic will occur?

[Techno Pride]

O.O So splash-proof means you can't take it swimming with you, but if you spill water on it, nothing drastic will occur?

yup

[kerfuffle]

Ah. I'm not buying a NW-S200x, so there's no need to complain about the fact that I can't go swimming with it. xD

[gr00vy0ne]

If you want a waterproof MP3 player for swimming then you're going to find that your choices are extremely limited.

You could go with SwiMP3 which uses bone conduction so you can actually hear the music underwater. Of course, it's not as nice looking as other MP3 players but it gets the job done.

[Ascariss]

well it is available now, 2 gig version is sold out already, ie out of stock.

[cipher]

O.O So splash-proof means you can't take it swimming with you, but if you spill water on it, nothing drastic will occur?

Splash-proof usually means that you can't submerse it in water. So it's okay to use it in the rain...like I'm going to do when I use mine for jogging.

I just got mine today and I'm already wondering how long before the plastic thingy holding the cap that covers the USB port will break.

Also, anyone know how scratch-resistant the display is?