Jump to content
  • 0

Sony Walkman A800 now available in Canada

Rate this question

Ascariss

Asked by Ascariss,

 Share

Question

37 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0
Shinji Ikeda Newbie

Shinji Ikeda

Posted
Posted

It is shocking that Sony Canada decided to sell the NW-A800 series at the same price points as all models of the iPod-nano. I strongly believe that the NW-A800 series is a better product that the iPod-nano (negating SonicStage and iTunes). This definitely is great news for Canadians in the market for a flash player, since a hard choice has been made easier by Sony Canada.

The only disappointing fact is that it is a pre-order, but SonyStyle's homepage will give you a preview of what to expect...

http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/H...catalogId=10001

Thank You Ascariss this news.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
ceres Newbie

ceres

Posted
Posted

In deed nice deal. Unfortunately, here in Germany Sony announced a 33% higher price point, also 30% higher than the nano.

With arrogant pricing like this the device will bomb here although I can see prices dropping sharply after 3 months. At any rate, great deal for canada.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Shinji Ikeda Newbie

Shinji Ikeda

Posted
Posted

With arrogant pricing like this the device will bomb here although I can see prices dropping sharply after 3 months. At any rate, great deal for canada.

Sony's pricing in each country makes one wonder if each Sony is independently owned. However, the price points are still competitive. 15-20% is not really significant, when you consider how much better the NW-A800 series is better. In Japan the NW-A808 is 15% higher than the iPod-nano.

Remember this. You get a larger brighter screen, better headphones, longer battery life and an integrated interface with the NW-A800 series. The NW-A800 is worth more than the iPod-nano, but currently any product with iPod in its name will sell more units no matter how competitive another product is priced.

With the NW-A800 Sony decide to create its own product niche.

This is the first time that I have noticed that Sony Canada has had competitive pricing for any of their products, the products are always cheaper in the U.S even after you pay your taxes. :sad:

I do suspect that Sony will release another DAP soon, something that will shock us all...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
lyris Newbie

lyris

Posted
Posted

Glad to see it's coming out in North America. I'm in the UK and bought mine from Japan but most people are scared of imports.

I also love the "Disappointed when your battery dies" mention. Subtle.

Why do none of the Sony sites promote the hell out of the fact that it comes with $105 value headphones?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
ceres Newbie

ceres

Posted
Posted

Sony's pricing in each country makes one wonder if each Sony is independently owned. However, the price points are still competitive. 15-20% is not really significant, when you consider how much better the NW-A800 series is better. In Japan the NW-A808 is 15% higher than the iPod-nano.

Remember this. You get a larger brighter screen, better headphones, longer battery life and an integrated interface with the NW-A800 series. The NW-A800 is worth more than the iPod-nano, but currently any product with iPod in its name will sell more units no matter how competitive another product is priced.

With the NW-A800 Sony decide to create its own product niche.

This is the first time that I have noticed that Sony Canada has had competitive pricing for any of their products, the products are always cheaper in the U.S even after you pay your taxes. :sad:

I do suspect that Sony will release another DAP soon, something that will shock us all...

Well, I cannot concur. We are talking 30% plus based on a device (nano 8gig) that is already a premium priced product although the pod itself is a priced for profits gadget with huge margins for apple. anyway, 30% would be acceptable if radio and noice cancelling were included in the a800 but sony omitted these features. I don´t think they would have gone in the red including these features. I cannot help but point out that Sony Japan and Canada are offering competitively priced devices with the same warranty coverage as here in Germany. Mind you, per capita income is higher in both Canada and Japan. Again, in Europe Sony is screwing over the consumer....as they have done with PS3....as they will always do. Obviously Ericsson has much say in the se joint venture as the situation in this sector is entirely different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Guest Stuge

Guest Stuge

Posted
Posted

Well, I cannot concur. We are talking 30% plus based on a device (nano 8gig) that is already a premium priced product although the pod itself is a priced for profits gadget with huge margins for apple. anyway, 30% would be acceptable if radio and noice cancelling were included in the a800 but sony omitted these features. I don´t think they would have gone in the red including these features. I cannot help but point out that Sony Japan and Canada are offering competitively priced devices with the same warranty coverage as here in Germany. Mind you, per capita income is higher in both Canada and Japan. Again, in Europe Sony is screwing over the consumer....as they have done with PS3....as they will always do. Obviously Ericsson has much say in the se joint venture as the situation in this sector is entirely different.

Cost wise A800 will be 100 % costlier in India than Japan and Canada :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Shinji Ikeda Newbie

Shinji Ikeda

Posted
Posted

I apologize. The percentages that were quoted were from were calculated using the prices on both companies respected sites. iPod-Nano 148,199 and 249 verses NW-A800 179,99, 229,99, 299,99 giving a price advantage to Apple at 21%,15.5%,21%. I am not aware how much the units sell at retail outlets, thus I must use the information that is available. Oops, please add about 7,18 Euros for shipping for the NW-A800. Any ways, Sony will have a hard time convincing people about the price, when the iPod is the premium product in consumers minds.

I am very shocked by how much the PS3 costs in Europe. Sony's world wide pricing structure is very confusing.

Cost wise A800 will be 100 % costlier in India than Japan and Canada :lol:

100%. Yeah, that used to be Canada :lol: . Not really, but it sure felt like it.

My suggestion is wait and see the NW-A800 in person before making a final decision. Everyone is willing to pay for something based on how much it is worth. If they deem it too expensive then they will not buy it.

Ceres, wait until you have the NW-A800 in your hand at the store and then compare it to the iPod-nano. I would like to hear your opinion then, since our perception about the NW-A800 is different. Yes, I would love if it had the noise cancellation and the FM radio.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
navsimpson Newbie

navsimpson

Posted
Posted

Yeah, the disparities in pricing are strange. Although I kinda' understand why the PS3 is more expensive (i.e. labour, gas and materials are more expensive, so it costs more to get it out) I don't understand why the NW-A800 can be priced at parity with the iPod in one region and not another. While the actual amounts should differ, shouldn't the comparison to other products remain the same?

I'm curious to see what happens here in Canada - if Sony actually advertise it, then they might actually see their market share go up quite a bit.

-Nav

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
DSP Newbie

DSP

Posted
Posted

Im very curious when NW-A80x are coming out here in Holland.

And what they're gonna cost.

Ipod nano 8GB costs around 250 euros here. so sony should aim for that imo.

If we're talking about value for money I think sony and apple are both on the wrong way, allthough sony is doing significantly better.

For example, Creaives Zen vision:M is going for 200 euros here at the moment. Yu'll get superb video support, audio, photo, radio, voice recorder, 30GB for that price!!. Ok, it's a HDD. Flash memory is costy, but if you don't care for flash it's a very good deal. Especially with the cometing ipod going for 80 euros more.

greetz

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
BIGHMW Newbie

BIGHMW

Posted
Posted

I wish they would be announced in the US. Too many of the cooler models don't make it here.

Agreed. Especially the Hi-MD and ATRAC CD 7-level units (like my MZ-NH700 and D-NE700 units, see ID on left for markets of origin), I think that they are the best value on the Walkman lineup, combining the 5/6-level's internal "AA" battery capacity (D-NE500/NF600 and MZ-NH600) with the 8/9-level's LCD remote-compatibility and advanced feaures (D-NE900 and MZ-NH900)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Shinji Ikeda Newbie

Shinji Ikeda

Posted
Posted

I'm curious to see what happens here in Canada - if Sony actually advertise it, then they might actually see their market share go up quite a bit.

-Nav

There a short advertisement on the front page of SonyStyle Canada. This does not really help anyone since they have to visit SonyStyle Canada to be aware of the NW-A800 (let alone that it existences). It would be in Sony's best interest to have more advertisement on and in the various forms of media.

I feel that the "iPod and iTunes" advertisements are silly. The concept is easy to understand. Easy system to use that allows you to spend more time enjoying your music. This is not apparently clear from the advertisements. All you see is silhouettes of people dancing.

Thus Sony should demonstrate what makes the NW-A800 distinctive from other DAPs/DMP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Ascariss Newbie

Ascariss

Posted
  • Author
Posted

weird didn't notice this at first but there are a whole lot of accessories for hte players.

usb charger

cradle charger/connection port

hard protective plastic case (clear)

black and white leather cases

black silicone case

carrying clip (plastic)

in car charger via WM port

cradle speaker system (200 bucks yikes)

2 types of carryng straps

also bluetooth adapter

prices here

http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/P...th=46881n100363

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Shinji Ikeda Newbie

Shinji Ikeda

Posted
Posted

Hello all,

I was wondering, does anybody have any idea why the new Sony players NW-A800 only has 8Gigs capacity (for the largest/costliest model)?

Thanks

It would not be possible for Sony to produce a NW-A800 with higher capacity and also price competitive. Remember when Apple released their 8GB iPod-Nano it was believed Apple got a great deal from Samsung. Whether the deal between the two companies amounted to ant-competitive behaviour can be debated. There have been complaints that the pricing of the NW-A800 is already too expensive. It is just cost prohibitive to have a larger flash based DAP or similar device. When the iPod-Nano and similar flash based players drop significantly in price, then there will be higher capacity players.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
globalHaze Newbie

globalHaze

Posted
Posted

Thank you.

I was just curious why Sony wont put out a player that is competitive with the larger capacity players on the market (20, 40, 60 Gig players). I have the NW-HD1, a 20Gig device that has great sound and smaller than a lot of players still (even thought mine several years old). When I look over at somebody else’s, there’s has a color screen and plays videos (the HD1 is monochrome and no video).

Don’t mention the PSP, though it does all the stuff I just mentioned, it is to large to fit into a suit pocket or attach to my belt when I’m walking about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
navsimpson Newbie

navsimpson

Posted
Posted

I think Sony will put out another high-capacity model this year. Just a hunch really - though there have been some mild hints dropped here too :) . I think there's something cool about being able to carry your entire music library around with you, so when my NWHD3 eventually breaks - or I just get a real job - I'd be looking for a player with 60gb or more.

-Nav

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Shinji Ikeda Newbie

Shinji Ikeda

Posted
Posted

Thank you.

I was just curious why Sony wont put out a player that is competitive with the larger capacity players on the market (20, 40, 60 Gig players). I have the NW-HD1, a 20Gig device that has great sound and smaller than a lot of players still (even thought mine several years old). When I look over at somebody else’s, there’s has a color screen and plays videos (the HD1 is monochrome and no video).

Don’t mention the PSP, though it does all the stuff I just mentioned, it is to large to fit into a suit pocket or attach to my belt when I’m walking about.

I would agree with you about the PSP being too large. The NW-A800 series is smaller that the screen of the PSP. The colour screen of the NW-A800 is good for album art, and provides a more crisp GUI. Sony surprised me with the NW-A800 after they released the NW-S700/S600.

I think Sony will put out another high-capacity model this year. Just a hunch really - though there have been some mild hints dropped here too :) . I think there's something cool about being able to carry your entire music library around with you, so when my NWHD3 eventually breaks - or I just get a real job - I'd be looking for a player with 60gb or more.

-Nav

I would have to agree with you, but it will be a hard drive based unit. Flash memory has not made the saturation level to replace hard drive units, with the capacity that most people are looking for. Additionally, I do not think the higher capacity flash memory units are small enough.

Sony seems to be serious at strengthening their Network Walkman and Walkman brands. I am worried about Sony's next surprise, but the NW-A800 is perfect for my uses. It can be predicted that Sony will release a unit for those that use over 8Gb for their digital library.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
navsimpson Newbie

navsimpson

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thanks for finding this! Couple of things I noticed: The battery is apparently good for 500 charges - is that good or bad? I guess if you charged it twice a week, then it'd last - 5 years? Why does 500 charges seem so low to me though?

Also, the playback time listed for MP3 and AAC is higher than for ATRAC - seems strange that you get more battery life not using ATRAC. Still - according to this chart you can get 27hrs playback from *lossless*, which is pretty incredible.

Looking forward to some more detailed reviews.

-Nav

P.S. Oh - wanted to ask. Do we know yet if videos formatted for the PSP will work on this?

Edited by navsimpson
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
LG1_ Newbie

LG1_

Posted
Posted

Looking forward to some more detailed reviews.

P.S. Oh - wanted to ask. Do we know yet if videos formatted for the PSP will work on this?

I am looking forward to more reviews also, still in a mixed mind about it. PSP videos will not work on the NWA-800 but videos formatted for iPod will work which is weird i know but thats the truth look it up if you dont believe me

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
appoloin Newbie

appoloin

Posted
Posted

I was looking at the spec on the UK Sony site and found this "Plays approximately 130 hours of music or 32 hours of video" is this the amount of storage, the battery life, or a typo.

In the UK Sony are cheaper than Amazon but this device is about £60 more expensive than a 8G iPod.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
LG1_ Newbie

LG1_

Posted
Posted (edited)

I was looking at the spec on the UK Sony site and found this "Plays approximately 130 hours of music or 32 hours of video" is this the amount of storage, the battery life, or a typo.

Its storage

Edited by LG1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
metal Newbie

metal

Posted
Posted (edited)

According to Sony HK, A800 series will be available in HK as from 2-5 May.

The price are HK$2188, HK$1828 & HK$1388 for 8GB, 4GB and 2GB models.

Also, E010 series will also be available in HK, but price unknown yet.

Edited by metal
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Deckard Newbie

Deckard

Posted
Posted

Well, the german pricegrabber equivalent geizhals.at is listing the A808 (8GB) for EUR 267,- and the 8GB version of iPOD Nano for EUR 197,-.

We are talking about EUR 70,- / $93 difference here. I don't know how is Sony expecting to gain market share with a price strategy like this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Shinji Ikeda Newbie

Shinji Ikeda

Posted
Posted

well the 8 gig is sold out, the others were as well, but are back in stock now. I am curious to how many units of hte older A3000 and A1000 sony moved in canada.

Ascariss,

Sony Canada in the past had this same problem with the MZ-RH1 Hi-MD recorder. Having sale figures would be interesting information about the A800 series verses the A3000/1000 series.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Answer this question...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to question listing
×
×
  • Create New...