GUESS WHAT! YET ANOTHER NWA80XXX VICTIM

[p0rkch0p2007]

hi all. i was in my local comet this morning and decided to take a look at the new nwa80x video walkman. at the first glance i was clambering around trying to get the attention of a salesman so i could purchase one. this thing is amazing, i couldnt get over the size of it. imho the size is perfect, the player is small but the screen size has not been compromised. once i got the attention of a salesman he checked if they were in stock, and they were, great!!! he then decided to say (and i quote him on this) "in my opinion you would be better going for an ipod" what?!!? i replied, have you heard the sound quality on an ipod i asked, "yeah but you look cool with the white earphones in" was his reply. at this point i had to refrain myself from twatting him one in the middle of the shop floor lol!!! anyway after my brother calmed me down i made my purchase and i have to say this is by far the best mp3 player ive ever owned. (and ive owned a fair few, almost all the sony range and most ipods and others too). The video and sound quality is amazing. simply the best. well done sony. now all we need is this little beauty with drag and drop, and also gapless playback for mp3, wma, and aac. truly maginifcent.

Edited May 19, 2007 by p0rkch0p2007

[Jrome]

Wow after that I wouldn't have bought from that store. That salesman disgusted me I would have just put the product down and walked out.

[dura_]

It's a sign of a healthy economy; stupid people work in shops, bright people leave their shopjobs for something with more career-opportunities. Of course there are a lot of very competent employees too, but I do not expect to meet them at large shopchains.

[Old skool D]

Doesn't really surprise me, as most of the world is Ipod focussed. You should/could have let him listen to both & educate him

[Zizone_]

I would have complained to the store manager ;

Apple isn't the only one making white headphones... but I refuse to wear white headphones

Anyways, congratulations on your purchase.

Edited May 19, 2007 by Zizone

[p0rkch0p2007]

cheers zizone. gq smooth i would have done that. but i think he was so brainwashed by the whole ipod earphones and looking cool thing that he would not have noticed anyway. dont get me wrong ipods are good mp3 players (especially now they have gapless playback for mp3 and aac files) and also the itunes software is the best music software ive used, but the sound quality (and battery life) are just awful. they claim you can get 24 hours without charge??? no way i got about 12 if i was lucky. and the sound quality makes cds sound like they have been recorded in a tin can (and i have used some pretty expensive headphones on them well over £100 worth). the ultimate compromise would be sony mp3 players with the WHOLE gapless thing (ie not just atrac) and itunes software! also a drag and drop feature on the player. this doesnt really bother me all that much but i know it matters to a lot of ppl. p.s dura i work in a shop and i certainly dont class myself or other ppl i work with as stupid. u have a narrow-minded opinion (in my opinion)lol

Edited May 19, 2007 by p0rkch0p2007

[aob9]

IN fairness to Dura I think his point related to the salespersons reasoning. Looking cool is for fashion outlets, there is a lot more to choosing any form of technology than simply the way it looks.........Having said that Apple have managed to pedal the ipod on appearances only. It 'just looks good''but it's crap digital music player IMO...and yes I do continue to try each new generation just for fun.

[Shinji Ikeda]

IN fairness to Dura I think his point related to the salespersons reasoning. Looking cool is for fashion outlets, there is a lot more to choosing any form of technology than simply the way it looks.........Having said that Apple have managed to pedal the ipod on appearances only. It 'just looks good''but it's crap digital music player IMO...and yes I do continue to try each new generation just for fun.

IMO I think the iPod has evolved more into a fashion statement. I generally stay away from salespeople, unless I have gotten good service from them. Too many salespeople are less informed about I product than I would like. If a salesperson can not tell me the pro and cons of purchasing a product, then I don't trust their opinion.

The iPod became popular strictly through a new marketing technique. Apple has been the most successful using this technique.

A compromise always has to be made when a purchase is being made.

Anyways, thanks for the mini review.

[jonny mac]

Ypu would think if the salesperson found someone interested in the Sony model he would try to promote that over the iPod as it's bound to be more expensive. And yet he still recommended the iPod? He's even putting being a sheep before his own interests. That's dedication.

[india99541]

Tell him to go and work for granny smith apple

[NOiPod]

Lol thats funny, most of the people working in these stores are not properly trained, you do get those who know their sh** and thsoe who don't! If he thinks that the iPod white headphones are cool, then he needs to take a look at the white headphones of the NW-A800 white editions! In looks wise and sound wise they kill the iPod phones.

[maggior]

and others too). The video and sound quality is amazing. simply the best. well done sony. now all we need is this little beauty with drag and drop, and also gapless playback for mp3, wma, and aac. truly maginifcent.

Don't hold your breath waiting for gapless mp3 support on a Sony product. If that happened, who would use ATRAC anymore!?!? :-)

Gapless playback is the ONLY reason I used ATRAC. iPod is one of the few (perhaps only) portable mp3 players that supports gapless mp3 playback with the stock firmware (i.e. Rockbox not required). It's this feature that sent me to the "darkside".

Getting away from ATRAC has been liberating - I can now use my SAME files from my iPod with my Squeezebox in my home (it is a network music player). I have a dock in my car where my iPod will charge while I use it through my stereo.

Sony has to figure a few things out before they have any serious impact on the US DAP market. I can't even buy one of the new series because they don't sell them in the US! Will this be a repeat of the NWA series? I so wanted it to work out for me with Sony products, but ATRAC was too restrictive and the new products were not available to me.