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CNET Review of A818 - 8/10

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navsimpson

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First time ever that a Sony DAP has gotten a favourable review from CNET. I think it's significant because, regardless of what you think about CNET, they have a lot of sway in the tech-savvy market.

http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sony-n...ml?tag=pdtl-img

-Nav

[Edit]: Okay, it's not the first time ever - but basically the first time since the HD5, when the market was very different.

Edited by navsimpson
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First time ever that a Sony DAP has gotten a favourable review from CNET. I think it's significant because, regardless of what you think about CNET, they have a lot of sway in the tech-savvy market.

http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sony-n...ml?tag=pdtl-img

-Nav

[Edit]: Okay, it's not the first time ever - but basically the first time since the HD5, when the market was very different.

I thought the tech-savvy market did their own research. 8/10. I will give CNET credit for making a well balance review. CNET has a significant pull on a larger market.

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Okay fine! When I said tech savvy, I meant that the sort of person reading a CNET review usually has some familiarity with tech and many readers are 'tech savvy' i.e. use hacks, have brand preferences etc. Besides, wouldn't reading a wide variety of reviews count as 'doing one's own research'? I've been burned a couple of times by CNET reviews - they rated a pair of Logitech speakers highly and they were just awful), but their reviews are pretty decent and Jasmine seems to be on top of her stuff. I just thought it was important because a mainstream-ish tech site gave a positive review to a Sony DAP, which almost never happens. PC World gave the s610 series a 3.5/5 because of 'limited video format support' - even though the iPod also supports only one type of video (i.e. the same format the s6x an a8x support!), so it's good to see that Sony's belated improvements have been recognised.

-Nav

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Hmm I'm sure CNet would have given an 8.3 or higher if there would have been a different brandname on it (imagine there was an apple on it, it would have been given 11 out of 10 for sure :lol:) Ok the sony 810 lacks some features like other devices have (recorder/fm/games etc.) but it's really good at the (at least according to me) main things like speed/interface/SQ (haven't heard better sound and I have compared a lot of devices in shops)...

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"The only two design aspects we're not too keen on are the proprietary dock connection and(...)"

The ipod has always had a proprietary dock and I don't see them whining about that... Such "impartial" parts of the reviews sick me

Edited by GusG
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Nav,

Thanks for the notice about the positive review. I used to be a big fan of CNET when it was not mainstream. The core readership of CNET are tech-savvy. The rest believe that they are. Yes, I would agree that a mainstream technology site giving a positive review for something that is not an iPod/iPhone is a good thing. However, I have seen the quality of reporting of many mainstream technology media drop from when they became more popular.

General,

I do not consider myself to be tech-savvy, but I am not a sheep either. I have read reviews on different technology site, and too many are opinionated. There is absolutely nothing wrong with someone giving their opinion, but I dislike reading that in reviews.

Each manufacturer makes considerations on what to include and exclude when designing a product. A good reviewer should be able to determine what these are. Additionally, they should be able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this. The "proprietary dock connection" is a design issue. Advantage of a standard USB connection is that if you lose it you can find it easy. However, this restricts the design of the device. With proprietary connection the manufacturer can make accessories for this device. Unfortunately, the readership generally do not care.

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