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Sony NW-A3000V 20 GB HDD Walkman MP3 Player - Violet Best Buy
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Price - £208.99 Correct as of 03/04/08
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5 Reviews for Sony NW-A3000V 20 GB HDD Walkman MP3 Player - Violet
Better than iPods! - 13 Nov 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
What can I say - everything I want from an mp3 player! I was originally given a 20GB iPod as a christmas present, which then proceeded to stop working within a week of its guarantee running out - hard drive was ruined apparently through no fault of my own - so I decided to go for something else. Unlike my iPod which needed regular connection to the internet (not easy when you travel a lot) in order for it to function properly, I haven't had to hook this up once and it works just fine (though I will probably connect soon for an update). The sound quality is fantastic, and it's easy to use - with a menu that is simple to navigate your way through. The Connect software is almost exactly like iTunes - takes a while to get used to, but once you've figured it out it's simple! And the best feature of all is it's appearance - it looks stunning - sleek and stylish, and no where near as common as an iPod! All in all I would recommend this to my friends and family far above any other mp3 player out there at the moment. Well worth the money!
Sony NW-A3000V Walkman - 05 Nov 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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The Background
Sony have always produced a consistent line of products with their main objective to be functional and practical, especially where the portable audio is concerned. The NWHD1 and NWHD3 digital media players were a great design. A similar size to MD players and witha screen neatly dipsplaying key information in a logical menu system. However the glaring software issues crushed sales. The early versions of sonicstage made it painful for the average user to transfer any form of media but atrac sourced to the player. At the same time players like the ipod were bridging the gap between windows and apple operating systems with itunes. The support of m4a, aac, mp3 and wav formats by library and transfer programs with relatively simple transfer processes caused problems for Sony.
However, rather than make significant changes to their software and user interface. Sony decided to throw away all of their expertise in design and leech onto the ipod "portrait" mimicry with the NWHD5. A colossal failure in design when compared to other players at the time. With minor adjustments to the ever irritating sonicstage and finally including mp3 support, sony were just keeping their heads above the water.
The NW-A3000 is the next stage. It and its family are the result of Sony jumping onto the ipod designed band wagon with the NWHD5. And their stubborn faith in their atrac based market and software for digital audio.
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The Player
The NW A3000 looks great, its deep purple and chrome finish with contrast of glossy and satin texture (front and back respectively) give a touch of class. The finish appears durable, the curvature has the dual purpose of looking great and reducing wear and tear on the finish. Its overall a very attractive design. I personally prefer the MD styling of the NWHD1 & NWHD3, but as an ipod replication, it holds it's own well.
The player has no touch sensitive controls. This means there are more moving parts like the wobbly volume slider. More moving parts generally means there is more to go wrong, but with the famed unreliability of the ipod, this is a wise move by Sony.
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The Screen
The embedded screen is a nice touch. The main menu is icon based, a little like the sony ericsson phone. But secondary menus are graphically unpleasant and present as large unorganised lists of text. It feels very cluttered and its difficult to work out at first. I was really left desiring the landscape clarity of the NWHD1 and NWHD3.
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The Software
The software (sonicstage v4) can be downloaded for free at the sony website. Sonicstage has received numerous improvements, however it still doesn't begin to compare to itunes or even windows media player as a music library. But at least it is usable and supports multiple audio formats, even though theses are limited.
Within this software, there is the curious inclusion of artist linking (and an entire button devoted to it on the player) I don't understand the convenience of it. The automatic tagging service can retrieve the information for free, this does however take a great deal of time, especially if you have a lot of music. Sadly as I have over 8000 files in my library this is useless for me.
The firmware for the player is now on version 3. This is a must have as there are various compatibility issues, which can render the player unusable.
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The Conclusion
I purchased a NW-A3000V at auction [...]. I would have considered paying up to £150 for this player pre purchase[...]. I was expecting a little more from this player than it offers. After owning various digital media players including 2 ipods, I can rate this as a 4/5. Unlike competitors I feel this player could go on forever, it is very functional but the poor interface on the player deter the less patient users.
Surprised.. - 30 Oct 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful.
I have been looking for a replacement for my samsung 925, the battery was lasting me about 2 hours, I managed to pick up a NW-A3000V for £99, they are discontinued now so you can grab a bargain, I was pretty terrified about the reviews I got but just calmly installed Sonic Stage 4 and got the latest firmware update before I even attempted to put any MP3's on it and its been seemless, I am hoping I get some decent performance out of the battery, if this goes well then I am going to be well chuffed. You may also want to get the volume hack off the internet and some better headphones.
The other reviews are pretty much spot on, not being able to see in sunlight etc but if you can get one cheap, give it a go, for the sake of a couple of downloads you could possibly get a well built 20gb player that performs really well once the firmware has been updated.
Nice player, some cons - 29 Oct 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful.
Pros: Very nice design, nice features like shuffling your top hundred favourite songs, great sound, nice firmware: menus look great and are easy to use, battery life is impressive.
Cons: Connect software of course is horribly slow, I would simply avoid the player if you have many WMA songs as it will literally take days non stop to get them on.
As well as this here are some that i would have liked to have known before i got it: The hold button is electronic so you can't put it on hold when its off so nearly every time you take it out of your pocket it's turned on(all buttons turn it on). You can't see the screen when outdoors and it is bright.
All in all I'm glad i got it, but there are some flaws that are irritating.
Great but not brilliant - 11 Oct 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful.
First of all, I was never interested in having an MP3 player until I saw this little purple number from Sony. It was love at first sight. In fact, it was the ONLY MP3 that I was prepared to have. So my Fiance got me one for my birthday. I was soooo excited and wanted to play with it straight away - as you do!
First hurdle - Sony products ONLY work with their own authorised software. So all the music already loaded via Windows on my PC was a no-no. The supplied software - Connect - was therefore duly loaded onto the PC. And it worked fine for about ten days. Then it crashed. And when I say crashed I mean 'crashed'!! To the point where it just would not work despite being uninstalled & re-installed THREE times. Fortunately, previous reviewers on this site had advocated the SonicStage software which can be downloaded from the Sony web-site. If you purchase this item, do yourself a big favour and save time by going straight for this option. It will update your MP3 and it is far more stable. I have also found it to be far more user-friendly than Connect. If, however, you decide to give Connect a go and then change your mind, be sure to uninstall Connect BEFORE installing SonicStage or it will not load up. Had the provided software been better this review would have had the full five star award.
And so onto the the actual MP3. Well I just adore it. It really does look the part. I have found it exceptionally easy to use and so even the most technophobe amongst you should not have a problem. Creating playlists is very easy - although I haven't yet found out if I can re-name them - and the sound quality is spot-on. It is not heavy although, for the price you pay, a carry-case should have been included to protect the surface even if it is exceptionally durable.
To round off - despite the pants software supplied, and the hassle of having to download the better one from their web-site, this MP3 player is exactly the sort of calibre you would expect from Sony. Get one today!!!