Sony NW-E105 512MB MP3 Walkman - Silver Best Buy

Great hardware - terrible software - 10 Dec 2007

0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

I won't buy a Sony mp3 player again until they ditch the SonicStage software.

The player itself is excellent. Even though the 2 buttons on the rear are tiny my fingers can find a comfortable position (i have small hands) and the battery life knocks the socks off the internal usb rechargable ones that most other players have.

The big down side is SonicStage. This is the software you have to use upload your music to the player. It does not support drag and drop and it takes ages to upload, partly because it converts to Sony's proprietary format (ATRAC I think) before transfer. It turns a reasonable laptop into a treacle powered sloth. Sony use this software to protect copyright music which is reasonable from their point of view as content originators, but if you search on the web you will find that SonicStage is almost universally hated.

If you reload your OS as I do on a regular basis, you have to back up your music library and you then can't take music from player to computer that was uploaded previously because it claims it came from a different machine - NO IT DOES NOT. Also, SonicStage will only work on an Admin account (in XP) so it can't be used by, say a child using a limited account. Ok, give the child a full account you might say, but I don't want them to be able to have full access to trashing the system settings.

Wont play certain mp3's - 13 Nov 2006

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

This ISN'T an MP3 player. The software you receive for this device merely converts mp3's to OMA files (the ACTUAL format needed to play on this audio player) but if the MP3 you wish to convert isn't at a 44.1khz sample rate then this player wont play the file. This is what happens when corporations try to prevent copyright issues and, as a consequence, the consumer becomes confused and conned. I bought one of these to play legitimate podcasts I have downloaded off NEW SCIENTIST website and other sites. Because the podcasts aren't at a 44.1khz sample rate they wont play on the player. Other than that, the sound quality is very good and the digital display is nice and it is quite a tidy little unit. Would have been 9/10 but because it doesn't do what it says on the tin...1/10. RIP OFF. Stay clear.

Following 4 months of use... - 13 Mar 2006

5 out of 5 found this review helpful.

Great little compact, light weight, easy to use and fuss free MP3 player. We've been a happy pairing for 4 months and I have no regrets about buying this item. Despite being thrown about in my bag there are no scratches, signs of damage or wear whatsoever. The battery life varies massively on the brand of battery, but I haven't found a AAA willing to live up to the 70 hour promise - perhaps the only major downside.

Great Sounds - 13 Jan 2006

6 out of 8 found this review helpful.

A fantastically simple MP3 player bundled with user friendly software. Beware if it's for a child and they have they're own account on a home PC running Windows XP. The limited child account does not allow music files to be transferred ??
Otherwise an excellent product.

Sony Cool - 06 Jan 2006

17 out of 17 found this review helpful.

This MP3 player is cool. It's small, lightweight, easy to use and sounds wicked. You can also manually adjust the bass and treble controls which I think is essential.

It took me less than an hour to figure out how to transfer my music onto it and once that's done, you're ready to go. There's no need to spend hours trying to set it up before you can listen to it.

If you're looking for a decent piece of kit for a reasonably low price, then I suggest you go for this product. It won't disappoint you.