Sony NW-E75 Network Walkman Digital Music Player

Rating:
Summary: I finally found
Review: After contemplating purchasing an MP3 player for the past six months, I finally went out and bought this little wonder: the Sony Walkman NW-E75. It measures 2" x 1," and comes in chrome (think of a rectangular, silver cigarette lighter). It's so sleek, stylish, and small that I haven't stopped playing with it ever since I brought it home three hours ago. I haven't read the manual at all, but have had no problems with figuring out how to program the time and date, backlights, and other settings.

My only gripe seems to be a recurring theme among the others: the Sonic Stage software. It wasn't difficult to transfer files or convert them to ATRAC. Rather, it was the time it took. As a gen-Y-er, I expect my technology to take no more than 10 minutes to do its task. However, the transfer of 256 MB worth of songs from computer to player took about 1.5 hours. I suggest doing this before bedtime rather than waiting around for it to finish.

(...) its size is unrivaled, and great sound quality surpasses all my expectations (I was very worried that the bass would be washed out and weak, but on the contrary, it actually booms in my ear!). For a great deal on a great product: buy this little player. I promise--- you won't be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: poor product
Review: broke on the third day sent back to sony haven't seen it since would look for somthing other then sony

Rating:
Summary: Great Battery Life and Few Problems
Review: I bought this device two months ago. I must say, over everything else, that which has impressed me the most is the astounding battery life. I listen to this thing five or six hours a day, and in two months, I'm only on my third battery. They are not kidding when they say that the battery life is 70 hours--it actually seems to be much more than that.

I enjoy the fact that it is very small (about 2 inches by 1 inch by 1/2 inch). It slips into the pocket of even my most small-pocketed pants, is great for working out or just walking to class. The device also features an option to turn on/off the LCD-backlight so at night I can see what music I'm listening to, and during the day I can turn off the light-display to save battery life.

The options on this thing are great. You can adjust bass and treble, AVLS (which I haven't used yet, actually), and stereo-phonics. It can be set to repeat one song, one folder's worth of songs, or your entire list of songs. The sound quality was lovely, very clear, and the controls are sleek, sexy, and very easy to use. The volume control is on the bottom of the device, and the (+) control is raised and the (-) control is lowered so that you can just feel it in your pocket without having to take it out to adjust the volume.

The software it comes with is very easy to use and allows you to put your songs into folders before transferring them to the player. The way I have mine set up is I've put folders corresponding to the types of music. Basically, when I'm walking to class, I play my "Club Music" folder; when I'm waiting in line I play my "Hard Rock" folder; when I'm relaxing I play my "Soft Music" folder--you get the idea. I have 179 songs in six folders--hours and hours of music play customized to fit my mood.

Now onto my problems with it.

The player doesn't actually play MP3s, only Atracs. I'm not sure if all "MP3" players are like this. Mind you, it comes with the software to convert your MP3 files into Atrac files and the USB cable you'll need to transfer the Atracs into the device. However, I found it to be a slight inconvenience to have to double my song list, which took a great deal of time to do on my computer. Also, since I didn't want to have to take up so much space, when I was done transferring the Atrac versions of my MP3s to the device, I deleted them. This meant that everytime I wanted to delete songs from the player and add new songs to it, I had to remake the Atrac files using the SonicStage software it comes with. I would've preferred to have the ability to simply transfer my MP3s directly to the device as-is.

My other problem with the device was that, careless me, I would let it roll around in my coat pocket or my backpack when not playing. I'll admit this is a bit my fault, but bits of lint and an eyelash have gotten stuck underneath the clear covering. I've attempted to use compressed air to remove the dirt, to no avail. This is only a minor problem and doesn't interfere with playback at all. Just a reminder to take better care of your electronics, as I should have.

Overall, I found this player to be well worth the price. I'm exceptionally pleased, and feel that I've gotten my money's worth. Especially now, when I think back to my CD-player days when I'd need an 18-pack of AA batteries to get through the month, I'm grateful for this wonderful device.

Rating:
Summary: Great for working out.
Review: I bought this MP3 player for working out. I love that it runs on a AAA battery because I hate being caught in the middle of a workout with a low battery signal. I can just run to my gym bag and grab a new battery. The additional cost of batteries is negligible because it runs for an average of 60 hours on every AAA battery. Not only that but it's super light-weight, and has no moving parts which is perfect for running

If you're looking for a high capacity, high transfer speed MP3 player, this isn't for you. The player runs on Sony's ATRAC3 format, so you have to use the software to convert it which takes a few minutes to move the music to the player. That wasn't really an issue for me. I put about 150 songs on it which took about 10 minutes, but I don't plan to keep changing the music since that's more than enough music to work out to. The software took a little getting used to, but if you play with it enough, it's pretty intuitive. I have yet to use it for this, but the manual also says that you can use it to transfer regular data files. That's a nice bonus.

My only complaint is the lack of accesories for it. I wish that there would be some sort of carrying case for it. Otherwise the player works well for what I use it for.

Rating:
Summary: I Think I'm in Love
Review: I may be "challenged" in this regard, but last year I bought an MP3 player and never could get it to work. Wound up selling it on ebay. Thus bruised, I stayed with my CD Walkman until now. Based on my faith in Sony, when I saw this player I decided to give digital another try and it is super! I see that others are complaining about the difficulty of the MP3 to Altrac switch, but I have found the Sonic Stage software completely sensible. The sound quality of the NWE75 is excellent and it's so small that you can put it in a change pocket. Controls are intuitive, and the battery life is amazing. For the price-- iPod who? This little baby is a jewel.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Okay first of all, I would like to right a few wrongs with the reviews. Before getting this product for Xmas this year, I read several reviews that warned me against buying this product. The reasons? Software was too difficult to use, and you had a limited resource base of mp3s.
WRONG!!!!
This was by far the easiest software package I have had to use. Mind you, it's a tad slow compared to mp3 files, but there's a good reason for this. The atrac file is a tenth the size of an mp3 file, which is what allows you to enjoy it on a sinlge battery for up to seventy hours. It first transfers, then compresses the file to it's tiny size for your advantage. I've been listening to mine for about a week now and the battery indicator hasn't flinched. Mine somehow came with 512 MB not 256, so the space is amazing. I've put hundreds of songs on it, quickly, easily and efficiently.
Contrary to popular belief, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE THE SOFTWARE TO TRANSFER MP3 FILES TO YOUR DEVICE!!!! Do you have to install the software? Yes, you do for ANY mp3 player, so dont complain about that, people. You can use the sonicstage software to transfer them as atracs, or you can transfer them as mp3's using another method.
One thing people haven't hit on yet is the brilliant design of the device. Looking at the oddly shaped thing your first time, it seems a little off, but every button is placed in the appropriate position. Holding it in your left hand, you can use your pointing finger for the play/stop/pause button. Your thumb will hang down in position for the other three buttons, which is awesome. The point of all this is simple....it's easy to use. I can stick it in my pocket and not even bother having to take it out, and it took me about five minutes to become a master of the control system.
The software package also allows you to search by the artist, genre, title, or album. My previous mp3 players made me do it myself. A great price, and a two year warranty make this little jewel a safe bet and a fun player for anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Great MP3 Player - Sony Now Supports Direct Load MP3
Review: Once and for all this is a great unit. The only true con has been the Atrac format. Here is your answer.

Sony is now supporting an MP3 File management utility. Go to Sony's site and go to support for the NW-E75. Find the MP3 File Manager Application and run it to automatically load to your player (make sure you unit is connected). Open 'My Computer' - open the ESYS directory and run the utility. You will be presented with instructions on how to use the utility to drag and drop MP3 files directly to your player. You will be able to load and play MP3 files in just a few minutes.

This is a tremendously simple utility that does direct MP3 transfers. You don't have to load SonicStage. If you do, the NW-E75 will load and play both file formats. Just put them in different groups.

With this new MP3 utility, the Sony NW-E75 is about the smallest, full function, longest battery life unit on the market. It is well designed and easy to use. Read the rest of the reviews - they sum it up for you.

Now for the really good news. Check out Amazon for the new NW-E99 that is about to release. It is the same unit as the NW-E75 but will be 1gb memory. Research at Sony site shows the new model will come packaged with the new MP3 manager. I can't wait - have one on order already.

So for all you folks that say the only con is Atrac3 and the clunky SonicStage software, load the MP3 manager, be pleasantly surprised and try to find something else that might be wrong with a brilliant piece of work from Sony.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: That small Mp3 player "the smallest one I have ever seen so far" is by far the best mp3 available so far. Although it has great pros it also has some disadvantage , let me start with the advantages : a very small compact design to hide it any where , 256 MG ,very high sound quality , a very long battery life ( about 40 to 60 hours using Atrac3 plus), and ability to hold about 80 to 160 songs using Atrac3plus and Atrac3.now, for the disadvantage: you have to use the software supported to download mp3 and music to the player, converting to Atrac3 and Atrac3plus takes some time, the software used to transfer and convert the music is kind of confusing and needs some times to get used to , and you have to have Atrac3 or Atrac3plus in order to reach the 40 to 60 hours playback(they didn't mention any thing about mp3 play time, I think it is much smaller). One of the big question I had before buying that mp3 player is the quality of Atrac3 and Atrac3plus... well, It is depends: Atrac3plus 48kb doesn't really produce high quality audio, it produces a quality to a degree of 80%, Atrack3plus 66kb is a good one, it produces a high quality sound to a degree of 94%, Atrac3 105kb is the best, it is just like CD quality

Price is good compared to the advantages you get (I don't consider it really high)