Need opinions on the Sony NW-HD5, Sleek, & Touch players... TIA!

[gsandan]

I narrowed down my choices for a new HD MP3 player. I would like to hear personal reviews and opinions on the Sony NW-HD5, the Creative Zen Sleek, and the Creative Zen Touch. Any opinions would be helpful. Thank you!

 

[max-9]

I have experience with the NW-HD5 , not the others mentioned.
It sounds very good but the volume is a little low . The display is extremely sharp and easy to read in any light. The battery life was fantastic . Its built very solid but the buttons felt kinda cheap . Its nice and small and I really liked it quite a lot. I have a problem with sonic stage (its software) The only reason I returned the player was because of sonic stage. I also have a sony laptop , came with sonic stage and I deleted the program. Maybe you can get sonic stage to work , I cant.

 

[GuffMorgan]

If you are just going to use MP3's with the player there is an alternative to Sonicstage that I used when I had an HD5, and it worked perfectly fine and wasn't a huge program or anything. Plus it allowed you to install MP3's off of any computer without installing a program on the computer. Though I don't recall the name

but if you do a search for it in the forums you should come upon it.

Edit:
http://www.syndetics.net/sony-hacks/sonicstage.html
Read up on that for an alternative to Sonicstage, I used it and it worked fine for me, though I claim no responsibility if it messes someone's HD5 up.

 

[gsandan]

How does the NW-HD5 handle a large number of artists, tracks, or albums when you list them? Can you go through your collection really fast?

 

[carsncars]

The HD5 is as good as it gets for a DAP without a wheel controller. Actually, I think it works better than a thumbwheel. First of all, the scrolling accellerates at the right rate, and then you can search by initial. Very handy. The new A1000 and A3000 are even better... search by initial for everything, jump by page, go straight to the artist/album/genre from the now playing screen. Shame about Connect Player, but you could just stick to SS 3.3.

 

[Bijl]

Connect is fine if you only use it to transfer songs, only a bit slow maybe.

 

[skudmunky]

Well, I know people with both the Zen Touch and the Zen Sleek. I have to say, the sleek is sexier, smaller, and easier to use. I never liked the design of the Zen Touch. Also, the touchpad on the Touch is messed up, even after he RMA'd it and got it fixed. Unfortunetly, I haven't had a chance to listen to either, so I can't comment on sound quality. I'd personally go for the Sleek though. Or the new Vision M.