[Spex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haroldpark Hopefully spex can answer our queries about gapless, eq, build quality, sound quality, battery life/replaceability etc. And is it just me or is it really cool how the screen seems to disappear when the device is not on? (at least in photos)

I'm working from a Starbucks before popping in to Sony UK this afternoon. I'll try to get these questions answered. It depends if the right people are available today.

When turned off the screen disappears and other logos, button labels, etc become less visible because they are back-lit.

 

[Spex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by carsncars Here's another picture. I'm not sure whether this is the A1000 or 3000... Sony could differentiate them a bit more

That's one of my photos - it's the 20Gb model. I haven't seen the 6Gb model yet. When I do I'll try to photograph it alongside other players to give some idea of scale.

My next mission is to get a 'long-term test' model because I am genuinely excited about this player and I'd rather blag than buy

 

[carsncars]

Thanks for the photo, Spex-- it's hard to get an idea of it from Sony's and the Press' pictures!

Tha A1000 must be quite small, then.

 

[FenderP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haroldpark Hopefully spex can answer our queries about gapless, eq, build quality, sound quality, battery life/replaceability etc.

It is gapless with ATRAC ... as are all Sony players. Plus, it supports the new ATRAC3plus 320k bitrate. I used to do FLAC but am more than happy with ATRAC3plus 256, so I would imagine 320 is even better.

No player out there supports WMA lossless to date.

 

[FenderP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haroldpark Oh yeah and why does this article seem to be talking about AAC and the itunes music store? Ya think it might support AAC also? or they just slagging off Apple. http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...0908/sony1.htm

I just ran this through both Babelfish and Google - it will support MP3 and ATRAC3/3plus out of the gate, and in December, WMA. The size is just a tad bigger than the NW-HD3 I think (I did a comparison of the A3000 specs to it), so this thing I think will be tiny.

The paragraph that talks about AAC and WMA, in the broken translation, it seems to really be addressing DRM. They worked out WMA, and it seems like they are considering AAC to do at some point, but they would have to deal with all the DRM and things/problems that go with it, so they're not saying they will or they won't, nor putting a timeframe on it.

What it seems like is that Sony's "connect" strategy is to be open about things. I mean, the Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone (W300? W800?) supports AAC. So I wouldn't rule it out ...

 

[Pluman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by carsncars Thanks for the photo, Spex-- it's hard to get an idea of it from Sony's and the Press' pictures! Tha A1000 must be quite small, then.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...8/sony1_00.jpg
^
This is the pic compared the A3000, A1000 and A600. You must find how small the A1000 is on this pic. The strict size is..

A3000: 104.2 x 65.2 x 21.4 mm (thinnest point 13.5)
A1000: 88.1 x 55.0 x 18.7 mm (thinnest point 11.5)

 

[D-EJ915]

The "Connect" software looks much better than the current SonicStage.

 

[Spex]

I managed to get some information from Sony UK about the future of SonicStage. In a nutshell, it's being discontinued either by the end of this year or early next year and will be replaced by Connect.

 

[mushu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spex I managed to get some information from Sony UK about the future of SonicStage. In a nutshell, it's being discontinued either by the end of this year or early next year and will be replaced by Connect.

Let me be the first to say good riddance.

Not bothered how well it plays music, Foobar/WMP is fine. Hopefully you can add your library and auto sync much better though.

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by carsncars

Haven't seen it in person yet, but from the pics, that Sony for me is one ugly gadget. Makes me think of either a little soap-shaped whisky bottle of a drunk beggar, or a very bulky and old, 60's-era looking lighter.

I'm not an anti-Sony consumer though, one thing I admire about Sony is their Playstation and most of their tvs, particularly their XBRs. One thing I deeply hate about Sony is their ridiculous anti-standard approach to everything, creating their own propietary formats every time they can. Their styling of products is something I seriously dislike lately as well. Neither these new Sony portables nor their recent styling of ES home theater receivers and players look pretty to me.

 

[Pluman]

By the way the blue one on that pic seems a dummy, the real has more light colored buttons with backlight.


more photo
http://pcweb.mycom.co.jp/news/2005/09/08/021gl.jpg

 

[Sinbios]

Looks to be about the same size as my Clie

This might actually put a dent in the iPod dominated north american market - Sony is a large, well known, and trusted brand.

 

[Rodent]

I'm very much attracted to the a1000 but I'm afraid Sony will screw this up somehow, they always seem to.

 

[Sweet Spot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsaavedra Haven't seen it in person yet, but from the pics, that Sony for me is one ugly gadget. Makes me think of either a little soap-shaped whisky bottle of a drunk beggar, or a very bulky and old, 60's-era looking lighter.

To each their own I guess, because IMO I think that the ONLY good looking iPod incarnation is the new Nano, and that mini is horrendous looking ! On the other hand, I think that Sony is teh sexah ! With the organic oled and all ? Come on, that's so sleek and shiney..mmmmm.

Quote:

One thing I deeply hate about Sony is their ridiculous anti-standard approach to everything, creating their own propietary formats every time they can. .

Um, yeah. Because Apple doesn't do this. Yah.

It's probably though, one of the reasons why I'd not buy a Sony product as well as an Apple one. Both do the same crap with their DAPs. At least Sony has the jump on things with the advent of drag and drop, and a really good custom EQ (as long as they enable it with Mp3's this time), and very snazzy features to boot.

When in the meantime, the iPod still requires some sort of software for playback after transfer, and still doesn't even have a custom EQ mode ? The Sony is actually pretty appealing to me, knowing that encoding to ATRAC will achieve gapless.

 

[PodMan]

this sony looks pretty good to me actually. I like the OLED embracement that sony has going on with their new products. The buttons stand out though. If they had made the buttons a touch interface with that OLED, it would be like navigating a giant blue piece of candy.