[toughnut]

Just unlucky with lemon unit, perhaps.

 

[walkingman]

Never had this problem on mine or my girlfriend's S639.

 

[Buckster]

My own personal Mini review - a mixed bag for this product (S639 IMO)

I have to say due to the issues with podcasts etc I'm consdering getting a Touch instead

Pros and Cons ....

Pros

(1) good build quality, very small, and superb battery life

(2) excellent sound quality - although not perfect - bass is overblown in my opinion - and no way to reduce it as EQ does not extend that low

(3) Sensme - works great - and is a genuinely useful feature

(4) FM radio works well

(5) Iplayer support

(6) Superb value for money

(7) LCD quality is good - bright


Cons

(1) Thumbnails/coverart working or not seems very tempremental/very picky

(2) Any videos higher than 320 res (even slightly) will not play - this is very annoying indeed as it means a lot of podcasts I used to play on my IPOD will now not play at all very frustrating

(3) No way (that I can find) to order Podcasts in date order - ie the newest one in a particular directory at the top - this is annoying too - as most podcasts have long titles, the part of which says episode/podcast number is often in the part you have to scroll too

(4) USB seems slow to me - but not sure if that is perceived or not

a FLAWED masterpiece in my opinion, so close but not there yet. (2) and (3) in the cons are the reason I'm considering getting something else instead now as I can't watch 50% of my Video Podcasts now as they are 480 or 640x resolution. And if you have a load of podcasts in a single directory for that podcast - I'd like to have the newest one at the top - should be simple, but can't do it.

 

[4saken]

For coverart, make sure it is in jpg (I don't think file size matters, but I'm not sure. For some of my album art, there is a black line on the top, the bottom or both of the album art thumbnail. Not sure why.

 

[Buckster]

thanks

why is it so difficult for the sony to play oversized MP4s

its even more frustrating that it can read the info about it, type of file, resolution etc, just won't play ;(


Quote:

Originally Posted by 4saken /img/forum/go_quote.gif For coverart, make sure it is in jpg (I don't think file size matters, but I'm not sure. For some of my album art, there is a black line on the top, the bottom or both of the album art thumbnail. Not sure why.

 

[walkingman]

I never had a problem with cover art. I use MediaMonkey to sync and all my arts are around 320x320 resolution.

You can get faster USB if you switch to UMS.

 

[Buckster]

thanks - daft question - how do you change to UMS ?

can't see it in any of the menus ?

Mark.

 

[walkingman]

It defaults to MTP if your hardware (PC) supports it. But this can be changed.

On Windows XP (Vista should be similar):

Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager

Find the Walkman on the device manager then choose 'Update driver'. Select 'no, not this time', then install from a list (advanced). Choose 'Don't search', then you will be presented with a list where you can choose between MTP and USB Mass Storage device.

 

[Buckster]

thats one top tip !! thanks very much

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkingman /img/forum/go_quote.gif It defaults to MTP if your hardware (PC) supports it. But this can be changed. On Windows XP (Vista should be similar): Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager Find the Walkman on the device manager then choose 'Update driver'. Select 'no, not this time', then install from a list (advanced). Choose 'Don't search', then you will be presented with a list where you can choose between MTP and USB Mass Storage device.

 

[Buckster]

mm there may be an issue with doing this ...

need further testing - but downloaded some Iplayer stuff today - opened in windows media player to get licence, then copied onto the Sony.

exactly what I did last week - except now - none of the files will play on the Sony - quoting a DRM issue ....

its a fluke if its not changing to USB - so will swap to MTP re transfer the files and see if they then work

any ideas why this would be the case ?

thanks, Mark.


Quote:

Originally Posted by walkingman /img/forum/go_quote.gif It defaults to MTP if your hardware (PC) supports it. But this can be changed. On Windows XP (Vista should be similar): Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager Find the Walkman on the device manager then choose 'Update driver'. Select 'no, not this time', then install from a list (advanced). Choose 'Don't search', then you will be presented with a list where you can choose between MTP and USB Mass Storage device.

 

[Buckster]

just changed to MTP - copied a Iplayer download an it worked ???

so USB mode = DRM files from Iplayer not working

MTP = works

?????

 

[walkingman]

Yeah, the player needs to be in MTP mode for Microsoft's DRM thingy to transfer. Annoying, but I won't complain since iPlayer is free.

 

[Merlin-PT]

Play.com has a great price of 87.99£ with free deliver on the Sony NWZ-S739F (16GB Noise Cancelling), but I think they only deliver in UK:
Play.com (UK) : Sony NWZ-S739F 16GB S Series Premium Video MP3 Player (Black) With Noise Cancelling Headphones : Electronics - Free Delivery

Note: I dont know them, just found it while browsing for a S639F.

 

[fromthelane]

This is a good price. I was in the UK for Christmas but missed this as it only came in stock today (12th).

I don't think there's any way you can get them to ship to the US unfortunately.

EDIT: very reputable company for anybody in the UK by the way.

 

[walkingman]

That is an awesome price for the S739 even if you don't need noise cancelling, especially with its brushed metal case.