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"Great Device, 3 major faults." on by TheGiuce
Pros: Amazing Style, Incredilbe Usability, Phenomenal Sound
Cons: Screen Only Worked for 2 weeks, USB 1.0 Transfers, OLED can't be seen outside
Summary: I recently purchased this player at the SonyStyle store in San Fran. I fell in love with the player as soon as I saw it. I soon realized that there were some major faults with the player, one which required me returning it. First, the Organic LED cannot be seen in any amount of outside light. I live in San Fran, which is mostly foggy, and I still could barely see it. On a clear day, it was impossible. I could live with that though. Next, I found out that the player only had USB 1.0 for transfers. This REALLY bothered me, but nonetheless, I loved the player so much, I wanted to keep it. Well... yesterday, after 2 weeks owning the player, the screen quit working for no reason at all. It was still playing fine, just no display anymore. Even though I loved the player, I took it back. And I also am super careful with my devices. Therefore it should not have stopped working for any reason. Basically, I would wait for the next generation, which hopefully would have a UV blocking display, USB 2.0, No SonicStage software (drag & drop), and a screen that won't go out. I have to give the device a 5 for that reason. Amazing design, but serious flaws.
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"Great Player, useless belt clip!" on by qbzonk
Pros: Battery Life, OLED Display, Size, Capacity, FM Tuner
Cons: USeless Belt Clip, limited accessories, screen unreadable in sunlight, Sonic Stage Software.
Summary: I reviewed several 1GB players before purchasing the Sony. My basic requirements were long battery life, size, and design.
The Sony nails each one of them. The battery life is amazing. I charge mine maybe twice a week. The size of this player is equal to that of a typical thumb drive, only slightly bigger. The design is such that it is easy to carry and can be controlled with one hand.
What I like about this player is the fact that it looks cool. Anyone who sees it, asks, "what is it?" The sleek silver case & mirror finish glass looks very trick. The OLED display is beautiful with several different display types to choose from ( 2 seperate music file displays, a vertical time display, a chronograph display as well as a floating bubble display).
I really wanted a player with an FM tuner in it and this one works great. The volume is OK on this unit with the provided headphones, but when powered speakers are plugged into the headphone jack, it won't blow you away. Scrolling through the menus is simple and very intuitive. The supplied headphones are OK at best, but can be somewhat uncomfortable over extended periods (2+ hours for me), but not enough to stear me away.
Now for the bad. Unfortunately the beautiful OLED display is completely useless in direct sunlight. I was unable to see anything on the display when I was outside in the sun. The supplied plastic belt clip is USELESS...did I mention it was USELESS? The clamping power of this thin plastic clip may as well be non-existant. In wearing this player to my gym with the clip attached to my waistband, I managed to have it let go and drop on the floor every singly day (thank God for rubber floors). I could not imagine this thing hanging on while running or jogging. To top it off, Sony doesn't offer optional carry cases for this unit, so either carry it in your pocket like I must do or be creative and make a case of your own. There is also no arm band that came with the player, nor does Sony offer one as well. Why Sony, Why?
The included software, Sonic Stage, is required to transfer files to the player. While this software is functional at best, it is still a pain to use and does take more time than simply drag and drop, but it does offer you the ability to organize your music the way you like it and at the bit rate you want to save space if need be.
Overall this is a great player with just a few shortcomings. I did contact Sony Customer Service regarding the clip issue and as of 7/14/05 there wasn't anything new available, but they did pass my suggestions on to their engineering dept. I hope a more useful way to carry this unit without fear of it falling and breaking is in the works. -
"Please, Read This, Sony!!!!!!!!" on by dqt
Pros: Hardware And Technology
Cons: Copyright Protection Strategy
Summary: 10 rate for the design and the technology, but 1 for the conservative opinion on marketing strategy!
I think SonicStage is not worse than iTune technically (That is simple software), the difference is copyright protection opinion. Sony is not the only one to sell portable audio and digital music in the world; Sony cannot do much to stop violating copyright, while other companies are not. If Sony continues keeping its idea, it will suffer from negative reaction form the public.
Sony MP3 player can be much better than Apple in hardware thank to its experience and exclusive technologies, but iTune is much better than SonicStage now, especially the iTune Music Store. If Sony doesn’t change its mind, one day Apple would buy Sony’s Music Store, at that time, Sony would have nothing to protect the copyright.
Imagine that, what will be if Microsoft tries to protect its software all the way? Linux will bite a bigger share of cake. The popular of MS software may earn from copyright violation.
In my country, illegal CDs are available in every music store, what does Sony protect for with SonicStage? All Sony do now is killing itself and making Apple stronger and stronger in digital music market.
The above-mentioned is my own opinion, but I don’t why CNET also criticize Sony opinion of copyright protection in public? -
"Returning it" on by cypherism
Pros: slick hardware design, great sound
Cons: SonicStage (doh!!)
Summary: I waited a long time to get this player, what a dissapointment. The hardware, and OLED screen is gorgeous, and the sound is great (with better earbuds), but the SonicStage software (the only way to load music on the 507) is horrible. It hangs constantly. Very annoying. Killed my buzz. I would rather stay with my trusty old 256MB iRiver than use the unstable SonicStage software.
Why Sony??? You could have done it right this time....
I will exchange for the Samsung YEPP. -
"Hot little player, with just a few limitations" on by supermatt
Pros: small, easy to use, great looking, fun, long battery life
Cons: only 3-line readout, limited capacity, kinda expensive
Summary: I did a lot of research into flash type mp3 players. and this one is the best looking and well-built. i've had mine for about 3 months now.
i really like it because it's not the ubiquitous ipod shuffle (which i think is not as good), and it looks way better than all the non-apple competition. it has a lot going for it, including ease of button use, "bic lighter" size, great sound, sexy look, neat-o organic electroluminescent display. it's true that in bright daylight the display totally washes out, but the rest of the time, it's crisp and bright.
it's kinda expensive for the storage, but it has super long battery. it really is like 50 hours. the downsides are i'm scared to scratch the finish (so i keep it in the provided pouch); the FM radio doesn't get great reception while i'm walking around (maybe that's true of all mp3 players), but at least i have the option to listen to the radio; the software is kinda limiting --i got all my songs on there but some wav and mp3 files don't transfer for some reason. i also maxed out at about 225 songs.
but, overall i'm really still pleased i got it, because its not some circuit city junk, and it's not the ipod that everyone has, and that's so unoriginal (snobby, i know). and to answer the the on-going debate about the shuffle versus the sony-- i think this beats it because of the display, the fm radio, and the battery life. unfortunately, there's now the new ipod nano!!
Sony NW-E507 Network Walkman user reviews (1GB)
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