Sony NWZS616FBLK 4GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Black)

Manufacturer: Sony Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. List Price:$159.95 Our Price:$119.99 Features: High quality video playback at 30 frames per second Up to 33 Hours of Battery Life 1.8" QVGA LCD Screen Compatible with Secure Windows Media Audio FM Tuner with 30 Station Presets Description:

Reviews:

Sony NWZ-S616F and Audiobooks
I listen in order to assign to goddesses overdrive books that one that I transfer dal my system librarian for means dell', that it uses the lime protect del wrm. are excited in order to see this player while compatible sul Web situated della library dell' overdrive therefore has bought it. All the that the critics say us approximately this player, duration of battery, interface of easy customer, great sound, etc are to align, so as to I appreciate the player from these functions. The problems in using the this player for the audiobooks are twofold. In the first place not there are bookmarks. My listening tracks are of length approximately 70 minuteren. If I wish to listen to FM, I can commutare easy over to it. However, when I go of new to music, the player behaves itself as I am beginning over. I must find the lima that I was listening and then fastly in ahead with it until that does not find my place in the book. In the second place, the fast option of forward/backward. My old creative Muvo accelerates of gone fast more long maintains the key. Therefore to move in ahead from the 10 towards tiny mark 20 is the much fastest one of going from tiny mark 0 - 10. The only fast SONY sends to same, the slow one, rate without R-with regard to how much time maintains the key. Therefore while it has ahead occorr to second to the movement in 40 minuteren with the creative, this player seems to always take in order, even if really cronometrato it. Still plan to use this player like my head physician, poichè already I have sunk it my moneies for, but I have had in order to make it over, I would have selected a different player for my specific needs. Eventually SONY can exit with a modernization of firmware to recall these requirement.


good one!
I got this in 4gb sat. morning, sunday I had it filled up with 911 songs. I use a Vista laptop and had no problems at all. The sound is outstanding if you trash the junk earphones that come with it. I am using Grado headphones and it sounds just like my cd's. The FM radio picks up more than any other small radio of it's type I have used. Pretty much the best mp3 player I have used. The battery seems to last longer than the creative Zen I have been using. You won't regret springing for one of these if you want good sound in a easy to use package , just get whatever decent headphones you want, the ones you get should sell for about two bucks!


Great walkman with great features!!
Sony is finally in the MP3 player race. The 616F Walkman is thoughtfully built with features, such as an FM Tuner, video support and drag and drop uploading that make this player one of the best. The ability to use Windows explorer to upload photos, music and video to the player is a great advantage so users do not have to install yet another application that "moves files around". The battery life for music playing is touted at 33 hours, and it comes very close to hitting that mark and in some cases exceeds! I left my Walkman playing over night after listening to it for 8 hours and still got another 8 hours of listing enjoyment. This is a fantastic feature especially since I am in an environment that I cannot readily charge my device!

Overall this is a fantastic player that I would highly recommed to anyone looking for a lightweight mp3 player.


Watch out IPod!
I have black SONY NWZS616 4GB and I could not be happier! It has the possibility to more support to 2300 songs the videos and moreover it has one receiving of FM, with 30 preregulations. The duration of battery is... until 33 hours great! That is one great choice if not wished to pay the price of IPod. I have paid $109,95 from Amazon with free transport and no tax the ss!


I've left the ipod for a walkman and loving it
After having mine ipod it goes busto approximately 12 and months of 1/2 after that I have received it like gift and after to be occupatsi of the cumbersome treatment of rows of the itunes and synching, I it has selected a walkman like my following player mp3. Absolutely I love it It is small, clear and great abundance for my needs. The sound is better of the ipod. I have coupled the walkman with with of the caps cancelling for the measurement of the noise of AudioTechnica and I cannot believe how much good music sound. The lima that it transfers and that synching is much easy one. Great diagrams. Easy to use the mechanisms. It loves this. Good job SONY.


An Awesome MP3 Player
This is my first MP3 player and I'm totally blown away.

Pros:

1) It's small.
2) The display looks awesome.
3) 5-band EQ. I already made a custom "Metal" EQ because theirs was horrible.
4) Drag and drop MP3 onto it via Windows Explorer.
5) The stock earbuds are actually really good.
6) It sounds amazing.

Cons:

Haven't found any "Cons" yet. I REALLY like this thing.

This being my first MP3 player, I'm glad I ended up with this one. I did some research online and it had the best reviews of any MP3 player I looked at. I just rip CDs in Windows Media Player (the version that came with Vista) and either have it "Synch" with the player or I manually move songs over. Couldn't be any easier.

I highly recommend.

~Slick


Great MP3 player!
Found this Sony MP3 player very easy to use with absolutely great playback quality. Love that the batteries as rechargeable. Highly recommend this product.


Great Mp3 player
For whatever reason I was NOT going to buy and ipod, so I was looking for an easy to use mp3 player. This player has been everything I wanted. I have over 400 songs on it right now and it is easy to organize them. I also use it at school to play classical music so I have it hooked up to external speakers and the sound is great. 4gb is plenty for me as I do not even have it half full.


It's okay... but I wouldn't buy it again



Wow
SONY, are impressed: No classified software, no classified memory and a speck of oil plan. That is an unit of the thorn and the game of the USB. I have connected to my calculating, it immediately have been recognized from the system. Then as soon as I drag and fallen mine lime and aspect in order to go. Expenses of the battery directly from the USB. Hour, SONY listens prays: We have need of a MODERNIZATION of the FIRMWARE for the video codecs. (MP4 only, is one shame)


Read it and weep, Apple.
PROS: Outperforms iPod Nano in every important respect, for 25% less $$.

CONS: Not compatible with iTunes; overpriced accessories.

With the introduction of their NWZ-S600 "Walkman" line of digital media players, Sony hasn't exactly put a man on the moon, but they sure have stolen Apple's thunder. All you people out there (like me) who have thus far resisted succumbing to Apple's iPod "siren song" (and all of the company's manufacturer-exclusive marketing tactics that ALWAYS end up delivering inferior components/performance to the consumer, at a higher cost) your patience has been rewarded by Sony. This digital media player simply kicks a** on its closest competitor, the iPod Nano.

PRICE:

The 4GB Nano is currently retailing for $150, or more. I just got my 4GB Walkman for $110. That's a 25% savings folks, for what I view as a superior player.

MEMORY/COLORS:

This line of Walkmans currently comes in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB memory configurations, and your choice of four colors: black, silver, red or pink. As with the iPod Nano, the memory is "flash" based, which means no internal drive or moving parts, and thus, greatly increased battery life (addressed further below). If you like to watch video on portable devices like this, you should probably go for the 8GB version, as video files tend to consume a lot of memory, and the operating system for the device consumes a little less than one-half of a GB, leaving you with about 3.6 usable GB in the 4GB player. Sony rates the player as being capable of holding "up to" 15 hours of video or 2,450 songs, but those ratings are going to vary substantially depending on the content and compression rates used in the video/music files you're transferring into the player. In short, this player will store more music than most people would listen to in a month, but if you plan to watch a lot of video on this player, you better step up to the 8GB version ... you'll need the extra memory.

BATTERY LIFE:

Like the Nano, the Walkman uses an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery, but it must be larger and/or more efficient than the battery used in the Nano, because battery life is probably the most noteworthy difference between the Walkman and the Nano. The Nano is rated for "up to" 5 hours for video playback, and 24 hours for audio playback. The Walkman, on the other hand, is rated for up to 9.5 hours for video playback and 33 hours for audio. Again ... wow. Both the Nano and the Walkman will be fully recharged after only 3 hours on your computer's USB port.

SOUND QUALITY/MUSIC PLAYBACK:

I've listened to both the Nano and the Walkman pretty carefully, and I believe the sound quality of the Walkman is far superior to that of the Nano. I find the "earbud" style of headphones pretty uncomfortable, so I generally don't use them, but if you like earbuds, the earbuds supplied with the Walkman sound really great, and are especially surprising at the bass end. There's far more bass present in them than I can ever remember hearing in any other earbuds I've tried. In addition, the Walkman has a number of audio enhancement features that you can tinker with to make your music sound the way you like it, including a pristine 5-band graphic EQ (with not one, but two user-definable presets) and three advanced audio processing features called "DSEE," "Clear Stereo," and "Clear Bass."

The Walkman plays the most common compressed audio file formats, including .mp3, .wma and .wav. The song title shows up on the screen, you push the "play" button, and you're good to go. Depending on the amount of tag information appearing with the file, you can easily scroll through and pull up files by artist, album, alphabetical title listing ... whatever works for you. You can also create customized playlists in Windows Media Player 11 that you can transfer into your Walkman (more on that below).

On a CD included with the player, Sony also provides software that will allow you to convert any Sony "ATRAC" files you might have kicking around your computer into a file format that the Walkman will play.

Like all other non-Apple digital music players, the Walkman will not "synch" with iTunes or transfer/play music files downloaded via iTunes, because, in typical fashion, Apple formats iTunes downloads so that the only portable digital music player you can use to directly transfer files purchased there is ... you guessed it ... an iPod. I won't bother telling you my feelings about being asked to pay $1.00 for download of ONE SONG, and then being told by the company I just bought it from that I have to also buy their overpriced, underperforming digital music player if I want to listen to the song I just paid for anywhere other than at my computer station. Well, maybe I just DID tell you my feelings about that ...

You can avoid this problem by making your online music purchases through another vendor, like Napster.

VIDEO QUALITY:

The video screen on this thing is a 1.8 inch high res GVGA TFT color display. It's small, but it is sharp and bright, at 240 x 320 pixels. The screen will knock your socks off. Using the trial version of a third party video compression software I found on the Internet, I compressed a little piece of "Gladiator" and loaded it into the player just to see how it would look and sound, and it was, in a word ... awesome. Every minute detail seen in the film was clearly visible on this little screen, the playback was flawless, and the accompanying audio was fantastic. Unlike the screen on the Nano (which is square), the screen on the Walkman is rectangular, and you can change the video layout from vertical to horizontal and tip the player to one side or the other, so you can easily view movies in their original "letterbox" aspect ratio. That is SO COOL!

Video compression is a bit too complicated a subject to discuss in any detail in this review, but this Walkman plays .mp4 video files, with AAC audio. Once you find suitable software for conversion of your DVDs into this format, and use your computer to convert your DVDs (a pretty time-consuming and CPU-intensive process), you'll be able to easily transfer the resulting files into your Walkman and watch all your favorite DVD movies/shows on your player. Of course, you will also be able to transfer and play any shows or movies that were pre-formatted when you downloaded them.

It will also store and display gazillions of photos, in .jpg format, if you want to use the player for that function.

The various system menu items are well-designed and easy to read on the video display. Scrolling through the various menu functions is a breeze, which brings me to the operating controls.

SIZE/CONTROLS:

The Walkman is about the size and weight of a cigarette lighter, measuring about 3" x 1.75" x 3/8." It will fit easily in the smallest hand, with easy, one-hand access to the front control panel.

The front control panel consists of a play/pause key in the middle, surrounded by right/left/up/down touch pads, that are very easy to use. The unit turns on and off by holding down the multi-function "Option" button at the upper right of the control panel, and the "Back" button at the upper left of the control panel allows you to easily back up through all menu options to return to the "main menu," which is the menu shown on the video screen in Sony's stock photo of the player. The volume is controlled with a +/- toggle located on the top right edge of the player, and there's a sliding "hold" switch on top left edge. You use the "hold" switch to ensure that you don't inadvertently turn the player on or off while carrying it in your pocket. These controls are also easy to locate and use. As with Microsoft Windows, there's generally two or three different ways to make the controls do what you want, so you don't have to be a tech genius to familiarize yourself with all the player's features, and be able to use them within a very short period of time.

I personally prefer these types of controls to the touch-sensitive controls used in the Nano ... fewer unintended control changes.

USB INTERFACE:

The Walkman connects to your computer via a USB cable provided with the player. It is "plug and play" compatible with Windows XP and Vista, and interfaces directly with Windows Media Player 11. That is, in Windows Media Player 11, you can set up "synch" functions that allow you to control and move files to and from your player/computer more easily, just like iTunes does with iPods. You don't HAVE to use this function, however. You can also just "drag and drop" files to and from the Walkman using MS Explorer. That is, the Walkman shows up as a new drive when you plug it into your computer, you open it up, and just drag the files you want into the "Music" folder in your Walkman. The files are transferred into the Walkman, and off you go.

If you don't already have Windows Media Player 11 installed on your computer, this upgrade is included on the CD provided with the player, or you can easily find and download the newer Media Player online.

FM TUNER:

Although I'm not personally a big fan of my portable digital media players being mucked up with extras like FM tuners and voice recorders, I have to confess that the FM tuner in this player is cool, and works very well. There's a simple, clear screen graphic for the tuner control; it's easy to scroll through and assign presets to your favorite stations; it seems to zero in and receive stations very well, and plays very high quality, at least when you're using the earbuds supplied with the player. For those of you who don't know it, the "antenna" for FM tuners supplied in players like this is your headphone cable, so your reception can vary dramatically depending on what kind of headphones you're using and how their cable is shielded ... just a word to the wise. Anyway, if you plan to use the FM tuner in your player a lot, you'll be happy with this one.

ACCESSORIES:

As is usually the case with Sony, it would appear they're padding their bottom line on lowball sales of the player by overcharging for accessories. For example, the custom fitted silicone and leather cases offered for this player are ridiculously overpriced at $40 ea.; the hard plastic shell is about $30, and you can't presently get these items ANYWHERE for anything less than that. Adapters that would allow you to plug the Walkman into your cigarette lighter or AC wall outlet for recharging (as opposed to plugging it into your computer's USB port) are likewise overpriced at $40.00, excluding tax and shipping costs. At that price, I plan to simply do without these accessories, but I'm still delighted with the value represented by the player itself.

SUMMARY/CONCLUSION:

Unless you're totally strung out on iPods and Apple, you'd have to be a fool to not take a serious look at the Walkman if you're in the market for a new portable digital media player. This little gizmo is stacked, it's very attractively priced, and you'll love it.



Wow! IPod who?
What an awesome player!! I just got my 8gig. I upgraded the headphones to the Sony High Performance earbuds (I have only found them at Best Buy)and they cost $43 but are well worth it. My live songs sound like I am truly at the concert and the bass is bone rattling. By the way, you do not have to use the Windows Media Player. I found the RealPlayer alot easier to use and had absolutely no problem transferring files whatsoever. This is especially important if you have music from file sharing. Windows Media Player does NOT recognize most of these files and Real Player does.


Handy little thing
Initially it was the kind to get annoyed itself that all mine it would not transfer without to copy it to a disc. But once that you obtained the fall to it, it has gone uniform. There are characteristic cold a such one "I reorder of the time machine" that mescolarea the songs second the year that have been produced. It holds videos and the tons of songs. I do not appreciate especially the napster but I obtain it near using the rhapsody. I do not have claims!


UN GRAN MP3
ANTES DE COMPRAR UN PRODUCTO, SIEMPRE ME INFORMO BIEN, Y NO ME ARREPIENTO DE HABER ADQUIRIDO ESTE VIDEO MP3 PLAYER, ES SENSACIONAL, SU TAMAÑO ES PERFECTO, NO ES FRAGIL, SU SONIDO ES MAGNIFICO, TIENE UN MENU MUY FACIL DE MANEJAR Y DE ENCONTRAR LO QUE BUSCAS, TOTALMENTE COMPATIBLE CON LOS FORMATOS QUE SE INDICAN, LO TIENE TODO,,LA CALIDAD DE SU VIDEO ES SENSACIONAL Y SU CAPACIDAD DE ALMACENAMIENTO PERFECTA ( DE ACUERDO A LAS NECESIDADES DE CADA QUIEN , 2,4,8 GB ) ES EL MEJOR MP3 PLAYER QUE HE COMPRADO Y A MUY BUEN PRECIO.


super sony 616 walkman mp3 at last
after that reading many reviews comprised the walkman of the SONY mp3 616(4gb) and finding towards the outside that one she is not the only disowned person that has being through several devices you mp3 (cowan, clix 2 etc.)and of the iriver listening some ipods, I have bought walkman of the SONY. a good choice. the good ones: sound: the healthy experience by far better in comparison all that tests but that nix the vpt encircle the regulations know of it, less that you appreciate an echo lodging navigation: enough easy for tizio of a 74 years value: of new, through the comparison, little expensive two times to the price even if not it use never good value screen: healthy control of the luminous, free, excellent diagrams: dynamic normalizzatore that absolutely essential rule in the control of the variance in the sonorous volume from one the following track to battery: it does not obtain at all to improve that these days, weeks, more. mine clix 2, hours of the iriver of the brace in best of the cases down the lateral one: it must recharge the near battery insert to the calculating. but edition much secondary one. on a recent travel del ice-skate, I ask ai personal dell' hotel to connect their calculating for the hours della brace no cap of plastic protection separates to the purchase to $20.00. plastic systems del baggie. no wing ipods. SONY of the strap of the arm is lacking the boat all the ipodders prance around to the gym that it visualizes theirs ipods. a baggie of plastic around to the neck the ransom then a geezer cannot repeat qualche.cosa that desires sturm of chris


Bottomline: Great MP3 Player!
That is mine first players MP3, so as to I cannot confront this unit to ipod or any an other player MP3. I have decided to obtain dawned with the age of technology, so as to I have bought this unit in order to replace my player of portable CD of the SONY (than still he works large), I listen to while to my center of service and I he must say, I I am a lot, much happy one with this unit! The sound is great radio and taken care of and the color screen/monitor it is unbelievable. I cannot believe hardly that SONY has been able to put all these characteristics taken care of in this small unit! More I must not maintain a drawer filled up of CDs. I can transfer hardly all from the system centers them towards the satellites over to this unit, I have put the regulation to I reorder and I have left it to tear! More not to observe through my CDs in order to see that what I wish to feel itself and this unit is a large thrifty person of the space! Moreover I appreciate the fact that I can connect it to my CPU and recharge it! Batteries more of purchase than aa for my player or the portable connection of CD it to my adapter of CA. TWO BLOWS IN ON FOR SONY! My advance for all that people who still are attacked in a thread of warp of time (like I was), it transforms the jump the age of technology and eliminates your players of portable CD and buys this unit. I guarantee them that he is many happy you!


Sony Walkman Player
I cannot hour to express I have impressed it are with this product.I I have bought player 4GB for my sister like gift. So as to they are made an impression with it that I am going comprargli a player 8GB for. SONY has exceeded the IPOD from knows to you and from the limits with this player and offers if in order to a lot that the cost of the IPOD. It seems I polish and beautiful and the thing better than all, it is sooooooooooooooo easy to use. All that can it says is ""!!!!!!!!!! of SPEED DISTORTION THANKS SONY!!!


5 Star!
I upgraded from an I-River 1 gb player. Boy what a difference. The menus are easy to understand as well as the functionality. I also like how the album covers are displayed for the downloaded songs on this high resolution screen.

The battery life is excellent as well as the reception of the FM radio tuner (even indoors). I definitely recommend this product!

A word of caution, however. This thing is EASY TO DROP!




The best.
For: The healthy quality is croccante and in full load; EXCELLENT navigation and UI; control of volume dedicated from the side; the player immediately ignites, no attended time of at all; duration of large battery; pleasant in order to watch and to hold. Against: There is no Su-$$$-VA playlists that it is with more meaningful, also, all the key ignites the player so as to the switch of the grip must be regulated "to the lock" after that it is turned outside of but no great transaction. The electronics consumers currently seem to prefer little practical the cold characteristics however over quality. Excessive substance of style. Perhaps it has been always that sense. The electronics suppliers answer putting towards the outside the devices polish you and snazzy with the cold characteristics that are destined badly and divertimento in order not to use. SONY however, is going in a different sense and is designating one crowd like different target. The company is putting to fire on semplicità, quality and facility of use. Therefore this impressive player. I have possessed 2 iPods, one creative Micro-Foto of Zen and a Sandisk Sansa e280. I have given to this 5 stars because he is the player that better mp3 you had never used. However, SONY would have to include Su-$$$-VA playlists. Navigation with this player is superb. It forgets the coil-small wheels or touch-pads or the touch-screens little prati us about the imagination-pants. The freccii left of right and they move in alphabetical order through the list of the artist. Up and down the arrows then are used in order to select your choice. Therefore simple. "hour the game" of the screen can be given back to from wherever. Moreover there are the 2 regulations on ordinazione of the compensator and to play around with they is a ossequio when the healthy quality is therefore good. There is a cycle from the side for one cordicella. It obtains the hard free case from SONY. It renders the player the much easiest one to hold and to use. It obtains the player pure.


my first MP3 player
First I want to thank the several people who write reviews on the various products here at Amazon (and CNet.com).
I was initially going to go with the ipod Nano because it seemed to work well (my boss plays it in the operating room through the FM tuner). Then I liked the capabilities of the Sansa players. What sold me on this unit was the FM tuner and the sound quality based on the reviews I read here. So far I'm not disappointed. I don't like the fact I have to charge it through my computer and the ear phones could be better, hence the 4 stars.
I must say I tried to listen to this player at a chain store (whose second name rhymes with 'pity'. I was told by two sales associates that I couldn't listen to the various MP3 players they had on display and that their supervisor wouldn't like it at all! I was in too much shock to comment or laugh. I don't think I'll be buying from that store for anything.
M


THIS SOUNDS AWESOME!!!!
ok let me start off by saying i have bought i believe every mp3 player out there to try and i have had a 30gb ipod video for about 6 months now and have never been satisfied with the sound of any mp3 player ive tried they all sounded tunnelly not stereo enough missing something. so i figured "oh thats just how mp3s sound" I WAS WRONG! well i am 35 years old and have been listing and buying cds since i was 15 or so. and when i started listening to mp3 players i felt something was missing the punch to alot of songs i grew up with and loved was not there anymore the warmth was gone, the sound was weak and did not sound as good as cds on a cd player. so anyways for 6 months now i have been exclusively listening to an ipod at work and in the car (this thing sounds incredible in the car to) for 6 hours a night and ripped many different ways 192,256 and then i tried lossless to see what people are saying about that, and lossless even sounded like crap on my ipod.for you ipod owners the convience is awesome the portability is great but if you really want to hear how great a cd or a song should sound do yourself a favor go to a circuit city,target,or walmart and pick up this new sony mp3 player and listen to the sound, this thing is AMAZING! it has so many different sound enhancing features it is a little longer then a zippo, skinnier, and less thick then 1 to weighs about as much as a feather (lol) seriously though its lite, and the headphones that come with it are not to bad either for earbuds but i use the radio shack koss titanium pro 75 they are incredible headphones. the only problem i have with this and where the ipod rules right now is space but please SONY put out these new NWZ models in a 100+ gig and i'll buy another in a heartbeat. the video looks great on this although small but i compared the ipod with this and although smaller the video on this is more deatiled crisper and the blacks are deeper. also when you look up an album it has a little pic of all the albums where you can just go to that specific one click it and all the songs are there. i know i wrote alot but again this thing sounds better then any other mp3 player out there so if you can do without games and want to hear incredible sounding music (just not alot of music on your player that doesn't sound incredible)then by all means pick up the this new SONY mp3 player you have to HEAR IT TO BELIEVE IT!


Good Sony MP3 Player
I have obtained hardly this player. I appreciate a lot up to now. It is small and to adapt itself perfectly in my hand and I love the red metallic look. It is easy to fall and to drag themselves in lime in the devices you of bending. It is moreover easy to traversare and the keys are easy to use. However, the video possibility of the player is limited because the screen is therefore small and only plays the lime of M4V and MP4. I have not been able to find a converter that it would allow that me MPEG-2 in lime MP4 converts mine lime that the player recognizes so that he was annoying. SONY would have to supply to a free converter player MP3 instead loading $20.00. In a generalized manner, I would suggest this player MP3 because it is divertimento and easy to use. Modernization: After the hours of search of the Internet I have found a program free (converter 3GP) in order to convert the mpegs in MP4s that can be read from this player of SONY MP3 and SONY PSP. For the instructions on the lime convertentesi it goes here: http://www.engadget.com/2004/12/21/how-to-get-videos-and-dvds-onto-your-sony-playstation-portable/) really, it would not have to be this difficult one. Moreover it does not help that SONY is loading $28,00 for a case with the silicone (nobody clip) and a hard free case that are not not even however available. Which thing is thinking? SONY is simply frustrating the relati to you customers who can easy abandon them for the established IPod or the creative Zen. I have used a skin on ordinazione in order protect the player of SONY MP3 from bestskinsever.com and will sew on an economic case. Plan to use the pennies that saving in order to buy a connection decent of the auricular transducers.


Finally a superb Sony Player
Ok, I usually wait to test the product for a few weeks before posting a review, but this time I can't wait that long. It's been a while since I first started to look decent mp3 player that was easy to use, looked nice and was able to manage several file formats. Every player I tried was a bigger disappointment. I'll try to relate my story and see if this helps you out deciding on a product.

First of all let me say that I'm not a big fan of the iPod. By this I'm not implying that is a bad product, in fact, I love the design. The problem relies in iTunes. The inability to transfer songs you purchases to different players or burn CDs (because your CD drive was not supported) drove me insane. There is no drag-and-drop capabilities, so you must manage your music using their software. If you imported your CD collection to iTunes or if you bought all the songs form their website, this is not a problem, but in my case, my music is completely organized on my PC, so I simply refused to use any bundled software from Apple (or any other provider for that matter). I also tried Creative's Zen, and even though it was packed with features and had a fairly easy software to manage music, it was poorly designed and looked very cheap. Plus, let me stress that I really needed a drag-and-drop player. By far the only one that met this criteria was the iRiver, which was good, but the inability to create playlists made it virtually impossible to find your music (assuming that you have several hundreds). Afterwards I tried mp3's from Sony, Philips, Samsung and other brands that I can't even recall. Every one had its own music manager, but Sony had the most annoying software of them all (SonicStage).

A couple a days ago I stopped by a SonyStyle shop and checked out the new arrivals. Not only did the looks of this player grabbed my attention, but the ability to transfer files directly. This sounded like a bizarre move from Sony, but still, I decided to give it a try. I got the Black 4GB.

After plugging the player to my computer via the USB cable, Win XP recognized the Walkman displaying it as an icon in the Windows Explorer (note that you need Windows media player V11 installed, regardless of whether or not you intend to use it. No biggie.) and I started dropping files and folders. Afterwards I created and edited the playlists all from my PC. File transfer was really fast. Video transfer is also very cool, although the only format supported is .mp4. There is a nice converter out there for free for those of you who would like to use it. Within the player, you can navigate easily sorting music by artist, song, year or even by your created folders. Note that you can still use WMP to transfer your files if you still wish to.

As far as performance, its lightweight, has a 1.8' screen size which is more than enough for me. Battery so far has lasted 17+ hours and still working. FM Radio is a nice feature but it lacks a voice recorder. Picture display is decent, and that's all you get. As opposed to the iPod or the Zen, there are no contacts or calendar options. But seriously, do you ever need that?

I think Sony made a great move by getting rid of SonicStage, I finally feel I've found the player I've always wanted. Bottom line, if this is your first mp3 player or you are just sick of mediocre software for music transfers, look no further, this is the one you need.

PROS

- Drag-and-drop, no software needed!
- Ability to create/edit folders, playlists from the Windows explorer
- Design
- Crisp Screen
- Lightweight

CONS
- Limiter amount of video formats, only .mp4 supported
- No Voice recorder
- No accessories in the market yet.



Sony's first iPod killer
They are not the first one in order to say that SONY has not had one good annotation of track with their "series of the walkman of the net" of players MP3. With their restrictive dispositions of ATRAC, software horrible of SonicStage and the all year-behind the tact to their products, players of SONY MP3 have hardly not interfered never over, that it is a shame considering that they were to front line of the portable tray and the generation of the CD. Well, the ended wait hour and I have had to say, Apple I would have to be taken care. The 4GB S616 is estimated $40 under relative second controparti the currents of GEN Apple, but it has much more to offer and he is sexy excellent. Hour, they are a car-auto-professato Apple fanboy, but this has mólto to love, also. For the starter devices you, the video can play -- and if you have 320x240 MP4s converted for a iPod, the videos they will work perfectly. And then, the screen -- it is BEAUTIFUL. Luminous how much a dwarf, but it is larger than the dwarf and the colors are rich and vibrant. With 320x240 a resolution it has compressed in a 1.8"screen, the screen is narcotic. It is small for the extend sessions (does not watch "Lawrence of Arabia"), but it perfects for some videos of music or an episode of Scooby-Doo. Honestly, the screen is therefore pleasant, when I have a calm photo over, it nearly resembles to one of those the counterfeiting, models of the immagazzin-store-demo. After, dispositions. It can play MP3, WMA, PCM and the dispositions of AAC, video MP4 and the never-important audio photos of JPG. And yes, you can listen to music while observed your photos. Moreover, built-in radio of FM for when has one been trying qualche.cosa of new. Personally, ATRAC are only happy nixed. Then, there is duration of battery. To 33 hours for audio, bests the dwarf within 9 hours and has lle 9 hours whopping of video observation, the S616 must outside have one of the longer durations of the battery here for a player this format with these characteristics. And the always important audio quality. This thing great sound. With 3 free technologies audio of the SONY, this thing sound more better of my dwarf. Really. They are audiophile, but the difference is remarkable. In order to conclude, formed. This thing is SMALL. It is more to layers 1.5x than a dwarf, but nearly width shorter than inch and nearly uguala. Wonderful, particularly holding account of the format of the screen and the fact that plays the videos. I know, love lotteries. But there are negations. One, are not completely Mac-compatible. Yeah, SONY says that it will not work, but because it is thorn-and-I play, it will mount on all the calculating of OS X of the mac -- I am using it on my Macbook. The only problem is, cannot take apart them (will continue as soon as to reappear), so as to you will have to annotate outside, therefore puts yours mac in order to sleep two times in order to obtain it outside. A hassle, but only if syncing the roba daily. Moreover, because it counts on WMP11 on the PC, you cannot generargli the playlists for on a mac. Moreover, if you are used to the interface of the iPod, to try the roba it can be a pain. It does not obtain the twisted one to me, it is a clean and usable interface, but Apple obtained the iPod made for speed and convenience -- every thing that you have need of is of right on the clickwheel of the iPod. On the S616, the keys of the volume are from the side, are the five-sense control here, plus a posterior part and a checkbox. The person abbottoni overkill for one who coming from only from using the iPods. I was going to give the stars S616 five. I have wished dargli five stars. But the lack of support of mac me kills for. Yes, it works not perfectly to a mac, but and for that one, I must remove one star. But if been trying an economic, the alternative characteristic-packed to the iPod ubiquista, it observes not more ulteriorly. The walkman finally it has arrived.



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--end of Sony NWZS616FBLK 4GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Black)