Reggie

Check out the review:
http://www.siliconpopculture.com/review/109_0_2_0_M9/

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Reggie

What Sony needs to do create an aggressive ad campaign for this device that clearly has potential -- OLED screen, FM radio, 50 hrs of battery life!

If you ask someone nowadays if they have seen an iPod poster or tv commercial, they would basically say yes. This is a challenge for Sony.

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Reggie

Woohoo! A local Circuit City had it and I decided to get one (E-507)!

Here are side-by-side pics with the Shuffle:

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JackAxe

Cool looking cigarette ligther, now if only Sony would kill Sonic Stage.

<]=)

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Tam Hanna

The Sony finally has a SCREEN!!!
Finally a good UI!

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cesarcardoso

That's the biggest hurdle for Sony, or any other entrant in the portable audio market for that matter. Apple managed (with technical merit, BTW) to dominate all the submarkets (HD-based, microdrive-based, flash-based), despite all the efforts made by Microsoft, Creative, iRiver, Rio et al. Sony has all the qualities to at least challenge Apple, and this little boy is definitely a winner... hm, except for SonicStage

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LanMan

Wow, how much memory, and what's the price?

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Reggie

1GB with FM Tuner - $199.95
1GB w/o FM Tuner - $179.95

512MB with FM Tuner - $149.95
512MB w/o FM Tuner - $129.95

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LanMan

It looks really nice. Too bad it not a little cheaper because you can get a 4GB iPod for $200. How about a hands-on review?

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Reggie

Sure! Here's a mini-review:

Having used a Sony miniDisc player before, I'm used to Sonic Stage already. One thing I don't like about it is, there's no Mac support. Sonic Stage is not really hard to use. I look at it as, it's not as easy as iTunes.

It comes with 5 free songs (gift cert) at Sony Connect. The upload of the songs to the device was a bit slow since it's USB 1.1. A good thing about Sonic Stage though is, you can choose what songs to upload to your music device (Apple added this feature when the Shuffle was released).

Although just one color (light blue), the OLED screen is great. Think of an LCD screen but brighter (it makes me want to get the Sony Clie VZ90). All devices with screens should use OLED!

The metal controls require getting used to. It reminds me of the small dial at the side of an analog watch -- pull once and twist up or down to scroll through the songs, pull it one more time and twisting up or down scolls through the albums, push it in and it's on 'hold' and controls are protected from accidental pushes or twists.

On power saving mode, when a song is playing, after a few seconds, the screen turns off. Every after a few seconds thereafter, an animation - like four "(" - runs to show you that something is playing.

Battery life - I have no plans of testing it but the box says it will last 50 hours of continuous playing. The box also says that a 3-minute charge is good for 3-hours use (wow). Charging is done via USB through the computer by the way.

As for weight, it's slightly heavier than the Shuffle.

Speaking of the Shuffle, what the E507 lacks is the feature to double as a Flash drive. The E507 is basically a walkman only.

Purchased music are in ATRAC3 format, though it can play MP3, WMA, and WAV files if you upload them via Sonic Stage.

There is an option to adjust bass and treble. Using good earphones makes it sound really better than the Shuffle.

Earphones, USB cable, belt clip, a black pouch, and a 5 free song Sony Connect coupon are included in the box.

As for the cost, the E507 (which has 1GB) is $199 - the 1GB Shuffle is $129. Is the $70 difference worth it? Knowing that Sony included an 3-liner OLED (not just a regular LCD) screen is well worth it already. It also comes with an FM tuner and a clock. While it says at the the back that it was built in China, the build is solid. I highly recommend this device.

As I have mentioned in another reply, Sony actually released several versions of this flash based walkman. You can check them out under Flash Memory MP3 Players at SonyStlye: http://tinyurl.com/55osy

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LanMan

Great mini-review! However, I thought that it would work as a flash drive according to SPC:

"As mentioned earlier, the device features a mini-USB port. When connected to a computer, it shows up as a USB storage device without the need for any drivers. You can drag and drop files over to the device using Windows Explorer with ease but transferring music will require the use of SonicStage 3.1 which I will cover later."

I would really like one of these, but I can't justify the bucks.

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Reggie

Yes you are right, it will work, I just fond this from Sony support:
http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA...00_500_faq#Q3_3

Q3 : Can the Network Walkman E400/E500 be used for saving data other than the music data?

Yes, you can store a variety of data as well as the music data to the built-in flash memory using Windows Explorer. The built-in flash memory is displayed in the Windows Explorer or My Computer as an external drive (e.g. “D:”).
Note:

Please be sure not to edit OMGAUDIO folders stored in the built-in flash memory.


Also, Sony just released an MP3 File Manager program that you can install to the Flash player and use it anywhere to copy MP3 files to it. See:

http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA...aller_2_0&m=mp3

Still no Mac support.

Lastly, theres a firmware update already that fixes the search and shuffle feature and adds a new Clock function:
http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA...pgrade_2_1&m=fm

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fwt

Hi Reggie, thanks for the mini-review and the link to the firmware upgrade! I didn't see it on the Sony eSupport website. I'll be downloading it to get the new clock.

I've had the NW-E507 (1GB with FM turner) for about a week now and I love using it. It is a beautiful, great sounding, solid, and portable player. The OLED screen is awesome to look at.

My previous MP3 players are the Intel Pocket Concert (256MB flash player) and the MP3 player on the CLIE TH55. I wanted to upgrade to a higher capacity player. I considered getting an iPod Mini but wanted a small flash-based device so I can use it when I run in the gym (and carry it around inconspicuously in the office .

I also considered getting the iPod Shuffle 1GB but wanted a screen to see the tracks on the player. So I ended up shelling out a few more bucks to get the Sony NW-E507 and I don't regret it. It has a beautiful display, FM tuner, bass/treble settings, a clock, and a cute screen saver. More features than the shuffle. Plus it is really small and looks great.

For me, having a screen on the player is important because I want to be able to easily navigate to the album or song that I want to listen to. Even though this is only a 1GB player, I've already filled up 800MB of it with songs from 15 CDs (MP3s ripped at 128kbps). It's nice to be able to easily find the song that I want to listen to. Most of the people whom I've shown this player to thought that having the screen is great.

I've used the NW-E507 for about a week and find that the controls on the player are very intuitive. As for transferring songs, I didn't have any real problems using Sonic Stage. I transfer my songs one album at a time so wasn't bothered by the slower speed of USB. I'm also glad that it worked out of the box and I don't have to upgrade my laptop to USB 2.0.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. Good job Sony!

p.s. I'm considering storing my music in ATRAC or ATRAC3 so I can load even more songs on the player!

lmame

I got one myself

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