Player great, Sonicstage software rubbish

I've owned my A1200 8gb now for 18 months or so. The sound is good, but the supplied headphones are rubbish. The display on the unit is really too small. Browsing your albums is tedious, as the font is too big and titles tend to run off to the right. So it's a bit irritating to say the least.
Sadly the biggest let down is the software you have to use to load your tracks to the unit - SonicStage. It is truly terrible, even the latest v4.3. Worst still, the tracks are always converted to Sony's proprietory format (AAC) and, worse still, you can't unload the tracks from the unit.
I would not buy one of these units because of SonicStage. If you could drag/drop MP3s then it would be fine.

nice little player

Quite a nice little player, sound quality is good and its pretty small and neat.
But beware of sonic stage...I downloaded version 4.3 and it crashed at startup and would not detect my player but luckily I found version 4.2 and that worked ok...a lot of faffing about but I got there in the end.

Fantastic

I have the 8GB version of this player
It is fantastic, has drag and drop, can view photos and has a radio
The sound quality is really excellent and there is great adjustment available for the sound to allow for personal taste and for the headphones that you might want to use with them - the ones supplied are ok but as with most players it is better to buy your own ones
The best part is the battery life which is amazing and is great for long journeys as it lasts for ever !!
It also takes a few minutes to recharge!
Also can play videos and you can change to screen to view in either orientation
Much better than any iPOD product

Highly recommended

The iPod controls on the radio/remote are easy to use when moving from track to track and/or album to album, answering calls via the bluetooth couldn't be easier by pressing the volume button to answer, the audio streaming from the mobile again very easy. Dislikes are really only me being picky, the blue display just doesn't go with the rest on my dashboard and can't be changed (dual LED like earlier models would have been nice)and having to take the fascia out is annoying, why don't Sony use a code system.

Amazing

I can safely say that this is the best cd player I have bought. The sound is top quality with you able to change the frequencies. Also the software is very easy to use , and the group function on the player allows easy navigation though the albums you put on. The player itself is very well built and robust. 85 hours playback with great choice of sound types and easy navigation !! You cant beat it. If you buy this you wont be disappointed.

Its a good item for a first time buyer

This product looks like a good one because of its features such as 320 minutes of playback using ATRAC3 compression,Playback MD with MDLP & GROUP function,ATRAC DSP type-R,G-Protection Shock Protection,Group mode support,Digital sound system presets,Operates from 1 AA battery (Not included). The buttons are easy to press by the look of it and its quite good value for money but the downside is that you have to wait for some time before getting it and that might be next week or even before that so if your a first time buyer it is good! Its a nice shape you get the headphones with it.

Well just because...

One person had a bad experience with this product does not mean that it is a poor piece of equipment.

This was (and still currently is) my second Mp3 player and it is reliable, virtually 100% shock proof (I threw it at window once and it was absolutely fine), light water proof (as in rain and short length submergences long as dried thoroughly after) and the SOUND QUALITY IS FINE. No, sorry it's TERRIFIC!!! The volume goes up more than enough depending on your location and the level of ambient noise.

The software (Sony Sonicstage) is great and relatively easy to use once you know the ropes (easier than iTunes) and the player itself is flash, with a cool looking screen which will have your mates going:

"What the heck is that!? Some sort of metallic tampon/lighter hybrid?"

Not to mention the brilliant and fully customizable features that are included for running/sports. You simply set your height and weight and if I remember correctly; age, activate the G-Sensor and you're off!

If there is one downside it is that mine is looking worse for wear but this is completely acceptable considering I've had it since launch (with heavy use). Oh, and it's never had a problem.

Well done Sony.

For business users

TZ line remains to be a good candidate for business category. Note that there are different models available for CPU, memory and HD.

It's clear to me from its characteristics that this was not designed for everybody. It's mostly for mobile office use, such as for business and journalism. If you are after a budget or gaming laptop, you are not its target demography. This laptop's strength boils down to several things: size, weight, display legibility, battery life and keyboard. These define the 'ultraportable' market, and this model attacks this territory very well.

Size and weight are immediately noticeable. It's so thin and small, just by how much might not sink in till you see it in real life. I slot this into my small bag for A4 documents and go to work. Despite that the small screen is gorgeous - crystal clear, vivid and metal sharp so that it's easy to see/read. Whatever they've done to it, they've done it well.

Battery life for me is around 7 hours, which isn't as long as stated. I suppose this varies depending on your usage. I mainly use Word, Excel, Visual Studio, Firefox/Thunderbird and mp3/DVD playback from time to time.

The keyboard looks odd, but this alongside the cylindrical hinge design comes from Sony's 505 revision series from several years ago. I think they did the right thing by bringing it back. It feels odd at first, but a week is enough to get used to it. For me it's not as good as IBM's legendary Thinkpad keyboard, but it comes close considering the keyboard is smaller than usual.

Less important for me, but they squeezed in a DVD RW/DL drive, which is a nice touch for such a compact model.

CPU and GPU seem to be the area where the sacrifice comes in, mostly likely to push down the cost and improve battery life. Then again, what it comes with is more than adequate for its target demography; you won't even think about it after opening it.

Then comes the ugly side - the junk software, or bloatware as it's called these days. I fail to understand why they include so much rubbish in what is otherwise a perfectly good laptop. Do they get paid for including all this crap? I recommend that you do a bit of tidying up.

In conclusion, Sony has made a great ultraportable for a niche market, focussing very much on the city-goer's market. The big price tag only goes to reinforce that point alongside its design, which is an icing on the cake - something about this laptop screams quality. It has a clean, subtle design that gives a luxurious overtone. I can't put a figure on why, but it looks so precious, so much so that I'm beginning to think showing it off in public places is dangerous.

It's easy to miss the point of ultraportable's market, because conventionally people look for power in PCs. I would suggest that you consider your requirements carefully before investing in this one, otherwise you will not only waste money, you will likely undervalue its strengths as well. But provided that you fall into ultraportable market, you will be hard pushed to find a better laptop than this - for now.

pretty decent piece of kit

The Sony CD Walkman D-EJ119. You can get these pretty cheap nowadays.

pros: 50 hours battery life on 2 AAs, decent sound quality, lcd display, pretty compact (not much wider than the size of a cd - diameter about 13.5 cm or 5.4 inches), and you really can drop it a million times before it breaks (it's advertised as drop proof).

cons: sound quality decent but not great, g-protection is a cheaper version meaning it skips quite easily. also doesn't play mp3 or atrac cds, which most newers discmans do. it WILL play all your regular cds fine though.

Nowadays Sony are only making budget models of discmans, and this one isn't bad. The major selling point is the 50 hour battery life.

Hopeless !

I wouldn't touch any Sony Walkman with a proverbial barge-pole which uses SonicStage software - this software absolute rubbish. I bought the 2Gb machine and found it impossible to load my classical music material so that I could locate and play it easily. I attempted to combine a set of CDs of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas and gave up after hours of fruitless fiddling about - and I am extremely competent at using computers as a retired mathematician (programming my first machine in 1962 !).
Eventually I returned the machine as not fit for the purpose. The Sony technical assistance was pathetic and when I emailed them detailing the problem I didn't even receive the courtesy of a reply.
I have now found the perfect machine for me - no software needed, 20Gb of space and excellent sound - I bought an Archos Gmini XS202S and it is superb. I can even read the display in bright sunshine - couldn't read the Sony display clearly in outside light. Sony don't deserve to survive if this is an example of their product and technical service.

Great little walkman

At £25.11 you may expect this to be cheap and cheerful, however it's up there with the best Sony walkmans. No skipping when you're on the move and a funky silver colour and design. Another triumph of quality from Sony!

SNAZTASTIC

i have been using my beaten up MZ-NH600 for a long while now, and it has done me proud, having taken the brunt of a 10 feet drop down some concrete stairs and still worked.....but now none of the buttons work, so i thought it is about time i upgraded. and what an upgrade. the MZ-NH900 is sweet. the main plus point is i have upgraded my sonic stage software, which doesn't look like much compared to i-tunes, but i like it much more, and it seems a lot more stable. the playing format is pretty much standard, and what you would expect for a minidisc player of this day and age, and i am well chuffed with the purchase.

the only thing i don't get is why on earth minidiscs never caught on!!!!

if you want a top quality minidisc, at an affordable price, and with decent software, then i think you can't beat this bad boy!!

Nw-E003BC

This is a great little unit, with superb sound quality for the size. The battery life is amazing and the time ton recharge (from USB port) can't be beaten. The earphones are of good quality (although jumping on the ipod bandwagon being white!) with great bass and tone. Once you get used to the controls, it is extremely easy to navigate around and you can find most features relatively quickly. This is perfect for the gym due to it's size and weight. On the other side, sadly I have to say after owning Sony Mp3's for many years now that I regret the day I ever chose Sony. This is all down to the terrible Sonicstage software. Yes it is easy to use, but it limits you to Sony hardware for the rest of your life (unless you want to reload hundreds of Cd's onto your computer) and sadly ever since I loaded the version of sonicstage that came with this MP3 onto my computer it has made all newly recorded albums skip and jump and it no longer allows me to transfer previously loaded albums onto my new MP3! Frustrating in the extreme. So overall, great MP3 player, terrible software.

Minidisc is the most versatile

I bought one of this beauties. First of all I like minidisc, although IMO one have to be a bit fanatic with minidiscs.

The device is working properly, the sound quality is very good, it is easy to use, light, good battery consumption.

The software: If you rip original or burned CD-s (which has original compilation) it's very fast to download to your MD. The CDDB recognizes even Finnish music, so it's great.

With mp3's not so easy but you can trick the Sonicstage if you don't want to type the artist, song and so on.
If you have an original compilation in mp3, burn it to an audio image file and mount in to a virtual drive. Load the virtual drive in to Sonicstage the CDDB recognizes the album and you can download to your MD!!

I use my MD everywhere, even in car with a car cassette adapter...

There are other important features, e.g. one can use it as a"pendrive" with almost 1Gb.

One thing I miss: the leather case. Sony changed to textile bag.

So, I can highly recommend

TOOOO QUIET!

I bought this for the gym and its a great size for running - small enough to pop in your pocket and go. It looks good, the sound quality is great and its easy to use and navigate. I personally like the sony software that it comes with. However, the major letdown with this is that it is just too quiet for use in the gym. even when its turned up to max, with in ear earphones, you can still hear background noise and the gym music