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Sony NW-A3000 Review
comment: 20 | Monday, December 05 (2005) 10:33AM | Posted by Austin Vaughan
Overall, the A3000 is a very nice unit-- good hardware, great GUI. Still got the sound quality merits of the HD5, has a removable battery and above-average battery life. The GUI is quite a change from the typical iPod-like user interface we've gotten used to seeing on a hard-drive player, and it is a change for the better. However, the A3000 is let down on one major point-- Connect player. Just as with the HD1, Sony's managed to let down their hardware with its software again. Sony has promised an update in the 'near future', it's just a pain, because if you don't want to deal with Connect player then you'll have to wait for the new Connect Player update to use your A3000's new features.

If SonicStage is fine for you, and you're not set on a colour screen, the A3000 is an excellent option.

READ (Head-Fi.org forums)

We're still waiting on Sony's A3000 to land in the US... and if it isn't here by now, chances are, it's not going to be in stores by Christmas.
Comments

carsncars

Comments: 18
 		Dec 05 (2005) 10:51AM  

My Sony Store actually had them in... I asked for an A1000 and the sales rep pulled out a 3000 box. Had to convince him to sell it to me. 'Official' release date is December 15th in Canada.



Austin Vaughan
Location: Lenexa, KS
Comments: 768
 		Dec 05 (2005) 10:59AM  

That may be... but Canada isn't part of the USA... yet. !D



watergrave

Comments: 287
 		Dec 05 (2005) 12:41PM  

I wonder what's keeping Sony from integrating colour screen???

This looks cool and all but hey, colour screen does matter... at least if they wanna get descent sales...



branjo

Comments: 10
 		Dec 05 (2005) 12:53PM  

i'm looking to get this player. but what's the big deal about the connect software and sonic stage? What exactly is wrong with them?

thanks



undesign

Comments: 786
 		Dec 05 (2005) 01:10PM  

Branjo: Connect software is still in its early stages of development. Its new and has extreme potential, but its got bugs. Sony *IS* however working on updates and fixing these problems, as they already have, you will see this is true when you do your auto update software when you install it. I would'nt be too worried.



Allen
Location: Dub Vee Ooo
Comments: 1511
 		Dec 05 (2005) 01:37PM  

At least its small....



Sebhelyesfarku

Comments: 398
 		Dec 05 (2005) 02:53PM  

hmmm, Rockbox on SONY hardware would kick some big hairy asses



carsncars

Comments: 18
 		Dec 05 (2005) 06:16PM  

Allen: it's not that small. It's larger than the HD5, probably due to the acrylic and rounder shape, and about the same size as a 4th generation 20Gb iPod. The A1000 is roughly the same as an iPod mini-- slighlty short, slightly wider, and a bit thicker at its highest point.



Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2786
 		Dec 05 (2005) 08:30PM  

Anyone else think these new sony players were influenced by the design of the Rio Carbon? At first I didn't think so but when I saw the top of the unit and how it was chrome and the power buttons and everythiing else looked like the carbon, I started to wonder. It has sort've the same shape.



chicubs

Comments: 915
 		Dec 05 (2005) 08:41PM  

Sony seems to be the only company who hasnt fully embraced color screens. Another one of their many mistakes in the dap world.



Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2786
 		Dec 05 (2005) 08:44PM  

If I didn't want a player with video on it, this is exactly how I'd want my screen to look like. I don't thik it's that huge of a deal really. When they decide to add video to their player then they will of course have a color screen but since they're sticking to music then it's fine.



undesign

Comments: 786
 		Dec 05 (2005) 08:46PM  

chicubs: why would you want to put so much emphasis on color screen for a device thats meant to play music?



Austin Vaughan
Location: Lenexa, KS
Comments: 768
 		Dec 05 (2005) 09:28PM  

because a color screen is better.

most people could make do with a monochrome/greyscale screen on thier cell phone but that doesn't mean anyone wants to.

the technology is certainly available, why not make use of it? it doesn't cost much more these days considering the number of players with a color screen in the $ 200-250 range.



zip22

Comments: 1809
 		Dec 05 (2005) 09:31PM  

because sony can't DRM your pictures. thats why they won't do it.



Dinko

Comments: 23
 		Dec 05 (2005) 09:34PM  

Let's put it this way: "Life is Better in Colour" Or "Music is better in Colour"

Either way, the Toshiba slogan for the Gigabeat sums it up pretty well. Browsing music on a colour-screen is a lot more interesting than browsing music in black and white. It may sound like a gimmick, and I never thought much of it myself, but having played with a Samsung T8 and a Gigabeat, I find them infinitely more interesting than a monochrome OLED or LCD device. To take it to the other extreme, why would you want a screen at all on a device that's meant to play music?

Since having a screen is extremely convenient, you don't just have to stop there when new technologies allow you to go much further and offer a more interesting browsing experience.



Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2786
 		Dec 05 (2005) 09:37PM  

"To take it to the other extreme, why would you want a screen at all on a device that's meant to play music?"

To find the exact song you want to hear or figure out the name of the song that's playing, etc.. Screens are a necessity on players but color really isn't. It's very nice to have, but not a must.



YpoCaramel

Comments: 169
 		Dec 05 (2005) 09:50PM  

I like carrying around my photos with me without another device to worry about. When most companies are offering a color screen, even the sexiness of Sony OLED cannot take away the convince of having all your photos in your pocket. Sometimes it's best not to take a too narrow minded look at your gadgets (mp3 player JUST for music, phone JUST for calls, PSP JUST for games etc...)...



Allen
Location: Dub Vee Ooo
Comments: 1511
 		Dec 05 (2005) 09:51PM  

At least on this player I dont think a colour screen woudl work... because of the purple tinted plastic or whatever... but then again if they made the section above the screen clear... it could look very nice...


Flid

Comments: 262
 		Dec 06 (2005) 09:08AM  

Just throwing my few pennies in to the monochrome / colour display issue. Apart from the fact it generally just looks nicer... for me, it's infinitely more readable. Most of my music has long track names (especially once remixers get involved ) and as a result the the tracks titles need to scroll. With monochrome screens, you tend to get a bad blurring effect due to the lack of pixel overlap. With colour screens, they tend to blur the edge of the character pixels, so that when it scrolls, you don't notice the transition and it becomes easy to read.

I mainly use my DAP in my car and this is one of the main reason I chose the iPod photo. The screen was big with a very clean and clear display. This works superbly in my car, in its little holster on the dash, and I don't need to lean over or squint to find out what I'm listening to.

Allen. Once the backlight is on (or OLED is "glowing")... you'd barely notice the slight tint of the Sony's plastic screen.



watergrave

Comments: 287
 		Dec 07 (2005) 11:19AM  

say what y'all wanna say, it's really a lot more attractive when it has color...


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