Go For It !!!!
Written: Dec 08 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Looks,Sound Quality, Build Quallity
Cons: Battery Life
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| Snoopdoggy's Full Review: Sony Network Walkman NW-E3 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
First things first........... No matter how many shapely MP3 players you have seen, no matter how jaded you are, the first time you see and hold the NW-E3 you WILL be amazed at how tiny and Sexy it is........ And mark my words, it WILL get lost or stolen (stolen most probably) if you don't secure it safely around your neck using the strap provided. Carrying this Walkman in your pocket or hand is NOT a good idea.
Dire warnings over, lets get what I dislike about the nw-e3 over with first. At a time when Sony's cassette/radio walkmen(?) are approaching 100 hours of playback time, barely 5 hours of playback from equipment that has no moving parts is something I have a serious problem with. Think about it, 5 hours of playback means you will be buying an AAA almost everyday. And if, like me, you live in a country where the price of alkaline batteries is pretty steep, it won’t be long before you end up investing in a set of Ni-Cads and a charger.
And charging batteries can be a real drag, trust me.
Now, for the praise. Nothing I have ever heard, including the Sony MHC-GRX 9000 that I own sounds as god as the nw-e3. The sound is professional quality and there is absolutely NO hiss while listening to music encoded from a CD at 105 kbps. Sounds clichéd, but you have to hear it to believe it. I think I've made it pretty obvious that it looks great. And there are a lot of intelligent little touches that show how well thought out the nw-e3 is, typical Sony.
Now for the part that everyone has been bitching about. The OpenMG software that comes bundled with the player. I may be an exceedingly lucky exception to the norm but I had no installation problems whatsoever, in spite of the fact that my computer is an assembled, or as Sony calls it, a component computer. AND I DO NOT have “manufacturer installed” Windows 98. I am using a clean install of Windows 98 Second Edition using an internal dump directory, so I honestly can’t figure out what the fuss is about. Alright the CD recorded component of OpenMG is crashy, specially while trying to access the online CDDB for tag information. But the Jukebox itself is pretty decent and has a few intelligent features that Musicmatch Jukebox doesn’t. Also if you just plan to use the nw-e3 with your computer I doubt you will ever find the SDMI rules restricting, though I don’t agree with the philosophy behind SDMI myself.
All in all, should you buy it? Yes!! IF you can afford buying tons of alkalines OR, don’t mind the hassle of using Ni-Cads. Personally I think the NW-E3 makes it all worthwhile because it wins on two counts, Looks( which is why I bought it ) and sound quality and that's 80% of the battle anyways, so GO FOR IT !
If my review helped you make a decision or if you want to know more, drop me a line at gulbir911@repairman.com
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Snoopdoggy
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
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