Sony X Series Walkman Video MP3

It was only a matter of time until for Sony to join the Microsoft - Apple war. And no, I am not talking about the operating system war, but the multimedia player war; because as much as Microsoft tries to subtly hides its attack against the iPod range, the truth is obvious and too clear to not see it. Even so, until now, Microsoft was unsuccessful with all its attacks. The most important multimedia player range is, especially nowadays, the touch screen line. Zune HD is not yet the best solution against the constant evolution of the iPod touch that already has reached its third generation (hard to believe).

To make things even more difficult, Sony launched the X Series Walkman Video MP3 in two memory units, 32 GB and 16 GB. First of all, Sony is headed for a horrible mistake with this product, mostly because of the way it is marketed. No offence to anyone that works in the "genius management" department at Sony, but what name is "X Series Walkman Video MP3"? I really don't understand why they didn't take into notice Apple's and Microsoft's policy. Zune HD is a great name, easy to keep in mind and to be proud of, while iPod touch, well first is iPod, and second "touch" is strictly correlated with the touch screen feature.

 

Not the best name in the ipod line but it does the job. However, "X Series Walkman Video MP3", could have been marketed as "Walkman X", simple, clean, with resonance, and worth of the potential customer's money. Even so, the tech specs are good. This walkman doesn't bring anything new to "wooow" you, but enough to convince you that this player can fight the competition. Â In terms of design, this player looks great. You don't get great metallic finishes, but it looks good. The front side basically holds the display with a small Home buttons below the touch screen. With a height of 3 7 / 8 inches, wide of 2 1 / 8 inches, deep of 13 / 32 inches, this walkman multimedia player weight about 3.5 oz. as you can imagine it's as portable as the iPod touch and Zune HD.

The 32 GB model offers a real memory of 29.1 GB while the 16 GB model offers a real memory of 14.2 GB. Both models come with built in rechargeable Lithium Ion battery. You have to recharge it using your computers USB port. A full recharge will take about 3 hours, while an almost full charge can take only 1.5 hours. This battery is sufficient for continuously audio playback of 33 hours (if the audio encoding is AAC with 128 Kb per second). in video mode you should be able to playback about 9 hours (using the MPEG4 with simple profile and 384 Kb per second). if radio is your thing, then listen to 17 hours your favorite radio station without recharging this multimedia player.

In terms of connection, this battery will offer about five and a half hours of internet connection. As you already imagined this walkman model is recommended for music, video, web browsing, radio, podcast. Therefore, you must expect several formats for audio and video to be already embedded. In audio mode, Walkman X Series (if it's correct to diminish its full name) includes four supported formats, MP3, L PCM, AAC, and Windows Media Audio.

The maximum allowed bit rate is strictly set at 320 Kb per second. To improve the user's audio experience, Sony added five EQ modes, from Heavy, Jazz, Unique, Pop, and a custom mode for you to create. Also a nice feature is the strong bass offered. Because this is a multimedia player you should expect play modes, such as normal, shuffle and other combinations. More impressive are all the sound modes embedded. Sony really tries to improve its Walkman players in order to have a chance against Apple's iPods. Therefore, names as Digital S Master Amplifier, or Clear Stereo are just a few of what X series has to offer.

The same great attention was diverted for the surround effects (with several modes, as studio, club, arena, and others). In the video department, this multimedia player includes the most important formats out there, such as MPEG4, AVC with both AVC and H.264 and last but not least the Windows Media Video format.

Just like the audio mode, the video mode also contains several playback modes, shuffle, normal, repeat and variations of these three modes. Easily watch videos in both portrait mode and landscape mode. The videos and photos will offer the best experience thanks to the astonishing 3.0 inches touch screen Organic Light Emitting Diode with WQVGA resolution (432 x 240 pixels rendering up to 262000 colors). The touch screen is great, and easy to use. Just one touch can simply open whatever feature you might want. The feedback is real and it will impress you.

The player only sports a stereo mini jack for headphone output and a 2.0 USB port. Only the JPEG pictures can be viewed on this player. The connectivity is ensured by the built in Wi-Fi with IEEE 802.11 b/g. Sony ships in the containing box, beside the player, the MDR NC 020 Noise Canceling EX Series silver ear buds, the quick start guide, the audio input cable, an USB cable, and a CD containing several software such as, Windows Media Player 11, Content Transfer, Operation Guide and Media Manager for Walkman. In terms of connectivity you don't have to worry about anything.

This software can easily be recognized by Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2, Windows Vista Home Basic with Service Pack 1, Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1, Windows Vista Business with Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 or later. The only Windows operating system that is incompatible is the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. Overall, Sony added in the competition a good player.

Unfortunately it is wrong branded and its price tag is somewhat much, about $399 for the 32 GB model and $299 for the 16 GB model. No offence Sony but for less than $399 customers can easily buy an iPod touch 64 GB which offers a better design, better features, better performances, and iTunes Store with App Store.