Sony NW-HD1 20 GB MP3 Player

A Great Pure Music Player

By Lawrence  Aug 16, 2004 | 6 out of 6 found this Sony NW-HD1 20 GB MP3 Player review helpful

Pros: Size, build quality, sound quality, easy to use GUI, long battery life, functions as Mass Storage Device

Cons: Non-ATRAC files need to be transcoded, SonicStage software can be a bit tough to use and slow, weak playlist support

This smallest 20GB DAP to date (pictures just don't do it justice) is solidly built, remarkably light, with a sharp, though admittedly somewhat small display, and an interface that is a breeze to decipher and navigate with one hand. You won't need mo...re than 10 minutes to use the player like a pro without reading a manual. And the sliding menu paradigm, similar to that on the iPod, is very smooth as is the whisper-quiet hard drive. What's more, you can wrap around a list when navigating from the top and the bottom, something the iPod can't do. After hearing about this player, most people seem to focus on the fact that you cannot play MP3 files without first transcoding them to ATRAC3 or ATRAC3 Plus format. Overall that may appear to be a negative, but the conversion is needed just once and the software does it for you so what's the big deal? And even with the conversion, ATRAC files sound very good and as long as you trancode using Atrac3 105 Kbps or greater, you will find very little to complain about soundwise. Besides, unlike the iPod, there is a 6 band EQ system which actually works and it works great.The sonic stage software may take some getting used to and the initial conversion of tracks may slow things down a bit, but once converted, transfer of tracks to the player takes 7 - 10 seconds per album. And unlike the iPod, you can share your music with up to 3 PCs via synchronization as long as you use SonicStage on those PCs (This is not clear from the owner's manual but an addendum is packaged with the player telling you how to authorize 3 PCs for use with the player). You do need the USB cradle to charge the unit and connect to a PC. But while you need to take it with you if you plan to connect elsewhere, this cradle is small and so ridiculously light in its own right that the inconvenience is minimal at best. And speaking of being on the go, this unit has a 25 minute buffer, nearly that of the iPod, so it can take its fair share of jostling without missing a beat. Admittedly the player is weak when it comes to playlists. You can add bookmarks to tracks while playing them, up to 100 tracks in all, and then, via the the Others Mode, you can play just those bookmarked tracks as a playlist. There is no reordering the list, however, and you need to be playing each track you want to remove from the list to delete its bookmark. But there are still a number of nifty things to note that aid in ease of use and navigation. The player remembers your place in the menu structure when you begin to play a song and you can return directly to that point, or simply to the very top of the specific menu, depending on the length of time you hold down the Mode button. Another feature conserves the overall battery life and thus practical use of the battery. The underside of the player contains a switch to turn off the connection to the Li-Ion battery so that during long periods of disuse, extensive discharging of the battery is avoided and the battery will last longer accordingly (The owner's manual also shows one how to remove the internal battery under the guise of disposing of the unit so battery replacement should be a breeze even if not specifically intended by Sony). All in all, with some warts easily outweighed by all the advantages, this is one fine player and definitely something you should consider if stability, size, sound, and cutting edge good looks are important to you. Yes it is on the pricey side, but in my experience, Sony quality is worth it. Read more Less