When is an MP3 player not an MP3 player?
Written: Apr 22 '01
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Pros: Tiny, looks wonderful, good clean sound, fast USB transfers
Cons: Overbearing jukebox software, proprietary codec, battery life, can't fit extra memory
The Bottom Line: This is a tiny, good-looking machine with great sound. Think before you purchase if you might need more memory or if you have lots of MP3 files already.
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| uk_gizmo's Full Review: Sony Network Walkman NW-E3 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
The NW-E3 is part of Sony's Network Walkman range of 'Portable IC Audio Players'. Small and sexy it may be, but be warned at the outset that this is not an MP3 player. Rather than MP3 the NM-E3 supports Sony's proprietary ATRAC3 codec which is a more extreme form of the compression technology Sony uses in its Minidisc machines. If you have a large collection of MP3 format music you will have to use Sony's software to convert it all to the ATRAC3 format and allow it to be managed by Sony's Jukebox before you can use this player to listen to it. The player has 64MB of internal flash memory which cannot be expanded.
The unit itself is very small, slim and light and has a matt metal shell with plastic ends. The unit's dimensions are a little over 3 inches by 1.2 inches by 0.6 inches. The build quality is very solid and in use I never had the feeling that it would be more convenient if this player were any smaller.
On the front of the unit are two metallic buttons and a display. One button is for play mode (repeat, shuffle etc.) and the other allows the displaly mode to be changed. The display is a blue EL backlit single-line LCD that displays lots of information such as track name, artist, track number, elapsed time, bit rate and battery level. There is also a simple equaliser display if you like to see music represented graphically. The display can appear a little fuzzy sometimes because the text leaves a trace as it is scrolled across the display pixel-by-pixel. Sony may have been better off scrolling track information a complete character at a time like some other MP3 players. On the side of the player is an up/down volume control, a combined MegaBass/AVLS button and a Hold switch. There is an unusual multi-function button on the end of the player that can be twisted clockwise and anti-clockwise to move forward or backward a track is pressed to play or pause. This control is easy to feel your way around and saves you fumbling when the player is in your pocket. The unit has a standard 3.5mm headphone socket and comes with a reasonably good pair of earbud phones. There is no remote control perhaps because the player is already so small.
In use the controls are very positive and this is one of the few player that will start playing from exactly the point you stopped it part way through a track. Some other players I've tried always seem to want to start at the beginning. One criticism I have is about the USB connector: I find inserting the USB cable quite fiddly and the plastic flap that covers the socket usually gets in my way.
The player is powered by a single AAA alkaline battery which in my experience lasts about 5 hours. Sometimes with audio players the amount that the backlight is used affects the battery life substantially. The Sony offers no way of disabling the backlight completely and because I tend to change tracks a lot (and each button press activates the backlight for a few seconds) this may account for the less than wonderful battery life I experience with this player.
The sound is very open, clear and well-balanced. Its difficult to deny that Sony's ATRAC3 codec seems (to my ears at least) to be very transparent and does a good job of squeezing CDs into quite low bitrate files. Sound quality-wise there is little to complain about here and much to praise. The MegaBass button has two settings and is a beefy as its name suggests.
The NW-E3 is one of the first players to wholeheartedly embrace the SDMI standards, perhaps because Sony owns record labels and studios as well as being an electronics manufacturer. The supplied software (V1.2) on the CD looks very nice and once you're used to it is very easy to use. A CD-ripping application and a jukebox are supplied. I had no problems installing the software under Windows Me even though the box clearly states that it is designed to work with factory installed Windows 98. You may wish to play it safe and stick to Windows 98 rather than Me. The software is very particular on how it wants you to treat your music. Once you've recorded a CD or imported your MP3 files and you have an ATRAC3 music library, the jukebox application will allow you to 'check in' and 'check out' this music to up to three devices. Rather than just deleting the files from your player you must check them back in to the jukebox using the software. This degree of control over music that I've purchased and downloaded I personally find overbearing. Also, because I already have a collection of MP3s that I've paid for, I resented having to convert all of these to ATRAC3 (thereby almost doubling the amount of space taken up on my disk) just to use this player. On the up side, the software is the quickest I've seen for transfering files to the player using the USB cable. Its perhaps twice as fast as some other players I've tried.
This player is as small as you could ever want and has an impressive sound but limited memory. It also looks wonderful. You may wish to consider whether or not its right for you if you want more than 64MB of music on tap or you already have a large collection of MP3s.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 400
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uk_gizmo
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Reviews written: 3
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