After using MDs for the past five years or so, I finally decided to purchase a HDD MP3 player a few weeks ago. I was tired of carrying around a half dozen MDs with me, and thought it would be nice to have access to my entire music library when I'm on the go. One thing I really did like about my MD player was its size - since I wear a suit to work every day, it was nice to be able to slip my MD player into my suit pocket - it was thin and small, therefore unnoticable (no bulge, etc)... With unit size/weight in mind, I narrowed my choice of HDD players down to the 4G 20GB iPod, the Sony NW-HD2, and the iAudio M3. I quickly scratched the NW-HD2 off my list due to its lack of MP3 support, followed by the M3, because I didn't want to be tied to a remote - I wanted the OPTION of an LCD remote, but I didn't want to be FORCED to use it - I wanted something with an LCD display on the unit itself. That left the iPod, which I ended up buying about three weeks ago.
The thing I like best about the iPod is the UI - the interface is great. I found it very easy to navigate through my music using the iPod's touch wheel, and it was kind of fun to use! lol... But one thing that really bothered me about the iPod was the lack of bass - so when I saw on head-fi that Sony was due to release the NW-HD3 on December 10th, and that they were FINALLY adding MP3 support, I decided to pick one up. From my past experience with Sony, I figured the HD3 would have much better low-end than the iPod.
Well, today is December 10th, and I just bought the NW-HD3 about eight hours ago. Here are my initial impressions.
packaging
The HD3 came in a very simple package. The front of the box is entirely in English, which was reassuring for me (I had concerns about the unit/software being completely compatible with an English OS, for example, so it was nice to see Sony using English on the box itself).
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Opening it up reveals the unit securely lodged in place, protected by some bubble wrap and underneath that, some foam-paper. The accessories just kind of hang out in the lower section of the box, but they were in fine shape when I took them out. No worries.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
the unit
The unit is rather small - compared to the 4G 20GB, it is noticeably thinner and shorter. It feels very solid, and does not make any noises when you twist it - overall I'd have to say it is a well put together device.
The display is a bit smaller than that of the iPod, it's about as wide as the iPod's is tall - so, it can seem kind of cluttered at times. Also, the backlight isn't as bright as on the iPod, making it a little harder to read. In fact, even with the backlight off, the screen on the HD3 is still much darker than the iPod's. However, the HD3 allows you to reverse the display, which is a cool little feature - if you don't mind the screen being even harder to read with the backlight off, it looks very cool reversed.
interface
As I mentioned earlier, I'm a big fan of the iPod's UI - it was very easy to learn, in fact I never bothered reading any instructions for it, just picked it up and figured it out - very simple. The Sony has some work to do in this area, here are a few things I've noticed so far.
1) When playing a song, if you switch back to the main menu (by pressing the menu button on the top of the unit) you can make changes to various settings (the display/EQ/etc) and then get right back in to the individual track display (the "Now Playing" display) by pressing MENU again. However, if you press the MODE button, which allows you to navigate through your music library, you have to wait about 30 seconds (not pressing any buttons, just waiting) for the unit to go back to the Now Playing screen. There is no "Now Playing" selection on the main menu (like the iPod has) - you just have to wait it out. Even if you browse through your library to find the song that you're currently listening to, and select it, the song will simply start over again from the beginning. Kind of a nit-pick, but nonetheless I fi
We can only hope.
Man, let me tell you how frustrating it is to walk out in whatever you woke up in, just trying to get your paper, and have the sprinklers hit you in the face. Maybe I'm just lazy, but online newspapers sounds interesting.
Oh yeah, and in Korea only old people read newspapers.
This case, when finally decided, will be equivalent to the Betamax case 20 years ago which ensured that VCRs were legal.
But how does this help file sharing any? Granted it would be a lot harder to watch movies without a VCR/DVD player, the MPAA still controls most of the industry.
Slashdot Mirror
Nope, they're going to take a hint from KDE and call it Gubuntu.
I had 6 invites yesterday, now I have 50. Anybody want one?
Please, let's not start the multiple additions of "Being_An_Ass" to wiki again. Oops.
More like in the enxt 4 years.
Good luck! I can only pray for somethign like that here in the States. Damn cell phone minutes through the roof. Grumble grumble.
But God forbid he tell some lawyer jokes. (Jar Jar jokes in this case?)
Personally, I prefer "shoinked".
How come when this happens to IE and other MS software it is Microsoft's fault and not the user's?
You must be new here.
After using MDs for the past five years or so, I finally decided to purchase a HDD MP3 player a few weeks ago. I was tired of carrying around a half dozen MDs with me, and thought it would be nice to have access to my entire music library when I'm on the go. One thing I really did like about my MD player was its size - since I wear a suit to work every day, it was nice to be able to slip my MD player into my suit pocket - it was thin and small, therefore unnoticable (no bulge, etc) ... With unit size/weight in mind, I narrowed my choice of HDD players down to the 4G 20GB iPod, the Sony NW-HD2, and the iAudio M3. I quickly scratched the NW-HD2 off my list due to its lack of MP3 support, followed by the M3, because I didn't want to be tied to a remote - I wanted the OPTION of an LCD remote, but I didn't want to be FORCED to use it - I wanted something with an LCD display on the unit itself. That left the iPod, which I ended up buying about three weeks ago.
The thing I like best about the iPod is the UI - the interface is great. I found it very easy to navigate through my music using the iPod's touch wheel, and it was kind of fun to use! lol ... But one thing that really bothered me about the iPod was the lack of bass - so when I saw on head-fi that Sony was due to release the NW-HD3 on December 10th, and that they were FINALLY adding MP3 support, I decided to pick one up. From my past experience with Sony, I figured the HD3 would have much better low-end than the iPod.
Well, today is December 10th, and I just bought the NW-HD3 about eight hours ago. Here are my initial impressions.
packaging
The HD3 came in a very simple package. The front of the box is entirely in English, which was reassuring for me (I had concerns about the unit/software being completely compatible with an English OS, for example, so it was nice to see Sony using English on the box itself).
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Opening it up reveals the unit securely lodged in place, protected by some bubble wrap and underneath that, some foam-paper. The accessories just kind of hang out in the lower section of the box, but they were in fine shape when I took them out. No worries.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
the unit
The unit is rather small - compared to the 4G 20GB, it is noticeably thinner and shorter. It feels very solid, and does not make any noises when you twist it - overall I'd have to say it is a well put together device.
The display is a bit smaller than that of the iPod, it's about as wide as the iPod's is tall - so, it can seem kind of cluttered at times. Also, the backlight isn't as bright as on the iPod, making it a little harder to read. In fact, even with the backlight off, the screen on the HD3 is still much darker than the iPod's. However, the HD3 allows you to reverse the display, which is a cool little feature - if you don't mind the screen being even harder to read with the backlight off, it looks very cool reversed.
interface
As I mentioned earlier, I'm a big fan of the iPod's UI - it was very easy to learn, in fact I never bothered reading any instructions for it, just picked it up and figured it out - very simple. The Sony has some work to do in this area, here are a few things I've noticed so far.
1) When playing a song, if you switch back to the main menu (by pressing the menu button on the top of the unit) you can make changes to various settings (the display/EQ/etc) and then get right back in to the individual track display (the "Now Playing" display) by pressing MENU again. However, if you press the MODE button, which allows you to navigate through your music library, you have to wait about 30 seconds (not pressing any buttons, just waiting) for the unit to go back to the Now Playing screen. There is no "Now Playing" selection on the main menu (like the iPod has) - you just have to wait it out. Even if you browse through your library to find the song that you're currently listening to, and select it, the song will simply start over again from the beginning. Kind of a nit-pick, but nonetheless I fi
Please remove the "mail" part of the product name "Gmail", as it infringes on half of our product's name. Thanks, The Hotmail Staff
Is this the way all our newspapers will be going?
We can only hope.
Man, let me tell you how frustrating it is to walk out in whatever you woke up in, just trying to get your paper, and have the sprinklers hit you in the face. Maybe I'm just lazy, but online newspapers sounds interesting.
Oh yeah, and in Korea only old people read newspapers.
This case, when finally decided, will be equivalent to the Betamax case 20 years ago which ensured that VCRs were legal.
But how does this help file sharing any? Granted it would be a lot harder to watch movies without a VCR/DVD player, the MPAA still controls most of the industry.