SONY | SONY STYLE.COM

The Walkman X series is the best sounding MP3 player I've heard. However, the Slacker radio implementation is very weak. The radio stations would not refresh on some wi-fi networks. Mine works at Starbucks. But at home, the furthest I could go is 'Selecting songs' for 15 seconds. After that it displays an error message and stops the refresh. I've contacted Sony, Slacker and AT&T. None of them have been able to resolve the issue. The YouTube and web browser work fine. But Slacker just does not work from my home network. Please be advised about this potential problem. At least with Zune or iPod, you would be able to use Slacker as long as you're connected to the network. There is no such option with Walkman X series. I'me very disappointed with the support from Sony on this issue. Their personnel are just not trained on handling the new Walkman. There are other features that Walkman lacks compared to iPod or Zune. Lack of an accelerometer is one such thing. This prevents you from orienting the screen to your liking. Since the price is not less than iPod or Zune, I do not think this is a good value for an MP3 player. I would give better rating for design and reliability if they fix the Slacker issue.

A little background for this review, I currently own both the Sony X-Series 32GB Walkman and the Zune HD 32GB. I got the Sony X-Series back in June of this year and I?ve had the Zune HD since it came out on Sept. 15th. I also own the iRiver iHP-120, iHP-140, iFP-899 and Sony PSP. I did own the Zune 30 and 80, both from their original launch, and sold both for $100 each in order to upgrade to the Zune HD. I have never owned an Apple iPod or iPhone but this is because I?ve gone down to the local Apple Store when the new models came out and hooked up my head phones and listened to the sound quality which I was not impressed with compared to the various players I?ve owned or currently own. As for a phone I use a Palm Pre. I am definitely an audio/videophile. I have about 2000 Cd?s that I record at 320kbps and about 1800 music videos that I record from DVD to MPEG-4. I use my players to play only my top songs and videos so that every song and video is a favorite. Sound Quality: When I buy a player the first thing I look for is sound quality. So I toss out the headphones that every player comes with and use my own. Thus, I can?t review the supplied headphones because I never tried them. Let?s start with the sound customization settings. The X-Series has four EQ presets, and a choice to use no EQ. In addition, the X-Series has two user customizable settings with a five band EQ and an additional Clear Bass setting with 4 levels of Bass. The X-Series also has a VPT (Surround) setting with six ambient settings (Studio, Live, Club, Arena, Matrix, and Karaoke) along with a choice for no ambient setting. It also has a DSEE (Sound Enhance) setting, and a Clear Stereo setting. In comparison, if you are familiar with the Zune 30?s EQ, the Zune HD has the same seven EQ preset choices and a choice to use no EQ. There are no other sound enhancement features outside of the EQ on the Zune HD. I definitely think the Zune HD should have added a customizable EQ setting like the X-Series that you can adjust the highs and lows to your individual user preferences. These additional sound settings the X-Series has over the Zune HD goes a long way in enhancing the overall sound quality. I would say the sound quality of the X-Series is better than the Zune HD and certainly better than any Apple product I?ve listened to. To be clear, the Zune HD?s sound is good but compared to the X-Series it does not have the depth of sound and focuses more on the treble and midrange sounds but if you use a good set of headphones the sound and bass are good just not as full ranged as the X-Series?. The X-Series? sound is clear enough to hear subtle nuances in the music while enjoying a rich warm powerful sound. That said, I would say the Sony X-Series is definitely the best sounding portable music player on the market right now because of a combination of the above mentioned settings along with its overall sound processing abilities. Picture Quality: The next thing I look at when buying a portable player is picture quality. Both the Sony X-Series and the Zune HD have an OLED screen and are in a league by themselves because this is clearly the next step in portable device screen technologies. The color and detail will blow you away. Colors are vivid and life like with a full range of colors you just don?t see with LCD including from the PSP. Also, the OLED screen doesn?t need a backlight like an LCD screen does, so it uses far less power, and can show black in its true color. Also, the viewing angle is excellent; unlike LCD you can see perfect color and image on an OLED from nearly any angle including a near side on view. And the refresh rate on an OLED screen is up to 12 times faster than on an LCD, meaning that there?s virtually no blur on fast moving sports or action scenes. That said, the Sony X-Series and the Zune HD are nearly identical with their screens, aside from the Sony X-Series being slightly smaller, 3.0 inches vs. 3.3 inches on the Zune HD. Also, Sony uses a 9:5 screen ratio which is not as well suited to video as the Zune HD?s 16:9 screen ratio. And as for video transfer, I had no problem viewing all my videos in the MPEG-4 format on the Zune whereas on the Sony I had a difficult time transferring them over. Also note, the Sony is slightly brighter on its highest screen brightness setting than the Zune, but the Zune is bright enough to get the job done. I would say considering these factors both the Zune and Sony are excellent; but for video, the Zune HD wins, otherwise they are Virtually Identical. Form Factor and Looks: As for form factor and aesthetics, the first thing you will notice when you pick up the X-Series is that it is solidly built and has a nice quality weight to it. The X-Series is about the size of a small candy bar. Its 3.0 inch, rich, OLED screen takes up about 85% of the front surface and has a smooth touch; which is perfect for its touch screen capabilities. Your finger will glide across the screen like ice. Aside from the screen, the X-Series uses a chiseled granite finish along the sides which is ideal for gripping. The entire front and back surface are a high gloss finish so there will be finger prints. Compared to the Zune HD, the X-Series has more weight, is just a tad thicker (1mm), a bit shorter, and slightly less wide. The iPod Touch or iPhone will look dated compared to the compact size and design of the X-Series or Zune HD for that matter. Overall, the X-Series Walkman is a compact solidly built player with a modern design, perfect for a portable player. Quick Access Buttons: The quick access buttons are a real win for the X-Series vs. other players. In addition to the touch screen interface that has a play/pause button, a fast forward/skip to next track button, and a fast rewind/skip to previous track button; there are dedicated buttons on the player that are not on the touch screen itself. On the top of the player it has three dedicated buttons: a play/pause button, a fast forward/skip to next track button, and fast rewind/skip to previous track button. On the right hand side of the player it has a volume up and down rocker. At the bottom of the front surface of the player just below the touch screen is a Home button which bring you back to the Home screen and acts as a Standby/Power Off mode button. On the back top of the player there is a sliding Hold button to disable the other buttons and disable the touch screen to avoid unintentional actions. Clearly, the benefit of these dedicated hard buttons makes it easy to navigate the player through common tasks like lowering or raising the volume. It also allows you to navigate the player without looking at the player which can be an issue when walking, running, doing other tasks, or even if it?s in a pocket and you want to change the track without taking it out. User Interface: The X-Series has a nice user interface with sub menus that are easy to understand and intuitive. For example, when playing music it has four useful icons at the bottom of the page. One is the Option Menu icon, which brings up all the sound customization options easily. The other is the Related Links icon, which links the current track or artist to a Yahoo or YouTube search via wifi. The next is the Search icon, to search or play music from a list of All Songs, Albums, Artists, Genres, Release Years, Playlists, or Folders. I like the fact that I can use folders I?ve created on my computer. This means, I can make a folder like ?80?s Music? on my computer and then drag and drop it to the X-Series and when I scroll through the list of folders on the X-Series I will have a dedicated folder for ?80?s Music?. The Zune does not do this. The last icon is the List icon, which shows a list of all the songs in the category I am playing and the order they will play. Transferring Music, Videos, and Pictures: Transferring content is done by dragging and dropping, which is nice. Although, I could not get the video to transfer over well, it seems to be hit or miss even in the correct MPEG-4 format. I never had trouble with the Sony PSP or Zune HD for videos, and I have over 1800 Music Videos. Also, pictures need to be an odd 852 x 480 pixel ratio or they won?t fill the whole screen. Web Browsing: I?m not going to review web browsing because I feel that web browsing should be left to your cell phone that hopefully has a dedicated QWERTY keyboard and touch screen. Also, these players use wifi to connect to the internet which I feel is too limiting compared to a cell phone that can browse the web anywhere. Summary: Over all, I would recommend the Sony X-Series Walkman as the best sounding portable music player on the market right now. I would also recommend it for having dedicated commonly used buttons like play/pause, skip, and a volume rocker. I also like the fact that I can drag and drop named folders that show up on the X-Series. And of course, the X-Series? 3.0 inch, rich, OLED screen, with color and detail that will blow you away compared to other players is a huge win.

I say finally took the plunge, because I have practically all of the digital music players Sony has ever made, so I really don't need another one, but I couldn't stop going to the website and drool at it! I absolutely love my player so far. I'm not a computer genius, but have figured it out-even pictures, video, slacker radio and for the first time ever, I've listened to a podcast! The only two things are: when you are viewing your photos, very slow to load; and I might be able to figure this out eventually, but as far as I can tell, the only way to type is with a numeric keyboard (which is ok for texting, but not for typing in precise internet addresses). I am hoping that I just haven't figured out yet how to get to the full keyboard. This is the first time I've ever been able to wear earbuds without them popping out and giving me an earache. I also love the way it looks (Sony always gets this right, I think) and feels. I'm not sure if it's metal, but it feels like it is, not plastic. Doesn't feel cheap. The screen looks really good and the touch part works well, too. Haven't had the chance to get into the Slacker radio too much yet, but have it all set up and even customized four stations for myself. I think I will love the opportunity to listen to new music I might not otherwise hear. And it's free! I'm going to show everyone that I know, get people to buy anything other than the iPods.