Super entry by Sony (Sony Walkman NW-HD1 20 GB)

Member Name: Geisskane

Product:	Sony Walkman NW-HD1 20 GB
Date:	04/08/09 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sturdy construction, easy to use, good sound quality

Disadvantages: Sonicstage software, low initial volume

Upon receiving my first pay cheque I wanted to buy my first mp3 player and so after a lot of searching I decided on this little beauty.

Construction:
The unit is incredibly small and is billed as the smallest 20gb digital music player. It is about the size of a credit card, a fact which surprised me when I first saw one. As well as being small it is incredibly durable, being made out of metal. When you drop this you're more likely to damage the ground than the music player. Thankfully despite being so small the controls are still manageable for somebody like me who has big hands. On a similar note
the Sony is shock proof and works perfectly for me when I go jogging.

Ease of use:
As previously stated the buttons are well located and easy to use. It is perhaps a little awkward to navigate at times with wrong button presses resulting in your music stopping or skipping. Thankfully you don't have to worry about this happening when you're simply listening to music as there is a useful hold feature which ensures that your music goes uninterrupted. Setting up things like shuffles or changing equalisers can be a pain what with the often confusing navigation.

Sound Quality:
The sound quality on the Sony is good, but nothing spectacular; I would rate it on power with other leading players. There are some nice equaliser features, but really sound quality depends on the headphones you choose. My only qualm here is that without 'unlocking' the device the maximum volume is rather low. This is for health purposes, but at times in a noisy environment I can't hear my music.

Software:
This is the biggest problem with the Sony. The device is not plug and play, requiring that you use Sony's abysmal SonicStage software. This software is prone to stop working mid transfer, is renowned for taking a long time to perform simple tasks and just generally reduces the pick up and play nature of what is otherwise a perfect music player.

Summary: This is a fantastic mp3 player let down by just a few features.

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