Skatter Tech recently got a hold of Sony’s NWZ-S610 Video Walkman to review and we have been messing around with it for a few days. We’ve got to say that Sony should be proud since they have finally taken a big step by launching Video Walkmans which are also “open format.” (Means support for most DRM-Free music formats.) If they keep up the pace, this could help them regain their market share in the portable media sector. Getting back to the review, since this was Sony’s first Walkman in the U.S. that can playback video and the first to be “open format,” we weren’t expecting too much. As we got more into the player’s features and capabilities, we were surprisingly impressed with what Sony has turned out. Just to heat things up, we’ll even go as far to say that we’d recommend this over Apple’s new iPod Nano!

Sony NWZ-S Walkman Specs:

• Type: Portable Flash Video Player
• Capacities: 2GB, 4GB, & 8GB
• Screen: 1.8-inch 320 x 240 LCD
• Music Format: AAC, MP3 & WMA
• Video Format: MP4 Only
• Special: FM Tuner w/ Presets
• Colors: Silver, Black, Pink & Red
• Connection Type: USB 2.0
• Price Range: $99-$179

The Body: – 3.5/5
The S610’s body is simple and elegant, but not eye-catching. The unit is quite durable and wouldn’t be easy to break. The Walkman is just 3.25 inches tall, 1.7 inches wide, and .45 inches thick, making way sleeker, but thicker and taller than the new iPod Nano. On the front you’ll find the display followed by the navigation controls right below. At first we assumed the four-way commands were touch sensitive, but it ended up that all the controls on the unit are actually hard keys. The ‘back’ and ‘option’ buttons, which are awkwardly placed at the top left and top right, are used to return to the previous menu and bring up an options menu. We felt both these buttons should have been placed elsewhere, but it wasn’t a problem after some getting used to. The ‘play’ button in the center acts as the enter key. I actually prefer hard keys since it is easier to navigate the player without having to be looking at it. The hold key can be found on the left side and the volume controls are on the right. Other than that the stereo headphone jack can be found on the top of the unit while the data port for syncing and a reset pinhole are on the bottom.

The Screen: – 5/5
The 1.8-inch display, just .2 inches smaller than the Nano, is surprisingly bright and sharp enough to watch videos on. The resolution is a standard 320 x 240 and plays at 30FPS. We didn’t notice any lag or audio/video sync issues and the screen didn’t go dark when viewed at from angles as it does on many portable players. Instead of making the S610 “fat” like the new Nano, to retain the form factor the screen has instead been placed on the unit vertically. This of course means to utilize the entire display, the unit must be held sideways when watching videos. To make the unit friendly to left and right handed owners, the video and photo orientation can be set in the options to rotate to the preferred side.

Battery Life: – 5/5
Sony’s always been on top of things when it comes to battery life. My 3-year-old thumbdrive sized Walkman often lasts up to 50 hours. In the case of the S610, it supposedly lasts up to 33 hours for music playback and an amazing 9.5 hours for video playback. This of course depends on many factors including volume level, screen brightness, file sizes, and plenty more. Either way that’s quite good considering that the new iPod Nano is limited to approximately 24 hours of audio and 5 hours of video.

Media Formats: – 5/5
As we mentioned in the intro, Sony has finally gone “open format” with this Walkman and two others. They have dumped Sonic Stage, the Connect music store, and even the ATRAC format. For music, the S610 now supports MP3, AAC, WMA, and WAV all of which have to be free of DRM. The player is also compatible with Napster’s Subscription Based service and iTunes Plus tracks. As for video, the S610 will playback MP4 formats encoded in H.264/AVC and AAC. This part was a bit disappointing since they don’t exactly offer much leniency onto other formats. It even got worse when we realized that they hadn’t included any conversion tools, specify where to download samples, or to know exactly what is supported. This wasn’t an issue for us since we’ve got tools to re-encode videos, however some one-click conversion tool like the one in iTunes should be included for general consumers. We also found that all the Movie Trailers we downloaded which were encoded for iPods on iTunes worked just perfectly. Finally for the part people almost never use, photos, the unit has been limited only to JPEG.

Interface: – 4/5
We were quite pleased with the interface as not only looked fancy, but was also clean and quick. The learning curve is short, only requiring a few minutes to master. The Walkman has even got some neat features such as holding the ‘back’ key will take you back to the main menu and the ‘option’ key will power down the Walkman. Music can be surfed through by Album, Artist, Genre, Year, or in a long list of All Songs. Photos will appear in a simple folder layout just as they are copied onto the unit. Videos on the other hand will appear in a straightforward single list with thumbnails. The Now Playing screen displays standard song data plus Album Art. In addition to the standard Shuffle, Sony has added an interesting “Time Machine” Shuffle now randomly selects a year and plays songs within it. A search feature, which only works for music, can be found in the main menu, however was quite disappointing since it only lets users search for the starting alphabet of an Album, Artist or Song. The settings menu were pretty clear-cut, offering equalizer, volume limiting, and playback mode settings for music, slideshow interval settings for photos, and orientation plus brightness options for videos.

FM Radio: – 4.5/5
The quality of the built in radio was strikingly good. It has been hard wired and coded into the unit and isn’t just an extra add-on. Browsing through channels was both smooth and quick. The Walkman utilizes the plugged in headphones as an antenna to gain better signal. Users can save their favorite stations into any of the 30 available presets by simply holding down the “play” key.

Syncing Media: – 5/5
Transferring data to the NWZ-S610 was a cinch. We didn’t have to deal with any drivers or compatibility issues, both my Vista and XP machines detected and self-configured the device automatically after connecting the USB cable. Since the unit is “Play For Sure” it works with Windows Media Player 11. We had no issue copying songs over and received no errors. Since the songs are DRM-Free the unit isn’t limited to just a few “licensed machines” as iPods are. Songs can be taken from one machine and a friend can easily copy, add or remove your files. We didn’t have a chance to test the unit on a Mac OS X computer and Sony doesn’t mention anything about it. We’re going to assume that if a Mac is able to recognize the unit as a mass storage device there shouldn’t be any problems since the Walkman automatically creates Music, Picture, and Video folders, which can be seen when the drive folder is opened. When compatible media is copied into the corresponding folders, the Walkman will automatically index them after being disconnected, and the items will appear in the interface.

In The Box: – 3.5/5
Other than the S610 Walkman, Sony bundles a pair of stereo headphones, a USB cable, a dock adapter, and a Quick Start guide. For such a great Walkman we were very disappointed to see how poor of quality the included headphones were. If you purchase this Walkman or even an iPod for that matter, we suggest upgrading to the Shure SE110 or SE210. Anyways, back to the box, a CD with Windows Media Player 11, Napster (trial), and a MP3 Conversion Tool (based off SonicStage) was also included.

Overall we give Sony’s Video Walkman a BIG THUMBS UP! Even though some work still needs to be done around the video part, I was satisfied to see that they have finally dumped DRM which was holding them back. I will bet that if they continue to keep their players open to a variety of content, they will be able to boost their sales. As we mentioned the video codecs are a bit limited, but most iPod formatted content should work. This should also be resolved possibly with a firmware update or when they launch a second generation Video Walkman. As for this one, it is available online and in stores as of this month and is very reasonably priced at $99, $129, and $179 for 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB. Exactly $20 cheaper than each of the new iPod Nanos of the corresponding size capacities. We recommend this Sony Walkman to anyone who is finally willing to give iPods a break, wants to be free from DRM, likes occasionally listen to the radio, and is looking for a cheaper unique product which everyone else doesn’t have.

Important Note: The unit which was provided by Sony and was used for review was the NZW-S616F which held 4GB and was silver.

Buy: Sony NWZ-S616 (4GB) | Link: SonyStyle.com

Sony NWZ-A810 & NWZ-S610:
Both of the two new video Walkmans sport the new user interface to browse through music, photos, and videos. Both units feature a QVGA 320 x 240 pixel LCD display running at up to 30fps. And both units can playback music for up to 33 hours, however the S610 can play video for up to 9.5 hours while the A810 runs short at 8 hours. Also since the new Sony Walkmans are “open platform” they now support non-secure AAC and MP3, secure WMA, plus JPEG for pics, and MP4/H.264/AVC video codecs.

The A810 comes with a high-quality set of Sony ear-buds (MDR-EX082), while the S610 includes a built-in FM tuner with custom presets. Both models are available in three capacities: 8GB, 4GB, & 2GB.

Sony NWZ-B100:
For those who just want a music player, the B100 packs a 3-line color LCD display and a FM tuner. In addition the entire unit can be plugged right into a USB port to charge, transfer music, and even copy other documents. In addition, the B100 can even record FM radio in addition to capturing voice notes with its built-in microphone. Since this walkman is also “open platform” it can also play any non-DRM music file. This Walkman is available in 1GB and 2GB capacities and offers up to 12 hours of playback.

All three players is available online at SonyStyle.com/walkman for pre-order and will become available in retail stores starting in September. Pricing is as follows. A810 Series: 2GB $140, 4GB $180, and 8GB $230. S610 Series: 2GB $120, 4GB $160, and 8GB $210. B100 Series: 1GB $60 and 2GB $80.

Links: SonyStyle.com

Only a month after the launch of the all new thumbdrive-like ‘E’ Series, Sony plans to release the new tiny S2 Sports Walkman for consumers by Setepmber 15, 2006. The S2 walkman will be available in 1/2GB models, which both include a FM Tuner, 1-line OLED display, and ~18hrs of playback.

Sony “NW-S2″ Sport Walkman Breakdown:

• NW-S203F – 1GB – $119
• NW-S205F – 2GB – $149

Today a 2GB iPod Nano ($199) plus the Nike equipment ($29) will cost a whopping ~$230. However the 2GB S2 Walkman, with all necessary equipment, costs $150. The S2 includes the standard features offered by the Nike+iPod including the pedometer, stopwatch, and calorie counter, but for a bonus the S2 features a FM Tuner and auto Walking/Running Playlists. The S2 is also more compact, tops the nano’s battery life by 4hrs, and is water-resistant (not water-proof).

Similar to the ‘E’ series the S2 Sport Walkman will support playback of Mp3 and non-DRM WMA/AAC plus Sony’s ATRAC3 format. Unfortunately the only DRM enabled songs the S2 supports must be purchased on the Connect Music Store. Another drawback is the fact that music can only be transferred to the S2 using Sony’s Sonic Stage application. Other than the faulty software, the S2 has amazing features in its tiny shell such as the quick charge technology meaning 1min of charge equals 1hr of playback. Overall I would recommend this over the iPod+Nike combo for runners since it is cheaper, has plenty more features, and its hard keys make navigation easier when jogging than touch-sensitive iPods. (click thumbnails for larger pics)

Links: SonyStyle.com | Sony Press Release
Related: Sony ‘E’ Series Walkman | iPod Nano

Despite a later than expected launch, Sony Electronics has finally released the new “E” Series Network Walkman in the United States. The new and improved “E” Series is available in six colors and comes in capacities ranging from 512MB-2GB. All models have an embedded OEL 1-line display, a FM tuner, and an estimated 28 hours of battery life.

Sony ‘NW-E00′ Series Breakdown:

• NW-E002 – Blue – 512MB – $69
• NW-E003 – Silver – 1GB – $99
• NW-E003 – Pink – 1GB – $99
• NW-E005 – Green – 2GB – $129
• NW-E005 – Black – 2GB – $129
• NW-E005 – Violet – 2GB – $129

These new devices support playing not only MP3, but also WMA, AAC, and Sony’s ATRAC3. Unfortunately all of these must be DRM-Free, except of course for the music purchased from Sony’s Connect Music Store. Other than the fact that you must use SonicStage (aka. Connect Program) to transfer music back and forth, this device is a great bargain. A 1GB iPod Shuffle currently costs $99, but for only $30 more you can get an extra 1GB of storage, an OEL display, and built in FM tuner.

This portable is a good deal price-wise or vs. the iPod Shuffle, but is a downgrade on specs when comparing to its predecessor. The older NW-E407 players, although more expensive, had 55hrs of battery life and a 3-line OLED display. Sony has obviously cut down on those features to create a more reasonable priced player. One major improvement is that this player now is in the form-factor of a thumb drive, therefore no extra cables are necessary to transfer music or data. Another neat feature these devices have is the “quickcharge” batteries, meaning that 3mins of charging will offer 3hrs of playback. I recommend this over the iPod Shuffle for price and specs and have to say that it is better than most in its class. It is available on SonyStyle, Amazon, and reaching most retail stores now.

Links: SonyStyle | Press Release
Related: Sony E Series Walkman Introduced | Connect Store

Today (04/04/06), Sony officially announced a new E-Series Network Walkman lineup. This walkman, unlike the previous series, takes the form of a standard USB thumb drive, making it easy to transfer files back and forth without additional equipment. This product is very similar to Apple’s iPod Shuffle; except for a bonus it has an OLED display. The E-Series will be available in six bright colors: sliver, green, blue, pink, violet, and black. Sony stated that the new walkman would be available in three base models: 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB. (certain models include a FM tuner)

Sony also uses very powerful batteries allowing longer lasting battery life than any Apple iPod. With their quick charge technology, 3 minutes of charging offers 3 hours of playback. (total battery life ~28hrs) Sony has finally been able to get licensing from Microsoft so that they can play WMA (DRM-Free) files along with Mp3 and Atrac formats. Unfortunately purchased music can only be played on this walkman if they are downloaded from Sony’s Connect Music Store. ($0.99/song) Sony also bundles SonicStage, management software, which is very similar to iTunes.

We had tested an older E-Series walkman, the NW-E407, and it was in fact much more robust than the iPod Shuffle. The new Walkman will be available towards the end of April 2006, but no prices have been set. If the prices are reasonable we would recommend this over the iPod Shuffle because of the FM tuner, battery life, and display. Please check back for any updates.

Links: Sony E Series Walkman | Press Release
Related: SonicStage + Connect Music Store | Sony.com