Sony NW-E307 Walkman Bean 1 GB MP3 Player Black Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought my bean a month ago, and I chose this mp3 player mostly because it has a low price for 1 GB and I trust Sony to make good quality electronics. Overall, I am satisfied with it, although there are a few annoyances. This is my first mp3 player, so I don't have much to compare to other than what I've heard from others.

Pros:
-The battery life is amazing, and it doesn't take long to charge up (less than an hour for a full charge, which gives you almost 50 hours). I don't know how long the battery will last (I've heard horror stories about iPod batteries), but so far it's fine.
-If you use Sony's Atrac3 format rather than mp3, you can fit twice as many songs as you can on other 1 GB players. The sound quality of this format is supposed to be worse, but I honestly don't notice much difference.
-The controls are simple and take only a few minutes to learn.
-Sony's Sonic software is simple to install and use.
-I love the pop-out USB connector.
-The FM tuner is a nice feature and definitely an advantage over iPod.
-The design is very nice, which is very important to aesthetics-obsessed people like me.
-As always, Sony's sound quality is excellent.

Cons:
-The packaging is misleading when it says you can fit 695 songs. That's only if you use the Atrac3 format. I initially used mp3 and was surprised when I filled it up with only about 200 songs. I was forced to go back and reload everything in Atrac3, which is a smaller and less-quality format.
-It takes a long time to load the songs onto the player.
-I hate having to use proprietary software to upload songs, although I know there are very few mp3 players that actually let you drag and drop, so this isn't any worse than other players.
-The headphones are terrible; they simply wouldn't stay in my ears, especially when I was exercising. And the white *does not* go with the black bean, in my opinion. So I picked up some over-the-ear headphones for $10, which are much better.
-the USB cover is flimsy and feels like it might snap off, but so far I haven't had any problem with it.

The bottom line:
For the price, this is a pretty decent player. If you want to use mp3s and not Atrac3s, you might want to look at something else. But if you're just looking for a no-frills, cheap mp3 player that will hold a lot of songs, this is a pretty good one.

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Product Description:
Sony makes it easy to take your favorite tunes with you wherever you go with the Walkman Bean NW-E307 (Black) flash memory digital audio player. Its ergonomic, bean-shaped design and screen orientation easily accommodates both left and right handed users for maximum flexibility. You'll be able to pack in 690 tracks (encoded at 48 kbps in ATRAC3plus format) on the integrated 1 GB memory. The Walkman Bean is compatible with MP3, ATRAC3, and ATRAC3plus formats as well as unprotected WMA and WAV files. Sony's ATRAC3 format provides higher sound quality with smaller sizes than other formats, and you can easily create ATRACT3 files using the included Sonic Stage software.
It features a unique built-in, hidden USB plug that pops out when the door is opened, allowing you to plug the Walkman Bean directly into your PC for transferring tunes and charging the integrated battery--no fumbling about looking for cables. It also comes with a USB extension cable for connecting to desktop PCs or hard to reach USB ports. The battery, when fully charged, provides up to 50 hours of continuous playback time, but if charged for just three minutes, you'll get three hours of use out of the Walkman Bean.
The Walkman Bean has a 1-line organic electroluminescence display, which offers a wide viewing angle, high quality display with a unique look, for viewing song titles, battery life, and time/date information. In addition to its digital audio features, the Walkman Bean offers an FM radio tuner and a time and calendar display.
Compatible with the Connect Music Store
Sony's Connect Music Store provides an easy method for downloading personal music to your Walkman Bean. The Connect Music Store offers access to an extensive online music library including many independent titles as well as featured artist and celebrity mixes.
What's in the Box
Sony NW-E307 Walkman Bean (black), headphones, USB cable, CD-ROM with SonicStage software