Sony NW-E507 Network Walkman 1 GB Digital Music Player with FM Tuner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This player is fairly small, although it may be confused with a shiny lighter. I actually kind of like that kind of camouflage since it makes it less likely to be stolen. There is no mistaking it for a lighter once the bright OLED display comes alive.

The controls are well-thought, a Sony trademark of sorts. There is a large play/stop button, two paddles on the "shoulders" for volume, and a sliding joystick control around the headpone jack. The joystick works like a watch crown. Pushed down, it puts the device in "hold" mode. It has two other positions. To skip to next/prev song, you rotate the joystick a bit (when not in "hold" mode). The bottom hides the mini-USB port. Minor gripe: the device stops playing when the USB cable is plugged in.

The OLED display is a very nice touch and it integrates quite well with the player's design, although I wish it were a tad longer to be able to display more text without scrolling. The fixed font makes it hard to read sometimes. A proportional font would work better (probably fixable with a software upgrade).

Which brings me to the reason why I gave it only 4 stars. And why I am going to return it. There is simply too much hassle associated with putting music on the device and copying it back from it. The software insists on controlling what I can and cannot do with my own files. You can only upload mp3s by using the included SonicStage software. But, regardless of the original source, it will not let you download the files back unless you perform an "authorization" with some remote site I don't care for, presumably because it assumes you're a "thief". That, my friends, I cannot have.

Sigh. The recipe was simple and easy to follow. The mp3 player is a USB storage device, with a universal driver, you plug it in, you copy files to/from it, it plays whatever it can from your folders. It would have worked everywhere, even with a Mac or Linux, or even years after support for the actual player had lapsed, without any extra effort. But no. Not with this one. You can certainly upload files to it, it will just ignore them if you didn't put them via SonicStage. You can look at it as having two areas on the drive, one for the encoded music that it will play, and one for your files, that it will not.

To recapitulate: it is My computer. My mp3 player. My music. I find it odd that Sony thinks I will pay them money so they can POLICE my own computer. Nuh-huh. Not me. I guess I'll just have to put up with a clunkier interface of Archos, Iriver, or I don't know, Lexar, that at least give me the FREEDOM to do what I want with my own stuff.

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Product Description:
Beautiful design. Incredible functionality.The NW-E507 is superior in every regard. The 3-line organic electroluminescence display is sharp and clean, artfully providing song title, track duration, and battery information. This 1GB player lets you load up with 695 songs, but doesn't stop there; it also has an FM tuner. Tired of your tunes? Tune in the local indie station. Yeah, it's about the size of a pack of gum, and it has an FM tuner and 1GB of storage capacity. The NW-E507 also features insane battery life: up to 50 hours of playback on one full charge. And, If you're down to your last bar, just quick charge it. A three minute charge gives you three hours of play time.It's time to step up to Sony.1GBBuilt-In Memory Which stores 695 songs on the device.Built-in FM Tuner Provides accurate drift-free tuning of FM stereo radio stations. Presets allow the user to skip directly to the most listened to stations.Compatible with the Connect Music Store: The Connect Music Store provides an easy method for downloading personal music. Connect Music Store offers access to an extensive online music library including many independent titles as well as featured artist and celebrity mixes. 3-Line Organic Electroluminescence Display (Displays Song Title, Length, Battery Indicator and much more) The 3-line display offers a wide viewing angle, high quality display with a unique look. View information about the music, settings or time/calendar in any lighting condition. Super Quick Battery Charge A three minute charge will provide up to three hours of playback. Up to 50 Hours of Playback Life with Rechargeable Embedded Battery Internal battery provides up to 50 hours of continuous playback on each charge. Plays Back MP3/ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus Audio Formats For customers who already have extensive music libraries, us