Sony's next try at the iPod, Sony HD5 *PIC*

[Marcos]

1. 20GB
2. 30hours MP3 playback, 40hours atrac
3. 125g weight Vs 158g of the ipod
4. Smaller in size than ipod
5. Cheaper than ipod

I'm intrigued

Out in May, obviously we all have our opinions on wether anything will beat the ipod due to its iconic status and unbeatable navigation, but this could at least be technically a superior product on paper. I prefer the looks too

[Apex]

Wonder about the DRM stuff other than that it looks the dogs b0ll0xs

[Sk!mD4Rk]

Please god let us drag 'n' drop instead of Sonicstage.....

[Nick F]

Looks really nice, just brought my creative zen mini though and am more than happy with it.

[Tifosi]

If it uses OpenMG or Sonicstage alike with DRM it'll be pants.

Otherwise I'd like one.

[Jonny M]

As stated, if people are forced to use SonicStage it will suck. I have no problem using iTunes, I quite like it, but SonicStage is painful.

Also, I think the buttons on that look cheap. Am I the only one who thinks the HD3 looks nicer?

[pickers]

Man, I reeeeeeally want one of those. 30-40 hour battery life, smaller than an iPod with a replaceable battery (you can see the slot for it on the 3d view, its on the bottom left on this page http://www.avland.co.uk/sony/nwhd5/nwhd5.htm ) and it has an aluminium body so won't get scratched to hell like my iPod. Time for my iPod to say its prayers me thinks....

Oh and SonicStage 3 isn't all that bad as just a piece of software for transfering MP3s (my flatmate has an HD1) it has no more DRM than iTunes (you can't take stuff off the player and put it onto the PC) and although I wouldn't use it as my main media player it is more than adequate at transferring stuff.

[Marcos]

Yeah, i mean, i'd probably use another software to organise the music and then use sonicstage for transfers.

But surely someone has or will come up with a sonic-stage alternative?

[steve threlfall]

As stated, if people are forced to use SonicStage it will suck. I have no problem using iTunes, I quite like it, but SonicStage is painful.

Also, I think the buttons on that look cheap. Am I the only one who thinks the HD3 looks nicer?

I tunes isnt perfect though and as for the system software, gah

When will the tards at Sony and Apple just let us drag and drop like we can do on some £20 flashstick

[Jonny M]

The problem is that drag and drop doesn't let you take advantage of the wonderful sorting by artist/album etc, in order to do this you would have to build the database on the player every time you added tracks to it.

iTunes is far from perfect, but I wouldn't use it as my main player if I didn't like it.

[Marcos]

The problem is that drag and drop doesn't let you take advantage of the wonderful sorting by artist/album etc, in order to do this you would have to build the database on the player every time you added tracks to it.

iTunes is far from perfect, but I wouldn't use it as my main player if I didn't like it.

Wouldnt the tags on the songs do that part of the job?

I mean....it would mean a slow start up time of the player just after the transfer but then you'd be fine till the next update.

[midzt]

I love the looks of Sonys, although I like the HD1 to this one, and I've always preffered them to the iPod, but SonicStage really really annoys me.

[pickers]

I really wouldn't let it put you off too much, as I say I've used my mates HD1 with SonicStage 3 and it is the equal of iTunes in terms of transferring, just not quite as good when playing (which iTunes is crap at imho, WMP 10 is so much better).

[Marcos]

I wouldnt play music in anything other than Winamp anyway, I think people should realise they only have to transfer with Sonic Stage, nothing else

[Byatt]

That's an awesome spec, but until someone comes up with a way of making these things as navigable as an ipod they're still going to be behind (as you point out).

Also - itunes haters - look into Ephpod.

[Marcos]

That's an awesome spec, but until someone comes up with a way of making these things as navigable as an ipod they're still going to be behind (as you point out).

Also - itunes haters - look into Ephpod.

The more i think about it, the more sense it makes that the search function will be more useful than the clickwheel at getting through thousands of songs.

I'm eager to find out