Sony NWZ-S638F

Review for Sony Walkman

Having never really been a lover of ipod I decided it was time to jump ship and revert to using an MP3 player. I went on a mission to find a MP3 player my requirements were simple .I wanted to be able to use the player with a docking station, simple to add tracks to (eg no software program needed like I Tunes), also something that played video. If I didn't want a player that I could dock I would have had a massive array to choose from but the only manufacturer I could find that made docking stations for MP3 players was Sony. This player is from Sony's S series which as far as I know is S for superior video

Features Quicklist

8 gig storage capacity

FM Radio

Sense Me Technology

40 hour battery life

Plays MP3, MP4, AAC, WMA,

The Price

I paid £80 for my walkman which is a current price at March 2009 I bought it online at Amazon

First impressions

On taking this player out of the box it seems so light however I would say no more or less than it competitors. The player looks sleek in my opinion and the menus easy to navigate.

What do I get in the box?

The player comes with standard in ear headphones which are fairly comfortable. I also received a 3 month free trial for Napster which I have been putting to good use I thought this was an excellent bonus to quickly build up my music collection. Also there were some audio & video tracks preloaded which was great for the enthusiastic buyer who wants to instantly try the player to see what it's like.

Getting started

This player is plug n play so I didn't need to install the optional software that came on the provided disk. This for me was a huge bonus as this was the main reason for my dislike of IPOD its very easy to drag and drop your files in to the player using windows explorer you can also use Windows Media Player.

The Features

Sound

Although this may sound a little obvious but the sound is excellent this MP3 player delivers what I would consider to be the kind of standards that you would come to expect from Sony

Video

This model is classed as having superior video & I would agree wholeheartedly the only thing is if you are a heavy video user this players 2 inch screen may not be enough for you. Cant fault the quality though its sharp QVGA

FM Radio

I have tried the radio function the only thing I found is that it is difficult to pick up weaker stations even on the high sensitivity setting. This could well be dependant on where you are when you try as I was indoors. Managed to pick up a couple of the biggest stations eg Radio 1

Sense Me Technology

This is a fun addition the player scans your songs and then adds them to categories which you can then select dependant on your mood eg Rock, Smooth and even by time of day eg morning and evening. I didn't think I ever use this feature but have found that he player really does intuitively know where to place my songs accurately and have found myself selecting evening if I want a laid back set of tunes.

So whats wrong with it?

Couple of niggles a holder even something basic would be good as I use mine in the gym you can buy one but a no frills one could be supplied

Sony don't make a large choice of docking stations for their own walkmans strangely they make a fair few that are IPOD compatible

In Summary

If you are looking to make the move from IPOD/alternative MP3 then I would highly recommend this player as its simple to use but as the expression would go ' its a serious piece of kit '. I bought a docking station from Sony at the same time and use the player with it as often as I use it standalone its great to have the option to dock the player as you can then change tracks from a distance etc.