Sony NW-A3000 20GB MP3 Player - £99.97!

sheffield_penguin

Bought the 6GB version ofr my wife at christmas. It's worked flawlessly. At under a£100 its a real bargain, I might be tempted to buy one myself. The sound quality is fantastic and the design makes it stand out from the ipod crowd.

Sonic stage isn't perfect but I've never had problems in over a years using it with my Vaio pocket. It syncs up my music everytime I connect to the computer.

Omertron

Damn, I was so putting off getting one of these, however now I will have to at that price!

Apparently, when I called Sony direct this player (NW A3000) is being discontinued, so that maybe the reason for the sale

As regards the software, Sony are bringing out a new version of the software soon - See here: Tech Digest Story Direct link to the Sony Page: Download here

gromituk

bleugh wrote:

on paper it's superior, and i can definatley vouch for it on listening tests also

(NW-HD5, arcam alpha 8 amplifier, KEF Q15 speakers, Ixos gamma biwire cables, an old combination, but one that shows music flaws very well)

Well you should know that however much fancy gold plating you have on your hifi system, unless you conducted a double-blind test, the results are null and void. You did conduct a double-blind test, didn't you? :rolleyes:

And of course it is going to be superior to MP3 - it's a more recent coding format.

But all this is fairly academic anyway. People buy these things to listen to music, not subtle differences in sound quality.

reehsetin

no way i got this a little while ago from tescos for 150! damn it!! think its just the purple one cos aparently ive heard they way overestimated demand! it was under a month ago i got it - any way i can get them to match the price?

use sonic stage - i dont think its that bad personally - you cant use drag and drop as far as i know - well i havent seen a way
old version the HD3 i was able to use as a portable hard drive but not very practical this one i havent tried

gromituk

As far as I know, you can't use Sony MP3 players as "mass storage devices", i.e to be able to drag and drop any files to them using any operating system. It's one of the nasty things about how Sony operates (another being its insistence on using these overpriced proprietary Memory Stick things).

reehsetin

update on anyone in the same position as me - head office wont do anything to match their price - got to say think their customer service is shoddy at best there - spoke to a store near me they will return it in under 28 days but it has to be in pristene condition and unused

tommyj_2

dead easy then - buy a new one, return it with your old receipt, jobs a good un.

reehsetin

tommyj wrote:

dead easy then - buy a new one, return it with your old receipt, jobs a good un.

yeah what i was thinking - but dont know if theyll get funny cos it will be right after ive just got it lol
plus its on my cousins card - but it just says maestro on the repciet and i have a maestro too :S - oh well if i end up with 2 i end up with 2 no biggie

Savage_Gizmo

wow thanks so much for this dude, went into tesco and it was £99.97 i think not £99.92 but who cares it's still cheap. i didn't end up buying it from there though i went to a department store nearby called oldrids (you may not of heard of it coz it's a business that's only based in lincolnshire) anyway they do a double discount thing on anything you find cheaper within the 40 mile delivery radius and odrids stocked the mp3 player for £159. so just looking at my receipt now, i got it for £40.94, now that's what i call a bargain. thanks again i'm well chuffed and i was given a choice of colours too, although they didn't have any black. oh and by the way anyone who knows that oldrids branch or lives near it and is thinking of doing the same thing, there's no point, they took it off sale as soon as i pointed the tesco's price out to them.

salthegal

Quote From Sony site:

"Using the latest version of the CONNECT Player software is recommended to any owner to enjoy the best performance of the software."

"The current version of "SonicStage" software does not offer the full range of features and functionality offered by "CONNECT Player".

Though if experienced people here are saying Sonicstage is better then I think im going to it a go over the software bundled. Even though I havent had any problems, connect isnt the most user friendly software in the world to use. Its probably worth updating the units firmware as mine came with Version 1.00, and having the lastest software installed, its dead easy to update if I can do it then anyone can.

Main support page, with latest software downloads here:
http://support.sony-europe.com/DNA/WM/NWH/NWH.asp?l=en&m=NW-A3000

Connect/Sonic Stage Info Here:
http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowArticle.action?section=en_GB_Products&article=1138634686986&productcategory=%2FAudio%2FPortable+Audio+-+Walkman%2FPAW+Network+Walkman&productmodel=%2FAudio%2FPortable+Audio+-+Walkman%2FPAW+Network+Walkman%2FNW-A3000&productsku=NWA3000B.CEK&site=odw_en_GB

Main Software Feature Comparsion Here:
http://support.sony-europe.com/DNA/hotnews/hotnews.asp?l=en&f=ConSon_comp

Also just nabbed myself a cheap protective case on ebay, dont wanna scratch this baby bargain.