Digital Home Thoughts: BIOS Reviews the Sony Walkman NW-A3000

"Twenty-six years after the company’s Walkman brand created a revolutionary music lifestyle, the new Walkman is destined to redefine it. Simply called ‘Walkman’, the latest digital music player from Sony features a spectacular ergonomic design and an exciting range of intelligent features that allow you to enjoy music in a fun way. For instance, at the press of a button the ‘Artist Link’ function will search every artist, album and song stored on the device and offer suggestions of artists and bands closely linked to the genre of music being played at the time. Available in two capacity sizes - 20GB (NW-A3000, £175) and 6GB (NW-A1000, £125), the player also features two new shuffle functions. By selecting ‘My Favorite Shuffle’, the player automatically selects the most listened to 100 songs and plays them at random. The ‘Time Machine Shuffle’ function randomly selects a year and plays all of the songs from that particular year which are currently held on the device. Featuring an OLED display (2-inches on the 20GB version and 1.5-inches on the 6GB model), Sony’s 182g Walkman not only incorporates a range of great features, it also offers the ultimate in ease of use through an appealing user interface which - apart from being hidden under a layer of tinted translucent plastic - is both bright and clear. If that’s not enough, the non-removable rechargeable battery (power adapter supplied) lasts up to 20 hours."



OK, it may seem a little gimmicky, but that OLED underneath translucent plastic is way cool. (Yes, that's really its display pictured) 8) This new Sony Walkman does have some flaws, namely no video, no drag-and-drop support or OGG or AAC support (what else is new?), but in all it looks like a very nice player. And it can't be said enough: if anyone has the immedate power to take the throne from Apple, it's Sony. Now if only they would release a player as close to perfection as the iPod. :wink: