Sony Network Walkman NW-HD3

Sony pretty much invented the notion of music-on-the-go and has now released the second embodiment of its hard-disk-based Network Walkman. Whereas the NW-HD1 worked solely with Sony's bespoke ATRAC3 digital music format, the NW-HD3 is compatible with MP3. You still have to use Sony's SonicStage jukebox software to transfer music, but Sony's decision to support the most common digital audio format can only be a good thing.

The NW-HD3 looks a lot like its predecessor but has a larger, centralised navigation button, which makes browsing the menu system a little easier. There's 20Gb of storage, which will store up to 4,000 songs, and getting the tracks onto the player is simple, just drag and drop your music into the SonicStage software and press 'transfer'. The USB 2 connection makes it very quick, taking under a minute to shift an entire album.

However, when compared to the market leader - the iPod - things just don't seem as intuitive. You need to go through several menus just to browse a playlist, album or artist, and it's not instinctive as to what button should be pressed to return to the main menu or playlist folders. We found the iPod and Creative Zen Touch a lot simpler to use out of the box. Nevertheless, sound quality is very good and SonicStage will even convert WAV and unprotected WMA files to ATRAC3.

One main concern was when adding playlists. Each time you transfer a batch of playlists they are alphabetised on the player. However, add more playlists at a later date and these will be plopped at the bottom of your previous batch, so playlists starting with the letter 'A' could appear midway through your list. We also found that songs would jump into another song for a split second, then continue playing, which was annoying and something Sony should investigate.

Our last qualm is the method of charging the player. Rather than use a dock or integrated power socket, the NW-HD3 has to be fitted with a plastic transformer, which contains ports for power and USB. Not enough to get a thumbs down, but an irritating process.

The NW-HD3 comes in four colours and the battery lasted for around 10 hours on a single charge, which was impressive. It's a great looking player and offers a lot more compatibility than the iPod. For us, though, it's an expensive alternative that doesn't quite hit the mark.

Contact:
Sony 0870 511 1999
www.sony.co.uk

Also consider:
Apple iPod 20Gb

See also:

Creative Zen Micro

First serious challenger to the iPod Mini  09 Mar 2005

Apple iPod (4th generation)

The iPod's annual makeover brings some interesting changes  17 Feb 2005

Creative Zen Touch

Could this be the closest rival yet to the market-leading iPod?  21 Jan 2005

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