Sony NW-HD3 Network Walkman 20 GB Digital Music Player (Red) Review

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(More customer reviews)In NW-HD3, Sony finally added native MP3 support to its tiny hard disk-based digital music player, so no conversion to its proprietary ATRAC3 format is necessary. This makes the player much more attractive to users already with a large collection of MP3 files. Styling-wise, this new player comes in five color choices: red, pink (looks purplish to me), blue, black, and silver. Backlighting color is also different depending on the exterior color. Plenty of eye candy, for sure. (FYI, mine is red.)
Internally, other than the added support for MP3, the HD3 is exactly the same as the HD1. In fact, even the dimensions and weight (4.5 oz.) are the same. It's also the same 1.8" 20GB hard drive inside. It has the same SUPERB sound quality as the HD1. (Seriously, before listening to ATRAC3 on the HD1, I hadn't known compressed music could sound so good.) Both models claim up to 30 hours of battery life when playing back ATRAC3Plus files. (On my HD1, I routinely got over 25 hours of playback on a single charge.) For MP3, Sony claims "up to 20 hours." As I write this, I've been playing a mixture of 128kbps and 192kbps MP3 files for about eight hours on my last recharge and the battery is at the half mark. Of course, if
you turn on the equalizer, choose shuffle (random) play, or press the buttons a lot, the battery will run down faster. (Hard drive spinning and backlighting consume the most power.)
BTW, the LiIon battery in the HD3 *can* be user-replaced in theory; see p.39 of the manual. The only question is where can you and I get a spare battery. I wouldn't buy a generic battery on ebay because 1) there are reports that these "fake" batteries don't work, and 2) if improperly charged, they can explode, just like with the exploding cell phones. Like the HD1, the HD3 has just a few buttons. The menu and mode buttons on the top seem easier to press than the HD1, which is a welcome improvement. The play/stop button is still a bit too small for my big thumbs. The four-way arrow buttons are responsive and I personally prefer a simple linear control scheme like this over other "weird" interfaces such as scroll wheel or touch-sensitive strip. I also like the hold button on this thing; it's very easy to slide. Backlighting on the HD3 works well and the monochrome LCD is small but sharp.
Some nice touches of the HD3 include the ability to choose "line out" instead of "headphones" when you want to run the output through an amplifier. ("Headphones" output is pre-amped and will sound distorted and harsh if it goes into an external amplifier.) There're also a six-band equalizer and virtual surround sound settings.
Overall, the HD3 feels very solid physically and the player itself is pretty easy to figure out. Most audiophiles will like the superb sound quality they'll get if they rip into the ATRAC3Plus format. I've used this player in the gym, and it never skips a beat.
Now, the not-so-pleasant side of this little wonder...
Even though HD3 is a HUGE improvement over its predecessor HD1 due to the native MP3 playback capability alone (well, a lower introductory price is also a big plus), its user interface and music transfer interface haven't been improved at all. The updated SonicStage software (now at version 2.3) is fine some of the time, but a nightmare other times. There are a number of nagging issues:
1) You cannot simply copy your MP3 files to the HD3 and expect to play them later. The HD3 does appear on Windows desktop as an external drive, and you can copy any files (including MP3 files) to its hard drive. Basically this allows you to use the HD3 as an external disk drive. But, in order for the MP3 files to play back as audio, they must be transferred using the included SonicStage music management software. (Internally, SonicStage places all transferred music tracks, MP3 or ATRAC, in a proprietary database on the HD3. You cannot access these tracks directly from Windows Explorer.)
2) While you can charge the HD3 using the USB cable via the small USB adapter (it doesn't have a docking cradle a la the HD1), which is a cool thing, you cannot transfer music without plugging in the AC adapter. This is just plain stupid and it means if you want to transfer music on other PCs, you must carry the AC adapter with you. The AC adapter is small and one-piece, but it's still a pain to have to remember carrying it with you.
3) You still must "authorize" the HD3 with the Sony Connect music service. This is pretty straightforward -- when it works. The whole music rights control system Sony forces upon us is so freaking convoluted and stupid and irksome. To the dumbheads at Sony marketing: we users want a simpler way to manage and transfer music! Even Windows Media Player 10 is way better at these than SonicStage 2.3.
4) You cannot rate music like you can in Windows Media Player. Creating playlists (called "groups" by Sony in the HD3 manual but known as "albums" in SonicStage -- go figure!) in SonicStage is a bit of a pain. You cannot create playlists on the HD3 itself. It only has a feature called Bookmark which basically combines ratings and a rudimentary playlist into one function. You can bookmark up to 100 songs.
5) Shuffle (random) and repeat plays are ridiculously complicated and require lots of button presses; and you cannot activate them when a song is playing! Take a look at pp.25-28 of the manual and be prepared for an anxiety attack. Once again, Sony introduces some totally stupefying concept to make their American users' playback experience miserable: this time it's something calld "play unit" which involves where you start playback. Anyway, it just makes no sense whatsoever. In a nutshell, it's almost impossible to get consistent shuffle plays on the HD3. Sometimes it shuffles the entire collection of your music, other times it does just a folder or artist. Totally bewildering.
6) Native WMA playback is still not supported. You can convert non-copy-protected WMA files into ATRAC using SonicStage, a time-consuming process. If you have WMA tracks bought from an online store (MSN Music, Walmart, Musicmatch, etc.), you cannot convert them.
7) Sony just has to come up with a better name than "Network Walkman NW-HD3." And you call that POS a case???
In short, like the earlier HD1, the HD3 is an amazing piece of hardware with terrific sound quality, amazing battery life and a solid feel (but not heavy in weight) not found on any other MP3 player. If only Sony would improve the player's interface as well as the scary SonicStage software (esp. in the copy protection department), this would simply be the best MP3 player, period.
"But," you ask, "is the NW-HD3 right for me?"
The answer depends on what you want. If you want great sound quality *and* the best hardware form factor, the HD3 is your top choice. If you can, rip to ATRAC3Plus for top-notch sound quality and prolonged battery life. If you want a tiny yet solid MP3 jukebox and don't mind studying the electronic manual (in PDF), the HD3 is also a good choice, and you get long battery life as a bonus. If you prefer linear scrolling (like I do) to alternative methods, you'll like the HD3's simply four-way controls. If, however, your cup of tea is simplicity (esp. on the desktop software side) over sound quality, you'll be better off with an iPod; if you want something with lots of bells and whistles (FM, recording, calendar, etc.), you'll be happier with something from Creative Labs.
Here are a few tips that I hope will help smooth your HD3 experience:
1) You must use the version of SonicStage on the HD3's CD-ROM (v2.3, but somehow more "special" than the updater you can download on Sony's website). If you have any older version installed, be sure to uninstall it first. Reboot, then install the new version.
2) If you run into any problems with transferring music -- and many users do sooner or later -- call the Sony Connect/SonicStage's toll-free support number. They are much, much better and more competent than the hardware support people, who are clueless and useless on anything other than which button you should press to play music. E-mail me if you want that phone number. (It's on Connect's website but a bit hard to find.)
3) Don't bother with getting a remote control. The two that are Japan-only but can be special-ordered are just way over-priced for the simple functions they have. There's been consistent talk in user forums that Sony will probably introduce one of the remotes here, in which case it'll certainly be much cheaper than what you'll pay right now. But if you really *need* a remote, e-mail me and I can tell you which one you should get (and which one to avoid) and which legit source to get it from.

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As well as playing music in Sony's ATRAC3plus format, the Sony NW-HD3 is also an MP3 player. The Sony NW-DH3 has a 30 hour battery life.The Sony NW-HD3 comes with a range of features designed to deliver quality, choice and convenience for every fan of portable music.The built-in 20 GB hard disc can hold the equivalent of 13, 000 tracks or 900 CDs worth of music when using high quality ATRAC3plus audio compression technology. It offers 30 hours of uninterrupted playtime from a single battery charge and withstands almost all kinds of movement to deliver a skip-free performance.Specially developed G-Sensor technology enables the hard disc to resist impact to protect your valuable music or other data. Its aluminum body makes it light to carry.

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