Sony's NW-HD5 portable HDD player - a design refresh and 40 hours playback Portable AV / Sony Posted by sar7501 on Apr 06, 2005 - 12:13 AM |
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Sony continues their battle with Apple's phenomenally successful iPod with the release of a new portable HDD audio player, the NW-HD5. Got to admire them for not giving up, I suppose. The new player sports a 20GB HDD, up to 40 hours of continuous playback thanks to a removable Li-Ion battery, an LCD screen with a display that can be rotated 90 degrees and an improved user interface. Available for approximately 35,000 yen from 21 April at a store near you.  Sony Marketing has announced the "NW-HD5" portable HDD audio player. The new player will go on sale from 21 April and is expected to retail for approximately 35,000 yen. The NW-HD5 is W59.9 x H89.3 x D14.5 mm in size and weighs approximately 135 grams (including battery) - about the size of a large business card holder. The 20GB HDD can hold up to 13,000 songs (in ATRAC3plus/48kbps format). In addition to support for ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus and MP3 playback, WAV and Windows DRM-protected files can also be played back if they are copied to the player using the included SonicStage music management software. The front face of the player sports a 128 x 128 pixel backlit LCD screen. The screen is capable of displaying 7 lines of text (Sony's previous HDD-based portable audio players have a 5-line display) and uses a new screen font. The screen's font/background colours can also be switched (black/white or white/black) and it's text orientation rotated by 90 degrees.  LCD display orientation and colour options Nine control buttons are mounted underneath the LCD display. In addition to play, stop and volume up/down, a search button also allows "stress-free" access to the player's song search mode from any playback mode. Search options include an "Initial search" for finding track titles alphabetically and up to 100 songs can be stored in an individual playlist.  L to R - Album search, Track search, Initial search Power is supplied by a removable lithium-ion battery which provides up to 40 hours of continuous playback time, the longest for a portable HDD audio player according to Sony. The battery can be charged via the included AC adapter or USB cable - a stand or special connector is not necessary. A full charge takes approximately 3 hours with the AC adapter and approximately 5 hours via USB. When using the AC adapter, a fast charge to approximately 80% is accomplished in approximately 1.5 hours. As the battery is removable, it can be easily replaced when its performance begins to degrade. In addition, this will also make it possible to purchase a spare battery for use on long trips when access to mains power may not be conveniently available.  Other features include a 6-band graphic equaliser, "VPT Acoustic Engine" that approximates the listening experience in a studio, live house or arena (ATRAC formats only), "Digital Sound Preset" for saving user's sound quality settings and a "G-Sensor and shock damper" system that protects the HDD from shocks such as those experienced when it is accidentally dropped. "Sonic Stage 3.1" is included for music management and transfer. New features include support for the NW-HD5 and the ability to rip to MP3 format direct from CD. Inspired by: http://www.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle/articles/0504/06/news025.html [1] News release: http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200504/05-0406/ [2] Catalog page: http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/audio/walkman/products/index.cfm?PD=21200&KM=NW-HD5 [3] More information and pictures (including a size comparison with the iPod): http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20050406/sony.htm [4] |
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This article is from TechJapan http://www.techjapan.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.techjapan.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=963 Links in this article [1] http://www.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle/articles/0504/06/news025.html [2] http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200504/05-0406/ [3] http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/audio/walkman/products/index.cfm?PD=21200&KM=NW-HD5 [4] http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20050406/sony.htm |