About 18 years ago, having a Walkman is something like having an iPod nowadays. Walkman, a product by Sony can be considered as the predecessor of iPod, allowing us to bring our favourite music wherever we want to. The trademarked name soon become a generic for the entire portable music player, regardless of the brand. About 10 years later, ‘Walkman’ name has been consolidated into Sony Ericsson music enabled mobile phones and reborn on a series of latest digital multimedia player.
The X-Series Walkman design offer solid heft in the hand with a unique textured metal border. The selection and location of the controls take a little getting used to, but first things first. Connecting via the proprietary USB cable was as simple as plug, wait a second, and play. The hardware drivers were automatically installed and ready to use on my computer.
It allows users to drag and drop music files into sub-folders, according to genres. Compatible DRM-protected content can be managed by common PC applications such as Windows Media Center, Amazon Unbox, and this Walkman can be one of the three devices synched to a Napster To Go account.
ony also bundles a CD-ROM of helpful software, most impressive of which is Content Transfer 1.1, which parks a small translucent window on the desktop that allows us to drag and drop non-DRM music, videos, playlists and podcasts from iTunes directly onto the Walkman, as well as entire folders from Windows Explorer. It automatically sorts files by media type, which is of course easier than searching through folders to find what we want. The iTunes feature is just wild, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to drag tracks out of my iTunes library to another application, and details like the accompanying cover art are maintained. Also included are the instructions to download Sony’s more product-specific Media Manager for Walkman, another way to get our goods into the player’s 16 or 32 gigabytes of flash storage space.
The bundled headphones were a little awkward at first but the sound quality is quite good. They also contain a microphone necessary to take advantage of a very special feature of the X Series Walkman, namely a noise-cancellation software engine inside the player, the first video/MP3 player to offer such technology. This is the real deal, actively blocking ambient noise, with three differents filters in the digital signal processor for distinct environments: Airplane, Bu/Train and Office.
Features/Specifications of the Sony X Series Walkman Digital Media Player:
* Dimensions: 3.9″ H x W 2.1″ W x 0.4″ D
* Weight: 3.5 ounces
* Screen: 3-inch (diagonal) 16:9 touch-screen OLED
* Resolution: 432 x 240 (WQVGA)
* Input: Analog Stereo (3.5mm mini-jack) via proprietary adapter
* Output: 3.5mm stereo headphone mini-jack
* Other: Proprietary connector port (USB adapter cable included)
* Wireless: 802.11b/g
* Compatible Video Formats: AVC(H.264), MPEG-4, WMV
* Compatible Audio Formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, HE-ACC, Linear PCM
* Storage capacity: 16 gigabytes (tested) or 32 GB
* Battery: Built-in rechargeable lithium ion
* Available Finishes: Black
* Warranty: One year, Limited
* MSRP: $299.95 (16GB), $399.95 (32GB)
What’s in the Box:
* Digital Media Player
* Stereo Headphones
* USB Cable
* External Input Cable (for dedicated noise-canceling headphone use)
* Airplane Adapter
* Base/Stand
* CD-ROM
Manufacturer’s Contact Information:
Sony Electronics, Inc.
16450 W. Bernardo Drive
San Diego, CA 92127
Phone: 800-222-SONY (7669)
On the Web: SonyStyle.com