New Sony portable media players for your viewing pleasure. The NW-A820 series was just announced in Japan, where it’ll be released on March 20. (No release date for the U.S. has been announced. Sony hates us.) Two versions have so far been spotted, a $350ish 16GB model and a $260ish 8GB model.
Now, then, what does it do? First, what it doesn’t—there’s no Mac support, which makes me wonder why I should even care about it. That aside, you’ve got Bluetooth (for wireless headphones) and some sort of built-in noise cancellation feature. The screen is a generous 2.4-inches, which is only a little smaller than the iPod Touch’s. That’s about it; it’s just a simple media player.
Aside from the built-in Bluetooth, I really don’t see anything to get too worked up about here. There’s nothing particularly innovative (maybe Apple has spoiled us?) about the player. And who knows, it could well end up being Japan-only, just like the A910.
Sony NW-A820 Walkman [AV Watch (Google translation)]
Biased much?
Wow this is probably the most biased article I’ve seen regarding the A820. The A810 series earned great praise across the board for it’s sound quality, which is something Ipod lacks. Don’t even get me started with the cheap earphone that comes with Ipod, at least you get a $70 high quality earphone with the A810 series.
Did the author even see this item before writing about it? Apparently not since he seems to think the IPOD would spoil you for appreciating the A820. There is no contest that Sony makes a far superior sounding product, or that IPODs are notorious for mediocre sound quality.
this indeed is the most biased article i’ve seen around here. The author somehow does not take sound quality into account while selecting AUDIO products. As far as i’m concerned he judges based on the number of features on a product, and more so its apple-compatibility. Obviously a product with the most features adds the most values to it, does it not? I guess people nowadays no longer see portable audio products as a mere sound playing device, rather a “media player” as described by Nick. Or perhaps, there are two major markets: the audiophiles who demand the most ear-pleasing, and those who demand to be visually astounded by digital innovations. Perhaps as an audiophile i’m not one to judge.