Customer Reviews

Sony NW-MS70D Network Walkman

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I really like this walkman - especially the small size, large memory, and long battery life. I use it almost every day on the long commute to work, or when I'm in the gym. So why only 4/5? The styling looks cool, but the whole unit would be smaller if the "hold" mechanism was smaller. Also, I find the "jog dial" thing that you use to change tracks sometimes sticks and doesn't feel very robust. In addition, the music management software - Sonic Stage - is really poor.

(3 months later)

No, I take that back. The Sonic Stage software is terrible - it has the usability and reliability of a 2nd year computer science project. Sony's software support is equally bad: expect 3 week turnaround times on questions or problems.

It's a shame - nice device, let down by appalling software.

I used to be a loyal Sony customer...until I recently had issues with both of my Sony DVD players and my VAIO desktop (Sony support SUCKS). I am also now mortified that I spent $300 on this "MP3 player."

As other reviewers mentioned, this thing doesn't play MP3s. You have to use the ATRAC3 format, which is fine I guess--if you don't mind having 2 copies of every song on your computer so you can use a normal MP3 format on other devices. And yes, the SonicStage software has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. It's junk, bottom line.

The size and weight of the player is great, but the shape is weird. I used to use the Sony NW-MS9 (which was OK but the batteries were horrible and inconsistent), and it had a perfect shape to hold in my hand. This one is kind of square, and the big bar for the "hold" function is just ridiculous. I have not had it stay in the hold position one single time after putting it in my gym bag. And now after about 6 months of use the bar is getting loose and makes it feel really flimsy.

Another thing about Sony Network Walkmans in general that stinks is that they don't make belt clips for them. The only place I use these players is at the gym, and I don't have pockets in my workout gear. So I end up stuffing the thing in my waistband when I need both hands, and since this one has an odd shape it doesn't stay put very well. Sony included a necklace-type thing to go with it, but personally I think it's totally lame. I don't want that plastic rubbing on my neck when I'm working out, and if I'm jogging forget it...who would want that thing slapping on their chest constantly?

The player has 256MB of internal memory, which works out to be 8 to 10 CD's worth. That's OK for the gym, but when I do decide to switch out the songs it takes way too long for everything to transfer. And the memory stick slot is for a 'memory stick duo,' so of course all of the other standard memory sticks that I bought for other Sony products are useless now.

The one thing about this product that I can say is flawless is the batteries. I use it 3-4 hours per week at the gym and I think I charge it less than once a month. For $300 though, one would hope for more "pros" than that. I'm replacing this thing with an iPod next week!

[edit]
OK...so the grass is not greener with the iPod. I have never owned an MP3 player other than Sony...and there are some good features to the Sony that I did not realize until I used another brand:

1) You can do just about everything you need to without having to look at it. I really like the fact that you can switch between albums, not just songs...and it's very easy to do so without having to watch what you're doing. On the iPod you can just hit the forward button 15 times to get to the next album, or you have to look at it and backup a couple menus to switch. Very cumbersome when you're on the treadmill or something.

2) The sound quality is not bad at all, and you can set the EQ to where you want it. The iPod just has a bunch of preset EQ settings w/hardly any bass...I was very disappointed with the sound quality.

3) It's not such a bad thing (for me anyway) to have just 8-10 CDs on the player. Usually I swap them out every month or two. It's nice not having to search forever to find another album to listen to...having up to 1000 songs on the iPod is just a pain. Takes way to long just to find something I'm in the mood to listen to, then once that album is finished I get to do the search all over again.

I returned my new iPod mini after using it at the gym only twice. The belt clip was awesome...but that's about the best thing I can say about it, and that's certainly not worth $250. If I could edit my rating here I guess I'd change it to 3.5 or 4 stars.

Yes, the design is nice and the battery live is good but the software is a disgrace. I also can not understand why Sony only supports USB 1.1 in this day and age. The disaster recovery - well the complete lack thereof - is a serious issue if you don't want to re-transfer all your CDs to a hard disk every time you experience hard disk problems or have to change machines. The SonicStage software is slow and not very user friendly. Why does the list of just recorded song keep refreshing every time a song is converted? Nice try Sony, but please package some usable software with your poducts.

I get the sense that Sony rushed to get this product into the market when they realized the inevitable ipod invasion. It seems that product testing was simply skipped altogether in order to sell as many units as possible before ipod completely took hold. I sincerely urge you to avoid this terrible product and wish the resulting frustration upon noone. I will admit that the sound quality is superior to Mp3, but the difference is not enormous and if I wanted the best quality I would play an uncompressed format on my home stereo (duh). As with all Sony products, aesthetically the product is beautiful with clean, smooth lines and innovative (though I fear somewhat breakable) controls. The software was blatantly Sony's last priority with countless flaws and a mind-numbing transfer rate. Atrac3 is not compatable with the rest of the civilized world and Sony Support is non-existent. Do not spend a cent on any of these players and with hope Sony will be forced discontinue this pathetic product line and get back to doing something they actually know about. Hopefully for mankind something that doesn't require software - like good ol' VHS.

What a mess. Sony missed the boat big time with this one. The software is a mess, buggy and doesn't work well with Windows. My puter crashed a minimum of 15 times in 2 days. Support? I had to hunt them down and then it took, no lie, 6 hours on the phone. Seems the CD was missing a .dll file and windows would not recognize their .inf files. In addition, the unit itself had to have the memory reformatted, a manufacturing issue. Now that it works, beware, unless you rip your own CDs or want to buy from the Sony Music Store, which, by the way, uses a different version of the software and will also crash your puter, you are pretty limited. I wish I had purchased another product, the use of this will be very limited and I cannot recommend it to anyone for any reason.

I've owned this for almost 1year. It looked Cool, yet after carrying and slighty bumped against a desk few times, it broke..
Design is fancy and the format type(ATRAC3) is good to save a memory. However, the software occupies immense system resources. Overall, it was nothing but a funny toy for me.
Although sound quality,design and portabilty are OK, durabilty makes this player as one of worst mp3 players i've owned...

This digital music player is very useful when traveling because: 1) It is small, lightweight and thus will fit almost anywhere (ipod is at least 4X larger not to mention about 100X heavier); 2) Sony has made it easy to change the volume or song while the player is still in your pants pocket or shirt, so you do not have to take the player out every time you want to change a song or the volume (ipod requires a remote control and is a its white color is a big tip off to thieves that you have a $400 dollar ipod player available). 3) The battery life is great for long train trips or flights (Good luck with ipod battery life); 4) Sony software allows for easy transfer of your music to the player (the reviewers who complain about mp3 formats not working obviously do not own the player, because it is ridiculously simple to load your songs onto the player, and anyone who owns this player can figure out within minutes how to "bypass" the "mysterious" Sony "proprietary" software to record any song they want on this player (The key to this is that Sony software requires that you have the wave file for the song, and not just the mp3 file. 5) The player is built very ruggedly since everything is solid state and not a disk drive (i.e ipod). It has never skipped while playing. 6) The memory is expandable to whatever size you decide and Sony now has 1GB cards that you can purchase(i.e. your player is not limited to 10, 20, or 30 GB like the ipods).

This is by far the best digital music player money can buy. You definitely get better options and quality for your money than with the ipod. Highly recommended for the professional who wants only the best.

I ordered this player when it was first available from Sony. For the last year and a few months I have been happy with it. I do agreee with the software problems others have commented on, but the size and ease of use was a bonus for me and I was able to deal with the software issues. Now just as I am training for my first marathon... the battery will no longer charge. I have searched for information on replacement and I doubt I am/ will be the only one with this issue, there isn't even any information on the Sony website. Apple with the ipod/ipod mini have already addressed this issue with replacement batteries.
I spent good money on this player more than a year ago, so it is no longer covered, but now I am stuck, with no options and no player. I would advise finding a different player unless you are willing to afford a new one in two years or unless Sony can fix the battery issues.

I received the Network Walkman as a prize and it has made my life miserable. Contrary to what the box & Sony Customer service will tell you, it does not play MP3s. The computer will confirm that I downloaded the files, but the player displays "No Data" when I try to listen. Therefore, I need to use the SonicStage software, but the software does not work. Every time I try to load music into the music library, I get an error message and the program shuts down. Customer service was difficult to track down and could not help me when I got through to them. The Network Walkman looks good, but it is a very expensive paperweight.

This is a light weight, compact unit that's perfect for those who listen to their own CDs. I haven't had issues transferring WAV files since I record off of my own CDs. It doesn't skip with movement and the sound is very good. However my unit stopped working 105 days after I received it. Being that the full warranty is only for 90 days, I am now stuck with paying shipping and labor charges to get it fixed (Sony only covers parts for 1 year). This is an expensive unit and I was happy with it while it worked but the price works out to 3$ per day. No MP3 unit is worth this price regardless of size, features and sound. You expect to pay a lot for a Mercedes but you also expect it to run for longer than 3 & 1/2 months.