Customer Reviews

Sony NWZS618FBLK 8GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Black)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this player as well as the NWZ-A818 recently because I wasn't sure which one I liked the best. In the end I chose this player because I liked the form factor better. This player looks more solid and less flimsy than the 818 in my opinion. It's smaller and it has a built-in FM radio which the 818 doesn't have. Aside from that, the two players seem to be identical. i.e. they have all the same EQs and other features. However, the one thing that really puts the 818 ahead of this player when you look at the package as a whole is the head phones. The head phones on this player are pretty terrible. They are pretty much the equivalent of the $9 Sony headphones that you can buy separately. You'll probably want to replace them with at least some MDR-EX51s. Even the though the MDR-EX82s that come with the 818 are smaller, they seemed to have better clarity than the much larger MDR-V6 studio monitor headphones that I have. The mids and highs seemd better than EX51s and they didn't have the cheap cabling that EX51s have. MDR-EX82s aren't sold separately to my knowledge, but, I'm pretty sure they are the same as the EX85s and those sell for about $55 at the moment. So, value-wise and out of the box sound-wise, the 818 is probably the better choice unless you want the radio and you are picky about the size and form factor like I am. One other difference that I noticed between this player and the 818 is that although the 818s screen is larger, the screen on this one looks a lot better. It's noticeably brighter and better looking no matter what the brightness settings are on.

The good:
Very small and light
Finish looks fairly scratch resistant
Simple design that looks durable
Long battery life
You don't have to install any special drivers on Windows XP (although you may have to install Windows Media Player 11)
Screen is very bright
The user interface is intuitive and easy to use, for example, you can easily change EQ settings
Good sound quality, has lots sound adjustment settings
Has several EQ settings and two custom ones
The UI is very responsive
Skipping from one track to the next is fast, probably faster than a hard drive based player

The average:
File transfer speed, I thought it would be faster than the hard drive based Rio Carbon 5 GB that I was using previously, but, it seems only marginally better

The bad:
Cheap head phones, if they included the EX82s instead, this review would be a 5/5 instead
Price could be a bit lower considering you can get a 30 GB hard drive based player for close to the same amount of money
Proprietary connector designed to make you buy Sony cables when they could have just used a normal USB connector
USB charging doesn't seem to work with a USB charger adaptor, you need Sony's expensive one
Uses MTP not USB mass storage, doesn't have a drive letter associated with it, so, you can't copy files to it using the Command Prompt, but, it does work nicely from Explorer
Not sure if it can be used (unofficially) on platforms other than Windows
I don't like the way the right and left buttons work when scrolling through artists, it should jump a page at a time IMHO, rather than dividing things up into alphabetic ranges
It doesn't seem to show thumbnail images of images that you put on it
It doesn't recognize directories beyond one level deep for images, not sure if this applies to music or not
For me the amount of storage is still a little low, a 16 GB model would probably store virtually all the music that I listen to on a regular basis
It might be nice if you could delete files from the player itself rather than having to use a computer

Overall, I would definitely recommend this player, but, I'd recommend getting some better headphones after the fact if you don't already have some. Most of what I have listed above under the bad is just me nitpicking.

The first thing that pleasantly suprised me when this product arrived was that it is SMALL. The face of the player is signifigantly smaller than the area of a credit card in both length and width and is the approximate depth of a zippo lighter. the screen is bright, colorful, and sharp, though it is a little small for the purposes of video and photos. the interface is very earsy for navigation and it includes a radio tuner. For the faithful Sony customers and the SonicStage sceptics; you may or may not be happy to know that sony has abandoned it's SonicStage. All their players operate seamlessly with Jukeboxes such as Napster and Windows Media player. They also no longer play the ATRAC family of formats, but fear not SonicStage users; The device also comes with a program to change all your ATRACs to MP3s. And as always with sony players, battery life is outstanding, even considering the bright screen. This is a great player considering its price

I have several MP3 Players including one of the 800 Series Sony Players. The main difference between the 600 series and the 800 series seems to be the lack of an FM Tuner on the 800's ( but better Headphones), and the 800 Series is thinner,longer and feels like it has a higher quality build,even though it is manufactured in CHINA, the 600's are made in Malaysia). They are both outstanding players, but you will need to upgrade the headphones on the 600s to experience the true potential of the player.


I used to sell audio euipment in a previous life, and I one thing I learned is that the interpretation of good sound is relative to the individual doing the listening and the musical material they listen too, and not always dependent on the equipment. After some of the hifi demos in the store, I have had people tell me they couldn't tell the difference between a 179.00 8 Track Stereo combo unit and 2,500.00 audio system.

That being said I did not believe all the reviews that talked about how good the sound is on this player. I figured some of it was just hype from people that hate Apple. I have $ 10.00 Generic MP3 players that sound as good as 250.00 players when using the right pair of Headphones.

I thought that was going to be the case here too. Using the right headphones, I expected this player to sound good, using the Sony MDR7502 Professional Studio Headphones, and the V-Moda Vibes. However, I was not prepared for how good this player sounded using the V-Moda earbuds.

I loaded 51 of my favorite songs on it the first day I got it, and proceeded to listen to all 51, until 3:00 am in the morning. I could not stop listening. I hear detail that I never heard before, and imaging that I would only expect to get using a pair of properly spaced speakers.

The volume levels on this player can potentially cause hearing loss and Sony includes a very prominent warning in the box. Using the V-Moda Earbuds, I listen at level of about 10 out of 30. The surprising thing about the Sony Player is that the it sounds just as good at 7 or 8 as it does as 17 or 20. There are pre set equalizer settings and two custom EQ settings. ( This is good if use use two different types of headphones)

I don't want to repeat everything that everyone else has already said, but the sound from this unit is awesome when you use a better pair of headphones than the ones included in the box.

Also, no one seemed to mention the FM Tuner in this unit. This unit has one of the most sensitve and musical tuners I have heard in any portable device. I have players from Creative,MPIO, I-River,Virgin and Sandisk, none of the tuners in those units have really great sound, the Creative probably had best tuner followed by IRiver, but again, none of them can top this Sony Tuner.

The sound of the tuner in this unit reminds me of the FM Tuners of the late 70's and Early 80's, when FM was a majaor source of musical entertainment and the sound quality was important. I can hear a lot of detail that other tuners just don't provide.

This player is so easy to navigate I think my 80 year old mother could probably use it with no problems.

Someone made a comment about the transfer speed not being very fast, but this is the fastest unit I have ever owned. Media Player 11 recognized the player right away, and I was able to move over 182 songs in under 15 minutes. ( Most of that time was picking which songs to move)

I might add, that you can drag and drop through Windows Explorer.

There is so much more I would like to say about this player but that would be repitious. I will say I wish Sony would have used a standard USB mini jack instead of the proprietary jack. The USB charging and lack of an adapter is not a problem, I expected that and most players come that way now. You can pick up USB Chargers for under 10.00 dollars almost anywhere now, however I took away one star for the proprietary connector thing.

Sony is on the right track and they are now making the players that some of us die hard music fans knew they could produce once they stopped trying to control the music rights. I cannot compare this unit to an I-Pod because I have never heard and IPOD, but you will not be disappointed with this player. If you can afford it, get at least the 8 GB model. You will want to load it up and listen a long time. The battery life is stated as 33 hours for music, I have used the player for about a week without charging but I don't know the cumulative run time.


One final note, there are not a lot of accessories for this player. I have yet to find a case other than the Sony Case offered on Amazon. If you are looking for music docks and other stuff, you won't find them yet. I thnk they will come. I did notice that the prices for these Sony players are tarting to go up rather than come down. That may be testament to how good they sound and more demand. I have seen several places online out of stock on this player.

We can only hope ...

Great Player..........

Update -5/08

Music docks for this unit are available at the Sony Style website and maybe here on Amazon. Battery life is excellent on this player. I took this player overseas with me and did not have to charge it for over a month. ( used it about 3 hours day, sometimes more)

Sony is also selling a new combo package of this unit and NC22- noise canceling headphones. That is a great combination and that is how I use this unit now. It is a great combo for travel by plane, bus or train.

I was initially very pleased with this player. I loaded lots of songs and pictures on it. I bought this for my 12 year old. I had put off buying one for a long time because I knew little about mp3 players. A week after we got this one, I also bought a Creative Zen mp3 player, also in a 8 GB. I like the Sony shuffle feature. Simply select it and it plays a random variety of songs. The Zen lacks this. I have not learned just yet how to set up playlists. In time I will. The Sony sounds great. The FM tuner works good. It comes with a quality set of in the ear headphones. I am very disappointed in the video player part of this device. There is a sample clip preloaded on the device. It looks great. I won't knock the small size of the screen. I knew it ahead of time. I am unable to load any of my own videos on to this player. They must be converted to a format that will play. This in itself is not unusual. The Zen requires a conversion also. What I am really aggravated about is this: I contacted Sony for technical support. I explained that I was trying with multiple failures to transfer converted video to my player. I had used Windows Media Player 11 and also Roxio Easy Media Creator. Well, this won't work with Sony. Apparently they have some type of proprietary code. I was told in order to transfer video and have it actually work, I needed to purchase additional software from Sony. Specifically Image Converter or Media Manager Pro. Incidentally, Image Converter is no longer available per Sonys website. The only Media Manager was for a PSP. I own several Sony cameras and video cameras. The videos I wanted to put on the MP3 player were shot on Sony cameras. I am very disappointed in Sony right now. The other player I own, the Creative Zen 8 GB model came with software to convert video to the appropriate format. It also has a larger screen and is less money. It got a great review from CNET. Com. So, if you want a great mp3 player for music, I can reccomend the Sony. If you want to play video clips, avoid it. By the way, I opened the package, so I can't return it to Amazon.

I just received my NWZ-S618 from Amazon 3 days ago. Here are my first thoughts. In true Sony fashion, the player sounds great. (I use Shure SE110 headphones.) Some of my previous mp3 players include products from Cowon and Creative, and of course the iPod. I have to say this is the best sounding in terms of clarity and depth. The equalizer adjustments make a big difference if you spend the time to fiddle with it.

I must add that the black version of this player is absolutely stunning! The pictures don't do it justice. If you are considering this player, drop by a Sony store to see how small it really is. The matte finish also prevents fingerprints from getting on the case, which was the most annoying thing about my old iPod. Another plus is the flexibility in how you transfer music to your player. I currently choose to use WMP11, but drag and drop works just as well. The iPod/iTunes combo is great, but it means that you'll likely be stuck buying iPods forever since it can be troubling to move your music library to another software.

One thing that few people bring up is the fast start-up time. I can play a song as fast as I can switch off hold and press play. This is compared to a 5 sec. delay in my Cowon player. As others mentioned, battery life is excellent. The bad headphones and USB charging are to be expected, so it wasn't much of a downer for me. Last thing is I wish Sony included more video support. The screen is so bright and beautiful, but it is unlikely I'll make use of it because I don't want to convert my video files. No star off for that though, since I bought this product as a music player and it performs superbly well in that respect.

After my old PHILIPS died one day, I went on a long and blurry-eyed search for a new player. I had decided that, this time, I would make a wish list of all the features I wanted in an mp3 player. So, I set out to find the perfect combination of the best I could get at a price I could afford (and not feel too guilty). After reading about 300 million reviews I settled on this SONY. I am so happy with it! It has everything on my list except you can't record a song from the radio, which to me is a very cool feature. Other than that, I can watch full length movies (I love how you can change the direction of the screen). I have all my cds on it, AND the best reason ever!? I can listen to audio books!!!!! The perfect trifecta if you're asking me! OR I can listen to the radio or look at pictures.
It did take a bit of an adjustment getting used to the size, it's sooo teeny! And you can't read the buttons unless tilted in the light at just the right angle. But after you know which ones do what it doesn't matter.
If you do buy this one then, look around for the best price and go for it! you wont be sorry.

This mp3 player from sony is great in almost any aspect, the price is very reasonable. It is made in Malaysia not China!

Pros:

- Sound Quality is the best I have heard in a DAP( better than iPod, Zen stone, Sansa e250, creative zen v wide,etc) 2 customizable EQ's and about 4 pre-set EQ, clean bass, and digital sound enhancement
- Best screen I have seen in my life in a DAP (1.8")
- Great battery life: up to 33hrs ( 3 hours aprox to charge via USB)
- FM radio with pre-sets
- Time machine shuffle ( it is fun and original)
- Comes with some sort of anti-scratch film in the screen
- only 65grams, less weight than most cellphones or mp3's
- No ATRAC!
- Two ways to upload files ( WMP or USB storage)

Cons:

- Size can be small for people with big hands
- No AC charger included, only USB cable
- Video codecs are very limited
- Folder navigation is kind of generic
- Expensive accesories

The pros easily overcome the cons of this mp3 player. It is a great option and everyone should consider it if searching for a small and portable DAP.

Add the Sony MDREX85LP ear buds to this player, and you have the best-sounding mp3 player available. Since I decided to get into mp3 players in my forties, I wanted great sound and convenient function, but didn't care at all about personal style statements in the Apple tradition. I borrowed and tried iPods, Sansa, and others. Sony has the best sound by far. Transferring music to the player is as easy as dragging and dropping any file on your computer. I didn't need to subscribe to any music services, and only needed the instructions to set the date.

I would have purchased this player based on its superior sound alone, but its intuitive use is a great point as well.

My only cons are that the ear buds included are merely adequate, and that you must purchase the wall recharger separately (as shipped, you plug in to your computer to recharge).

On the ear buds, I tested Koss, Philips and some other Sonys before settling on the Sony MDREX85LP as the best combo with this player. I didn't try anything in the over $100 range.

I am a real customer and not someone was paid to support this product.
Here's my take,
Pros:
1. Excellent sound quality with KOSS portapros headphones (and decent with the included heaphones).
2. Very easy (common sense) to use and navigate (I didn't even read the instructions). IMO, this player's navigation is easier, faster, and more intuitive than the ipod (I'm serious). I can operate it in the dark.
3. Small size and very nice looking (looks as good as the ipod)
4. Dedicated volume buttons on the side (great feature here)
5. Good radio reception (no radio in nwza810 series though)
6. Great battery life (3 days and I'm still going off the charge)
7. Can search songs by folders in addition to all songs, albums, artists, etc. (I don't think ipod does folders)
8. Drop and drag feature (no need to use software such as itunes and such).

Cons:
1. No gapless playback. The PSP has gapless, why not this.
This is actually the most important feature besides sound quality you can
offer on an mp3 player (This is a big reason why ipod is still ruling).
There are countless listeners of live, classical, dance mix, and techno music which require gapless playback (and many purchase ipods instead because of it). Without gapless playback the gapless music is ruined. I hope so much that Sony offers an updated firmware for this. But don't get me wrong. This player is still better than a ipod nano without it. Mainly because the ipod sound quality isn't nearly as good and this has a radio.
2.Proprietary usb connection. The PSP uses a standard universal usb cord. What happened here? It is not that big of a deal though (unless you lose it) except that it adds to your existing cords.
3. No WMV support (I think). This is no big deal here since one should get this player only for music (not video). Maybe offer a plugin for it.

In conclusion, either gapless playback or gapless playback with standard usb cord would make this player absolutely perfect. Till then, it is only slightly better than a ipod nano because of better sound quality, dedicated volume buttons, and fm radio. And if you don't care about gapless playback (don't have any gapless albums) then this player is perfect and is worth 5 stars (Gapless playback, standard usb cord, and recording features would make it wholly perfect though).

P.S. I'm wishing Sony would come out with a player that has those missing
features (like gapless) along with recording features that records voice, line in, and from the radio. This would make the best and greatest music mp3 player of all time. I, with all my heart, believe it would take over ipod nano in sales then.

Just recently, I decided to abandon my Creative Zen Vision M because I disliked the touch/glide pad so much. In fact, any function more than just skipping tracks was avoided on the Vision M. This significant annoyance, as well as discovering that I didn't really need the HDD capacity, helped me to start looking for a replacement.

I subsequently bought a 4Gb Sansa e260 and an 8Gb Sony NWZ-S618F.

These two units are very similar in function, except the Sansa has a recording feature (from either its radio or its inbuilt mic) that the Sony lacks. However, the Sony screen is much nicer and the interface is simpler and more logical. The Sony also has better sound quality. I decided to donate the Sansa to my eight-year-old Daughter.

Firstly, as many other reviewers have stated, Sony has done the right thing by discarding their proprietary software for the simpler drag and drop system. Although I have never used the Sony software, I like the idea of drag and drop simplicity. Therefore, I use Directory Opus 8 (which is a very powerful and customisable Explorer replacement) to list my music and then drag the tracks I like into the MUSIC folder on the Sony. Now that's the way I like it.

There are many good features of the Sony. They include; small size, a dedicated volume control, a nice screen, very fast (instant) start-up (from standby), great battery life, the excellent sound quality (with a number of sound enhancement features that seem to work) and the pseudo analogue clock in screen-saver mode.

I also like the styling of this unit over all the previous Sony DMPs (and many other brands and models). It looks nice, without making it impractical (like, too shiny or scratch prone).

That said; there are some negative aspects of the NWZ-S618. Firstly, it has a proprietary USB connector that means you have to take the cable with you for charging. The obvious benefits of a standard USB cable, such as replacement price and availability, would be most welcome.

Then there is no on-board way to check memory capacity, no on-board track deletion facility (without formatting the drive), no way to create play list on the fly and no record function (as mentioned above). The Time Machine Shuffle is a useless gimmick and you can't name radio station presets. Finally, the slow file transfer rate is appalling. The Sansa is considerably faster when transferring data.

Some other reviewers have stated that the supplied earbuds are rubbish. I can't comment, because I have never used them. I use a set of Koss PortaPro headphones. If Sony were to offer better headphones with the player, it would possibly increasing the price of the unit. And in my case, they still wouldn't be used.

As for video and image performance, I can't comment on that, either. I didn't buy this music player for watching videos nor for looking at photos. Although the screen is nice, it would be too small to appreciate even the most basic movies and/or images.

Another minor personal issue is the radio icon which looks like a clapperboard, thus, can be confused with the movies folder.

Most of the issues I've listed above could possibly be fixed by way of a firmware update. If this is done, along with standardising the USB connector, then the NWZ-S610 series will be nearly perfect for its target market.

I like the Sony NWZ-S618 so much, I even convinced my Luddite wife to purchase one. I recommend it to anyone in the market for a decent-sounding, easy-to-use DMP that doesn't lock you into purchasing your tracks form a single vendor.