Customer Reviews

Sony eMarker

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(47)

 

 

I'm a gadget nut and this sounded like a great idea. Unfortunately, the execution of the idea was less than what I would have expected from Sony. Here's why the eMarker only gets one star:

1. Windows 98 only. No Windows 2000/ME/95/Mac support. What were you thinking Sony? Why is it so difficult? USB support is there?

2. Only a handful of "big" cities are available real-time. Even though I'm in the 7th biggest city in the country, I guess we don't count. The rest of the "100+ cities" require that you wait for 24 hours before you can get the song info.

3. You can only store 10 songs at once. Considering the fact that I have to go home to use the thing (no Windows 98 at the office) and I have to wait 24 hours to get the 10 songs this is a horrible limitation. This device is doing nothing more than storing date and time stamps. Why limit it to 10? That's ridiculous.

4. The website where you get the info is "pretty" but from a usability perspective it sure leaves a lot to be desired.

Bottom line.... Wait until they get it right.

Don't let the sleek look of the emarker fool you, it's got bugs a-plenty and some serious design flaws. Here's what the other reviews (written by Sony employees?) and the literature don't say:

* E-marker doesn't seem to work with AOL; you have to not only use another browser, but also set that browser as the default.

* When you plug the emarker into your computer, it "automatically" loads your marks into the site...or at least that's what it's supposed to do. On 3 browsers and 2 different computers, I haven't quite gotten this to happen.

* Sony seems to be more concerned about being cool than functional - to top off all the emarkers' inadequacies, they (over)designed a Flash interface to get your songs that doesn't quite work either. Simple HTML would have been fine, guys.

...Spare yourself the agony and wait for version 2.0.

...this is the first time I've been irate enough about something to write a review and I assure you everything above is true...

It's not perfect, but it's worth the money. I'm having fun with mine, and I've scored some songs I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Pros: 1. Simple to operate hardware and software. There is only one button on the device. When you plug it into the USB port, it starts your web browser, logs you in to the Sony site, and uploads your time stamps. 2. All 6-7 local (K.C.) radio stations that I listen to are covered. Cons: 1. It takes too long for for radio station data to appear on the web site. They say 24 hours, but I've currently got stuff out there longer than that that I'm still waiting on. 2. Large device for a keychain. Considering the hardware is just a time/date stamp, it should be smaller. 3. The device only stores 10 songs, and there is no way to delete entries without uploading them on your computer. 4. Sony has gone through too much effort to make the website cool, and not enough effort in making it fast. It can take a little while to scroll through your local radio stations to find the song that you e-marked.

Where is the space for a zero star! Just purchased a emarker and ill tell you one thing, I should have read these reviews first. All the bad you hear about this little thing is true. I am not priveliged enough to live in an area Sony feels compelled to offer service in, so I dont even have one station to mark. The site is terrible and I cant even get the program to "enable" itself. Whats the difference though, cant do anything with it anyway. This is typical Sony. My advice, check out all the ratings here and go to the website and see if they even offer any stations in your area. Believe me, they wont tell you it will not work in your area. It, however, is a neat idea. Needs lots of work.

I bought the Sony E-Marker because I thought it was a great idea. I am the type of person who does not remember who sings what and the title of songs. I was estatic when I received it in the mail and could not wait to start using it. To my disappointment when I went to download the driver I found out that it is only compatiable to Windows 98. I am currently running Windows ME. I tried to contact emarker for support with no luck or response. I have no idea when an update will come out so basically I have a product that I would love to use just sitting on my desk taking up space.

no place in the ad does it say the use of this depends on the radio stations in your area must belong to their service for this to work none in my area of south west florida seem to least of all my favorite stations and it seems that the music you listen too must be of the lastest out or there is no info on it or where you can buy it so yes i feel like i got ripped off ... thank you sony

I'm really happy with this eMarker thing. I mark songs with it almost everyday on WPLJ and I download the songs from Napster. I do have to wait for about 3-10 minutes (sometimes less) to get the song name, but I'm usually in the car so it is not really a problem. It would be great if they covered NPR. It works on my Windows 2000 PC at work and my Windows ME PC at home. The technology behind it seems to be pretty simple. I think the keychain product just remembers the time. It works flawlessly for my station, which is what is important anyway. The site is a bit slow, but it is a really slick design that is very interactive. I wish it held more songs than ten.

I can't believe how many people are complaining that they wasted $20, and now the product doesn't work at all. If you take any time at all to learn about the product, you'll discover it doesn't work everywhere! Before buying, just go to http://www.emarker.com/coverage/index.jhtml like I did. I found out it did work in my area, so I bought and loved this product, and I am amazed that other people couldn't figure out to do this themselves!

So enough about how half the reviews are from senseless idiots who can't figure out how to do a simple check, this product is great. I listen to the radio for an hour or two a day, and this is indispensable. I used to jot down the lyrics to the song, try to find the song on Napster, download it to make sure I have the right one, then purchase the CD, possibly. Now, if I hear that great song, all I have to do it press the button - it's incredibly easy. Even if you just listen to the radio 15 minutes a day in the car, it's nice. You won't believe how many times you'll find yourself using it. But be sure to check the website first and save yourself the hassle that many of the other reviewers had to go through!

This cool little product has been just wonderful. I will never have to remember songs I hear on K-ROCK again!! I was delighted to find a song a few days ago that had been bothering me for months. I kept wondering who was singing it. E-marker found it for me. The website is incredibly cool too. Too bad you cannot experience it without buying it. You can actually drag and drop songs into categories that you can name. I am not a techie and I was able to get it to work just fine. The site is a bit slow to load but once it loads, it is actually very fast and interactive. It is a great tool for people who are really into music. I just love it!!!

I used my E-marker under Windows 98 SE. I just built a brand new system from scratch and loaded the E-marker driver to Windows ME and it worked perfectly. I have no idea what these people are talking about who had problems with Windows ME.