BIOS: Technology Means Business

Some time ago Apple made a bold move by releasing an entry-level player, the iPod Shuffle. This managed to creep in at an acceptable price point by being a small memory device with no screen or fancy extras. But times have moved on and the Shuffle is under serious attack from Sony and its latest range of Flash-based Walkmans.

The technology boat has definitely been pushed out with Sony’s latest Walkman NW-E003. Cool is a complete understatement. Not only does it fulfil most of your MP3 needs, it also does all of this in an ultra-trendy way. There is a variety of memory sizes and vibrant colours to choose from, comprising 512MB, 1GB and 2GB. All memory sizes support MP3, ATRAC3 (up to 256Kbit/s) and WMA but not DRM (digital rights management) or Apple’s ACC format.

No bigger than a regular USB memory stick, the colourful little players have a smart, single-line LED display and 5-band graphic equaliser. The ultimate feature though -you need to be sitting down for this - is the 28 hour Lithium-Ion battery life (yes, you did ready that right and no, it’s not a typing error!). This feature is invaluable for those of you that are too busy to charge. The fact that a 3-minute charge in your computer’s USB port (no messy docking station or cabling is needed) equals 3 hours of play is also really, really neat.

But can the Walkman NW-E003 be an iPod Shuffle snapper? Absolutely! For a little more money than a 1GB iPod shuffle (circa £70), you can get a 1GB NW-E003 (around £80). Not only is it smaller and looks better, but it has a snazzy OLED screen and better controls. And because it’s a Sony product, you still maintain all-important street credibility. Sure the screen is small with just one line of text being displayed, but its enough to navigate easily and it looks great clipped onto your fleece. The 1GB model we reviewed is enough to store around 28 hours of MP3 audio encoded at 128Kbit/s.

The device measures just 79mm in length, making it feel like holding a USB key in your hand, and at just 25g it’s hardly heavy. Sony ships the NW-E003 in pink, blue, violet, black, and lime green. The company also offers a range of accessories including arm bands and cases. There’s no built-in FM tuner (NW-E003F, £90) or calendar function, but there are options to alter playback modes (Repeat or Shuffle), tweak sound settings, rotate the display to suit left or right-handed users, and set the power-save graphics.

The OLED display is surprising easy to navigate using the minimal of buttons, and although the graphics and characters are small they’re bright and easy to read. While playing back you can view album title, artist name, song name, as well as the current date and time - all of which you can’t do on the iPod Shuffle because it doesn’t have a display. We also really liked the battery icon which displays the remaining battery power, the ability to create playlists, as well as the stopwatch function. There’s even a Hold switch on the underside of the player to prevent accidental activation, and a reset button next to the volume controls in the unlikely event that the player crashes.

The Walkman NW-E003 ships with Sony’s Sonic Stage software version 3.4, which while far from perfect is at least free from critical flaws. Simply connect the player to a host PC and files can be transferred over USB under the control of Sonic Stage. Unfortunately you can’t drag-and-drop files using Windows’ Explorer.

The Walkman NW-E003 is an impressive MP3 player which sounds great playing all types of music. Its features are limited compared to HDD-based players with larger screens, but Sony is definitely on the right path to dislodge Apple’s grip on the lower-end of the MP3 market. Sony also has the brand to carry this off and tempt people away from the ice-white iPod Shuffle. If you’re looking for the latest, smartest and most reasonably-priced MP3 player which can easily be described as the best thing since the bagel slicer, don’t delay, buy one today! [8.5]

[Best MP3 Player Pricing UK]
[Best MP3 Player Pricing US]