Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64142 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sony
• Model: NWHD3-B
• Released on: 2004-12-20
• Dimensions: .29 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
New HDD Walkman. More Choice, More Audio
Sony has raised the bar with its latest WALKMAN. The brand new NW-HD3 WALKMAN allows you to listen to both ATRAC3Plus and MP3 files for the very first time. It's now as easy to put MP3 files onto your WALKMAN as it is ATRAC3Plus files. With enhanced Sonic Stage 2.3 software, included with your HD3, you can transfer your MP3s at a dramatically increased speed without having to convert them into ATRAC3Plus. You can also edit content such as artist's name, genre and track number (even WAV and MP3 files that come without track numbers) and then burn your very own audio CD's. It's never been simpler, faster or more convenient. Thanks to CONNECT, the online music service from Sony, your choice of downloadable tracks is incomparable.* It features a selection of over 400,000 tracks from both major and independent labels, so whatever your taste in music, CONNECT has it covered.
*Warning: The recording and playback of copyright material may be unlawful if done without the permission of the Copyright.

30 hours' of non-stop music
Now it's possible to take your whole music collection anywhere and everywhere just in your pocket. That's because the NW-HD3 WALKMAN has a powerful in-built memory of 20GB. This means it can hold a maximum of 13,000 tracks that's the equivalent of a massive 900 CDs, which is perfect for even the most acquisitive music lover! With an incredible 30 hours of playback too, it means you can listen for longer and to any tracks which happen to fit your mood, location or lifestyle whatever they may be at any one time.

Cool and Contemporary
Because you don't just want it to sound great, the NW-HD3 also comes in a range of cool and contemporary colours. Whether you opt for the black, silver, red, or pink*, it means you have as much choice over the way the WALKMAN looks as what you play on it. It's now possible for everyone to experience the latest in audio technology.
* Blue is not available in the UK

Skip-free listening
The NW-HD3 benefits from the type of cutting-edge design and technology you've come to expect from Sony. Slim and stylish, the WALKMAN also features the latest in hi-tech but easy-to-use navigation and innovative touch-sensitive G-Sensors. The G-Sensor technology enables the hard disk to resist impact to protect your valuable music and data.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

ipod killer
Im very impressed with this unit. For a start, the sound is very good, with enough bass to suit any genre. The were many bad reviews about the ipod, focusing on its anemic bass, but im glad to say the NW-HD3 doesnt suffer here. It also has graphic equalisers, virtual surround, and bass and treble settings. Ok, they are limited, and are not close to say, PC media players but they provide a noticible difference. The playback is also gapless, which is good as i have a few mixed albums

I was slightly concerned about the interface, but it is very easy to use (who needs a touch wheel?). There are different modes to view (group, artist, album etc) and there are no loading times, especially when a track is played, it starts up instantly.

I am also very impressed with the build of the machine, metal body, and a nice colour backlight. The buttons are also llocated in the right places, with separate volume control (i found it quite annoying not being able to change the volume on the ipod when not in 'now playing mode') The battery life i am also looking forward to

Sonic stage i also found easy to use, although i havnt used it much, and to transfer 7 GB of music took about 2 hours on my slow 4 year old PC (650 Mhz, 256 RAM)

I havnt really got any bad comments so far, until i try it out more, except the bundle is fairly poor, just the nessecary cables, and a pouch for carrying

I hoped this helped.

Quite good
I went for the Sony NW-HD3 over the Ipod and other 20GB Mp3 players because of its size and weight, its price, and its battery life. The unit is much smaller and lighter than other 20GB units on the market, it is comparitively cheaper, and it is supposed to have a battery life of up to 30 hours (although after purchasing the unit I am not sure about this - see below). In addition it does not have a scratchy surface on its underside (unlike the Ipod), and it does not have those stethoscope style white headphones which I have always found rather ugly not to mention potentionally dangerous (in my opinion they are an advertisement to muggers that you are carrying a £350 Ipod in your coat pocket).

The NW-HD3 is definitely a nice unit. It fits snugly in your trouser pocket, and it is lighter than most mobile phones. It has a nice and easy to navigate screen and menu, a small number of buttons which are easy to fathom, and all its buttons are nice and flat making them difficult to snag or accidentally pull off.

The only real problems I have with the NW-HD3 are its battery life and its volume. Sony claim that the battery is capable of up to 30 hours playback. I have found this to be false. I used the player at the weekend on a long train journey and was careful to keep an eye on the battery life. While I did turn the unit on and off quite a few times and I did flip through its tracks, I did not do so excessively or any more so than you would on average and I found that the NW-HD3 only gave me 10 hours playback. I'm not sure how you would get 30 hours out of it. I can only imagine you would have to leave it untouched for this duration with the volume at its lowest. Speaking of which, the NW-HD3 is extremely quiet, even at its full volume setting. To give an example, I put the unit through a set of portable speakers and even with the volume on full I could barely hear the music over the sound of passing cars outside, a squeaking door, or the sound of my water heater.

Smaller quibbles I have with NW-HD3 are the software (which, incidentally, you *must* use), and the unit's USB and recharger connector. The software is not brilliant, it is a surprisingly large program which takes around 5 minutes to fully install on a fast machine. While I don't have a huge problem with it - it is functional - it is certainly not as sleek and easy to use as Itunes, and I can imagine it might be quite slow and clumsy on some less powerful machines. My second small quibble is the NW-HD3's USB and recharger connector. Both the USB cable and the unit's recharger connect to the bottom of the NW-HD3 via a little separate adaptor which is very flimsy. This tiny little adaptor could get lost or broken very easily and it would surely have made more sense to have made two direct inputs for the recharger and the USB on the unit itself. Moreover for some strange reason, despite the battery being fully charged, if you connect the NW-HD3 to your computer via the USB without the recharger simultaniously plugged in, it refuses to transfer your files and flashes "connect recharger" onscreen until you do so. This is strange and can be slightly annoying especially if you don't like having wires trailing all over the place. Perhaps this was an oversight on the part of Sony.

To sum up, the NW-HD3 is a nice little unit - it is very small and light, it has a nice design, it is easy to use, and it is affordable. On the other hand the battery life is not as good as Sony make out, the volume is disappointing, the software could have been better, and the USB and recharger inputs are a little awkward.

The Best MP3 player on the market
I've had my HD3 for about a month now and it's been great. You're never sure about spending so much money on such a small bit of kit, especially when there are some bad reviews out there. I read about the HD1 having faults, and the odd HD3 freezing up after being dropped. Then everyone complained about the volume and the software. So far, touch wood, I haven't come across a single problem.

The size is amazing, but we all know that. The battery life seems to be like it says. I haven't timed it, sorry, but it hasn't run out on me yet.
The volume, in my opinion is fine, loud enough for me and my mates always say how loud I listen to music. So those that complain of the volume.....I pity your hearing! Also, the graphic equaliser is pretty good. Very basic, but remember how small this kit is.
The software has treated me well. It is a bit slow when running, not much you can do about that. But I found ripping CD's and downloading to the HD3 really easy. It took me 2 hours to download 8Gb of music. And you can edit track/artist etc details either on your PC or on the HD3 directly. I must admit though that all of mine is running on a relatively new Sony PC, so that might help the whole system running smoothly.

Annoyingly the order and way you select tracks on the HD3 isn't quite likeon SonicStage (which is straight forward). But you get used to it. And the headphones it comes with need replacing, but that's expected I spose.

All-in-all, a great MP3/Atrac player that is slick and stylish that's is as easy to use as any other out there.