Sony is betting that it can snag a few Apple customers with the Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player ($249.99 direct). Despite the clumsy name, it's a good example of something we frankly thought we'd see much more of a while ago: a standalone, Android-powered media player to battle Apple's venerable iPod touch ($199.99, 5 stars). Unfortunately, it's priced too high; the Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 ($229.99, 4 stars) is a better deal, as it also includes a camera, camcorder, and integrated GPS navigaion, plus it has much better battery life. Whether the Sony's $250 starting price is the best the company could do with its supply chain, or sheer corporate hubris, either way it will likely hobble this portable media player's otherwise worthy adoption.?
Design, Screen, and User Interface
There are three Walkman Mobile Entertainment Players; we tested the base 8GB model. Sony will also sell a 16GB version at a slightly more palatable $279, and a 32GB version at $329. In comparison, Apple sells a 32GB iPod touch for $299 and a 64GB version for $399. The Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 comes only in an 8GB version for $229, but also includes a microSD card slot, so you can turn it into a 40GB player for about $35 extra.
The Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player measures 5.4 by 2.9 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.6 ounces. With the exception of the glass screen, the player is made of plastic. But it's nice Sony plastic, with a slightly rough finish that lends it some class. The right panel houses a pair of Volume buttons and a handy Walkman shortcut button that takes you right to the music player from any app. The bottom holds a standard-size 3.5mm headphone jack and, frustratingly, Sony's proprietary charger jack; lose the included cable and you'll be in big trouble.
The 4.3-inch, 480-by-800-pixel capacitive touch screen beats the Galaxy Player 4.0's 4-inch panel, and is almost an inch larger than what the iPod touch offers, but both Android players are down on resolution (Apple's device offers 960-by-640). Despite the pixel deficit, the Walkman's panel looks great, with vivid color and deep blacks. Sony makes a point that the screen is actually gapless, which improves both black levels and viewing angles.
The home screen is classic Android, just without the phone parts. There are five customizable screens you can swipe between. Sony fixes shortcuts to the menu: There's a video player, music player, Sony apps, and a Favorites section that you can populate with music, video, and other media. Beneath the screen are three capacitive buttons for Back, Home, and Menu. Navigating the Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player is the same as it is with any near-stock Android phone; if you're familiar with one of those, you'll have no problem here.?I had no problem connecting the Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player's 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi to our WPA2-encrypted office network.?
Video Playback
As I expected, the Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player excels at its intended purpose. Standalone MP4 and WMV videos played smoothly in full-screen mode. The LCD's beautiful colors and deep blacks shone through, without looking overdone the way Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus screen can (although I don't mind that effect). H.264 files wouldn't play, but I had no problem with MPEG4 files all the way up to 1080p.
The Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player works best when held in your hand with the top-notch bundled earphones attached (more on those in a minute). It's not as useful otherwise, since there's no kickstand, and the built-in speaker barely had enough volume to overcome a small desk fan set to low speed, despite Sony's extra attention to its design and amplification. It didn't sound bad in my tests, though.
The Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player is also DLNA-compatible, and it includes a side-mounted HDMI jack, so you can stream movies, music, and photos across a network to a compatible HDTV if you're so inclined (few people are, in our experience). That said, it's pretty slick; while you can't mirror the display, you can just flick thumbnails from the player screen upward onto the TV icon, and they appear on the larger TV.
Source: http://feeds.ziffdavis.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/su94zrZb2t8/0,2817,2397636,00.asp
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