Product Description

1gb flash Sports digital music player with armband

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31205 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Black
• Brand: Sony
• Model: NWS205FBLACK
• Released on: 2006-09-18
• Dimensions: 4.00" h x 1.00" w x 1.00" l, 1.00 pounds
• Hard Disk: 2GB

Features

• Cylindrical sports MP3 player with armband and 2 GB built-in flash memory
• Stores up to 1,350 songs; supports MP3, ATRAC, WMA, and AAC (non-DRM) playback
• Workout functions include calorie counter, stopwatch, pedometer, and Music Pacer
• Built-in FM tuner with 30 station presets; seamless, water-resistant aluminum body
• Measures 3.79 x 0.78 x 0.59 inches (W x H x D); 1-year parts warranty

Amazon.com Product Description
Designed with an active lifestyle in mind, the Sony NW-S205F is the perfect companion for your workouts, ski trips, or commutes. The unique, cylindrically shaped MP3 player is packed with a host of valuable features, including a calorie counter that tracks the calories you've burned based on your weight and length of workout, a stopwatch that lets you track your speed, and a pedometer. Listeners who need a little extra motivation while exercising will love the Music Pacer, which switches playlists based on their pace. If you're walking, it chooses a relatively slow playlist, while hard- charging runners will receive a much more up-tempo soundtrack (the feature can be disabled at any time). And when you're finished with the workout, the music will automatically stop once the target time has passed.

The NW-S205F isn't just a workout warrior, however, as it boasts 2 GB of built-in flash memory that stores up to 1,350 songs. Listeners who already have extensive music libraries can use the included software and hardware to play back their collection of MP3s, while newer listeners will find plenty to like in Sony's ATRAC format, which provides higher sound quality while taking up less space on the flash memory. In addition, the NW-S205F supports the playback of WMA and AAC (non-DRM) audio files, a great feature if you have a large catalog of audio on your PC that was ripped from personal CDs.

Navigation is straightforward thanks to the player's one-line OLED display, which shows the song title, album title, and artist name along with information about the settings, time, and date. The built-in FM tuner, meanwhile, delivers accurate, drift-free tuning of all your favorite FM stations, with 30 station presets making it a breeze to quickly switch from one favorite to another. And when it comes time to transfer data from your PC to the NW-S205F, simply connect the unit to your computer's USB 2.0 port to enjoy a high-speed transfer rate.

The NW-S205F comes with a copy of Sony's SonicStage music management software, which lets listeners manage their music, create playlists, burn CDs, import digital files, and easily transfer songs from one location to another. It's also a breeze to customize the sound, with a five-band equalizer that includes heavy, pop, jazz, custom, and manual modes. Additional features include a seamless, water-resistant aluminum body; a Shuffle Shake mode that activates the shuffle function with three quick shakes (great when jogging); a skip-proof design (the MP3 player has no moving parts); a quick battery charge function that delivers up to three hours of playback with just a three-minute charge; and compatibility with Sony's Connect Music store.

The NW-S205F, which provides up to 18 hours of continuous playback per full charge, measures 3.79 by 0.78 by 0.59 inches (W x H x D) and is backed by a 90-day warranty on labor and a one-year warranty on parts.

What's in the Box
NW-S205F MP3 player, headphones, SonicStage CP software CD-ROM, armband, USB cable, quick-start guide.

Customer Reviews

Excellent MP3 player
I've had mine for 3 weeks now primarily for using in the gym and I really like it. It is tiny, slick and classy. I have WOWed people with this. They were shocked that there are other cool MP3 players besides iPod.

Here is the breakdown of what I like and dont like:

Pros:

Small
well-made
Good battery life
Sounds great
The display is just right.
I am amazed how great the user interface is given minimum number of buttons and controls.
Radio tuner (it's an extra $50 to add it to iPod)
No need to look at it to change songs. The silver ring on top is the control; you skip songs with that. Way cool.
The armband is super handy and well made; Perfect for working out; just perfect.
Did I mention small and stylish?

Cons:

Battery not replaceable; pretty much like almost all other MP3 players, however by the time the battery goes, you wanna buy a new one anyway.
The earphones: This is pretty much why I am giving this player a 4 star instead of 5. Although they are around the ear sets, but these particular ones don't fit well. I have another Sony around the ear sets that fit great and I was disappointed to find out these suck big time. It could be that I have big ears, but still.
Music software: It is pretty bad. Don't forget to update the software which makes it easier to use, but still sub par. I figured, since I am not gonna upload music to it so often, it shouldn't bother me, and I was right.

Great sports mp3
I have always been a fan of the "sporty" mp3 players vs the larger multi gig "hard drive" mp3 players or even mid-side ipod-ish style mp3 players.

Pros
-Great display.
-Decent radio
-Great charging options (as it says a very short charge will get you good to go for a good workout period no problem)
-Awesome design, looks sleek.
-Nice armband, protects, solid, looks good.
-Cool features i.e. "shuffle shake" or sports mode, (plays different playlists based on your speed), stopwatch.
-Software is kinda nice how all the navigation/downloading features are all in one program.
-Unique twist navigation (that little silver band on the player) can be slid up and down on the top of the player as well as twisted left and right to navigate. Pretty simple.

Cons
-They let you sort by album/artist/title etc, but even then it can be tedious flipping through them if you want to get to certain songs.
-Like an ipod in that there's no way to get the battery out, not an issue for a long time, but something to keep in mind...
-There isn't really an explanation for the different features on the player itself, some reading required.
-Sony's music format, oma or something like that, pretty lame. Not really recommended to download from the sony site if you can get mp3 format somewhere else. That being said if you research it, you can convert oma to mp3.

Overall, very nice for working out, if you want an mp3 player to house your 40gig collection and leave in your car, not really the mp3 player for you. If you are a little tech savvy and want one for on the go, and especially working out, then HIGHLY recommended.

Great Player! Highly Recommended!!!
I bought this player a few weeks ago and have really enjoyed it so far. It's super small and light, one-line display is easy to read and visible in bright sunlight, FM radio has good reception, good batterly life, navigation is extremely easy and it didn't take long to learn how to set everything up.
Even with the lower/smaller audio format bit rates (ATRAC 48kbps), which is supposed to have the lesser sound quality, the sound is great.

I read some complaints in the online reviews about Sonic Stage, Sony's software. However, I haven't had any trouble with it. I've found it very easy to use, CD's import quickly as well as transfer to the player quickly. I'm not sure about the playlist feature because I'm old school and prefer to listen CD's in their entirety. The sports related features are very helpful.

A really great buy and I would highly recommened it to anyone!