This is my second purchase of a Sony Walkman. My first one was for my husband for our anniversary. I bought him an 8g player (NWZ-E438) and once I got that up and running, I realized that 8g really isn't that much when I realized that he has a whole bunch of cd's and videos and pictures. But the reason why I bought the 8g of that model was because it had an equalizer. Now, let's talk about this beautiful S545 model - WOW! It's 16g and what a beauty. the sound quality is A-Mazing, and the picture/video screen is clear and crisp. AND it has an equalizer - 5 settings, plus 2 custom settings = 7 equalizer settings. I bought mine at Walmart, and it was $119. I also got it in red - the red color is a nice color, not faded or pastelie. The sound quality from the exterior speakers will surprise you. Keep in mind that you will not be able to host a large dance party with it, but it is just perfect for a personal experience, let's say in your room or something like that. The sound from the speakers is quite nice, and I would compare it to the speaker from my Motorola RAZR2. My phone can get a lot louder than the Sony Walkman, but the quality of sound is just as good. I was not in any way disappointed with the quality. The only thing I would change on this player is the placement of the speakers - they are on the back, not the front. The picture of this player might fool you to think the speakers are in the front, but they are not. I also learned that this player will not be able to download podcasts. The higher-end Sony Walkmans do.
Another thing is that the software for the player comes loaded in the player, instead of including a cd in the box. It worked really great, it was simple and just way too easy to use. It was much easier to set up on the computer and get going than the one I bought for my husband. With the software, "Content Transfer" all you have to do is drag a song, or a picture or a video right to the Content Transfer window, and POW - it's there, and it knows right where to put it (music, pictures, video). So you don't even have to fuss around and click into the different files. I already have 1,926 songs in WMA format in 48Kbps, 38 videos, and 223 photos, and I have 10g left. Right out of the box, because of the software itself, there is 2g being used for the player, and you get 14g to play with.
This player will also record voice recordings and FM radio recordings (song, advertisement, talk show or whatever). It looks like they give you 99 hours and 59 minutes of recording time.
The FM player will only work if you have either your headset plugged in or your speakers plugged in. The FM won't work with the external speakers - it needs to use the wire as an antenna. And I didn't think the FM was bad - worked and sounded just fine to me.
So, if you are looking for a player, you just might want to consider this one. Sony Walkman NWZS545RED 16 GB Video MP3 Player (Red)
Review: Sony 16GB S545 mp3/video player (nov 26 '09)
I only will report on the MP3 part because I have not used the video part. Got the player for $99 at best buys 3 weeks ago.
Pros: I like the sound quality - just excellent - also has 2 user programmable equalizers. In addition it has an extra Bass enhancement which works very well. I also like the possibility to sort/select music through the usual album/artist/etc stuff but also through normal folder selection as you see it on your PC. This is very convenient if you have CDs that are not available on the internet catalogs. Startup and menu response it acceptable quick.
The built-in stereo speaker sound very nice for their small size when the special equalizer settings are used (menu item). it also comes with a small plastic piece, attached to the back, which allows to have the player sit with about 45 degrees.
To make it short as a pure mp3 player this is an excellent choice.
Cons:
1. you can not define a playlist on the player -hello Sony are you sleepy!!!!!
2. if you like to listen to audiobooks which usually have file length of 30min or longer you cannot set a bookmark. That is ridiculous - how can they miss this. It took me a few days to figure out how I can quickly get to let's 20min in to a recording of 40min. first I just used to hold down the fast forward button but that takes you about a few minutes to get there - I think it only advances at 4x normal speed. I found no other way in the manual. But here the solution: while playing the file - hit pause-now hold down fast forward or fast backward. Both work and get you to the place quickly. nice thing is that both of these functions also wrap around at end or beginning of file.
3. here a bummer. The player has a sleep and wakeup timer. Very nice but you can not use both at the same time. They cancel each other out. So either you go to sleep with sony music or you wake up with it.
4. built-in microphone. No sensitivity adjustment and default is quite insensitive. You really need to speak at close distance in to the microphone to have good recording. I used AUDACITY to renormalize voice recordings.
5. if connected to PC the player is only recognized in MTP mode - can not be changed. I do not think it is a big deal but e.g. you can not use the right click SEARCH function usually available in windows explorer.
Conclusion:
Very nice player for the money.
i subtracted 1 star for all the cons but they may not be important to other users. - 16gb - Mp3 Player - Sony Walkman - Sony Mp3'
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