New A-Series Walkman - A840

[ACJimbo]

Mmh. Reading a forum is one thing, but looking at people's complaints on your promotional FB page is another. Although I agree that this is only something to keep us quiet, they've probably already planned the A846 release outside of Japan and want to fool us into believing "they are listening"

Still, I thought it was just me, and I was shocked to see how many people drool over the A847, and, as close minded as Sony might be, I don't know if they really are ignoring all these requests - for a product that is already made and available.

Anyway, it's not just a DAP thing - Sony Ericsson seem to have the same lame attitude, it took them forever to release a mobile phone with a 3,5mm headphone jack, when Nokia has it on almost every model.

[CrowdAds]

[dmnoland]

Originally Posted by ACJimbo

Mmh. Reading a forum is one thing, but looking at people's complaints on your promotional FB page is another. Although I agree that this is only something to keep us quiet, they've probably already planned the A846 release outside of Japan and want to fool us into believing "they are listening"

Still, I thought it was just me, and I was shocked to see how many people drool over the A847,

ACJimbo,
I hope you know that my Sony rant was not directed at you. It was just when I read how Sony is "listening to its customers" kind of sent me off the edge of the cliff that I have been teetering on for quite some time. I'm just disgusted with them right now.
It's not that I hate Sony, after all I have had 5 of their mp3 players. The thing is, after buying the X, I've actually been moving backwards by acquiring 2 S639's. Sony's software just gets worse with each new release and the processor on their flagship model is a total joke. If they would just put that wonderful amp into a A729 or S639 and bump the flash capacity life would be perfect. Those 2 players have rock solid, user friendly software.
And Sony is not the only guilty party here. Why has no one selling players in the USA even tried to match Apple in capacity. The Ipod is currently at 64gb and no one even comes close. Why can't Sansa, Cowon, and Samsung keep up? Sansa's really a memory company, they should be ahead of Apple in this regard. Slap a bigger battery in that Fuze and 64gb internal and I'll buy one!

[dmnoland]

Originally Posted by ACJimbo

Still, I thought it was just me, and I was shocked to see how many people drool over the A847,

If anyone in the USA is reading this and drooling over the possibility of a 64 gb Sony that will somehow be the perfect player just reread this old thread and remember how let down everyone was.
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=37448

One last thought about Sony is how much worse their build quality has gotten. Ever browse the E & S series sub forums and notice how many problems are discussed? The old A728/729 and S639 are rock solid. I believe the S639 is Sony's biggest seller worldwide ever and I have heard very few, if any complaints. I just love my old Sony's and I sincerely hope that I'm proven wrong in the immediate future.

[ACJimbo]

@dmnoland

I understand Sony is letting everybody down - believe me, I've bought their stuff for years and had my fair share of problems: just last year, my VAIO's dvd unit broke down and it's never been replaced since, despite several attempts, phone calls and stuff.

I have a S639 too and I totally love it, but the display light is getting kinda faulty and I need to replace it - indeed, I am hoping for something that size, with at least 32GB. I toyed with the idea of buying the X series, but it's too bulky and horribly expensive here in Switzerland, and the browser from hell is just the icing on the cake. I thought about buying another S639, or one of the A829s still on sale in a large Swiss retail chain. Then, I decided to get a W995 phone with a 16GB M2 extension, and it was worth every penny - fantastic music player, great camera, fast browser, etc.

I believe most of us felt the X as a huge letdown, so much that we are desperately clinging to the new A series' worldwide release to get a real, top of the game player from Sony. I too don't get this lack of 64GB options, but that could be one of the many reasons why Sony don't want to risk the A847 into a market that could be deemed as not ready for this capacity - and, of course, Sony are more followers than readers, nowadays . I mean, for us it's a no brainer, but perhaps Sony is still recovering from the supposed failure of the X series, and want to be careful before launching another flagship player, even though most of us would buy it in an heartbeat.

[dmnoland]

Sony may be recovering from the failure of the x series but they have no one but themselves to blame. If I ran Sony's R&D department I would at least put a few prototype units in the hands of people like us to critically review them before sending them into production.
Also Sony could resolve many shortfalls of their players with firmware updates but they hardly ever do. Unfortunatly the fact is that Sansa and Cowon are far more responsive to their customer base then Sony ever will be. I find this to be extremely shortsighted in a ever decreasingly small world where we can communicate instantly from different sides of the planet. Isn't that fact alone incredible? I just love the internet!

[ACJimbo]

Sony's R&D dept is just delusional, they really believe the pulling power of the brand is enough to justify whatever crap they might think of. I just hope that huge surge of complaints about the A847 hit them in the face, because there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to release Japan-only devices - now, in 2010........and we've already seen how products with territorial restricted release fail almost all the time (*cough* zune hd...)

[The DarkSide]

Still no word on a US release??? Bummer,................. This is all I want in a 64gb dap,.........

[kiyu727]

Originally Posted by dmnoland

Sony may be recovering from the failure of the x series but they have no one but themselves to blame. If I ran Sony's R&D department I would at least put a few prototype units in the hands of people like us to critically review them before sending them into production.
Also Sony could resolve many shortfalls of their players with firmware updates but they hardly ever do. Unfortunatly the fact is that Sansa and Cowon are far more responsive to their customer base then Sony ever will be. I find this to be extremely shortsighted in a ever decreasingly small world where we can communicate instantly from different sides of the planet. Isn't that fact alone incredible? I just love the internet!

That said, I sometimes wonder if all people on the net are real after all .... strange to talk with americans that are so far away

[MattMc3]

We are now five months into the A840 product cycle, almost half-way to new models which will come out in the fall. Would you still buy an A-series if they were released where you live? I think this is going to end up like last year's S-series in the US (the S639 didn't show up in US stores until 3-4 months before new products were released). If this happens again I'm going to feel like we are just a big clearance center to clean out other country's inventory to make room for the new models which they will get.

I think it's clear that Japan is Sony's prime market. But what I don't understand is that they've taken the time and expense to develop new products, why not offer them in all of their markets? The retailer system is already there, it's just a matter of distributing and advertising the products. The only reason I can think of is that Sony thinks these high-end Walkmans just won't sell in the US so why bother. Sony has developed "cheap" lines of products (E340, E440, S540) for these secondary markets where Walmart prices are the baseline. Frustrating.

Matt

[Ascariss]

matt the new A series is not even released in the US so who knows what Sony is thinking right now, perhaps new players are on the cards, but even if the new A series is released in poland in 32gb capacities, I will not buy since the price will be outrageous.

Hopefully sony has something else coming for the fall.

[The DarkSide]

Sony is killing themselves, really. I want a 64gb Sony, and it would be a major hit here in the USA. Really, Sony is slowly digging their own grave.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Sony is killing themselves, really. I want a 64gb Sony, and it would be a major hit here in the USA. Really, Sony is slowly digging their own grave.

If they could do it, and have it cheaper than the 64GB Touch, I think it would sell here.....but the people like us are probably a small minority, unfortunately.

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

If they could do it, and have it cheaper than the 64GB Touch, I think it would sell here.....but the people like us are probably a small minority, unfortunately.

Dude, it would sell out quite fast. Really, it's finally time,............

[Curiouss]

would it cost a lot for you guys to import from Europe via a friend or something?

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by Curiouss

would it cost a lot for you guys to import from Europe via a friend or something?

If I could get it in 64gb from Europe, I'd import it from AdvancedMP3Players.co.uk

[MSG]

I emailed Sony UK about 32/64Gb A series release, this was their reply;

"Each Sony Marketing Company determines in advance, which products they are going to sell, based on local marketing trends and differing marketing strategies. However, no details of the products due for launch in the future or their specifications are made available or published prior to their launch.
I regret therefore that I am unable to provide you with any information at this time, however, when the product is launched, details will be made available and posted on our website at www.sony.co.uk."

Looks like it's not going to happen. Seems strange that they will shoot themselves in the foot over this.

[Miyazaki]

The A840 is actually in Australia but I've yet to even touch one because these players don't filter into the major electrical stores until MONTHS after it's release at Sony Central stores.

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by Miyazaki

The A840 is actually in Australia but I've yet to even touch one because these players don't filter into the major electrical stores until MONTHS after it's release at Sony Central stores.

Will it be max 32gb, or the 64gb model??? If it's 64gb I may have to beg an import off of you,...................

[Dreamnine]

I'm not getting one. In the future a 128Gb with 3" OLED, maybe.

[sefra]

I've had my Sony 847 for about a month now. Using the controls while the player is in your pocket is a breeze now. But I still have to get used to it a bit. The back button is on the left side instead of my sansa fuzes right which I had for over a year.

The player looks stunning with the small rings, metal and glass. But if you press the back a bit you'll hear some creaking. And there is quite alot of hiss with my IEM's. I'm using a resistance adaptor and there is just a minimal hiss right now. Still a bit of a let down I suppose.

But I am quite happy about the battery life, a huge improvement over my beta rockboxed fuze and ipod touch. Database building doesn't take long to my feeling. Transfering data through drag&drop feels faster then my fuze and is faster then itunes. The OLED screen is quite nice. And the physical buttons is one of the reasons I bought it.

Other remarks are that the player is too thin combined with the plug I use with my IEM's. It kinda wobbles if you place it on the table. I never use the hold button since the buttons are so flat. It should also have a mic but I haven't seen it yet.

Overall I'm really glad I sold my ipod touch for this player. I paid about 270 euros for this thing which is quite cheaper then an ipod touch here in the Netherlands. But still quite expensive I guess.