Sony NW-ZA729-BLK 16GB HQ Video Player - Black

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inaudible on the other MP3 players! This is particularly useful when listening to orchestrated music tracks or any other tracks with a wide array of instruments playing at the same time.
The 5 band equalizer also includes a "clear bass" column that you can adjust, which really helps to bring out the low bass sounds. There are a few preset equalizer configurations as well as two custom ones. (Mine is set to a V formation across the 5 band with bass up to +2, try it =P).
The VPT Simulated Surround feature is amazing and offers 6 different surround sound environments for the user's taste. (Matrix is my favorite followed by Studio and Live whenever I feel like listening to my songs in that kind of setting).
The other sound options, DSEE and Clear Studio are mentioned in the item description above.
The included Sony EX earphones are great looking and quite durable. You get small, medium, and large changeable silicon rubber earbuds in the package. I even accidently yanked the earphones out of my ears while doing some punching exercises only to find it undamaged.

Video:
To get video playback on MP4, you must find a video converter with customizable conversion settings. Simply getting a PSP converter won't work due to differences in the required resolution. I have converted 4 files so far without fail by following these conversion specs:
Video Codec: mpeg4
Video encoder: H.264 / AVC
Video Size: 320 x 240
Video bitrate: 1000
Audio Bitrate: anywhere from 128 to 320
Audio encoder: AAC
Audio channels: 2 (stereo)
Hopefully everyone else will be as successful in their attempts to get their video files to play on the MP3 player.
The video files play beautifully once you get them in with the right format and can be viewed vertically or horizontally left as well as horizontally right (basically means from every side except upside-down from the top). The only downside with the video playback is that you can't tweak the sound quality like you can with music playback.

File transfer and organization:
This player is automatically detected on the computer and works just like a flash drive. You can click and drag files into either the "MUSIC," "PICTURE," or "VIDEO" folder. You can also store your music into organized folders that you make yourself (basically a folder hierarchy that goes down all the way to the 8th folder in a folder according to the manual). This also allows files to be played according to the folder it's in if that's your desire. You can also create new folders outside of the MUSIC and VIDEO folders to carry other bits of data such as text or PDF documents (flash drive-like function).
Once everything is loaded onto the MP3 player, you'll be able to browse through your songs via the first character of the file name itself (including 0-9) or the folder name that contains the file. This means messy and old mp3 files will still be manageable when mixed in with new mp3 files that contain ID3 tags! It's essentially up to your preference on how you want to organize your collection.

Battery life:
Sony claims this MP3 player can do 36 hours of music, but the problem with that claim is in the details. The player does get 36 hours when playing 128 kbps files with all the sound features turned off and the equalizer set to all zeros. But why anyone would plan to do that is beyond me... You paid for the advanced sound features so you might as well use it! I got roughly over 20-some hours with all the features turned on and constant fidgeting with the options as well as some video playback. (This is a very rough estimate. If I have time to track the playback time with all sound functions on, I'll update that number). Overall, I'm still impressed with the longevity of the product's battery life.
To extend the running time of the battery (aside from the sound features), you can turn:
-turn down the screen brightness
-set the screensaver timing to "15 sec"
-set the screensaver to "blank"
-set New Song Pop Up to "deactivate"
This configuration will prevent your player from needlessly turning on its screen while playing music (which it does every 15 seconds by default).

Other accessories:
Accessories for this MP3 player are few, far, and expensive. The only one I bought was the silicon case, CKM-NWZA820. This thing comes with a screen protector as well as the silicon case. For anyone who has a problem with the ease in which the "hold" button slides, this might help. (This has never been a problem for me though).

Conclusion: This is a great MP3 video player that does what it's supposed to do very well.

Update: With all sound features turned on, including equalizer and VPT surround, I got around 20 to 21 hours of playback (tracks ranged from 128 to 320 kbps).

Sony NW-ZA729-BLK 16GB HQ Video Player - Black

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to clearly hear the thrums of each cord on an acoustic guitar.
As for the player's construction, I couldn't be any happier. Unlike the Creative Zen, this player does not exhibit the least bit of "plasticy" feel. The weight of the player in my opinion is ideal. It feels substantial yet light enough to carry without difficulty. In short, this does not feel like a toy.
Perhaps the first thing you'll notice upon booting this player up for the first time is the screen's clarity. The included fifa video does a great job of showing off the player's 30 frames per second playback. I personally use a freeware program called Videora Ipod Converter to convert videos. All in all, I think the screen is beautiful. There are better offerings... but for this price segment, I think this quite alright. My only caveat with the screen is that it is made of plastic. I would have preferred glass but I guess a screen protector will have to do.
In terms of value, I'm a little iffy. The player was bought for 160 dollars. The silicone case was approximately 30 dollars. If you choose, you could buy the ac adapter for another 40 bucks. I'd say your average customer would spend about 200 dollars. 230 with the adapter and case. But the fact that the headphones don't have to be updated aids the value argument. I would say the fidelity offering is about 50 dollars worth ( senn px100 or akg k26p). So all in all, this player actually initially seems iffy in terms of value. But I guess after weighing in the value of the headphones included, it kind of makes sense.
I think most of the other points about this product are covered within the other reviews. I really don't think you can go wrong with this product. Since the initial warranty offering is a little risky. I would recommend logging onto [...] and purchasing a Sony authorized 2 year extended service plan which is $[...]. Hopefully, I can add to this review as I use the mp3 player more.

Sony NW-ZA729-BLK 16GB HQ Video Player - Black

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or, worse, doesn't care.

If you're looking for a great MP3 player and don't care about video, this certainly fits the bill. If you're buying a player to take on the plane with you to watch movies, keep looking.

UPDATE: According to Sony's tech support, any MP4 file can be downloaded to the player (although they will not identify any sites or software). However, neither downloading MP4 files nor converting files to MP4 format resolves the issue. The player simply says "Cannot play; file format is not supported." I would downgrade my rating of this product but Amazon doesn't allow it.