Sony Walkman

Intro - August 1st, 2009

Well, my Birthday came and my daughter gave me an MP3 player. Surprise, surprise, surprise. I had not asked for one or even mentioned one. In fact I really was not desiring one. -But- as it turns out, it was a very ingenious and useful gift. As the title above states, it was a Sony Walkman and I like it very, very much. For those of you out there who are undecided... Yep, I do recommend getting one and I highly recommend this Sony. It comes in different versions, all differing in the amount of RAM. Mine has 8GB... which I do believe is more than adequate. This unit allows you to watch movies which take up about 4GB. That still leaves you with 4GB for your music and pictures.

Memory Sizes and Song Capacities

Song lengths vary. The number of songs you can store on your iPod / MP3 Players will also vary. The calculations are based on the following:

About 1 minute per MB, so 1 GB would be 1000 minutes.
At 4 min per song: 1000 / 4 = 250 songs per GB.
At 3 min per song: 1000 / 3 = 333 songs per GB.
At 2 min per song: 1000 / 2 = 500 songs per GB.
So: 2GB iPod / MP3 Player will hold approximately: 500 to 1,000 songs.

Now we have already used up 4GB for our movie and 2GB for our songs and we still have 2GB left for photos... or more songs if you prefer.

  Mem            Resolution / Mega Pixels - Number of Pictures
Capacity     1.3 MP     3.0 MP    5.0 MP   8.0 MP    10 MP      12 MP
2GB           4800       2400      1900     1200      800        500

Now then, please understand... ALL of these quantities can, and will, vary depending on the type and quality of the music you load on -and- the length of the movie that you install -and- on the picture quality of the pictures you place on this little machine. But as you can see by the figures above, 8GB is more than enough room for most people. Shoot that is 1,000,000 times more memory than I had in my first computer!!! ( an 8-bit IMSAI 8080 with 8k of RAM (Max 64k!!))

Sony NWZ-E438F

Supplied Software
System Requirements
Inputs and Outputs
Specifications

Features

Overview: The Sony NWZ-E438F portable digital audio/video player with a 2" LCD screen. It has a built-in 8GB flash memory that can store up to 1,850 songs (at 128 kbps), over 30 hours of video, 8,000 still photos, or a combination of the three. It also has a built-in FM tuner.

Headphones: The player comes with a pair of earbud-style headphones (model MDR-E804LP). The attached cord is 44" from the tip to the left earbud, and 57" to the right earbud, and is designed to hang to one side. The headphone cord is terminated with a gold-plated 3.5mm stereo miniplug.

Multiple Audio Formats: The NWZ-E438F Walkman comes with software for customers who already have extensive MP3 music libraries to store and play back their collection. This device supports playback of MP3, WMA, AAC, and Linear PCM (WAV) files.

Home Menu: The home menu offers a pathway to all the player's functions:

Shuffle All: all tracks stored on the player are played in random order
FM Radio: switch to tuner and search by frequency or preset
Clock Display: displays the current time in 12-hour or 24-hour format and the date in day/month/year, year/month/day, or month/day/year formats
Photo Library: display thumbnails of each photo folder (max 1000 folders and 8000 photos)
Music Library: browse music by All Songs, Albums, Artist, Genre, Release Year, or Folder
Video Library: choose from entire video library (max 1000 videos)
Settings: Music, Video, Photo, FM Radio, Common, Language
Playlists: browse playlists
Now Playing: display information about currently playing file

Photo Library: The NWZ-E438F can display one photo fully on the screen, or a number of photos continuously in a slide show. You can create up to 1,000 folders, and the unit can store up to 8,000 photos. Options in the photo settings menu include:

Orientation: You can orient the photos vertically or horizontal right or left. The resolution at each orientation is:
- Vertical: 240 x 320 pixels
- Horizontal: 320 x 240 pixels
Display: select between on (display title of current photo, the shooting date, playback status, and photo number) or off (photo info hidden). Note: When orientation set to Horizontal (left) or Horizontal (right), the title of the photo is not displayed, even if Display is set to "on".
Detailed Information: displays file size, resolution, and file name
Slide Show Repeat: on/off
Slide Interval: Short (2 seconds), Normal (4 seconds), Long (10 seconds)
Brightness: adjust 1-5

Music Library: The 4GB NWZ-E438F will hold up to 1,850 songs (4 minutes each, recorded at 128 kbps). You can search for music by Album name, Artist name, Genre, Release year, Folder name, or all songs can be listed alphabetically by song title. Once you select a category, you can then play all the matching songs, or further narrow your search to a single song. Options in the music menu include:

Play Mode: normal, repeat, shuffle, shuffle & repeat, repeat one song
Equalizer: Select presets None (flat), Heavy, Pop, Jazz, Unique, and two custom curves can be programmed with the 5-band EQ (100 Hz, 315 Hz, 1 kHz, 3.15 kHz, and 10 kHz)
Cover Art: choose downloaded art or a default Sony file
Detailed Information: displays playback time, file format, bit rate, copyrighted files, file name, and "VBR" (if playing a song recorded at a variable bit rate)

Video Library: Up to 1000 titles or over 30 hours of video (recorded at 384 kbps video, 128 kbps audio) can be stored on the 8 GB flash drive . Options in the video menu include:

Screen orientation: vertical (240 x 180 pixels) or horizontal (right) (320 x 240 pixels)
Display: select between On (display title of current video, playback status, and elapsed time) or Off (video info hidden). Note: When orientation set to Horizontal (right), the title of the photo is not displayed, even if Display is set to "on".
Zoom Setting: select between Auto, Full, or Off
Detailed information: displays file information, such as file size, resolution, video/audio compression format, and file name
Brightness: adjust 1-5

FM Radio: This unit has a built-in FM tuner. The headphone cord serves as an antenna, so you should connect the headphones and extend the cord as far as possible for best results. The tuning interval is 0.1 MHz from 87.5 MHz to 108 MHz. You can store up to 30 stations as presets, automatically or manually. You can set the scan sensitivity to High (default) or Low. You can choose to listen to FM broadcasts in stereo or mono.

AVLS (Automatic Volume Limiter System): You can activate the AVLS to limit the maximum volume to prevent auditory disturbance or distraction. When the AVLS is set to "On", you can listen to music at a comfortable volume level.

Playlists: You can create playlists of tracks using the included Windows Media Player 11 software and transfer them the the NWZ-E438F. Once transferred, access them using the Playlist icon on the home menu.

USB 2.0 High Speed: You can easily transfer your music to the NWZ-E438F at high speeds via the WM-PORT using the included USB cable.

Screensaver: You can set the screensaver to a clock display or a blank screen. The screensaver is activated if there is no operation for more than 30 seconds during song playback or FM tuner reception.

Hold Button: This button allows you to lock and disable the controls on the player.

Charging the Battery: The embedded Lithium Ion battery is charged by connecting the player to a computer using the supplied USB cable. The battery charges to approximately 80% in 2 hours while a full charge takes approximately 4 hours.

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Supplied Software

CD-ROM: The supplied 3" CD-ROM disc contains the following:

Windows Media Player 11: allows you to import audio and video data to your computer from external sources (audio CDs, internet, etc), then transfer to your NWZ-E438F
MediaManager for Walkman: allows you to transfer music, photos, or videos from the computer to the player and import audio data from CDs.
Content Transfer: can transfer music, videos, or photos from a computer to the Walkman by a simple drag-and-drop operation. You can use Windows Explorer or iTunes intuitively to drag-and-drop data to Content Transfer.
Operation Guide (pdf): Provides a printable copy of the Operating Guide for the NWZ-E438F.

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System Requirements

The minimum system requirements include:

Computer	IBM PC/AT or compatible with the following: CPU: Pentium 4 -- 1 GHz or higher Hard Disk Drive: 380 MB or more available space RAM: 512 MB or more CD-ROM drive Sound Board USB port (2.0 high speed recommended)
Operating System	Windows Vista (Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate)--Service Pack 1 or later Windows XP (Home Edition or Professional --Service Pack 2 or later)
Display	Color: 8-bit or higher (16-bit or higher recommended) Resolution: 800 x 600 pixels or higher (1024 x 768 pixels or higher recommended)
Others	Broadband Internet access: For music download services Browser: Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7.0 Software: Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 or 3.0 QuickTime 7.3 Windows Media Player 10 or 11 (11 recommended) Adobe 8 or higher

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Inputs and Outputs

Bottom of Unit:

Stereo 3.5mm mini-jack headphone output
WM-PORT (22 pins), connects computer using the included USB cable

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Specifications

Actual Capacity: Approximately 7.05 GB (7,572,815,872 bytes). A portion of the memory is used for data management functions.

Music:

Supported Bit Rates:
- MP3: 32 to 320 kbps (supports variable bit rate)
- WMA: 32 to 192 kbps (supports VBR)
- AAC: 16 to 320 kbps (supports VBR)
- Linear PCM (WAV): 1,411 kbps
Maximum MP3 recording time with the built-in 8GB memory: Other formats will vary slightly:

Bit Rate	Tracks (4 minutes)	Time
48 kbps	5,050	336 hours, 40 minutes
64 kbps	3,750	250 hours, 00 minutes
128 kbps	1,850	123 hours, 20 minutes
256 kbps	945	63 hours, 00 minutes
320 kbps	755	50 hours, 20 minutes

Sampling Frequencies:
- MP3: 32, 44.1, 48 kHz
- WMA: 16, 22.05, 32, 44.1, 48 kHz
- AAC: 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 kHz
- WAV: 44.1 kHz

Video:

Frame Rate: Max 30 fps
Resolution: Max. QVGA (320 x 240)
File Size: Max 2 GB
Maximum Number of Files: 1000
Formats:
- AVC:
  - Profile: Baseline profile
  - Video Bitrate: Max 768 kbps
  - Audio Bitrate: Max 288 kbps (AAC)
- MPEG-4:
  - Profile: Simple profile
  - Video Bitrate: Max 1,024 kbps
  - Audio Bitrate: Max 288 kbps (AAC)
- Windows Media Video 9:
  - Media File format: ASF file format
  - Video Bit Rate: Max 768 kbps
  - Audio Bit Rate: Max 192 kbps (WMA)
Recording Time:
- Video Format 384 kbps/Audio Format 128 kbps: 30 hours, 40 minutes
- Video Format 768 kbps/Audio Format 128 kbps: 17 hours, 30 minutes

Photos:

Format: JPEG
Media File Format: Compatible with Exif 2.21 file format
Profile: Baseline Profile
Number of Pixels: Maximum: 4000 x 4000 pixels (16,000,000 pixels)
Maximum Number of Files: 8000

Battery Life (continuous playback) with the embedded Lithium Ion battery:

Music:
- MP3 (128 kbps): 45 hours
- WMA (128 kbps): 45 hours
- AAC (128 kbps): 40 hours
- Linear PCM (1411 kbps): 40 hours
Video:
- MPEG-4 (384 kbps): 8 hours
- MPEG-4 (768 kbps): 6.5 hours
- WMV (384 kbps): 7.5 hours
FM Radio: 21 hours

Original creator of the Walkman information: Crutchfield.com

Headphones -or- Ear Buds

Now then, one of the problems with these little devices is the method of hearing them and the quality, or lack of it, of the sound. This MP3 Player came with a set of Ear Buds -but- I personally do not like sticking those things in my ears. Besides, I don't care how clean a person you are they always seem to get ear wax on them and feel yecky. However, I found some that I highly recommend... if you can find them, or something like them. The ones I am talkin about are also made by Sony. They come in six colors that I know of;
Blue, White, Pink, Green, Orange and Black. The model number is: MDR-J10

Product Features

Open-air headphones over-the-ear clip-ons via a vertical design
Non-slip design is perfect for active pursuits like exercising and dancing
13.5 mm diameter driver(speaker) used for small size and delivery of deep bass
Neodymium magnets provide maximum energy with minimal size
Tangle-free cord (4 feet) is adjustable with a 3.5mm connector plug

Technical Details

Brand Name: Sony
Model: MDRJ10/WHITE
Color Name: Sony MDR-J10 h.ear Headphones with Non-Slip Design (White)
Headphones Form Factor: Over-the-ear
Headphones Technology: Binaural
Item Weight: 0.14 pounds

They were selling them at my WalMart and I got a couple of sets for $10 each. They are White in color mainly cause that was all that was left. I later got a Blue pair at Fry's Electronics for a larger amount of money -but I don't remember how much. The Blue ones are for my LappyTop. The White ones are for this MP3 player -and- my Desktop 'Puter. I see now on the Web you can get them for about $6.00.

Now then, what I really like about them is the sound and the control. They sound great and you can control the volume just by pulling them out a little from your ears or pushing them in a little harder. That way you don't have to mess with the volume on the MP3 Player and they still stay on your ear. I even wear them and listen to my music whilst at the Dentist. He doesn't mind at all.

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