SONY VAIO Pocket VGF-AP1L

chump

http://www.cyberport.de/webcontent/index.omeco?PHPSESSID=6bff19889ab4ee2e819c2157850031b8&FOLDERID=43&shopid=1


They're selling this bad boy for 220 + 16% Vat and minimal delivery charge to Ireland.

Fair enough it's not exactly an audiophiles player of choice (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/28/review_sony_vaio_pocket/) but this represents a steal for a 40giger.

Sofort Lieferbar = Immediately available

Other Translations you can do at http://babelfish.altavista.com/


From the register:
I came to the VGF-AP1L with some hostility - I'm pro iPod, anti Sony's stance on MP3 - but it won me over. I found it far more pleasant to use than I had been anticipating, less bulky and better designed. It's compact, well-built and its audio quality is superb. I liked it.

Sony has a reputation for build and design quality. The Vaio Pocket doesn't disappoint on either front. Consumers tend to be willing to pay more for Sony kit than they would for rival products, thanks to that reputation, and they're likely to pay more than the going rate for the VGF-AP1, though UK pricing had yet to be set when I wrote this.

GeSense is odd at first and may dissuade buyers when they try it in the shop. It's certainly a gimmick offered as an alternative to the iPod's trend-setting wheel-controlled UI, but it works. It's not as intuitive as Apple's UI and you can't use it one-handed, but then why would you? Most folk, I suspect, will spend more time operating the remote control.

Another comment from http://shopper.cnet.com/Sony_VAIO_Pocket_Digital_Music_Player_VGF_AP1L/4014-6490_9-31107442.html?tag=uord&rvwtp=4852-6490_9-31107442&orderby=90&sort=
Sony's new MP3 has a very well lit screen that does not go bad in direct sunlight. Sony just came our with a firmware update that changes some of the functions of the player's menu and it now handles all portable music formats (MP3 included). I have not got close to using up the 20 hours battery life but so far so good. Sonic Stage is good program that allows you to put the album cover - art with the cooresponding artist. The form factor of the player is great and feels much sturdier than the IPod. It feels like you can drop the player over and over again without putting a scratch in it.

Feck it actually looks like it could be a winner, must have missed something!

garthv

Where now?
That link doesnt bring you to the vaio pocket and i cant find it on the site....

Chalk

go to the cyberport site and click on audio/video on the top navi bar

chump

Jeez am getting a bit tempted myshelf

Sorry the link keeps changing...
price seems to be 247 delivered to ireland all in all

garthv

Just ordered it there
Couldnt make head nor tails of the frickin site so i rang up and ordered it
Odd thing is is that they dont take Credit Cards, its a cash on delivery only
They said 6 to 8 days so I'll let ye know if its any daycent

chump

Cheers... I decided to skip it having just bought a 20gig player the other week

RE*AC*TOR

just to confirm - this only plays atracs?

*edit* i'm a spa - didn't read the first post properly - handles mp3s as well now - that's a good deal. If i didn't already have a 40gb zen touch I'd go for it.

*double edit*

and it now handles all portable music formats (MP3 included)

by "handle" do they mean "convert into atrac"?

garthv

Yeh it converts it into ATRAC3plus while transferring,
Sony has always done this but their latest player has mp3 compatibility(not the vaio pocket tho). Doesnt really bother me much as theres so much space ill onbly have to transfer my files once and thats it

Dont be at yourself

Hmmms, I just bought the 20g HD-1 before Christmas but I'm very, very tempted.

BaZmO*

GaRtH_V wrote:

Just ordered it there
Couldnt make head nor tails of the frickin site so i rang up and ordered it
Odd thing is is that they dont take Credit Cards, its a cash on delivery only
They said 6 to 8 days so I'll let ye know if its any daycent

Definitely interested to see how you get on with this. The other stuff on their site is quite cheap too.

B.

gtsreddy

hi a quick question
is there any problem with operation of this player with german language
i heard that the products purchased in germany comes every thing in german

garthv

Im sure theres someway of changing languages anyway..
According to The Register theres a cd out that enables all Sony hdd players to support mp3

Sony's earlier NW-HD players will gain native MP3 support too, but in Japan at least, it will be made available on a ¥2000 (£10.30/$19.50) CD, available until 31 May 2005.

chump

garth you can download new firmware that supports mp3, just search the web ... the latest updates a whole bunch of other things as well, read a bit about it yesterday... I wouldn't worry at all about langauage ... at the very worst all you'll have to do is choose the eng langauge firmware upgrade

garthv

Yeh i figuredit would be available over the net somewhere but i cant find it anywhere!

chump

http://www.vaio-link.com/vaiopocket/firmware/firmware.asp?l=en

garthv

Nice one! Just gotta sit in front of my letterbox and wait for it to arrive now

kensutz

Garth did they definitely say COD?? I'm looking for one of these babies. Like you said I can't figure out the site at all

garthv

Well considering they didnt take any CC details and your man said it was going to be 6 - 8 days theres nothing else it can be.
This is the number i rang : +49 351 / 33 95 60 , not very fluent in english but he got my drift.

Beano

I went part of the way through the checkout process to check the cost of shipping and there definitely is an option to pay by credit card. Did they reject your card because it wasnt a German credit card? I know there is a funny attitude in europe generally to using credit cards which might explain it.

BaZmO*

But lads, are you not missing the point. IMO it's better that they have asked for COD. Much easier than buying it with your CC and then possibly waiting ages to get the goods and then having to try explain your situation to some dude on the phone with pidgeon English.

B.

garthv

I dunno, the guy on the phone said their system could not take credit cards,I couldnt really understand him. I prefer the COD anway

mayto

i emailed cyberport about payment and they replied back in less than an hour saying cod adds €13 euro on top of delivery charge and don't accept credit cards from foreign customers. info below

thank you for your interest in our products.

The player is in stock at the moment.

It would be possible to ship it to Ireland.
The delivery costs would mount up to 25.95 € additionally to the
shipping insurance for 0.75% of the value of the item (1.65 €).

You would either have the option to pay in advance onto our bank
account, you would then receive our bank details as soon as the order
has been placed. Or you chose to pay cash on delivery. But then, the
postal service charges another 13 € for the delivery service.
Please be aware of this fact when ordering.

In case you decide for the cash in advance option, please use the
international bank code for the transfer, the transfer will then be
cheaper for you and will be proceeded quickly.

Our bank account:
Dresdner Bank AG
Bankleitzahl 680 800 30
Kontonummer 0 723 303 600

international codes:
SWIFT-BIC.: DRES DE FF 664
IBAN: DE 73 6808 0030 0723 3036 00

The goods would be reserved for you as soon as the money could be
booked in. Cash on delivery is the faster delivery method.
Credit card payment is not possible for foreign customers.

chump

A sting in the tail, at the end of the day, the thing still costs about 400 USD (exl vat and delivery) in the states, and advancedmp3players.com, one of the UKs cheapest online shops its ~ 400euro

From the above it seems to be about 290 from this place delivered if COD

kensutz

GaRtH_V wrote:

Well considering they didnt take any CC details and your man said it was going to be 6 - 8 days theres nothing else it can be.
This is the number i rang : +49 351 / 33 95 60 , not very fluent in english but he got my drift.

thanks, I'll get the parents to ring up tomorrow and order one.

garthv

The guy told me it comes to 249 euro in total + post office charges of 13 euro which comes to a grand total of €262. Still not half bad for a 40gb Mp3 player.

garthv

Heh,went into the sony store on o connell street and they want €440 for this

kensutz

so you had it delivered already? that was fast

garthv

nope dont have it yet,
should be sometime next week tho

Zapp Brannigan

can anyone give me the advantages this has over an iPod (apart from it being cheaper of course )

RE*AC*TOR

Slurms wrote:

can anyone give me the advantages this has over an iPod (apart from it being cheaper of course )

longer battery life.

setanta5

Has anybody actually bought one of these and paid for/received it. I had a look at the website and while it adertises €239 when i went to buy it i was seeing €460 odd. Now, i have absolutely no German and may have clicked on 2 of them by mistake, but would be interested if someone who has bought from here could take me trough the steps.

BaZmO*

setanta5 wrote:

have absolutely no German and may have clicked on 2 of them by mistake

Surely "2" in German is "2"

No?

B.

gtsreddy

hi folks
i have send the money to them they got the money
they send the courier to me yesterday day with DHL/Duesctch post
i am waiting for the little palyer
cheers
their customer service is great , absolutely great

BaZmO*

gtsreddy wrote:

hi folks
i have send the money to them they got the money
they send the courier to me yesterday day with DHL/Duesctch post
i am waiting for the little palyer
cheers
their customer service is great , absolutely great

No speaky the Ingrish?

B.

gtsreddy

i paid them 247.50 euros in total
they speak some what nice english in my opnion
we can communiacet with them and get the work the done
who will sell that palyer for 219 euros , even it is 360 dollars in united states
thats why i just tempted even though i am not a big music fan , but fan of sony thats it

Zapp Brannigan

well when someone does recieve it, if theyd be kind enough to review it in this thread, and let us know all the pros and cons. That'd be great!!

setanta5

BaZmO* wrote:

Surely "2" in German is "2"

No?

B.

How clever you are......but do you know the German word for Quantity? Simply seeing the number 2 on the screen would do nothing for me who does not speak german....it could say "2 days for delivery" or "2 left in stock"

But its nice to have people who have no other use and nothing constructive to add but point out others typing mistakes etc. How fulfilling for you!

Zapp Brannigan

bumpage.

Karoma

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

longer battery life.

on paper.
charge one up, switch it off completely; then come back in 8 days... it'll be dead completely..

the battery life quoted is with the backlight dimmed greatly (*shrug* which is fair enough ..just somewhat misleading..)

The biggest drawback is the cradle:
- it's poorly designed (it doesn't stand up correct..)
- you cannot do anything without one (Which means dragging the cradle + cables everywhere with you..

No accessories per se..

MP3 support is not really MP3 support..
it just means that you don't convert to ATRAC
original : mp3 -> ATRAC -> .oma
with firmware: mp3 -> .oma

another major drawback or plus, depdning on your opinion = SonicStage... a horrible piece of software (not that iTunes is much better..but at least you can readily obtain alternatives to iTunes)


they're a nice player, and for that price..very nice. I'd still choose a Zen or iPod or... anything else

RicardoSmith

.oma isn't really a file type. Its just a MP3 or a ATRAC file thats been been wrapped with a Sony encryped DRM header. It doesn't transcode the file or anything like that. The encryption seems to be tied to a specific instance of Sonic Stage on the PC. If you reinstall SonicStage on the same (because it crashed and no longer works for example) its not unsual to be unable to access anything you previously ripped via SonicStage. Since you now have a different instance of SonicStage.

If you don't move your music around much, it might not bother you.

Karoma

indeed.
however, you cannot copy the mp3 or atrac file as you can with some true mp3 players.. (Although, most prevent copying from players these days..)

Re-installing SonicStage = OK.
If you format the HDD and remove the unique ID = NOK.
(That's what the Backup Tool is for.. although.. that doesn't always work as it should..)

gtsreddy

just now i got the vaio player
it is very good it seems
all together 247.50 euros , in dublin it is around 450 euros i think