Sony's new PMP could be better than the Nano
Let's get the first big criticism – the one you'll read a lot, no doubt – out of the way. Sony's new NW-A800 PMP isn't as thin as the Apple Nano. Right, that dealt with, let's look at some pretty pictures and see if we like it on its own merits. Personally, this is the first time I'm actually tempted by a Sony audio player; the A800 is still relatively thin, has that gorgeous colour screen and is quite handsome in a solid-looking way.
Three sizes of flash memory will be available – 2GB, 4GB and 8GB – and it not only plays music but can display H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and MPEG-4 video too. That inevitably controversial thickness varies between 9.6mm and 8.3mm, while the whole thing weighs just 53g. The screen is 2-inches and 240x320 QVGA.
SonicStage is back, of course, although this time round it supports RSS for automatic audio and video podcast loading. To make the most of that screen you can flip it through each orientation, depending on whether you're right or left handed.
Battery life is good, too, with 30hrs audio and 8hrs video; you can juice it back up to 80% capacity in just one and a half hours with a USB connection.
Impress have done a full hands-on report, including using the SonicStage software and managing audio and video playback; check out the translation below, unless your Japanese skills are better than mine!
