Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony NW-E505 Network Walkman 512 MB Digital Music Player with FM Tuner Blue

If you are like myself and like things as simple as possible, do not install the enclosed CD, do not use SonicStage software, by far one of the most unfriendly players I have seen. You may fit up to 300 or so atrac3 files in this player, but you have to go through all the hassle of converting your mp3 files and once in the player they are copy protected meaning you can't do any further copying plus the quality isn't as good as that of 160kbps or 192kbps mp3 files...the solution: the most simple there is:

go to the Sony asia pacific website at:

http://www.css.ap.sony.com/consumer/template/DDSummary.aspx?Id=44358&Category=Personal+Audio

to download the NW505/507 driver (do this step first) and MP3 File Manger software which installs right on your player in seconds. Then is just a drag'n'drop game from iTunes player with no hassles whatsoever. The downside: you'll only be able to fit 80-100 songs in a 512Mb player or 160-200 songs in a 1Gb player, but if you are like me that keeps a music library in iTunes in my home PC and just uses this portable MP3 for trendy music this shouldn't be an issue and the sound quality is unbelievable!

One more tip - Plan to spend $15 more on headphones (Sony's MDR-E827G are the best) as the headphones included with the player are useless.

My purchase of NW-E505 is one of the best investment I purchased this year. If you are in the market for a mini-flash media player, especially compare to iPod shuffle, I would highly recommend this player over the iPod. Here are the reasons. 1) Sony player has about 50 hours of battery life. Basically, I don't know what it means to be low on battery. 2) it has a very stylish screen that tells you the song title, artist, mode (shuffle, repeat, single play), duration of the time. 3) It has a clock, 4) you can change the treble and base setting to maximize performace. 5) diffenerent colors (black, silver, dark blue, light blue and pink). 6) very sturdy material (just take feel test between sony and iPod). 7) It has a FM radio tuner. I am not a radio person but it's nice to have FM just in case. 8) The sony compuuter program is easy to use and it can convert songs to smaller storage files without changing the integrity of the song.
I hope you'll enjoy your player as much as I do.

I've had this player for about 2 months now and use it primarily while bike riding, working out and mowing the lawn. While the player sounds great, the cheap clip and earphones make it not worth the money if you are going to use it for anything other than sitting. The clip just pops off where you attach it (and it does not take much) and the ear pieces just fall out (replaced those).

Many other users have focused their reviews on the positives of this player and as true as their points are, they fail to address two major shortcomings:
1. The player comes with a flimsy clip for portability when it really should come with a neck lanyard instead/in addition to. I tried using the clip for about a day and immediately I was shopping for a neck lanyard. A suitable lanyard was hard to find because the hole to fasten one to the player is very small. I finally settled on a $4.00 cellphone lanyard I found at a T-Mobile store.
2. Despite the fact that I'm running Windows XP, the SonicStage software which came with the player WOULD NOT WORK on my computer. I ended up downloading an alternate program (Mp3 File Manager) on to the player itself in order to facilitate file transfers. The program works good but it takes up space on the player's memory and it only supports files in mp3 format. . .
Besides these two flaws, it seems to be a decent mp3 player.

I've had the NW-E505 for close to a year I think. This is the 4th Sony MP3 player I've owned (3 different models). I really wasn't too impressed with the others, other than the size.

The main gripes I had with my older Sony players were 1) no belt clip; 2) had to pay extra for memory cards; 3) battery life/reliability was horrible; 4) SonicStage software sucks. Well, they took care of 3 of the problems at least with the E505. It has a belt clip attachment, internal memory (twice what I had with the others too), and the battery life is incredible.

I generally only use it when I'm at the gym, so I'm using it 3-4 hours a week. Still...with other electronics I've owned, even if I wasn't using it the battery would eventually run down. Not so with this. I think I've charged it a grand total of 4-5 times since I bought it. It's also got a couple of different display modes you can set to save battery power. I have my display stay turned off unless I hit buttons. I really don't need it to scroll through the song name constantly.

SonicStage still sucks. It always will. But I'm willing to deal with it in order to load more songs. I've never had any problems with the software or drivers.

Many people prefer the iPods. I owned one for about a week before I returned it. Here's why I think this MP3 player is better than the iPods:

1) If you want music at the gym, the iPod is a major pain. You have to look at the screen to do anything, and personally I hate that wheel control. It's too sensitive. On the Sony MP3 players, you've got buttons and switches...you can switch songs or albums, and change the volume without even looking at it. I find that extremely convenient when I'm working out.

2) The sound quality is SO much better. I didn't realize how good it was until I purchased the iPod. When I returned it, I told the sales person that was one of the reasons. They told me I should invest in some new headphones...of course that would be another $50 for the good ones. The Sony players sound great with the included headphones, although I'm sure they would sound better with $50 headphones too...I just don't want that extra expense. Plus on the iPod you've got a bunch of presets to choose from for bass & treble...and they all stink! On the Sony you can adjust both separately.

3) It's simple. I don't need a datebook and a phonebook. I've got a Palm for that.

4) I like the shape better (like a small pack of gum) and it feels more sturdy to me. The iPod I purchased was a mini, so it was a lot bigger than the Nanos...but even those feel a bit flimsy to me. I would worry about it getting damaged in my gym bag.

5) Battery life is much better. Again, I'm referring to the iPod mini...maybe they have made improvements with the newer models.

To summarize...this is the best portable music player I have ever owned or seen, hands down. I can't imagine any other changes they could make that would make me want to replace it or upgrade with a newer model.