sony NWZA816B ok with OS X? Or shall I just get a nano?

Felix E · 24 Dec 2007 at 21:57

I'm looking to buy a new mini mp3 player with 4gb of space. I've been doing some research today into what to buy and have pretty much narrowed it down to either the sony NWZA816B or an iPod Nano.

Obviously the nano would work very well and easily with Os X and iTunes, but Ive read that the sony has better sound quality and also it's slightly cheaper. problem is i;m not sure how well it will work with os x, it's supposed to use windows media player 11, but this isn't available for mac. Would it be ok to load it up just by dragging and dropping? does anyone have any experience with this player and os x? I don't want to use bootcamp just to put songs on my mp3 player btw :rolleyes:

thanks for any help

hyper_piper45 · 24 Dec 2007 at 22:07

have no experience with the sony, but being a mac fan boy i would say just get the nano. i think it looks better aswell.

james.miller · 24 Dec 2007 at 22:16

yep, no problems with macs. works the same as in windows, drag and drop and appears as a removable drive.

but being a mac fan boy i would say just get the nano. i think it looks better aswell.

being a sound quality and battery life fanboy, id say gett the sony. its in a league above the nanos

Mr Jones · 24 Dec 2007 at 23:39

The new Sony are drag and drop, so you're guaranteed 100% compatibility with your .mp3, .wma and even .aac

No doubt the Sony is leagues above the nano for Sound and battery but the nano has more "compatibility" with iTunes on a Mac/PC, i.e. syncing playlist, music collection and playing downloaded .m4p music from iTunes store.

So it all boils down to, do you need the "extra" battery and better sound (assuming you're using your own headphones / earphones and not the crappy provided ones) or more compatibility/intuitive communication between the player and your library of music.

I personally go with the nano just for the reason stated above. Plus, the nano's 24hr battery life isn't *that* shabby, is it? As for sound quality, unless I'm using a expensive headphone, my Mylar XB in ear monitors can't tell the difference between a 192kbps music in a nano second gen to a Sony player.

james.miller · 25 Dec 2007 at 00:19

the sonys dont come with crappy earphones either. they come with earphones (ex85) that are very very nearly as good as the ex90's, which themselves are very good for the money (~£60)

Felix E · 25 Dec 2007 at 14:21

Thanks for the replies guys

I'm going to a store on Thursday that sells both so I think I'll have a play with the Sony and see what I think.. I'm leaning to that one at the moment as I think the better sound/battery/headphones would be a bonus and I'm not too bothered about synching playlists etc. I don't buy music from iTunes either so that's not a problem for me.

Merry Christmas!