Sony's OLED Walkman priced in the US... sort of

We wouldn't carve this in stone quite yet, but we'd say that points-to-dollars conversion from Sony's official 'Rewards' site is pretty legitimate. The outfit's highly anticipated OLED Walkman, which we had the pleasure of toying with earlier this week, is now listed in 16GB and 32GB forms at SonyRewards. While no ship date is given, we are told that the smaller of the two will run members 29,995 points, while the larger one demands an extra 10,000. For those who only speak real currency (you know, like Schrute Bucks), that translates to $299.95 and $399.95, respectively. Furthermore, the first official OLED Walkman accessories have popped up, proving that a leather case / kickstand, clear screen protector and a hard plastic shell will be made available. Oh, and Sony -- any moment now would be great for a confirmation.

[Via SonyInsider]

Read - 16GB OLED Walkman
Read - 32GB OLED Walkman

[darkmax Posted May 7th 2009 3:39PM]

Gosh... Sony never learns. They should go back to their roots in pricing policies.

[Joe K Posted May 7th 2009 4:11PM]

Yeah, but how many seconds of ESP does it provide?

[billmiller Posted May 7th 2009 4:30PM]

Hope, this is available soon in their Sony Style stores. Price doesn't matter for a quality product like.

[T Chunks Posted May 7th 2009 4:35PM]

I love coming here and reading all the Sony hater comments that all seem to have made their minds up prior to a device getting a full release.

'Not Apple..... FAIL'.

I prefer.... 'My mum and dad brought me an ipod touch for Christmas and I cant stand the thought of something else coming to the market which might compete/ blow it out of the water....... FAIL'.



Get over it.

iPhones and touches are great devices and if you like splashing out on apps, even more so. However, Sony and Cowon are releasing devices that are, hardware wise, a step up in both audio and visual quality.

People moaned that although the S9 looked good and had superior sound quality = Fail as it didnt have wifi. The Sony comes with wifi and has superior sound/ vision...... on noes! that equals a fail because it isnt as cheap as an iPod. YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT A YEAR OLD PRODUCT, AN i POD SHOULD COST LESS THAN EITHER THE S9 OR SONY.

For the record sSony priced their 16gb walkmans at 50% off over the Christmas period. I picked up one up on Amazon for £76 whilst my mates who know no better splashed out shed loads on the equivalent Nano. Didnt see anyone knocking Sony's price point then.

If the iPod Touch 3rd Gen can touch these two devices on auio or visual (should know by the start of June), I'll pick one up. However I bet it will cost more than the newly released Sony or Cowon. Does that automatically equate to a fail to you guys?

[hemmy Posted May 7th 2009 4:54PM]

slowclap.gif

[pika2000 Posted May 7th 2009 5:08PM]

I love coming here and reading all the Sony fanboys comments that all seem to have made their minds up prior to a device getting a full release.
Cowon has superior video playback with more codec and higher res support. 320x240? This is 2009. Oh, I know the Sony supports 420x270 video, but that's only for WMV. On the other hand, I have a Cowon O2 that has been out for quite some time, and it can play 720p videos in addition to virtually any codecs you could think of.
Audio quality? How about proper playback of music as intended by the artist, aka gapless MP3/AAC playback? Any illusion of "superior" sound quality falls flat if the device cannot even playback music properly. Ironically, before Apple provided gapless playback on iPods, Sony fanboys bash iPods to no end for the lack of it. Now, gapless playback suddenly is not important anymore.
We'll see how useful the wifi is on the Sony. Plenty of devices have wifi, but they are hardly usable due to the poor browser (PSP & Mylo).

[hemmy Posted May 7th 2009 6:24PM]

Cowonfanboy2000, does it make you angry that people consider the Oled Walkman over your Cowon? It sure seems like it. You like to throw around this "Sony fanboy" term ALOT, even in other Sony related stories, without a hint of irony; you sound like a fanboy yourself.

[pika2000 Posted May 7th 2009 6:51PM]

@hemmy: I merely stating the devices actual capabilities, unlike fanboys that brag about imaginative qualities and bashing others as fanboys simply because of statements of real critical mishaps of Sony products.

[pokes Posted May 8th 2009 4:29AM]

if I read another of your comments that mentions gapless playback I might just have a gapless shit.

[BOGRASH Posted May 7th 2009 5:01PM]

sony make superior walkmans. note my usage of the term walkman. ipods are played the hell out. walkmans are back. like the above poster, i scooped a sweet deal - a nwz829 for £95. 16gb, amazing sound quality, fantastic ex earbuds, bluetooth (that actually works), bluetooth headphones (pretty good if somewhat fruity-looking). no more sonic stage/atrac crap, simple ui, full drag and drop including the rare folder nav. really happy with it, the only reason i'd upgrade is if sony (or poss cowon or iriver) gave me:

gapless (why oh why isnt this standard)
flac (ditto, basically look at what rockbox offers and make the most-requested functions standard)
video playback without conversion (life is too short for that nonsense)
32 or 64gb flash (without price gouge)
wifi (fast file transfers please)
decent ui, fast, friendly, stable, possibly customisable

I like this oled sony, although there's plenty of room for improvement. the 1980's flint effect sides are a reminder of how they often get very close, but still manage to make mis-steps. having said that, i'll take a walkman over an ipod any day of the year. anything but ipod, itunes and the garbation it brings.

[(Unverified) Posted May 8th 2009 2:12AM]

This is a niche product, and it blows. The iPod touch is sexier and can be had for less. Imagine OSX right in your pocket, in addition to being and iPod and internet communications device.

[pokes Posted May 8th 2009 4:24AM]

I bet you imagining OSX in you pocket gives you a boner. Its not OSX so get over yourself.

I'm sure you have Apple tattooed across your forehead

[Geonerd Posted May 7th 2009 5:48PM]

I would buy if it had bluetooth

[(Unverified) Posted May 7th 2009 8:14PM]

Bottom line comment
This will fail in USA if priced over $229 which is price of iPod touch!
Seriously yeah screen might be diff n codecs etc but nobody cares.
U tell me 35,000 apps on an pmp ,it's gonna sell n revolutionize!!
Seriously who would pickj this over iPod ??

[Muhammad Oli Posted May 7th 2009 8:24PM]

Someone who cares about music quality.

[(Unverified) Posted May 8th 2009 12:41AM]

Guru not everyone needs a billion apps. Most of the good ones need wifi anyway, so if you're not in a place that has it the touch becomes a regular PMP. This is gonna replace my 1st gen Touch, and I can't wait for it to be released.

Small critique on iPods lack of features: FM Tuner. One of the simplest and most standard things on pmps today and apple has yet to add one in. I'd like to listen to my OTA radio stations while not in the car/at home/at a wifi hotspot. thanks.

[albundy Posted May 8th 2009 12:48AM]

so what makes it better and more expensive than the Cowon S9? The baloney?

[Bender Bending Rodriguez Posted May 8th 2009 2:13AM]

• Screen size and resolution?

• Battery time for audio and video?

• Does it have web browser since it has WiFi?

[(Unverified) Posted May 8th 2009 4:13AM]

we need a head to head comparison of the Cowon S9, Sony NWZ-X1050, and Samsung P3.

[Nick de Plume Posted May 8th 2009 5:57AM]

It is a wee bit too expensive, but I expect the price will come down eventually.
I do like my ipod nano3, but it'd be nice to ditch the borderline-malware that is itunes for windows. It is the only reason I did not get the ipod touch (I no longer sync my ipod with itunes, but with touch i would have to).
I got my mom a sony s610 some time ago, and while it does not have the flashy ipod ui is very usable, has much better sound and battery life.