Sony HMP-A1 - First Look
- Reviewer
- Stuart Miles
- Review Date
- 15 August 2004
- Manufacturer
- Sony
- Price as reviewed
- £500 (currently only available in Japan)
- Latest price
- compare
Reader review
User: artk, Los Angeles USA
Date Posted: 24 August 2004
Review: I just bought an hmp-a1. I wouldn't say the device is terrible, but it definitely has it's faults. The screen is nice, but its highly reflective surface is very bothersome when viewing while outdoors. It's almost to the point where you canít make out pictures or video even at full brightness. I think the biggest problem with the device is the picture viewer. If you want to buy a picture viewer, do not buy this one. Pictures take a long time to load, and there is no way to organize photos. It would be convenient to be able to organize photos in folders or separate lists, but this is not possible with this device. Zoom would also be a nice feature that this device does not have. One of the biggest gripes for me is that the software prohibits the user to upload more than 1000 image files. What's the point of a 20-gig hard rive when you can't upload more than 1000 files? However, there are plus sides to the hmp-a1. The image and video quality is very nice. The audio player also works very well (but Iím not going to get rid of my iPod anytime soon). I was also was more than impressed with the battery life on this machine. All the buttons are highly responsive, and if it decides to lag, it lets you know by displaying the word "loading" Overall, I think this device is a keeper. Definitely a cool toy you can show off to your friends with. However, it is certain that in the near future the same type of device with much better features will be released. Perhaps you ought to wait till then.
Rating:
8 people have rated this review helpful
Reader review
User: chow7339, Penang Malaysia
Date Posted: 14 August 2004
Review: I bought this unit about a month ago through Dynamism and I would say this unit is wonderful. I really enjoy it with its simple features and it's beautiful GUI. However I would like to comment about the storage. Although 20GB is not bad, I would have preferred 60GB. Secondly the audio video out should have a S-video out for better pictures. Last but not least it will be better if it can record TV programmes straight from the tele like the TIVO. Anyway overall this unit is quite satisfying. If you are looking for a potable Media Centre I think it's quite a good unit. As for the rating I will give 8/10 although it has some shortcomings.
Rating:
8 people have rated this review helpful
>> Sign up or Log in to write a reader review
Compare prices
Sony Blu-ray Discâ„¢ BDP-S1 Blu-Ray Player
(Blu-Ray Player, 1 Disc, Progressive Scan, Built-In Dolby Digital Decoder, Built-In DTS Decoder Sound, Composite x 1, S-Video x 1, ...)
