Any follow-up to the X-series?

[gino_76ph]

Sony is again playing catch-up and lagging behing Apple, Samsung, Cowon and Creative when it comes to MP3/MP4 players. any news as to wether Sony is planning on making a follow-up to the disastrous X-series?

[CrowdAds]

[Szadzik]

Originally Posted by gino_76ph

Sony is again playing catch-up and lagging behing Apple, Samsung, Cowon and Creative when it comes to MP3/MP4 players. any news as to wether Sony is planning on making a follow-up to the disastrous X-series?

Disastrous for whom? For those who want to watch movies on a 3" screens?

For people who want to use it a music player it is a great device and that is what it was made for.

[Dreamnine]

The X isn't disatrous for me - I love it.

Currently listening to Astral Weeks, Moondance and Saint Dominic's Preview Van has never sounded better.

[h1a8]

It's clear that it was statistically a disaster, not a disaster for everyone.
The main roots of the disaster was pricing it higher than the touch, having a next to useless web browser, and super low volume for output to car radios and such.

To exaggerate the point (to make it clear), would it be a disaster if Sony A series was $1000 for a 16gb player?

[Chocolate Truffle]

Well, I like it. Never failed to amaze me.

There were times when people watched movies on 2" LCD screen. For me, 3" OLED is good enough to watch some shows during my 2 hours on the road to school and back home.

Other than slow cover flows and responses, I've been really enjoying X series since October. I'm back with Walkmans for the first time in 10 years with this unit.

NetFront sucks but I rarely use Wi-Fi since my phone has 3G and if you're used to mobile environment, NetFront isn't that bad.

[gino_76ph]

i had Sony Walkmans before and audio wise it is top of its class...even million miles better than Samsung, Cowon, Creative or even Apples'.

disastrous for me would mean:

1. no aftersales support
for me this would encompass firmware updates not being often; Sony's apparent lack of forums or feedbacks from fans and Sony seemingly not bothered to listen to fan sugestions and request.

2. still lacking Divx/Xvid/AVI support
Samsung excels on this department. i have the P3 for almost a year now and planning to buy the amazing M1

3. no Flac et al support
again Samsung excels on this department. Sony again seems to not listen to market trends and current tech incorporated to other company's MP3/MP4 players.

4. no AMOLED screen
sure OLED is good but AMOLED seems to be the "way forward" for MP3 players

5. lack of bluetooth
again...what can i say

6. inability to add playlist and/or add songs into a playlist on-the-fly
again...that would be the day. it would be damn easier if that happens in all of Sony's walkmans

7. minimal customisability
dull and lacking of imagination when it comes to the main screen. only 1 home screen compared to 3 with Samsung (and Cowon i think) and almost infinite with the iTouch

8. ditch the wi-fi or make it a lot better/faster/smarter than the itouch.

[Dreamnine]

I'm happy with its just playing my mp3 and wma files, nothing else.

[Chocolate Truffle]

I think you should just stick with Samsung players because I doubt you'll get your wishes granted by Sony in the next X series release.

M1 has been nothing but failure named by Korean users. Samsung literally gave up on MP3 player after they combined with mobile department.

I think it's rather shame how M1 underperforms with such a Zune HD-like hardware. I had P2 and got to try P3 and there is nothing better to brag about than X series other than those extra unnecessary features.

[mandersen]

Originally Posted by Szadzik

Disastrous for whom? For those who want to watch movies on a 3" screens?

For people who want to use it a music player it is a great device and that is what it was made for.

Thanks, Szadzik, for making this clearly correcting statement. One wonders why some people always have the urge to write in such bad way, with such immature childish semi-hidden premises, which also are dubious, IMO. Of course there are limitations, see the points some may regard as limitations, and see also many of the other opinions.

However, the interesting question remains: Will there soon come a follow-up to the X series? Anyone who has a clue?

[gino_76ph]

Originally Posted by Chocolate Truffle

I think you should just stick with Samsung players because I doubt you'll get your wishes granted by Sony in the next X series release.

M1 has been nothing but failure named by Korean users. Samsung literally gave up on MP3 player after they combined with mobile department.

I think it's rather shame how M1 underperforms with such a Zune HD-like hardware. I had P2 and got to try P3 and there is nothing better to brag about than X series other than those extra unnecessary features.

since when the M1 been a "failure"? it's better than the P3 in many ways or you can say it's a P3.5 but still it is IMO better. it's not realistic thought to compare it with the ZuneHD becuase simply put...it's not a ZuneHD in the first place. once the firmware updates come pouring in i time the M1 will soon flourish and be a top notch MP3 player.

since Samsung's MP3 and mobile phone department has merged sure it is slow in making and releasing products but in time i think it will soon overtake and dominate what once was Sony's. give them a chance. but with the advent of touchscreen players from Sony i hope they get it right with a follow-up....

[Dreamnine]

I had a P3 for a year, and while it sounded great I wouldn't go back to Samsung - how sure could you be that there will be firmware updates for the M1?

Sony got it right with the X - at least for me, the touchscreen alone is way better than the P3 - it only needed one upgrade to fix the browser (for those that bother with it).

[The DarkSide]

If I could have bought the X Series for the same great price I got my P3 for, I'd have jumped on it. There is nothing wrong w/the X Series for what it does, have fantastic SQ and play vids on an OLED screen.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

If I could have bought the X Series for the same great price I got my P3 for, I'd have jumped on it. There is nothing wrong w/the X Series for what it does, have fantastic SQ and play vids on an OLED screen.

Hell yeah....if the price was lower I would jump all over one. Thing is, right now on Amazon, a 32GB Touch is $17 cheaper than a 16GB X. So how many people would choose the X in that scenario? If the X was $200 for 32GB, I'd order one tomorrow.....sadly, it is $336 for 32GB, and $278 for 16GB. So I shall be content with my budget Sonys.

[Chocolate Truffle]

Originally Posted by gino_76ph

since when the M1 been a "failure"? it's better than the P3 in many ways or you can say it's a P3.5 but still it is IMO better. it's not realistic thought to compare it with the ZuneHD becuase simply put...it's not a ZuneHD in the first place. once the firmware updates come pouring in i time the M1 will soon flourish and be a top notch MP3 player.

since Samsung's MP3 and mobile phone department has merged sure it is slow in making and releasing products but in time i think it will soon overtake and dominate what once was Sony's. give them a chance. but with the advent of touchscreen players from Sony i hope they get it right with a follow-up....

Well, I don't know if you speak/read Korean in the first place but if you go to Korean MP3 player forum that has total members close to 200,000, they mostly say that M1 is failed or have not met the expectations. M1 has been out for awhile and I don't think you should expect any type of 'feature' update firmware, when they don't even release bugs firmware update as they promised.

I was just comparing M1 to Zune HD in a sense that they use similar hardware (which Samsung is so proud of), yet it's nothing close to Zune HD in terms of responsiveness and smoothness. Even X series' touch responsiveness is better than M1 using such a bad hardware.

In all honesty, being a programmer in Korea doesn't give you fortune or fame, so most of the 'superior' programmers go to foreign country. Many Korean companies give software jobs to third party companies in addition to always being pressured by big companies like Samsung to get the job done in such a short time span.

I'm just telling you what current M1 users in Korea feels right now. I'm pretty sure M1 is sold the most in Korea.

They were two months late on firmware update and all they came up with is changeable icon UI. Enough said... if you're still thinking Samsung would actually come out with great P2-like firmware, you should think otherwise.

I had P2 and I'm so glad I didn't buy P3. You've seen enough of that firmware jokes with P3. If you still believe that with M1, I don't know what to say but god bless you.

[gino_76ph]

To Chocolate Truffle

you know i am starting to slowly beleive in you i think. i am not korean and certainly cannot read korean so i might do a bit of research on that.

yeah i noticed when they announced the M1 as a sort of "follow-up" to the P3 the firmware updates on the P3 suddenly stopped. and yes i noticed the foirmware update on the M1 is either scarce but it is two months late. but don't get me wrong: when it comes to audio Samsung is "now almost at par" IMO with Sony but still zillion miles better than a iTouch. the only feature i liked about Samsung is the ability to add music files onto a playlist on-the-fly without the need of Windows or a software. Apple and Sony hasn't cracked that yet. i dunno about the ZuneHD

months ago i was really tempted to buy a ZuneHD but being someone from outside the states i am somehow "restricted" because (1) the HD radio woudn't work in the UK/EU, (2) support is limited and scarce becuase...it is not officially released yet ooutside of the US. if only ZuneHD is more internationally widely available (and that ability to add songs to a playlist feature like Samsung's plus being able to edit/customise EQ settings as well) then i would not hesitate to buy one.

now on ZuneHD's audio that i have yet to hear and know about.

[blockednose]

it wasn't disastrous, maybe in sales but that was purely the price tag of the x series.

Personally I think its abit rough around the edges but still, a gem

even with it's flaws, the quality of the player makes it so worth the price. However I still wish sony would continue to support the player

[allstars]

Originally Posted by blockednose

it wasn't disastrous, maybe in sales but that was purely the price tag of the x series.

Personally I think its abit rough around the edges but still, a gem

even with it's flaws, the quality of the player makes it so worth the price. However I still wish sony would continue to support the player

I agree - the player is one awesome little beast (I love mine a ton!)
But yeah, the price literally crippled the (potential) success of this device. To this day, the X is STILL selling for $450 in Canada's Sony Store!