Sony Walkman NW-E407 (MP3)
Introduction
From April of 2005, launching at around $180, Sony launched their NW-E407 as part of the E400 series alongside the E500 series of Network MP3 Walkman's. It features a 3-line OLED (that is not visible in direct sunlight), a Mini-USB port for connection to Sony's (seemingly universally hated) SonicStage software, and remarkably good battery life when not defective. The only difference between these two series, is that all E500 models have a built-in FM tuner, which works decently outside.
The E400 series come in colours with amazing names like: Midnight Black, Ocean Blue, Rose Red, Olive Green - where I have the first and the third. The E500s get a different selection consisting of: Sparkling Silver, Azure Blue, Cherry Pink - of which my Dad has Sparkling Silver, which is also what sparked my interest in Sony's older hardware. So lets take a look inside.
Disassembly
According to a dead source on Wikipedia, these devices were modelled after glass perfume bottles. At the "lid" end, there is the 3.5mm TRRS jack, pause/play, volume control, and a Menu and Display button. The "lid" itself is trademarked as the "Jog Dial", and it can pull out and twist. If pulled out one-stop, the song can be changed by twisting; with two-stops, the album can be changed by twisting. And in its closed position, the device is in "Hold" mode. In my opinion, this is a brilliant control method, as it is very intuitive. However, I don't know how well it would work for people with bigger hands, and there are definitely points where it can break/perform inconsistently - more on this later.
At the opposite end of the device, there is a plastic rubber cover over the USB port, in addition to two Philips-00 screws. Removing these screws allows you to remove the first outer clear plastic cover, then a second coloured plastic cover which is very thin and snap-able.
This reveals the aforementioned OLED display (marketed as an Organic EL Display at the time), with some black tape to mask the insides from being seen through the covers.
And with a bit of wiggling the mainboard can be removed and the structure of the device can be seen - A double-sided mainboard, has the screen attached on the top side via ribbon cable, and the the processor and storage on the other side. The screen housing is clipped to the mainboard via plastic clips that were surprisingly not too fragile 20 years later. Within this housing a secondary board is presented; this is used for all user inputs; buttons, and twisting mechanism.
On the bottom side, as mentioned, has a Samsung NAND flash chip, and a Sony processor which also includes the NAND flash interface, USB interface, A/D and D/A converters, and a serial interface. In between these two ICs is a NOR flash/ SRAM package. Under the foam is some power circuitry and, I believe, amplification for the TRRS jack.
On the top side (where the screen is), is the main power circuitry, and other things like a Real Time Clock (RTC). In addition, there is a plastic infill which covers the FM circuitry that would be present in the NW-E500 series of devices. Just above this, a small 10-pin connector can be seen. This is what connects to a secondary board which is used for all user inputs; the buttons, and the twisting mechanism.
On this board, when the Jog Dial moves physically, it affects three different 'flag sensors' (I don't know what they're actually called - they're little boxes with a flag-like stem that sticks out and can be pushed into the main box to actuate it). These sensors are position with one each for clockwise and counter-clockwise twisting, as well as a third which is bi-directional (has 3 possible states as it can fold-down forwards, backwards or stand up) for the mode selection. As mentioned earlier, any issues with the Jog Dial are introduces by these sensors. Whilst I've never had any twisting input fail to register, the bi-directional mode selection has been a bit hit-or-miss because its the most likely to get stuck or not properly fold as it has a smaller 'flag'. This could be an issue of age and needing the tiniest drop of lubrication to help it not stick.
Moving on, below the PCB, a 330mAh 3.7V Li-ion Battery sits below in the bottom of the case, connected via 2-pin JST to the mainboard on the opposite side of the USB port.
Storage & Software
The Ex03 models have 256MB of storage, whereas the Ex05s have 512MB and the Ex07s have 1GB. Which, even for the time, was quite small, but it is flash memory. Apple's iPod, at the time, were still using hard drives, albeit at 30-80x the capacity. On my 1GB model, I have managed to fit around 130 MP3s that are on mostly 128kbps, with some at 192kpbs. Now, all files go through the SonicStage software and get compressed and processed into .OMA files, and Sony have their own proprietary format called ATRAC3, and its successor ATRAC3plus, which can be slightly more efficient in size.
So, SonicStage - Sony's proprietary software, originally released in 2001 and updated until 2009. It's can be slow to transfer, has a horrifically loud completion sound once it has transferred, too many animations for my liking, and quite a few pop-ups for (now-defunct) external services. Other than that, I don't quite know why it was so hated. According to my Dad, he stopped using his Walkman as Sony didn't support the next Windows version (Windows 7 if I recall), so he couldn't use it. However, via the Internet Archive, I was able to locate version 4.3 and it works without issue on Windows 10 - I didn't even need to use compatibility mode. Assuming the device shows up correctly in Windows and has the correct drivers (if required), I have had no issues with the software. I can't say the same for iTunes.
Closing Thoughts
This is my first, and still favourite, MP3 Walkman that I own - for its premium-feeling metal housing, intuitive design and perfect pocket-able size. It is a shame that the maximum storage is 1GB. Do a storage mod and replace the flash storage with a higher capacity module??? Or maybe not, I don't think its particularly viable.
For complete specifications of this device, you can view Sony's original press release in Japanese.
Also, there seems to be be some eBay "rarity" inflation recently. I paid no more than £25 for basically perfect condition ones, and I have one which is boxed with all the original accessories -not £119.99 for a mediocre condition item with only a random Mini-USB cable.