Sony VGF-AP1L User Manual

Portable Music Player VGF-AP1 Series

Operating Instructions

Trademarks

• VAIO, , SonicStage, VAIO music transfer, ATRAC, ATRAC3, ATRAC3plus and the associated logos are trademarks of Sony Corporation.

• Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

• Other system names and product names appearing in this document are generally registered trademarks or trademarks of their manufacturers.

•™ and ® marks are not shown in this document.

Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG group.

• In this manual, Microsoft® Windows® 98 Second Edition is referred to as Windows 98 Second Edition.

• In this manual, Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional is referred to as Windows 2000.

• In this manual, Microsoft® Windows® Millennium Edition is referred to as Windows Me.

• In this manual, Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition, Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional, and Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition* are referred to as Windows XP.

* Support for Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition is provided only in U.S.A. and Canada.

Table of Contents

Introduction

What you can do with the portable music

player ............................................... 4

System requirements ........................... 5

Names of parts ..................................... 6

Portable music player ................... 6

Cradle ............................................ 7

Reading the display ....................... 9

G-sense pad buttons ........................... 10

Basic playback buttons ............... 10

Navigation buttons ...................... 11

Advanced operation buttons ....... 12

Advanced playback buttons ........ 13

Operation

Listening to music ............................. 15

Finding songs .................................... 18

Searching by album genre, artist

name, album title, and

song title.................................. 18

Searching among previously played

songs ....................................... 19

Searching by group or

group jacket ............................ 19

Using playlists ................................... 20

Registering a playlist .................. 20

Playing songs from a playlist ...... 20

Removing songs from

a playlist .................................. 21

Viewing still images .......................... 21

Transferring still images from a

digital camera.......................... 21

Viewing the transferred still

images ..................................... 23

Using the portable music player as a

hard disk drive ............................... 24

Deleting music files ........................... 24

Other Information

Setup items and settings .................... 25

About the internal battery .................. 27

Precautions ........................................ 28

Usage and storage ....................... 28

Overheating ................................. 28

Condensation .............................. 28

Disk handling .............................. 28

Hard disk precautions ................. 29

Removing the internal battery .... 29

Maintenance ...................................... 30

Cleaning the cabinet ................... 30

Disc cleaning .............................. 30

Getting help ....................................... 30

Sony support options .................. 30

Specifications .................................... 31

Troubleshooting ................................. 32

Power .......................................... 32

Operation .................................... 32

G-sense pad ................................. 34

“SonicStage” software ................ 34

“VAIO music transfer”

software................................... 35

Other problems ........................... 36

Before using this manual, read the separate Quick Start Guide, which provides information necessary prior to using the player, from unpacking to hardware preparation and software installation.

Introduction

What you can do with the portable music player

The Portable Music Player VGF-AP1 / AP1L incorporates a 20 GB* or 40 GB* hard disk, and allows you to carry an entire music library wherever you go.

* Some portion of hard disk capacity is reserved for application / data management function.

Portable music player

• Easy-to-carry player with built-in 20 GB / 40 GB hard disk. The player also serves as an external hard disk for your computer.

• 2.2 inch high-resolution LCD panel and unique “G-sense” touchpad (subsequently referred to as the “G-sense pad”) make it a breeze to operate the player and find the songs you want.

• Simply placing the player on its cradle when not in use recharges the battery.

• By connecting the player to a digital still camera (subsequently referred to as “digital camera”) by using the cradle, the player can be used as a storage device for digital photos (JPEG images). You can also view a slide show of pictures while listening to music.

Supplied software for transferring music from a computer

• “SonicStage” software This software lets you control the entire process from saving songs from music CDs to

transferring them to the player. The application also supports net-based electronic music distribution (EMD) services, letting you purchase and download songs from the Internet for use on your player.

• “VAIO music transfer” software Drag and drop MP3 files, WMA files, or other music files already on your computer to

transfer them to the player.

System requirements

To use the player, the following hardware and software requirements must be met.

Computer

IBM PC/AT compatible

CPU

Pentium II processor, 400 MHz or above (Pentium III, 450 MHz or above recommended)

Free hard disk space

200 MB or more (1.5 GB recommended) Depending on the Windows version and the number of music files, more space may be required.

RAM

64 MB or more (128 MB or more recommended)

Operating system

Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition 1), Windows 2000 Professional (Service Pack 3 or higher), Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows 98 Second Edition

Display

16-bit color or higher, 800 × 600 resolution or higher (1024 × 768 or higher recommended)

Other requirements

• Internet connection (for obtaining song data from CDDB or using net-based music distribution services “EMD”)

• Windows Media Player 7.0 or higher (for playback of WMA files)

• CD-ROM drive (supporting WDM digital playback)

• Sound support

• USB port

Support for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition is provided only in U.S.A. and Canada.

Hi-Speed support is not mandatory, but if the connected computer does not support USB 2.0, file transfer will occur at a lower speed and take longer.

Introduction

Notes

• Even if the above requirements are met, the player will not work with every computer.

• Operation of the player is not assured in the following environments:

– Operating system not listed above – Operating system not factory-installed (upgraded later to a different version) – Multi-boot environment – Multi-monitor environment

Names of parts

12 34 5 67

Portable music player

1 Display (page 9) 2 POWER/HOLD switch

When you slide this control in the arrow direction, operation of the player is disabled.

3 Headphone connector (page 15) 4 G-sense pad (page 10) 5 Carrying strap ring 6 Reset button

If the player has ceased to operate normally, try pressing this button with a pointed object (such as a bent paper clip). The player's display turns white, and the settings such as G-sense sensitivity, language, and clock are returned to the factory default values. It takes several tens of seconds for the player to finish resetting.

7 Cradle connector

Cradle

1234

1 Support bracket

Supports the cradle when in use. When the cradle is not in use, the bracket can be folded.

2 LINE OUT connector

Lets you connect external speakers to the player. When a cable is plugged in here, the headphone output is cut off. To use the LINE OUT connector, disconnect the USB cable from the cradle. While a USB cable is plugged in, the player automatically is in Data Transfer Mode and no sound will be heard from the external speakers.

3 USB ports

Left side: Mini-B connector (for connecting the player to a computer)

Introduction

Right side: Type A connector (for connecting the player to a digital camera)

4 DC IN connector

Remote control

4567 8

1 Basic operation button

: Play/Stop

. : Rewind/Skip back > : Fast forward/Skip ahead

2 Display 3 Selector button

v : Scroll cursor up

ENTER: Select item on menu

V : Scroll cursor down

Using the remote control clip

To make it easy to fasten the remote control anywhere and still keep the display oriented for easy viewing, the clip can be reversed.

1 Remove the clip.

4 Headphone connector 5 Volume button 6 Hold switch

Sliding this switch in the direction of the arrow until the yellow marker is visible disables the remote control.

7 BACK button

Moves up one menu level.

8 Clip

2 Reattach it in the opposite

direction.

Reading the display

Display on the player

56 7

Introduction

1 Play status icon 2 Song title 3 Playback time 4 Equalizer setting

Remote control display

Main menu screen Play screen

1 Cursor 2 Timer icon 3 Equalizer icon 4 Volume indicator 5 AVLS icon 6 Battery charge icon

5 Battery charge icon 6 Timer icon 7 Time

7 Song icon/song title 8 Artist icon/album icon/artist name/

album title

9 Play status icon 0 Repeat mode icon qa Shuffle mode icon qs Play time

G-sense pad buttons

Various features of the player are controlled by on-screen buttons accessed by using the G-sense pad. These buttons are hidden until you choose to display them.

The following types of operation buttons are available:

• Basic playback buttons (this page)

• Navigation buttons (page 11)

• Advanced operation buttons (page 12)

• Advanced playback buttons (page 13)

Basic playback buttons

Use the basic playback buttons to control basic music playback, such as starting or stopping songs, jumping to the next song, or changing the volume. The basic playback buttons are always available while music is playing, even if the buttons are not displayed on the screen.

To display the basic playback buttons, touch any button in the right column on the G-sense pad.

Touch here

z Hint

Basic playback buttons

Whenever the basic playback buttons of the G-sense pad are active, the selector button on the remote control can also be used.

Move your finger up or down on right column of buttons on the G-sense pad to select a button. Press to activate the selected button.

Button Function

Start playback

Jump to the start of the current song

Jump to the start of the next song

(keep pressing) Fast reverse

(keep pressing) Fast forward

Raise the volume

Lower the volume

Stop playback

Navigation buttons

Use the navigation buttons to move between display screens and change the sort order of lists. To display the navigation buttons, touch any button in the left column on the G-sense pad.

Touch here

Navigation buttons

Move your finger up or down on left column of buttons on the G-sense pad to select a button. Press to activate the selected button.

Note

Available buttons differ on for different screens.

Button Function Remarks

Return to the main menu screen

Move up one menu level

Scroll up one page

Show the play screen for the song being played

Sort the currently displayed list

Scroll down one page

With each push, the sort order changes. The current sort order is indicated by an icon at the top right of the screen.

Alphabetical order (ascending)

Alphabetical order (descending)

Rating order (ascending)

Rating order (descending)

Track order

When sort based on rating is selected, songs will be listed based on frequency of play and on playback status.

Introduction

Advanced operation buttons

Use the advanced operation buttons to modify the displayed list. To display the advanced operation buttons, move the cursor to the appropriate item in the displayed

list by sliding your finger up and down the middle three columns of buttons on the G-sense pad. When the cursor is on the desired item, press and hold the current button until the advanced operation buttons appear.

Press and hold here

Advanced operation buttons

When the advanced operation buttons appear, move your finger up or down on the right column of buttons on the G-sense pad to select a button. Press to activate the selected button.

Note

Available buttons differ on for different screens.

Button Function

Close the advanced operation button display

Add the currently selected song or album to the playlist

Play the selected song

Move the selected song up in the list

Move the selected song down the in list

Remove all songs from the playlist

Remove the selected songs from the playlist

+ 25 hidden pages