Sony NWZ-B142F Walkman Review

Sony-B-Series-Walkman-MenuThe Sony NWZ-B142F is a Walkman in the B series range and measures 86mm x 23.6mm x 14.5mm making it quite small (about the size of a chunky flash drive). It has a small 3 line display screen that allows you to navigate around the features of the MP3 player as well as showing track details. The Sony B series Walkman has 2GB of memory to store your tracks on and also features an FM receiver to let you listen to the radio. It’s similar to a flash drive in that it has a USB connector kept inside a cap that pulls off the end of the device and once inserted in a USB port on a PC the device charges and allows music to be transferred to and from the PC.

Features of the B Series Walkman include a 5 band graphic equalizer, Bass Boost, Voice recording, power light, AVLS, repeat, shuffle and can play MP3 and WMA files (non-DRM).

The B series walkman has a battery capacity that lets it play music for 18 hours and takes just 1 hour 10 minutes to fully charge. If the Walkman battery is completely discharged and you need to go out then a quick 3 minute charge will see it play music for up to 90 minutes if you switch it to powersave mode. It’s a handy feature should you forget to charge it before leaving home.

Sony B Series Walkman

On the left side of the device there is a 3.5mm headphone connector. On the right side there is a cap that can be removed to reveal the USB connector. On the bottom side of the device is a hold switch to prevent you accidentally pressing buttons while it’s in your pocket, and on the top side of the device you will find volume up and down buttons along with a Bass boost button.

The front of the device has a Home button/back button which takes you back to the home screen. Above that is a Zap button which helps you find tracks by playing a few seconds of the middle of the track so you don’t have to look at the screen. The silver section on the front houses the Play/Pause button in the middle with the top side of the circle skipping forwards a track and the lower side skipping back a track. The controls are very basic but do exactly what they need to do.

Sony B Series Walkman Sound Quality

Sound quality was just fine on the B Series Walkman and as with any MP3 player, you just need to make sure you feed it some decent quality MP3’s and all will be good.

Sony B Series Walkman Final Thoughts

Although the B Series Walkman has a small screen and lacks the video capabilities you really need to weigh up what you will use it for. If you want to buy a Walkman for just listening to music and perhaps the radio then this is for you as it does exactly what it needs to in these areas. So overall, simple but does exactly what it needs to do… play music.

More details over at Sony.

Comments

  1. Erik Rodriguez says

    this year i went nd bought a Sony NWZ-B142F 2GB USB MP3 Player with FM Radio Colour RED but in mexico and its an original device but its been a month now that i got back nd when i connected to my computer it doesn’t work meaning if i connect my device 2 my computer nd when i open the folder “My Computer” absolutely nothing pops up?? could some answer me nd walk me thru n explain me how i can make it work 2 my computer????????????????

  2. Aditya Banerjee says

    yesterday,i brought a Sony NWZ- B142F,2GB USB player,red,but when i connected it to my computer,nothing popped? The computer said -no new drive,can anyone help me,how can i make it work?

    • You could try a different USB port perhaps. If that doesn’t work then try uninstalling your USB ports in the device manager, they will reinstall when you do a refresh. Once re-installed, test again.

      • Dipesh Solanki says

        Brother! Which version of mobo you using, if it’s old then plz upgrade the drivers, sure it’ll take the drive(sony) automatically. Also check with BIOS plug & Play settings >should be ACTIVE.

  3. Omar Mansur says

    Do following three things to get you MP3 start working.
    1. Check your computer USB ports enabled.
    2. Reset your MP3 player by inserting a needle in hole on back side of Player
    3. Connnect your Player to USB and enjoy……………

  4. black phoenix says

    good day guys,

    i need a help. i just got my walkman NWZ-B142F. I tried plugging it on the laptop and it worked. but today (12/05/09), i plugged it on the computers in the office but what pops out is only the ‘transfer file’ and ‘take no action’ and it doenst appear on the ‘my computer’ winfow. also, the ‘Connected USB’ appears on its LED.

    please help.

  5. download realplayer for free from realplayer.com. for me it works perfect! i haved the same problem

  6. hi
    ,i brought a Sony NWZ- B142F,2GB USB player,black,2gb,i charge it in my laptob , i try to turn it on but its not going on , i try to restart it but it not use,,its not work
    plssssssssss
    help me !!!!!!!

  7. how can i arrange the songs orderly?it’s hard for me to listen to certain songs..

  8. i want to make separate folders for different songs…… so… please help .. how can i…
    jayanth…

  9. even i had the problem of unpopping. i thought of installing wmp-11. but suddenly then one day it popped up and since then there has been no problem.

  10. i need a help. i just got my walkman NWZ-B142F. I tried plugging it on the computers in the office but what pops out is only the ‘transfer file’ and ‘take no action’ and it doenst appear on the ‘my computer’ window. pls help

  11. Jammy Roxen says

    same problem………plzzzzzzzzzzzzzz help i cant get the driver

  12. To Rei: I had the same problem, any idea what do I do?

  13. sachin j chalissery says

    here most of them facing same problem….i think its because of u r processor try p4 it will works ………….

  14. Raja Gangopadhyay says

    Sony 2 GB ‘B’ series NWZ-B142F walkman is working otherwise well. Music files can be transferred to the walkman from the PC. Recording quality is good in the walkman. But the problem is that I am not being able to transfer recorded music files from the walkman to my PC. Is it not possible in the device ? Please reply to help me at the earliest.

  15. Soundararajan says

    dear sir,
    now my new walk man on pluging to computer it is not connecting. even after pining the reset putton. the same problem i read others letter. will u pl. send my what is good solution. and also what suggestion u have rendered to others also.
    soundararajan

  16. shahnawaz kahn says

    last month buy sony walkman model.nwz-b142-f but this time its hang can sugges me what can i do…

  17. My NWZ B142F also hanged just now for the first time after I bought it last year. What I did was I use a needle to press the reset button at the back side of the mp3 player and it works OK again! :DD

  18. i bought this walkmen yesteray 4 gb……………its sound qualiry is good..nt so well…….bt in 4000 rs sagment…this walkmen is best….bettery bakup is as usual….. .in simple word i can say that THIS WALKMEN IS maha bakvass,……………..plz dont buy this……..

    • there is no such thng “maha bakvass” with Sony walkman…u can’t judge it within 1 day,it is not like Ferrari it is like Rolls Royce…i m usng it frm last feb 2010 i hv no such problem or anybody said me tht it is the worse thng u purchase,i don’t even remember.
      If you talk abt sound quality go to the Apple store and listen apple i pod touch, u will understand wht is the difference..apple ipod’s sound quality is less in term of BASS ..it gives u a treble sound but sony walkman provide u a best quality sound in its range or above this…i suggest readers to purchase this item its a value for money walkman…coz “it is SONY”.

  19. i just bought it 2 days ago, and now my player cannot off, what should i do… i hate this situation

  20. it’s not functioning, i press all button but don’t have action, the screen never off, like we put it on “hold”, but its not…

  21. john paolo says

    i accidentally format nwz-b142f in windows explorer and i read the quick start manual paper with the box that their is a Storage Media that will appear but when i connect my nwz-b142f their is no Storage Media and i don`t know how to download the Operation Guide

  22. have just brought a walkman NWZ-B142F.could i use it without the headphone????

  23. khawar ismail says

    plz plz help me. i have a nwz-b142f but the problem is that it does not show any display.I press all the buttons but no display come on the screen

  24. mansoor says

    hi,
    i buy sony walkman NWZB142F from saudia…and was format by mistake…can anyone tell me frm where i get his software….plz mail me

  25. SIVASHREE says

    Thanx a lot… Just followed your steps and got mine working properly now. THANK YOU….

  26. hi, the same thing happen to me please let me know if you know how to solve this 🙁 thanks

  27. thank u very much stupid sony company should be user friendly but u have solved the problems all the best

  28. Gabriela says

    The recording quality is ok, but then sometimes it does not connect properly to the computer, or disconnects in the middle of a file transfer. This has happened to me with several computers already. There is a problem with this little gadget and that makes it very unreliable.

  29. Gabriella D. says

    hey guys…
    my nwz works fine…
    if there is any problems at all, you shud read the quickstarter…
    it always works for me..
    lol

  30. my head phone is problem.

  31. Works perfectly. Thanks Arjun. 🙂

  32. Velmurugan says

    I have bought sony mp3 walkman model NWZ-B142F(B) 6 months before due to virus some software files were deleted and sound is not properly hearing .I have contacted SONY dealer they are telling this model software is not currenty available .Please help me in this regard and send me the software for this model if available

  33. Hi, I have a problem with my MP3 aswell, it stars has usual if I press the reset button, but it stays in the startup mode for hours ( the screen shows the text Walkman and it has the dots appearing and disapearing ).
    Ive tryed the device manager method yet it still says that its a removable disk, I then tryed to reinstall and unnistall the MP3 drivers from the device manager and it even made it worse, now the PC tries to install the device and it keeps trying and trying, the Device manager keeps refreshing every 5 seconds and the screen stays black.
    If I unconnect the MP3 the PC says that it failed to install the device…i’ve searched the Sony website for drivers on the MP3 yet theres none available for our model (nwz-b142f), ive bought the mp3 last christmas, and I dont rememeber if it came with a CD to install it…anyone know if it came with it? And if so can you upload it to a website to share like rapidshare or something? I would really apreciate it.
    Email me at [email protected]

    Thanks.

  34. its not getting on even after pressing the reset button???when i insert it in computer ,the computer does not reads it….however,after pressing reset button and then pressing the on button it only displays walkman and followed by dots….if i lock the hold button then it displays “HOLD” and “power off”.may i know the solution plaese?????

    • I had the exact same problem with the same model… until i realised there is a little switch on the side that says “hold”. Flick this switch to the other side and it should turn on no worries.

  35. Mahen Negu says

    Sir,

    I have recently bought Sony NWZ-B142F Walkman (Red), its not even one month and the display of my walkman is not working….
    Its only showing blue light n left all functions are working… but its difficult to find out music every time, i have also tried the RESET option but its not working….

  36. My current problems:
    *Jams when i put it on hold (this has happened 3 times)
    *Jams sometimes when i turn it on

    and today….i charged as i always have for the past 1 year and 3 months of owning it… took it out the same way as usual.
    Went to turn it on.
    Nothing happened.
    (So i put it in the freezer on the advice of my friends)

  37. Hi,

    I have purchased sony nwz-b142f last year, from day one i have faced problem with FM, but till last week it performed well. Now suddenly it got a problem. Every song in the player is playing as karoke. Voice is not audible and FM is not working.
    Please anyone can help me how to trouble shoot this issue. I have formatted twice but still it is having same problem

    Raghu

  38. my mp3 just play whats backup singer sang…
    help me…
    n i cannot open my folder.because it doesn’t appear at my computer..
    pls help me…

  39. sir i had bought sony nwz-b142f .. it was not working when i had insert to computer… and it is not atall detecting …. and i had followed the instructions given above answers…….. but unable to solve my problem…… plz help …………

  40. Ms Rayan94 says

    please help me!!
    my mp3 walkman b-142f is not working!!
    i fell from me lots of times.
    and now it cant be working!!
    what shall i do?

  41. Rosemarystrange says

    how do I turn off the zap button on my Sony MP3 player

  42. I bought a new one and its good I mean very good with sound quality… love it

  43. my volume + button broke and the volume doesn’t go more than 13 pls help me how to increase it I have tried reset setting s but nothing happened PLS HELP

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