Panasonic SV-SD770V

By Edvarcl Heng, CNET Asia
Jul 5, 2006

Probably one of the few MP3 players from an established consumer electronics brand that still supports SD card expansion, the SV-SD770V is Panasonic's latest flash-based MP3 player that offers both slickness and robustness in design.

Design
The look of the SD770V belies its weight. The almost credit card-sized MP3 player had a very robust feel to it though its exterior is constructed out of plastic and rubber. We like the neat layout of the playback controls, located on the rubberized control panel to the right of the screen. The panel offers very smooth tactile feedback unlike typical buttons made of plastic.

Till now, Panasonic has yet to hop onboard the color-screen bandwagon. The SD770V still relies on a 1.5-inch monochrome screen for display purposes. This means the SD770V does not have support for video or picture viewing, which firmly places this device in the Stone Age in terms of display aesthetics.

However, this is not to say that the SD770V's display is less brilliant than its color-screen brethren. The light grey font set on a black background offers very good contrast, though the reflective surface of the display makes viewing under bright sunlight intolerable.

As an improvement over the SD750V, the SD770V has a new Search button which allows the user to look for tracks based on ID3 tags or its initials; this will prove useful if your SD card passes the 1GB mark. What was less helpful was the Touch Slider feature. By enabling it, the center part of the control panel functions much the same way as the touch strip on the Creative Zen Vision:M. But while the SD770V strip worked well for navigating through the menu options and song lists, like the iriver H10, the touch strip was not clickable.

The mirror sheen on the SD770V gives it a classy look but also makes the surface liable to scratches. It would have been nice if Panasonic had remembered to include a carrying pouch.

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