Sony Walkman NWZS545BLK 16 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)

Comment: Sony makes some of the best products out there and this Mp3 Player is no exception. It has lots of memory and the battery life is one of the best out there.

Comment: I searched for MP3 Players for awhile and when it came down to the features, memory, and compatibility, this one was the best. The reviews of this device also was a big deciding factor and everyone was right! I use it with Napster and it works absolutely flawless. 16 GB is plenty of memory for most uses unless you're a DJ. I personally cannot stand Apple, ITunes, etc. I had an Ipod before this and hated it. You IPhone people can have your 50 million different apps and 500 GB Ipods. Who really needs all that? If you like to keep it simple, this mp3 is for you. Great sound quality, ease of use, plenty of memory, works great, recommended!

Comment: I originally had the 8GB model, but ran out of space recently and so upgraded to the 16GB. My new one has all of the good points of the old one:

1. Easy user interface
2. Stress-free connectivity to Windows PCs
3. Drag and Drop file management
4. Good sound fidelity
5. Easy playlist creation

I used an I-Pod a few years back and will never go back to one. The additional software hassles, the load said software and associated services puts on my PC, and arcane file nomenclature demand too much from the user. Plus the algorithm used by the unit to shuffle songs seems to play the same stuff.

Improvements over the 8GB unit:

1. Improved shuffling
2. I have a few podcasts of discussion groups and some of these run 90 minutes or longer. After powering off, the old unit would start the podcast from the beginning and I would have to FF to the point I left off; not real easy in the car. This new one stops all audio from the point you left off and begins at that point when you start again. Nice!
3. More space (duh!)
4. Much faster startup time.

One drawback of both units, and this cost them a star on my rating, was its video playback format. The screen isn't very big, so it isn't practical. Still, it would have been cool for it to be able to play more compatible formats.

Despite that small quibble, this is a great unit.

Comment: I had the 30GB Zune and had issues with firmware, sold it for $10. Zune is more user friendly I must admit, but requires download updates and if you have firmware updates you might get stuck with a paper weight. Sony is more
simple and will not download video as easily. Also a minus is the screen seems to have been made of $1 scratch resistant material so you will need to buy additional accessories like screen protecting tape.

Comment: I had an iPod for the last 5 years, and was fairly happy with it because I was stupid. The build quality of my iPod was good, and their scroll wheel is probably still the best. Every other category gets crushed by Sony's walkman. A major reason that I wanted to switch mp3 players was my hatred for iTunes. I wanted a player where I could just drag albums similar to a USB drive, and it would work. No 3rd party software required. The Sony does this. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to just move over entire directories of music with one drag. Not only that, but I can copy the music off the player in the same way, unlike all Apple products.

The screen is nice and bright and crisp. No problems there. FM tuner works great. What's really remarkable about this player is 2 very very very key things about mp3 players: battery life and sound quality. Sony really crushes Apple here. My player really does get 42 hours of playback. This is really unbelievable. Sometimes it's just nice to know that you can leave for a weekend trip with your mp3 player charged, and not worry about running out of juice no matter how much you use it. Anyone who enjoys music enjoys hi fidelity in the sound quality. I use earbuds so that I can hear everything at low volume while also blocking out all of the outside world. With these types of headphones, you really hear how much better and fuller the music is on a Sony than an iPod.

So, on top of the fact that this player is about 30% cheaper as well, I will probably only buy Sony's from here on out. Really a great product. A couple of things I don't particularly like though: speakers suck and I'm not too sure why they are even on this unit. Very strange, but this doesn't detract at all from what the device is actually used for. The other downer is the scroll wheel/play button combo. Significantly too small and just not a totally smooth interface. I find it hard to believe that anyone would prefer this over Apple's interface--which is what all of their products are known for: nice interfaces, ok hardware, wrapped in 73 layers of proprietary crap.