The first generation of Sony Walkman MP3 players had one crucial flaw - they would not play MP3 files (oops!), only Sony's special digital music format. Well the latest version of the Sony Walkman MP3 player has fixed that. Embracing the MP3 digital music standard, Sony has released a new generation of digital music players that are aimed straight at Apples iPod family - compact, flash memory based, cool looking, and tiny. One drawback is that you cannot transfer over songs you have purchased on iTunes or other non-Sony download stores - they are specially encoded and will not work.
Sony Network Walkman NW-HD5 Digital Music Player: Silver, Black, Red
The Sony NW-HD5 series (network, hard disk) are 20GB mini hard disk based MP3 players. They come in 3 colors: silver, black, and red and hold about 5000 MP3 songs. They get 30-40 hours of playback time per battery recharge, and can be charged via a USB port (supports hi-speed USB 2.0) or the included AC adapter. Priced at $279, they compete directly with the Apple iPod family.
Sony Network Walkman flash memory NW-E507, NW-E505, NW-E407, NW-E307 Digital Music MP3 Players
The Sony NW-E series (flash memory based MP3 players) hold 512MB or 1GB of flash memory storage, capable of holding 125-250 MP3 songs. They comes in colors ranging from black to blue to pink. They get 40-50 hours of playback time per battery recharge, and feature super quick battery charge that gets you 3 hours of playback from 3 minutes of charge time (about the length of a bathroom break!). Priced at $119 to $159, they compete directly with the Apple iPod mini family, and the new iPod nano. They have a unique Organic Electroluminescence Display, where the text readout appears sort of inside the plastic casing, with no visible "screen" when powered down.
The newer Sony Walkman Digital Music Players also come with a removable battery, unlike the infamous iPods with their planned obsolescence when their irremovable batteries expire.. oops, the battery is dead, time to buy a NEW iPod for $200 instead of a new $20 battery. Also, navigation without the famous Apple clickwheel is not as easy as it should be, especially if you have thousands of songs from hundreds of artists.
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