Price Paid:  $250.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
I tried many MP3 players in my search for one I really liked and completely fell in love with this Sony. Most MP3 players provided sub-par sound (even with good headphones) but this Sony model makes my music sound full and rich, with very good bass might I add. It sucks having to convert your MP3's to the ATRAC format but I found that it's really worth the time because Sony's format sounds better than the original MP3! I love how small and light this unit is and that so easy to use while I work out. My main complaint (like everyone else with this model) is the poor battery life. I simply cannot even eek out more than 3 hours worth of music at times (if I'm even that lucky). I trick I did find that sometimes works is that while you're charging a battery, pull it off and on the charger frequently. This in turn (somehow) gives the battery more life when you're done charging. Overall, another great product from Sony.

Strengths:
Small, great sound, easy to use.

Weaknesses:
Battery!!!

Similar Products Used:
Nike Rio

Price Paid:  $270.00 from Sears

Summary:
When my stereo system was stolen out of my car, I had to go back to the basics and listen to the factory radio with "high quality" cassettes. I didn''t like that idea very much so I decided to hook a mp3 player up to radio using a cassette adapter. The quality was astoundingly close to CD. I think that the sony player and software was easy to use. Do not disregard the small headphones that it comes with as being pieces of crap. They are amazingly clear and surprisingly have average bass response for being so small. The unit itself is so small, I get questions about it when anyone sees it in my car. They can''t believe that it holds an hour (at best quality) of music. I will admit, the battery does SUCK! It sucks terribly like everyone says. I have the same problem, which everyone else appears to be complaining about. I never see full battery power after 7+ hours of charging. There has been a couple cases where the battery indicator has blinked low after charging for hours. I have stumbled upon a "method" of getting more battery life out of each use that might work for some of you. The battery went low after maybe 3 hours of use, so I opened the battery door and closed it. The battery went to half charge!? I got at least 4 more hours out of that battery. This has worked in several cases for me. I think 50% of the time, I get longer playing time by doing this. Even with this major problem, I still highly recommend this portable music player to anyone thinking about buying this.

Strengths:
Extremely compact, Backlite dot matrix display, great button layout, comes with everything to go right out of the box

Weaknesses:
Battery

Similar Products Used:
RCA Lyra

Price Paid:  $250.00 from ?

Summary:
It is easy to love this product--I mean it is so absurdly light and portable--and it is quite well made in that it is pretty sturdy and well thought out (by and large). My main complaint is the battery--mine has been a source of constant trouble. First off, the battery holds less than half their putative claim of 10 hours and even more annoyingly, mine only charges SOMETIMES--I mean, seriously, the battery will sometimes charge and sometimes not (even when it is obviously properly inserted into the charger and run dowm completely). Even more oddly, though the battery indicator is made up of 'four bars,' mine only charges to four some of the time, most of the time stopping at three.

Aside from the battery, the software is sub-par--in their attempt to prevent copyright infringement, Sony has made it exceedingly troublesome to use MP3s--they demand it's first put into their format, which is described in other reviews here. Needless to say, that gets annoying.

Simple design issues: there is ONE button that controls most of the functions and it is easily accidently pushed. Secondly, the battery door is really poorly designed and comes off way too easily. Ultimately, however, Sony has made a wonderfully portable player that could be described as the perfect companion while at the gym, running, etc. because of how very light it is. When it works, and it does most of the time, the player is an absolute pleasure to use...

Strengths:
Redefines Portable (SO light!), Excellent Sound, Well Made

Weaknesses:
Battery and Charger are TERRIBLE, OpenMG Software POOR, battery door opens at inopportune times, ONE button essentially controls everything

Similar Products Used:
None.

Price Paid:  $375.00 from ?Gift?

Summary:
This was given to me as a gift in July and has been a real joy to use every time I put it on. Getting to use it is sometimes harder than it should be though. First, the system Sony uses forces you to convert your entire music library to THEIR file compression format (ATRAX). There is no quick and easy way to convert your MP3 into the ATRAX format they use as "copy protection" so you either have to re-enter your CD collection and record it in their software or convert MP3's to WAV's then to ATRAX. And after you do all of this, don't ever move the files from their original location or lose them or try to back them up to any other drive - as this will cause the software to "lose track" of the copyright info it originally wrote to protect against piracy. I will say this as a plus. The ATRAX file compression used really does produce a better quality sound than MP3.
The battery life is horrible. I'm really cool about letting all my re-chargables run way way down before juicing them up again, but this one is just poor. There are 4 indicator "bars" letting you know how full your charge is and mine only charges 3/4 full no matter what now...and it drains in 4-5 hours.
On the up side, it's very small and fits anywhere, it's tough. All the doors and latches are metal, not plastic, and the switches are well placed so there is no snagging or catching on anything. The earbuds are okay, but I would expect a better set of ear pieces for the money spent here. The high point is the sound quality. Very rich and full. The bass reproduction is strong without being muddy at all and with 3 levels of bass boost, it's easy to be very happy. Sony has made a great product, but makes you pissed and jumping thru hoops to use it. I do feel for the price, things should be easier on the consumer.

Strengths:
Great design, good sound quality.

Weaknesses:
Battery life SUCKS, Doesn't play MP3's, very picky software.

Similar Products Used:
several portable CD/tape players.

Price Paid:  $385.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
I ride a sport bike and have always enjoyed riding and listening to some music at the same time. I started with a tape player, big mistake, once I traveled over 70MPH the motor on the Walkman couldn't withstand the "G" force applied at that speed. So the tape would slow down, that sucked. Then on to CD, great sound, when it made sound. Every bump was like an earthquake to that thing. Then I tried MiniDisk. I liked the concept but it never really caught on. Therefore the cost was a little much, the same sound as CD, less skipping, and I could put anything on a MD. And then I discovered the world of digital, skip free, easy to manage sound reproduction. The Sony NW-MS9 is by far the best product on the market. I am more than satisfied with the performance and trust me when I say, "it has been through hell." The MD Open software that is supplied is as easy as screwing off at work. But my only complaint is that Sony hasn't put out extra batteries on the market. The battery is not much bigger than a stick of gum and is only made by Sony. It is rechargeable but from lack of running it completely down, it hold less charge every time it is recharged. So do your self a favor go out and get one, I have two friends that bought one the same day they saw mine. Then they went to their home and put some tunes on it and rode the rest of the day jammin'.

Strengths:
Compact, light, durable, and powerfull.

Weaknesses:
Battery only last about four hours.

Similar Products Used:
None