Sony Walkman E NWZ E345 16GB Video Player (Red)

Excellent MP3 Player and a Bargain at That!

This is a wonderful little MP3 player for someone looking for excellent audio quality small form factor low weight and low cost. Even the screen quality on this unit is good enough to support good video playback but that's not really this player's forte. But what it does do audio-wise it does exceptionally well and Sony has certainly developed the unit with the same high quality electronic audio circuitry that has been used in many other of its recent MP3 units.



The player is small and light and has a solid high quality feel with no squeaks or loose parts. The menu is driven from Sony's standard MP3 menuing system a system which is very easy to master within a minute or two. The 16gb storage space provides plenty of room to store albums too. At 192kps this unit will hold well over 100 albums and still have room for storing digital photos and some videos with room to spare.



Throw out the supplied "headphones" (and I use that term advisedly) away and combine this player with a set of Klipsch headphones (or even one of Sony's better ear bud products) and then you'll experience see the true audio capabilities of this player. The audio performance will easily surpass many of the other MP3 players on the market and at higher bitrates with a good set of headphones you'll have a true marvel of miniaturized electronics.



At under $100 this is a real bargain and an enjoyable one at that. Five stars for performance five for price.



PROS

1. Extremely high quality sound reproduction

2. 16Gb

3. Bright crisp screen (OLED of course)

4. Small form factor

5. Quality construction and quality internal electronics

6. Low price

7. Excellent battery life (20 - 30 actual hours per charge)



CONS

1. No 32Gb version available

2. Color available only in red or black (nice but where's the other colors??)

3. Album browse still not available in text-less format (which makes it easier to see more albums per screen; why was this abandoned?)

4. Headphones are a joke: unless you realize this you'll not experience the units' true sound capabilities

5. Somewhat limited set of cases (apparently no hard plastic case is yet available for the unit only flexible polypropylene)More detail ...