Sony just released a new Walkman device that looks very promising.  Boasting 11 hours of battery and  a 3 minute quick charge, It looks like the big improvement over the previous model is that it now can handle your sweat and the rain.   Check back as we hope to be able to get a review on this soon.

SONY INTRODUCES NEW WIRE-FREE, WATER RESISTANT WALKMAN FOR FITNESS ENTHUSIASTS

New Walkman W-Series also features quick charge and simple content transfer

The new Sony Walkman W Series is designed to improve its user’s audio experience during workouts and other forms of exercise. It features a lightweight, water-resistant frame that ensures proper functionality during extended periods of activity inside or outside – even if used in the rain.

Additionally, the Walkman W-Series comes with Content Transfer software that allows users’ to move music files and playlists straight from a PC or iTunes™ library (not including DRM files). With 2 GB of maximum capacity, the new Walkman W-Series can hold approximately 470 songs (4 minute length at 128 kbps).

For those on-the-go or users who have simply forgotten to charge their MP3 player before a workout, the new Walkman NWZ-W252 offers a quick charge function. With only three minutes of charge time, the player will receive enough power for up to 90 minutes of use.  Full battery life is approximately 11 hours.

WHERE:        The Sony W Series Walkman, model NWZ-W252, will be available this month for about $60 at www.sonystyle.com, Sony Style retail stores and other authorized retailers nationwide.

For complete specifications and digital images, members of the news media are invited to visit Sony Electronics’ news and information Web site at www.sony.com/news.

There is really no easy way to say this, so I am just going to come right out and say it.  Honestly, I could not recommend watching video on any of these devices.  Their screens are all too small to really make it worthwhile.  If you plan to watch videos, then I suggest you look at the iPod Touch for a nice portable device, or even the Zune 120, which has a very nice screen as well.  For something a bit less portable, the Archos 7 is a fantastic option.

So there, I got that out of my system and I do feel better.  Now, forget I said it.  What we are going to look at tonight is how each of these compares to the others, and which offers the best of the bunch for watching video.  Really, this is going to be one of the shorter entries into the Listen To This series.  There is not a whole lot to it.  Let’s get started.

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I was rummaging through my basement over the weekend, looking for some plugs or cables or something, when I came upon a great box of old electronics and gadgets.  I never did find the cable I was looking for, but I did find my first digital music player: The Rio 800 digital audio player.  Back in its day, before Apple captured the field with the iPod, the Rio was pretty much the gold standard for music players. 

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This is just a quick follow up to the hardware post in this series.  In that post, we looked at the hardware and some pseudo-unboxings.  Well, just to finish off the unboxing theme, I thought we could take a quick look at what else comes in the boxes.  And it is not much: a sync charge cable, some headphones, and various other sundry manuals.  Not much controversy there…or so you might think.

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