NOOOOOOO! Sony all the way!

Get yourself a Sony HD3 or HD5.

I've got an HD3 (?150, reduced from ?250) and I love it to bits. It's the size of a deck of cards, which is great, but the biggest plus is the 30-hour battery life. OK, it's not really 30 hours unless you play poxy-quality music, but even with high-quality music (Most of mine is 192kbps MP3 or 130kbps ATRAC) it still must be at least 20 hours +. Oh yes, and they can play MP3s AND ATRAC (Sony's proprietry format), unlike the Ipodders would have you believe.

The new HD5 (?200) has even more battery life (40 hours) and a slightly different layout, but is about the same size.

The software (Sonicstage) is pretty good. Put it this way, I've never had to read the manuals for the software or the player and I can do everything I want to. A mate brought his mini Ipod around and it was dreadful. I can't believe just how unweildy Itunes is.

Whatever player you buy, invest in a pair of Sony MDR-EX71SL earphones. Not only the most comfortable headphones ever, the sound qualiy is simply unbelieveable. They take a little getting used to and you can't hear a thing with them in, but the sound is absolutely crystal across the whole range. They're not cheap (~?25) but worth every single penny.

Hoe this helps!

Posted By: Iwan Husarmi, Aug 11, 20:11:11