Sony 4 GB Walkman Video MP3 Player with FM Tuner (Silver)

This looks like a nice MP3 player (Sony finally woke up and decided to make media players that actually play MP3s and WMFs rather than proprietary Sony format), but I may never get to find out because Sony seems to be insisting on installing gigabytes of software on my computer that I don't want.

This machine purports to work with the Windows file management (i.e. show up in My Computer). But they don't offer a way to do that without installing:

1) Windows Media Player 11
2) A hog music management program from Sony
3) Windows Net Framework 2.0 (another hog that will take you half an hour to install)
4) Quicktime for Windows (a true piece of Malware from Apple that tries to take over your computer by installing itself as the default application for just about every file format under the sun)

Why can't I just install this little thing's drivers and drag and drop mp3 files to it. You can do that with Creatives and Sandisks, but not with Ipods and (apparently) Sonys.

Now I am in time-wasting mode, spending hours trying to get around Sony's attempt to bully me into installing all their crap. They even map their CD to Windows to make all the driver folders invisible now!

Anyway, I'll post again if I ever get through this. Otherwise this baby is getting returned pronto.

I got this mp3 about two months ago. I decided to buy this gadget after i watched the CNN review of this mp3. They said it has one of the best sound quality ever. well, I heard it for two months and that came to be true. It has surprisingly good sound. The headphone coming along with the mp3 player has good quality of sound but if you invest more on the headphone, you can experience more depth and crispiness from this but still it has good sound quality.
it provides very strong and crispy base for those who always wanted to hear from Ipods.
dedicated volume adjust really helps when it is in the pocket.

if you want to see the video on this, there are certain formats you need to change which sony provides format converter with 'not free of charge'but I am sure you can find free software on the web.

Easy interface but it lacks in customization.

One sentence : "good sound quality mp3 player but not much of funcionalities"

I found myself in need of a new mp3 player when my old ipod kept crashing my computer (Vista) so I went with the Sony. I am so much happier with this product than I was with the IPod. The software for uploading music is very user-friendly. I buy tunes from several sites now, most notably Rhapsody, and upload them in seconds from the music manager to the player (no need to create folders or playlists). The MP3 player is also very user-friendly, as was the IPod. And the sound is excellent. The noise cancelling headphones actually do as advertised, which I discovered on a long car trip with my arguing children. I was able to ignore them almost completely. Battery life is very good, but goes down considerably when using the noise cancelling feature. That's really my only knock.

Sony NWZS616FBLK 4GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Black)
I own six Apple iPods, but not a one of them will play WMV audio books I can download free from my public library, and not of them have a built in FM tuner. This Walkman has it all, plus a sound deadening feature that is very helpful when using the Walkman at the fitness center! The sound quality is great and the battery life is very long. It is a great bargain for the price!

I bought this to work with Audible Audiobooks I planned to buy from Amazon and then discovered that it wouldn't work with your Audiobook supplier - Audible. I thought mp3 was mp3 and apparently that is not so....