Sony Headphone-Style Walkman MP3 Player (Black)

First of all, I'm no shill for Sony -- I think they've made some terrible products in the past. I'm also a big ol' Apple fanboy -- I love my iPhone and laptop, and can't imagine life without 'em. I've also had plenty of iPods over the years, and I've mostly loved them too. But the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod Shuffles were disasters (particularly the 3rd generation). For devices aimed squarely at the active set, the Shuffles had some big sweat-related flaws. As a runner, I've been through several Shuffles over the past several years, and I've been cursing more as a result. Enter the W Series. I was skeptical at first, but ultimately so fed up with the Shuffle that I decided to try 'em. I thought they'd look goofy on me, like two bluetooth headsets, but with a hat, they're actually fairly subtle. The best part about them is the lack of cords -- nothing worse than cords slapping against you while you run. They stay on and are as comfortable as any set of earbuds. I was able to just drag music from my iTunes music folder on my Mac directly into the music folder on the Walkman, which mounted immediately on my desktop. 2GB is more than enough space for several albums. I haven't bothered with the super-dumb-sounding "Zappin" feature, and there's an annoying beep when advancing tracks. Overall though, controls are super-intuitive, and the thing hasn't given out yet, and the sound quality is great. The player itself seems relatively insulated from sweat during a run, as it sits on the outside of the ear (the biggest flaw of the 3rd generation Shuffle is its cord-mounted control buttons; there's really no way to keep from sweating right onto 'em). I'm delighted to have *finally* found a solid mp3 player for running. I'll update this review if they die anytime soon, but so far, so good.

My husband was very specific on what sort of headphones he wanted and sent me on a mission to find them. I also had an ideal budget in mind as I wanted to get him a few other Christmas gifts. He absolutely loves these! They wrap around his head, go right in his ears, and he doesn't have to worry about a cord getting in his way dangling down. He uses them for yard work, exercise, cleaning, when he does the cars, etc. It's easy to load the music or change the music. The stand that holds them is wonderful, and they can charge right off his laptop. Our teens keep trying to borrow them since they are such an appealing style!

Sony offered an exchange program because this device has sweat related malfunctions, for a certain number of these units (depending on the serial, you could get your replaced with a 'working' version for free). I have to say, the sweat issue is not resolved. I bought this with the intention of using it at the gym. The thing broke down after a series of strenuous exercises, and has not worked since. I read about the exchange and called customer support. They said my serial was not within the range of those being replaced, and so I basically have a worthless piece of junk here. I hate to say it, because I really loved this product while it worked, but it is faulty in its design, and prone to be irrevocably damaged by sweat and moisture, even though it is sold as capable of withstanding the rigors of exercise and, specifically, sweat. Don't buy it unless you just want a decent, wireless, mp3 player. Not as gym equipment.

The unit works beautifully as a player for someone just walking (or sitting) around. At least for me, this is how it played out (pun intended.) But for a sports player, as a runner, the unit did not work well for me as the left ear piece kept popping out of my ear. To be fair, I have this problem with most in-the-ear canal type music devices. Only over-the-ear types work for me. So, buyer beware. Make sure you can try and return if you decide to get this unit. If it works for you, it's fantastic. A great sound, easy to use, and I surely wish it would've worked for me. But, alas, it did not, so I had to return it.

SONY HEADPHONE WLAKMAN PLAYER ITS PIEACE OF ART. IT GOT 2 GB. AND U CAN CHANGE THAT VOLUME AND THE SONE BY ONE TOUCH. WHERE IT AND DO UR SPORT AND ANY KIND OF SPORT WITH OUT THINKING OF LOSEING IT OR THINK OF IT WILL GET OF UR EARS!! IT DESING TO GO AROUND UR HEAD WITH VARY LITTLE WEGIT U WILL NOT FEEL IT AT ALL... THE BLACK CLOUR LOOKS SO CALL... AS THE BASS AND THE SOND IS WENDERFUL I FEE LIKE U ARE IN A CLUB( LOAD) AND U WELL FORGET THAT U ARE IN UR WOIRLD AS U PLAY UR SPORT WITH THE UR BEST SONG AN U ONLY LEASEN TO VOICE OF THE SINGER AND NONE OF ANY VOICE AORUND U ..EVEN IF U WLAK OR RUNING IN THE ROOD NO WEND CAN ENTER UR EARS AND NO OTHERE SOUND ... I AM ENJOYING EVER BIT AND LOST ALOT OF WEIGHT AFTER USEING IT BEC IT MAKE ME ENJOY MORE SPORT 10 TIME THAN USING AN IPOD!!

Its a Very good one...great choice if you love music very handy and easy to use..... loving it cz no wires and easy to ware..Sound Quality is awesome as its the trade mark of SONY WALKMAN... sound 10/10 design 8/10

I am a mac user and I was planning to run this MP3 player on virtual Windows via VMware Fusion. But guess what? This works fine on my Mac! Jut plug in and drag-and-drop MP3s from iTunes to MUSIC folder inside this MP3 walkman. The control's very simple, NO sound setting (not even sony's Mega Bass), two buttons to control volume, a jog dial for play/stop and previous/next track, NO fastforword/rewind. ZAPPIN function gives short 4sec (by default, 15 sec option's available) clips on each track. The sound quality lacks in bass, but it feels pretty clean and certainly good enough for loud fitness center and indoor rock climbing gym. Some may have difficult time putting this on your ears. This type of earbuds exists in sony for awhile and this is how you do it: You either pull your ear lobe as you put it on OR as you put it on your ears, rotate the earbuds piece so it's vertically oriented instead of horizontal as shown on photo. It should fit securely if you did it right.

When I first saw this headset, I knew it was a great idea, and something that I really needed. My only question was how it would fit. From the look of the product in the two video reviews I saw prior to it's release, I thought that the cord that connects the two earbuds would fit over the ear holding the earbuds in place. In one of the video reviews, the woman reviewing the headset did jumping jacks, and the headset stayed securely in place. Well with my headset, the right side stays puts, no problem. The left side is the one that keeps falling out of my ear. I have tried all of the earbud sizes, I stuck with the largest size, but it still slips out of my ear. What I have found that seems to work somewhat, is to wear my glasses and on the left size, put the frame on the outside of the cord the connects the earbuds. This works better than than just wearing the headset. It still will not hold it in place if the workout involves a lot of movement. If I am just using the weight machines, I am fine, I just need to push the left earbud in from time to time. I would be interested in hearing if someone has found a fix for this, I am still trying to find a better way to keep them from slipping out. The features, sound quality and ease of use is great. If the left side earbud would stay secure like the right side, they would be perfect.