Got this as a Christmas present as my iPod needed a new battery and I couldn't find anyone to do it for me. Have to say, I prefer the Sony in every way: the navigation is simple (bit of a throwback to old phones, in fact - not necessarily a bad thing!), and the addition of a MicroSD slot means that I can easily fit my whole music library on the device. The sound is awesome - between the custom EQ settings, predefined surround options and the DSEE/etc presets, there's definitely a setting for whatever your preference. I'm using my own Sennheiser earbuds rather than the Sony ones that came bundled with the player, but the bundled ones sound great too - very crisp and clear: I just prefer the added "Oomph" of my Sennheisers. All in all, I'd recommend this player in a heartbeat to anyone who wants a new player, whether they're a fan of Apple or not.

I bought this after I got totally fed up with Apple and its relentless drive to force users to take their music online. The decision to further restrict the iPod line was a bridge too far for me - all I want is a music player that sounds good. Wifi, photos and all other other stuff are fine on other devices but I don't want them interfering when I want to listen to music. This Sony model does just that and the sound quality and built in noise cancelling is a real bonus. The micro SD card slot is great - I have a large music library and bought a 16GB device and a 128GB micro card, which nearly holds it all. The controls take a bit of getting used to and are not as intuitive as touch screen controls but that's a minor inconvenience. Overall this is a great music player and points to what the iPod classic could have become if Apple had bothered to develop a pure music player.

Purchased to replace my old Ipod classic which had finally died. Wanted something small with large memory and with the ability to use Hi Res. So far quite impressed.