Sony NW-E394 8GB Walkman MP3 Player with FM Radio, Bluetooth & Long Battery Life - Portable Music Player for Running, Gym, Travel & Outdoor Activities - Black

I spent quite a bit of time trawling through all sorts of different types of MP3 players, trying to find out what's best. In the end I decided to go for the name, figuring they must be doing something right to have such a large market share!! There are so many MP3's out there, it's easy to be overwhelmed. I really only wanted a basic MP3 to listen to my music (mostly "old-school" CD's).This does that and then some. It's really easy to transfer music files to it via the computer, is slim and lightweight and battery life is excellent.Music quality is great....I'm no great expert but I like what I hear! It has an automatic volume control, which means you can't have it too loud accidentally.I did purchase the silicone sleeve that was recommended by Amazon, and this is fine but it did need a little trim so I can access the "hold" button. (Works like a keylock on a mobile phone).In short, I'm very pleased with my MP3...The controls are easy to get the hang of, it holds absolutely LOADS of data and I do love that "hold" button.Yes, it is a little pricey and there are much cheaper MP3's out there. Previously, I purchased a cheap model (by another manufacturer) for my daughter and it broke after two weeks and the controls on that were extremely odd (very hard to explain but everything seemed counter-intuitive). Not so with the Sony! (Perhaps it's because I'm from the Nokia generation, but the controls on this seem very sensible to me!) The extra money seems well worth it for this little gem and I actually replaced the faulty MP3 with another, identical one of these for my daughter. We have had no problems with them in about a year of use and they're still going strong with almost daily use.