Sony NW-E305 Walkman Bean 512 MB MP3 Player White

My iPod having died on me a while back, I was hesistant to buy another this time around when I developed the need for an mp3 player. Intrigued by the bean's design, I hesistantly bought it. I am thoroughly and pleasantly surprised. It's design is awesome, the perfect size for a smooth fit in your hand, with handy features. The screen glows in the dark, and songs can be arranged in folders and searched for on the player. There's also a cool screensaver with fruit. The color is a nice pearlescent white, and the usb port is nicely sheathed and protected. The headphones also deliver quality sound. I see some previous complaints about the software, but I found none. I'm very technologically challenged and was sure I'd have to have a friend set it up for me, but it was quite easy to set up and transfer files. The software also connects to a music store, and the buyer will recieve a gift certificate for five free songs from sony. Overall, a wonderful, stylish, functional product.

I decided to update this review after only having used my player 2x, and having for only three days. First off, I see why all the complaints of the software. The software used to transfer your music is a program that puts the music in a format only recognized by Sony players and gives them a extension that is unable to be converted by any media player that I researched. So if you spent hours upon hours of ripping your CD's to the player, you think, great, the music is put in a seperate folder so if I decide to upgrade my player to something besides the Sony, I can drag and drop them for easy transfer. WRONG! Once they are converted over to Sony's proprietry Garbage software, they become use-less unless you want another Sony player, and for the price there are many other brands I researched that are better and cheaper EX. Samsung, Sandisk...I thought this would be a good starter player, it only cost me thirty five bucks with shipping, but I should have taken my money are threw it in the garbage, just like I did the Sony Bean MP3 player when all the buttons froze, and I couldnt get anything up on the screen but the word Selection. What a piece of Junk. Never again Sony. They might make some good products, but MP3 Players isnt one of them. I didnt even feel like returning it since it would have cost me more money to ship it back,and then wait for another to arrive, what to have that one break again. DONT BUY THIS PLAYER. Even if you are just going to put a few songs on it, go with something 10bucks more such as Samsung or Sandisk. At least you wont have a expensive paperweight.

This is the greatest little MP3 player!!! The sound is great (good bass), the size is very convenient and everybody who see it, wants one. It fits in a pocket, has an armband option or a key ring option, even little speakers as an option. I've taken it on so many trips. There is a caution though, even though the software is good for Windows Plus or better, you can not download from the web unless you have Windows XP.

Nice piece of hardware... Everything I was looking for, retractable USB, rechargable battery... Sounds pretty simple and if they kept it that way it would have been real nice... But it looks like Sony was trying to impose their standards through hardware... The software is ugly and painfully slow.. My biggest complaint is that you can't just drag and drop MP3, WAV or WMA files on to the device using windows explorer... Well, you can but you can't play them... Anything you want to listen to has to go through the Sonic stage software to be converted to OMG format, which is very slow as well as unnecessary (in my opinion).. So you can't just go up to any computer, plug it in copy files and listen to them... Looks like I just bought an expensive thumb drive...

I wouldn't recommend it, too many other mp3's to choose from. Go with the others.

Purchased for a gift, fast shipping, and product new. VERY GOOD! Already had one...

This is my first MP3 player and it has been a wonderful experience. I was really hesitant to buy one, but my husband bought it for me for Christmas. The connect store is user friendly and the bean itself is convenient. I have had no trouble whether running or just sitting around the house. Love it!

It is very ,model we can't copy the songs directly to it. We need Audacity software for it. The company do provide CD for the software but it is not working for windows Seven. Only good thing about the product is battery back which was very good.