Thanks to gadgetguru for the tip off.

This unit makes the iPod look childish and for whimps (OK so I own an ipod too so that makes me a whimp until I get my hands on one of these beauties)...

Although slightly more expensive than the ipod, the extra price is worth it.

1. Boosting a 1 cm shorter! and more sharper look, Sony's Mp3 compitable player.

2. The battery life lasts 2.5 longer than the iPods.

3. This unit also weighs considerably less than the ipod 20GB unit: Sony 130g vs. iPod 158g.

4. The player still uses ATRAC technology which means you can store heaps more songs than the ipod without losing sound quality. Songs are automatically converting by the player itself so no external converison is needed by you.

5. This player also supports the standard remotes that come with most Sony MD/CD players, however although the control will work the display won't. For those of you with a Hi-Md player. The remote works perfectly, display and all.

http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200411/11-1130/

Unfortunately, there's still a hitch. Mp3 transferred will be encoded in Sony's DRM, so you can't transfer to another PC. That will prevent unauthorized file transfers( Sony, after all, is a content provider too)...but who says we didn't bought those tunes...why do they treat as consumers like thieves... My ipod act like my backup for all the audio files that I painfully ripped off Cds, so until Sony learns to treat its customers like partners, not thieves, no HD-Walkmans for me.

At least in the UK, the NW-HD3 will be more expensive than the ipod, the only advantage being longer battery life, and design. Not enough to topple Apple. Maybe the HD4? If they have put in a color screen, even at the expense of a little battery life, it might stand a chance...

I'm OK with it not being transferred to another PC via the Walkman. At first I thought this was a serious gotcha, but not so much. I don't think it quite measures up to the iPod, but that may be just a matter of taste and prejudice (I have had several iPods).

That said, I used to be a Sony person. Of late, quality has gone down across the line and there have been some serious usuability problems in many of the later devices I have bought. In the old days, I would have automatically bought this walkman, but now, not so much.

From what I understand, this can use ATRAC only... And ATRAC is not a good file format. You'd have to re-encode all your music. Which would be a LONG job. So I'm sticking with my 3rd Gen. iPod... Works fine, and good (8-9 hours) battery life - I turned off the clicker and backlighting.

So seriously. If it only supports ATRAC, I highly suggest avoiding it...

What I found good about Sony players is, once you move songs to the player you can delete the files already from your hard disk. With the iPod, the songs in the computer are mirrored in the device. What if you sync in a mac and a PC. :(

Hi Reggie!!

But can you also move your songs back from the Sony player to your harddrive? Or are they, similar to Apple, trying to prevent this due to DRM?

Good news that may stear this discussion in a different direction:

Japanese AV Watch (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.watch.impress.co.jp%2 Fav%2Fdocs%2F20041130%2Fsony3.htm&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools) reports that the Sony VGF-AP1, NW-HD1, NW-HD2 players can be upgraded to support native MP3 playback and gapless playback.

This means converting ATRAC3 -> MP3 is no longer necessary!!

Price for the service: 2,000 Yen (USD $19).

Hi Reggie!!

But can you also move your songs back from the Sony player to your harddrive? Or are they, similar to Apple, trying to prevent this due to DRM?

Yes you can as long as you are moving them back to the same computer you loaded them from. ;)

Good news that may stear this discussion in a different direction:

Japanese AV Watch (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.watch.impress.co.jp%2 Fav%2Fdocs%2F20041130%2Fsony3.htm&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools) reports that the Sony VGF-AP1, NW-HD1, NW-HD2 players can be upgraded to support native MP3 playback and gapless playback.

This means converting ATRAC3 -> MP3 is no longer necessary!!

Price for the service: 2,000 Yen (USD $19).

Cool! How about for the MZ-NH1? Although I also have an iPod, I'm also a fan of Hi-MD. :D

Good question, unfortunately I don't know.

But Sony is definitely going the right way (FINALLY). Considering how Sony shaped the PalmOS world, I am confident there will be a lot of new toys for us to play with in the world of mobile audio players.