Sony Walkman D-SJ01 Personal CD Player

I've been using the Sony D-SJ01 Sports CD Walkman for about three weeks. Although it's hard to love a CD player--they do one thing and one thing only: play CDs--I have found that the SJ01 is an excellent product overall.

It's main features include:

Up To 40 Hours Of Play Time
Skip-Free G-Protection
One Hand Operation with Grip Controller Jog Stick
Digital Mega Bass
Rugged, new Sports Design
Protective Metal Shield
64 Track RMS Programming
Hand Strap
Sony Sports Headphones
Sony Rechargeable Batteries With Battery Carrying Case
Sony Charger/AC Adapter

What I Like:

The rechargeable batteries and AC adapter are among the best of its features. 40 hours of playtime provides me with about 10 days worth of music. When the unit is completely out of juice, I plug it in overnight and it's fully charged and ready for another week or so. This is subtle but terrific feature: it allows you to completely forget about the most annoying aspect of portable music: power.

The SJ01 is also very well put together. I haven't dropped it yet, but it has a metal "frame" (Sony calls it a shield) which makes it seem indestructible, though I'm sure it's not. It is very well designed and feels solid and comfortable in the hand. From a durability point of view, the headphones are the unit's weakest link. They are the standard Sports phones included with most, if not all, Sony Sports CD players.

What I don't Like:

I mentioned that the headphones were the unit's least durable aspect. Given that Sony really makes a point of marketing the rugged quality of this product, I expected a more substantial set of headphones. I know that the first time this thing flies out of my pack or slips from my hands the wires connecting to the ear-buds are toast: they always are on this type of headphone.

I'm also not crazy about the new control positioning. The Play/Stop and Track Forward/Track Back controls are within reach of the user's thumb, allowing for limited one handed operation. However, if you want to adjust the volume, the user is required to introduce a second hand to the equation. This might seem like a small detail, but in practice it's really a pain in the you-know-what. All of the controls should have been positioned within reach of one hand.

About the Sound:

Here, again, the headphones supplied with the SJ01 prevent this from being an fantastic CD player. Per usual, Sony delivers a suitable listening experience, but it's not going to blow anyone away. I rate the sound from fair to good.

At about $200 smackers, it's not exactly inexpensive, but I get the feeling that it will stand up well to the abuse of mountain biking, skiing, etc. and it looks incredibly aggressive.