Sony S-Series Walkman (second generation, 8GB, black)

Pros: It's a solid mp3 player. No nonsense. A workhorse.

Cons: Battery life is a little wobbly, becoming unreliable after a year. Sony software, included, isn't terribly friendly. Player indexing of songs can be unpredictable on occasion.

Summary: Despite the drawbacks listed above, this is a pretty good, pretty reliable mp3 player. My Walkman's battery life was a little wobbly here and there from the start but has deteriorated very rapidly since it passed the one-year mark with me. That's the worst part, and I admit it's a doozy. That said, I had it playing almost all of my time awake, usually in the car or hooked to my home stereo, and I was recharging it a lot. Maybe my usage was more than the norm. I can't say. But it was reliable most of the time, and I was quite happy with it.