If you spend some time with this player it is equal to or better then the ipod. I've used an ipod before and its great. But when researching to choose which player I wanted to invest $300 on, I downloaded the manual from each of the players respected manufacturers (apple, sony, iriver, creative). When directly comparing the HD-3 to the ipod (the "most popular player") they both have the same annoying features. Ipod uses only itunes to transfer music and Sony uses sonicstage.

Sonicstage version 3 was pretty simple to figure out. I loaded up my library from my pc and then transfered album by album to the hd3. It was the same procedure the ipod manual describes. The HD3 does have a playlists option in which you bookmark songs. Ipod calls it "on the go something" but both have you hold a button to add the track to a my favorite playlist which is a few menus away from the opening screen. Its no problem.

Shuffling is also easy to figure out. It's about the same explanation you would see with any sony audio device. I mean the manual came from Japan but its written in english. So stop whinning. The HD3 actually gives you more shuffling options than ipod. You can shuffle all the tracks, or all the albums, or all the artists, or choose to shuffle tracks within an artist or album group.

Overall the HD3 has way better sound and a much longer battery life than any other player including ipod. Plus if the battery dies YOU can replace instead of paying someone to do it. The HD3 is also smaller, sleeker, and looks cooler. Plus when do sony products break? I still use a six year old cd player.

So don't let U2 convince you to buy an ipod. Buy a freaking awesome player that is unique and much cooler.



Link: Buy the Sony NW-HD3