SONY saw the light -- or heard the music -- and has dropped their proprietary SonicStage, so the spankin' new SONY Walkman is open to more file formats. By supporting playback of MP3 and WMA DRM and non-DRM audio files downloaded from multiple sources, it finally becomes a desirable player.

Weighing less than 2 ounces, but with the capacity to store up to 4,500 songs, 8 hours of video or hundreds of photographs, the 8GB Walkman® Video MP3 player has pretty much everything and still fits in your pocket. The sleek,compact design has an expensive feel and the screen is big and bright. The user interface is intuitive, so it's easy to switch from playlists to FM radio or photos or video playback. Long battery life, too.

Good sound quality, but of course the ear buds suck.

$179 at Sony now.