Sony Walkman W-series review/giveaway

Raise your hand if you were a child of the 80's who used to cruise up and down the street on your bike (quite possibly with a banana seat....and streamers on the handlebars), rocking your Walkman, thinking it really didn't get much cooler than YOU?  (ooh me, me, pick me!) Though I can't carry a tune to save my life, I've always loved music.  I remember graduating from my fisher price tape recorder (on which I would blast the Beach Boys) to my very first Walkman, upon which I would blast New Kids on The Block. Oh yes, I was hangin' tough.

  The original Walkmans were pretty clunky and relatively heavy, but you had music on the go, that no parents could tell you to "turn down that garbage" or little sisters or brothers could harass you with "you are listening to that song AGAIN!?!?"  It was musical freedom, and it was fabulous! 

I grew up with Sony Walkman. Constant companion on long car rides with the family.   Motivation at the gym.  Once I went off to college, I moved on to the super high tech "discman".  Hellloooo 21st century!

Then at some point along the line, a little thing called an "ipod" came onto the scene and blew up. Hundreds of songs on this itty bitty little mp3 player? Sorry Walkman, off to the junk drawer for you.   So needless to say, I was VERY surprised when Sony contacted me to review the Walkman W-series MP3 player, because to be quite honest, I didn't think Walkman's existed anymore!

 

Alright let's get to the nitty gritty.  We'll start with the bad, because I really only have ONE complaint...

THE BAD:It doesn't fit in my ears very well. The W-series Walkman comes with three different sized earbuds for the user to choose from, so more than likely, it will fit YOU.  But I've never been a big one for ear buds on anything, I still go old school with the over-the-ear headphones because those are the only things that fit ME.  So, I don't blame Sony for this one.  Just genetics.

THE GOOD: 

-Ease of setup and music transfer:  The W series hooks up to your computer via the same little USB cord we all know and love from our Garmin Forerunners (cord provided with the walkman). It sets up almost automatically. And transfer of music can not be easier.  Once you plug in the W series, a little content transfer window pops up. Open iTunes (or where ever you store your music) and drag the song (or multiple songs) over to the Walkman window.  Done.  

Comfort:  other than the above mentioned ear issue I had, the W series Walkman is really quite comfortable.  No wires to get caught on , well, anything, which is especially nice when you are on a treadmill (all things treadmill make me nervous).  And I don't know about the rest of you, but despite my best efforts to put my corded earphones away very carefully, EVERY TIME I take them out again I have to untie a few knots. SUCH a pain.  Not the case with the w-series!

excuse the look of sheer exhaustion.

Look Ma, no wires!

-Water/Sweat resistant.  I honestly don't understand why people make workout gear that is NOT water/sweat resistant!

-Quick Charge Battery:  The W-series Walkman holds 11 hours of playback battery life.  Or, if you are like me and forget to charge everything until you need it, 3 minutes of charging will yield 90 minutes of battery life.  Now if only my Garmin and cell phone could do the same!

-Song choice - you can create play lists or shuffle through all of your songs with just a quick touch of the toggle button on the side of the ear piece.   Sony says "Find the perfect music for the moment using the ZAPPIN™ search feature, allowing you to easily navigate through your song collection by playing back main melodies. Use the Jog Dial™ key to scroll and select your ideal track without the need for buttons. " I'll admit, there is a learning curve to this feature.  But just like they tell us in my motor behavior class, practice makes perfect.  You get the hang of it pretty quickly.

  

 

 The awesome people at Sony have provided me with not one, but TWO extra W-series to give away to two of my lucky readers. To enter:  (and please, I'm a busy, busy beaver, it's the last month of school. PLEASE leave a separate comment for each entry , because I'm not making a spreadsheet or anything fancy. Each comment is your official entry, so don't cheat yourself!)

1) become a follower of my blog. Leave a comment saying you already are or you are a new follower.

2) become a fan of my facebook page by "liking" Run Faster Mommy here http://www.facebook.com/RunFasterMommy

3)  Tell me what song you used to rock out to on your old-school Walkman

4) Tell me what song you will rock out to on your NEW W-series Walkman

5) Tweet, facebook, dailymile, etc this contest (leave a comment for each one!)

There you go, so many ways to enter!   I will draw TWO winners via random.org, two weeks from today, Monday April 25th.  Good luck!  Happy Running!

p.s. if you don't want to wait, Sony has extended a discount on the Walkman W-series for my readers! Follow this link http://www.sony.com/runningmate to purchase your W series for $48.99 instead of the MSRP of $60

(*note* The Federal Trade Commission says I must let you know I was provided with a Sony Walkman W-series MP3 player  free of charge, however, the opinions expressed in this post are those solely that of my own)