Sony's OLED Walkman Gets UK Price & Release Date Comments

"Could the iPod touch have finally met its match? The X Series looks the most credible alternative to date..."

One could argue that all the other iPods have met their match but as history has shown, Apple has this cult status and I don't think this player is going to change anything.

I really am looking forward to this Walkman, as a previous owner of a Walkman I can attest to their quality, but too bad many won't take the plunge themselves.

Don't forget, it should sound much better than an iPod, as Sony's Walkmans (Walkmen?) always do. If that's still the case, I might just.

I had an Ipod Touch back when they were new, didnt think much of it really (apps might have changed that though)

I have had a Sony HD walkman before and loved it, amazing sound quality. Right now I have one of there £100ish models and its pretty good, this looks like a good update if it ever breaks :)

Darn Sony, those are some expensive players. I was hoping they had learnt their lessons after the steep price on A-series, which was sensibly followed up with the more reasonably priced S-series.

I would take Sony over the iPod any day, but I dont think they will manage to ship a lot of these with the iPods hanging around, unless prices take a bit of a dip at the launch.

I bet that OLED screen has a lot to do with the high prices.

Yeah, I would still like to see them about 10% cheaper than the iPod touch range. Although they will almost certainly offer better sound quality, they will probably be lighter on features than the iPod touch and Sony will never be able to compete with Apple in the marketing/coolness department. They need to be able to offer something better over the iPod to tempt would be Apple consumers away, which can only really be the price (and sound quality, but people don't even seem to care about that these days).

No Ogg or FLAC? No sale.

I think in terms of 'normal' ipods, there are better players out there with better sound quality, which for me is the most important thing about a music player and would govern any purchasing decision.

I bought an ipod touch last year, and it is probably the best gadget I have ever bought. For me, it provides a handy web-browser which I can easily use without firing up the PC, the ability to watch good quality video on the train, a good calender/diary system which I use for work, lots of apps/games & finally it plays music too, which whilst not the best quality, is more than acceptable and it has enough grunt to power full size headphones, which some players can't manage. So for me, the Sony would have to do all this equally well, and have better sound quality for it to warrant a purchase over the touch. I'm no apple fanboy, and I felt a bit dirty caving in a buying an apple product, but you can't deny how effortlessly usuable the damn thing is, - this is what the Sony is up against, and that's before you take in the cool image & marketing which sucks in the less tech savvy buyers.

Looks like Gordon's concerns about battery life are thankfully unfounded... it's rated at 33 hours audio & 9 hours video playback according to Sony Hong Kong... http://www.sonystyle.com.hk/ss/product/walkman/nwz_x1060_e.jsp

Amazon now state the release date as 10 May

No word from Play.com yet though...

@thewelshbrummie
"it's rated at 33 hours audio & 9 hours video playback according to Sony Hong Kong"

Expect ~30 hours audio and ~6 hours video playback.

Still, why does it appear that only Sony has mastered the battery technology? Only Sony players have ungodly stamina, as compared to the weaklings out there.

Play.com release on 30th this month.