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There is tough competition between brands of MP3 players. Each manufacturer is trying to find a niche in the market in order to get a loyal following. This is why there are some players that cater to the music aficionado by offering huge disk spaces for entire music libraries, while some are known for durability for the on-the-go sports buff. Other players have a load of extra features for the consumer who wants to get more bang for his buck. Sony, a big brand name in electronics, unexpectedly chose the path of the durable and affordable player in its quest to find its place in the market.

Sony made it big with the Walkman which was the king of portable cassette players many years back. Now, Sony still capitalizes on the Walkman fame with their Walkman Core MP3 Player. This player offers 512 MB of memory (translates to 345 songs) and boasts of a battery life of 50 hours. It also boasts of fast charge time for its charger--charge for three minutes and get enough power to last three hours! To top it all off, the player has a built-in FM tuner. The retail price? A very affordable $99.95.

Then there is the compact Sony Walkman Bean that comes with a built-in USB connector. The Walkman Bean also has a built-in FM tuner and a battery life of 50 hours (fast charge is also applicable here). For the 512MB, the price is $89.95, while the 1GB costs $119.95.

And of course, there's the Walkman Circ. It is aesthetically appealing with its compact, round, and sporty design. It has a backlit LCD display and 512MB disk space. This player boasts of a battery life of 70 hours! It doesn't come with an FM tuner so its price is considerably lower at $89.99.

You would think that with these affordable offerings, Sony would be number one in the world of MP3 players. However, the competition is far more complex than that. The Sony players could've been more successful if not for two glaring weaknesses--the hard-to-use software and the fragility of the hardware. Thus, Sony's mark in the world of MP3 players isn't as dominating as the company would have wanted.