[Centropolis]

I am looking to buy a Sony MP3 player mainly because of it's not too bad SQ and long battery life.  But I have a few questions about them.
 
1) The stated 50 hours of audio playing time is based on 128k encoding.  I know that higher bitrates will lower the battery life for sure but does anyone know by how much?  Let's say 320k.
 
2) Are there SQ differences between the E-series and the S-series for the current (or recent) models?  Do they use the same chips?
 
3) I don't think Sony has digital out option.  How is the headphone amp inside the Sonys compared to the iPods (in general)?
 
4) Would you choose the Sonys over a Clip+ or Fuze+ solely looking at SQ?
 
Thanks in advance for any feedbacks.

 

[jarrett]

I'd like to know too 

 

[Szadzik]

1. Not 
Quote:

I am looking to buy a Sony MP3 player mainly because of it's not too bad SQ and long battery life.  But I have a few questions about them.
 
1) The stated 50 hours of audio playing time is based on 128k encoding.  I know that higher bitrates will lower the battery life for sure but does anyone know by how much?  Let's say 320k.
 
2) Are there SQ differences between the E-series and the S-series for the current (or recent) models?  Do they use the same chips?
 
3) I don't think Sony has digital out option.  How is the headphone amp inside the Sonys compared to the iPods (in general)?
 
4) Would you choose the Sonys over a Clip+ or Fuze+ solely looking at SQ?
 
Thanks in advance for any feedbacks.

1. Battery life should not change by more than 20%. 
2. Some people claimed E series is realy good and reaches the same level of SQ as S series, I never compared them though. 
3. It has line out capabilities via WMPort. 
4. I would choose Sony, I have had two models so far and they do not disappoint.
 
 
Just my 2c, YMMV.