Helped my sister get a 512mb unit today.
I'm not a real audiophile though, so I can't really comment on the sound. Seems pretty ok to me. Drives my KSC-35s quite well, but the stock earbuds go louder at the same volume (but of course, compared to the KSC-35s, they sucked donkey rear). With the KSC-35s, most of the mp3s I initially uploaded sound very enjoyable/loud enough when the volume is set at 35 (out of 40).
Haven't spent a lot of time with it, but all the VBR mp3s (lame -APX) I uploaded played without a hitch. I tried fast forwarding and rewinding those mp3s - no problems either.
Backlight noise is present, and quite noticeable. I can imagine people pulling hair over it, but I *think* i can live with it (pfft, easy for me to say, coz it'll be my sister who'll be using it
).
I'm not familiar with other mp3 players, but the build quality on this one looks great. Caveat: I recommended this to her over the N200, because of the built in USB connector. But now I'm kinda worried if frequent removal of the memory module from the battery module will make it loose
. The jog dial feels good and responsive though.
The menu layout is pretty simple. The only time I referred to the given manual was when I wanted to take out the battery cover and memory module, to prevent missing any steps that would make me damage it. Cons: file navigation can't be done without changing the current song.
My only gripe about it - no line in for unamped microphones. But do any of the other players have that feature anyway?
All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with it. Thanks ppl, for all the previous comments on it.