At around $130, the E60 is not as inexpensive as those disposable cassette Walkmans or the cheaper portable CD players, but it's much cheaper than any other decent MD unit that is prone to be lost or stolen. It also has far fewer parts than a comparable MD recorder/player; again, less to go wrong. This thing doesn't even have access for an AC adapter, which--if the battery life is decent--mobile folks honestly don't need. In fact, one of this unit's best features (which convinced me to choose it over less expensive, closeout models) is that it doesn't use those pain-in-the-ass proprietary gum pack batteries that cost $25 or more to replace. And, since you would need at least one extra battery as a backup, as you would with any battery-operated device, the minimal space saved by the gum pack's design is outweighed by its expense and limited availability. AA batteries, on the other hand, are cheap and available everywhere, including the rechargeable ones, which is all I have used in the E60. True, MD players that rely on gum packs can use AA batteries, but only through a flimsy and cumbersome attachment that is prone to loss or breakage and further limits the player's portability.

The E60's battery compartment is built in to the player's case and is noticeable only as a small hump appearing on the back of the unit. In fact, even with that design, the E60 is still less than an inch thick and is no larger than a square Post-It note. I really don't think there is any practical use to making it smaller. Sony claims an alkaline battery life of 12 hours, but so far, I've used only 1400 mAH rechargeables that give me only about half of that span at most. Nevertheless, I need to carry only one backup battery.

Two interesting points to note about battery management on the E60: First, the battery life indicator on the remote never indicates full capacity with the rechargeables I use, even if I install one immediately after I have charged it. The same battery will show full capacity on my R70, however. Second, like any other Sony MD unit, the E60 flashes a warning when the battery is weak; however, if you don't stop the player to change the battery before it gives out completely, and instead wait to change it when the unit stops on its own, the player, unlike other units, will start playing from the beginning of the disk, rather from the point at which the battery died, once the new battery is installed.

The top lid of the E60 is made of aluminum and contains no buttons or display. The body itself is made of plastic. On the back of the unit are the function buttons, which are limited to Play/Next track, Previous track, Stop, Volume up, and Volume down. Next to those is the Hold switch, which disengages the operating functions, thereby preventing the battery from being drained by unnoticed operation. A small LED that glows when the player is running is also present on the back. In addition, located on the player's bottom edge are a three-position bass boost switch and a volume limiter switch. On the right edge is the combined headphone/remote jack. In the U.S., it appears that E60 is available only in blue.

The supplied remote is not backlit but is otherwise exactly the same as the ones supplied with the more expensive recorders and players of the 2000 model year. The absence of backlighting is perhaps the only practical drawback of the E60. The backlit remotes from other models of the 2000 model year will work with the E60, but their lights won't operate. The E60's remote duplicates all the functions available on the player itself, plus it provides two more that the player doesn't: Playmode and Pause. Playmode offers random track repeat, single track repeat, and entire disc repeat. Functions engaged from the remote always trigger a beep, which can't be disabled, in the audio, but the buttons on the player itself don't have that "feature."

When starting from a stopped position, whether at the beginning of a disc or in the middle of one, the E60 is rather slow to begin. When set to play from a pause of less than five seconds or so, the response is immediate. After that time, the player goes into a full stop. The response to track skipping is also immediate, but the player is once again sluggish when responding to fast forward or reverse within a track.

The supplied headphones are also the same as the ones provided with the R70 and similar models. Their sound quality is barely adequate, but they are also easily replaceable. It is important, however, to choose 16 ohm headphones: the headphone amp is so weak that anything of higher impedance (even 32 ohms) will severely limit the volume range. With a well-matched, decent set of headphones (I use the MDR-EX70 earbuds), the E60's sound quality is impressive, despite the limited volume and tone control range: the bass boost feature is limited to two positions, and no treble control is provided.

My only real wish-list items for the E60 is a more flexible tone control and a backlit remote, both of which are found on the E75, which is only $20 to $30