When I first got my E90 I was it shock due to it's incredibly small size & feather-light weight. Not to mention it's fantastic battery life (which still amazes me). But upon closer inspection, I noticed a few things which could be improved in future players. My number one gripe with the player was it's digital 'Mega' Bass. When the volume level is at it's maximum (in fact the final third of the volume level) the bass seemed to cut out, resulting in (sometimes) tinny sounding music. This gives the impression of a rather low max volume, so if you want your music REALLY, REALLY, REALLY loud & bassy, look elsewhere. A few other problems are the tiny buttons, lack of pause button on unit & bass button on the remote, & crappy supplied headphones. (These aren't really PROBLEMS, but if they were fixed the E90 would be the 'perfect' player)

Forget my complaints for a second.. The E90 is a fantastic player; in fact, unless you're VERY particular, you will think it's the most amazing thing you've ever had. And it well could be.....

BATTERY LIFE & CHARGER

The most appealing features are the battery life & it's small size, both of which are very convenient. The 21 hour battery life left my jaw on the floor(especially after owning an r55 recorder) & combined with the external battery pack give you more than 50 (FIFTY!) hours of playtime, which is more than enough for anybody (how Sony has managed to sqeeze 31 hours out of a single AA battery is beyond me). The player can be used on house current through the battery case.. but I'd rather not plug my high-voltage house into my itty-bitty low-volt player. Depending on which model you buy you'll get one of two external chargers. The USA, Canada & Continental Europe model comes with a wall plugging charger which fully charges the battery in 80 min, the world model comes with a cooler looking wall plugging charger which covers up the battery with a little door while charging... I chose the USA model as it charges the battery faster compared to the world model's 120 min charging time.

PORTABILITY:

The E90 is small & light enough to carry in the pocket of your jeans or jacket. It is very thin so you can even carry it in your hand quite comfortably.

FUNCTION:

The E90 does a killer job as a play-only Walkman. It is exactly that, a play-only unit. If you've only ever had a portable recorder before you will (at first) be slightly disappointed. All the functions you really need are packed somewhere within it's high stiffness magnesium casing...(Minus a track time remaining function which would have been the icing on the cake)

CONSTRUCTION & AESTHETICS:

The unit is very solid in it's construction. Even when open it is still quite solid. In the press release Sony made a big deal over some new material or process used for the E90, & it really is a strong little player. The E90's battery compartment cover LOOKS a little flimsy & fragile, but is actually very strong & does not rattle around at all (unlike older models). I have the Silver model which looks very refined & conservative compared to the funkier red & white models. All three colors have the same 'Y' design on the front, with a little window in the centre so you can see the MD spinning... Very Cool...

UNIT BUTTONS:

The main function buttons are well placed on the unit's left side, they are a little tough to press though. The Hold, Bass & VSL switches are on the bottom of the unit. I hate using these sliding switches, scratches on ANYTHING expensive are my pet hate...

UNIT DOOR

Removing & inserting MD's is simple with the sliding switch. The unit opens with a loud click though, so I'm worried that after awhile the mechanism might fail (still no problems after 5 months). So when opening it, hold the door so that it doesn't open quite so violently.

REMOTE:

The remote included with the player is a great improvement over the old Sony remotes. It's definitely better looking, the volume buttons are just the right size, & the sliding switch is better than the old remote's turning switch as it is easier used with one hand. I have read a couple reviews of the e90 and people seem to be too harsh. Most of the complaints I notice are about lack of bass or crazy stories about bass cutting out. If this happens it is soley the headphones at blame. I had the pleasure of buying mine with the folding headphones (MDR-A34), and no crappy earbuds. These folding headphones have incredible bass! When I saw pictures of them on the internet I assumed I would have to upgrade them.. but I tried them out and I haven't used any other's since.

Another common complaint was "is there such a thing as TOO small?" the answer is absolutely not! Complaints about the buttons on the unit being to small are rediculous. When listening to MD's on the e90 i hardly ever come in contact with the unit. It usually sits in my pocket and the remote is clipped to my collar. everything you need is on the remote. True the 'MEGA'BASS setting can only be changed on the unit.. but how often do you really need to change that?

RUNDOWN:

I bought mine at Etronics for $194.99 with $12 S+H. First of all, I'd have to say that this player deserves nine stars out of 10. Overall this player is completely awesome.

Positives about player:
I am still amazed at how small this player is. It's front face is exactly the size of a minidisc case, and it is only as wide as one and a half cases stacked together. I am also amazed at how lightweight it is. Without the battery it is almost unbeleievable how lightweight it is. The case is really strong too. It doesnt feel flimsy at all. Now I wouldnt recomend driving a car over the player anytime soon, but the player is definatly strong enough that you dont have to worry about dropping it on concrete or anything. Not that you should do that on purpose either. Now possibly the best thing about it is that they playback is so insanely long. With just the rechargable battery, the playback is over 20 hours. Now, I haven't tried timimg it yet to see if it's actually true, but I know that one charge will last me for days. So I wouldn't doubt it.

Negatives about the player:
(First of all, let me say that there are no real 'strong' negatives about the player. The are basically 'whines.') The first bad thing I noticed about the player was the fact that the slide cover for the rechargable battery was only plastic. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but it is fairly loose and can slide out if you're not careful. I fixed this by putting a little glue on the hinges, but I don't like how it's like that. The second problem is how small the buttons are. I guess I would complain too ifthey were too big, but these are so small that it's hard to find which buttons are which at first. Once you get used to it though, it's not THAT bad. The final thing I don't like is that the remote is kinda small and the clip is flimsy. But I do like the layout of the buttons on it. Finally, the last thing I'd like to whine about, is that the player doesn't have a playlist. Not that I'd expect it, but it would have been nice:).

Overall, like I said, I'd give it 9 out of 10