When I purchase something as expensive as the Sony NW-E99 I rate it based on whether or not I would consider purchasing something similar from the company again. In this case, I would never, ever purchase another MP3 player from Sony. I have already put in an order for an iPod since I can get a waterproof cover for it, the screen is much better, sound quality is crisper and the bass is richer. Their menu system is far better organized too. It's just a shame that I spent so much money for something as flimsy and poorly designed as this. What a disappointment! I have owned the Sony NW-E99 player for approximately 9 months now and in that time I have had to send it to the factory for repairs twice and had to reinstall the software it uses to install music because the drive mysteriously became corrupt.

5 Months after purchase: Volume control non-functional 20% of the time. Foward/Back control non-functional 80% of the time. Group button dead. Menu button dead. SonicStage software.

I dislike this Sony NW-E99 because it's a piece of junk and it is useless.