New 52 | Week 45: New Running MP3 Player

Remember how much we loved our Sony Walkmans in the 80’s and 90’s?  Then suddenly seemingly everyone was using Apple iPods and it seemed that the Sony Walkman died?  A few years ago I ran with an iPod Nano (the 1st gen) and then it died.  I got a iPod Shuffle after that because I didn’t really need a screen or have the songs play in sequence, I just wanted music for when I run.  I liked that the iPod Shuffle had a clip that I could clip onto my fuel belt.  After that I also had a Sanza Clip MP3 player.  It was almost just as small as the iPod Shuffle, it had a clip, plus it had a screen so you could pick songs.  But you know what all of these devices had in common that really bugged me?  You had to plug a set of headphones into it, with a cord.  Often times while running, my hand/arm would jerk the cord out of my ears and it hurt and was totally a big shock when you’re running.  I hated it enough that about a year ago I stopped listening to music while running.  Having to bring/carry a music device and headphones added two more things to bring on a run and I was already bringing my Garmin watch and my phone.  Plus, like I said, I hated the headphones with cords while running.  I also highly disliked the low-quality sound in the headphones that came with the iPods.

My friend Monika became a Sony Ambassador runner this year and she blogged about her MP3 players for running a couple of weeks ago.  When I saw her Sony Walkman W Series, I knew that was the answer for me!  You see, the MP3 player is built into the headphones so there’s NO CORD!

So I ordered one from the Sony store online last week, while it was $10 off, and it arrived this past weekend.  It took an hour to fully charge it up by USB, and it was super-easy to put music on there.  It comes with a software that interacts with iTunes so you can just drag and drop songs from iTunes.  I ran with it on Saturday and I was in love!  The sound is SO much better than the iPod headphones, and it was super-comfortable.  Best of all, I didn’t have to deal with any cords while running.


I’m very happy I finally found a music device that I can use while running again!  It is exactly what I wanted in a running music device several years ago, but nobody made it yet.  :D

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About This Project

New52 is a project started by Peppermint and I to encourage each other and others around us to try something new every week in 2011. The "new" each week doesn't have to be something big. It could be something as simple as ordering a new dish instead of old standbys at your favorite restaurant. It's simply opening your heart up to NEW possibilities.
Don't worry if you're late getting started on joining in. It's totally OK if you miss a week here or there. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind about trying something new. This is a life project, and a photography/blog and even scrap challenge if you wish. If you participate this week, please leave a link to your blog post in the comments of this post.