Photos: Hands-on with the Sony S-series Walkman

IFA was a little disappointing this year for audio enthusiasts, due to the general HDTV orgy that takes place inside what appears to be 99 per cent of the show's halls. We also discovered there are four different Miss IFAs and that they all wear wigs -- a bitter disappointment.

But inside Sony's epic showroom was a little Walkman booth, and we were there with our fingers and cameras, ready to form opinions. First up, the Sony Walkman S series.

We gave you details on the S series last week, so pop back and refresh your memory of the finer details if you need to. It's a 4GB and 8GB MP3 and video player, the top model on show at IFA. The A series still stands as the flagship MP3 player from Sony, and a booth assistant told us new A-series models are on the horizon.

On the surface the S series feels like a decent player -- it's well-built and has a terrific screen, a good button layout and, we feel, a well above average design. In most ways it feels like what it is: a cheaper version of the A series -- the menu and navigation feels the same, and music is organised in the same way.

We were hoping to get a feel for the SensMe technology on the booth, but the selection of pre-loaded music on the device left us disappointed. We'll be checking this out in much more detail when we get one in-house. We'll also then be able to give you the heads-up on sound quality -- something Sony's always been a class-leader at.

Prices are yet to be confirmed for the UK. We do know that they'll be cheaper than the A-series models, so if it's only ever been the price that's put you off an A828, the S series could be your best bet. Check out some bonus pictures over the page. -Nate Lanxon

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