Review Friday
Sony Product Review: Ultimate Durability

I promise I have not sold my soul to Sony, nor are they paying me. But they could pay me if they wanted to. That'd be cool.

Anyway, I have three Sony products that I use regularly: my Sony earbuds, my Sony portable CD player, and my PSP.

My earbuds are currently the most impressive to me because all my previous earbuds would be amazing if they reached 1 year. These are at least two years, if not more. I can't quite recall when my sister got me my CD player that these came with. Regardless, they're the Gilgamesh of earbuds. I'm also very abusive, so there have been exposed wires on these earbuds for some time and I was sure there were goners but they still work just as well as they did before I violently yanked them every time I forget they're attached to my head (more frequently than I'd like to admit).

As for the CD player--and yes, I still use a portable CD player--my earbuds came with it, so it's the same age. It still runs great, and I've dropped it several times already as always happens with all my portable devices.

I don't actually play games on my PSP, which I understand is its primary purpose. Instead I use it as a portable music and audio device--like an iPod. Admittedly, there are a few important differences between it and an iPod. First, it's bigger than an iPod. Basically the same size as my hand. But for me this isn't a downfall as I would always be terrified of losing an iPod. Then there's the replaceable battery, also something the iPod does not have, and the reason my sister purchased them in favor of iPods. The interface, however, is a downfall. I'm assuming an iPod would be more optimized to shuffle and arrange music without having to do clever things on the computer. But the most invaluable part of my PSP is that it seems just as durable as my earbuds and CD player. It was a hand-me down from my mother so I'm not sure of its age. But it has borne with my tossing it about for the past two years as well. This entire review was prompted by how, upon dropping my PSP on the train, and having the battery case pop off, the battery scatter across the floor, and the SD card holder pop open, I heard one of the passengers exclaim "Oh, no!" as if they expected I'd broken it. But I told them not to worry, but all the pieces back in order, and was not surprised when everything worked exactly as before because this has actually happened many times. Not that it happens easily if you're a normal person--but a complete clutz (like myself) can be assured of keeping any of these devices for some time to come.

On a personal note, there will be no Saturday, Sunday, or Monday posts as my next few days have become quite full.