Just when I thought the iPod Shuffle was the best music-on-the-go miracle, Sony introduces the new Walkman Psyc. It seems I can’t escape the Apple vs. Sony comparison for any purchase. However, the Psyc may prove to be more than just a strong competitor; it just may have won my heart. I’ve compiled a comparison using base models. It becomes fairly obvious there was direct competition involved.

Battery is a huge selling point for me. Sure it sucks to buy batteries, but even if play life ends up at only 50 hours, a single pack of AAA batteries will last a really, really long time. There’s really no really fast charge option with the Shuffle, and being the last minute type person I am, that could be a problem.

Getting the song display & extended song navigation options with longer battery life is also pretty fantastic. I plan to use my player for running, so I may not use those options but they’d be nice to have.

I will give the iPod Shuffle points for ease of music transfer. It would be nice to have a player to work with iTunes and require no cables, but I’m clearly leaning in favor of Sony once again. It’s sad that I may not be able to look really cool dancing around with my extra long headphone cords swinging around, but really, it’s likely for the best because we all know I’d just get tangled in them and hurt myself.