An Outdoorsman's Dream Camera
Here is the cold hard truth, It's the only high quality waterproof,shockproof camera on the market that can take incredible high quality 12mp photos (even hd video)! All the point any shoot settings can be manually reset/set to please even the pickiest snob photographers. Oh, did I mention, it fits in your pocket! As a hunter,fisherman, boater I've been waiting years for a camera of this quality that not only can get wet,but actually perform UNDERWATER! Some of these reviewers need a reality check and realize this is a quantum leap in the digital camera sector! You can pick any camera apart, there are hundreds for sell, but only 5 compacts exist that can take water environments and this is the best of them. Your other options are ,buy a huge diving SLR, wait 3 more years for the next leap in technology, or put a sandwich bag over your existing camera and hope it doesn't rain or you ruin it with a wet hand. Trust me, it will! Bottom line, if your an outdoorsman or a beach or pool bum who would like great photos in all environments, buy this one. And remember, waterproof also means dirt and dustproof.Technical info is available on several sites if you need it. This was one on my best purchases.I can't wait for the next rain soaked vacation!

Great all around - Waterproof that works!
Ill start with 3 complaints keeping this from being perfect.

1. Audio in videos clicks often if you aren't gentle about releasing the zoom buttons. The camera dims the audio volume when zooming to avoid picking up motor noises. This takes much better audio than my old kodak M1033 which distorted easily at concerts. THIS IS A GREAT CONCERT CAMERA for being tough and being able to pick up LOUD noise without cracking and distorting.

2. Lens placement means I am often covering the lens and my pictures have blurry dark spots in the corner. This is a common anchor point for steady shots.. so I get a lot of finger prints on the lens.

3. Sky is often washed out, but I fixed that with some manual tweaks.

This takes 720p video (at 59.97 frames per second - verified with sony vegas Pro 9). I have set my camera to take 16:9 shots even though it takes a few Megapixels off the size it looks great and matches the aspect ratio of new TVs and new monitors.

Underwater use has been fun, being waterproof makes it less risky to take places, like kayaking where you aren't there for underwater shots, but there is a high risk of water damage.

I have only tested underwater in a lake. Lakes in Maine are full of minerals (brown/rust colored) so the pics tend to be darkened. Ocean or pool would be much brighter and less distorted. I got this camera to take to high risk events like sailing, kayaking, biking and its perfect for the job. I also use this for filming drum covers, drums are loud, this camera can handle the audio and fast movement in videos.

Color tones are beautiful. greens in particular remind me of my first sony, they are deep and eye catching.

I have not tested facial recognition, or really any special features but macro. Macro mode is much better than the olympus tough cameras and my previous kodak M1033. I also like having a dedicated video button versus having to goto a menu or restarting the camera in video mode.

Editing video is a breeze with sony vegas, my old kodak took quicktime files which are basically useless on a PC without wasting hours converting video. You do need a good computer to edit video. Filesizes of videos is much more manageable then my kodaks 720p videos (the video looks much better too, stays in focus better and adjusts to light changes faster).

Someone before this said you need a gaming computer to play HD video.. I disagree. The videos play on my desktop and both of my 3 year old laptops. So, unless you own an eMachines (junk and probably cost less than this camera) or a 4+ year old computer, you probably wont have trouble. (desktop is dual core 3.0ghz 6GB, laptop 1 is 1.5ghz dual core 2GB, laptop 2 is 2.4ghz single core 1GB). Its not a fault of the camera if your computer cant handle HD video, HD video takes a lot of processing power no matter what it came from, so clean the background programs out to free it up.

I give this camera 5/5 for taking near SLR quality pictures from a point and shoot, especially with macro images. Waterproof that works, and video quality that is top of the line with compatibility to work with.

Horrible audio quality
The video quality of the camera is pretty good. I compared it with a creative vado HD, and the TS1 was much better in almost all respects. However, I was greatly disappointed to note that the TS1 records an excessively high background audio noise (hiss). It is excruciatingly high and is extremely distracting when viewing any video. I have had to do further audio processing to remove the noise, but that adds another step to my workflow. I tried it with the 'wind cut' feature on and off. It didn't make any difference, though I didn't expect it to since the only videos i have taken so far are in my room, which is pretty quiet. Compared to the Creative Vado HD, the audio noise is so high that I am wondering whether I have been shipped a faulty unit.
I would love to receive comments from other users' experience with the audio quality of this camera. Of course, to hear how bad the background noise is, you would have to be recording with normal conversational volume in a quiet room.

Love the features of it
Amazing features. Waterproof, shock proof, dust proof, me proof (kidding) for this price is great! Some lighting outside doesn't produce the best pictures but granted I haven't read the manual completely. Still working on that. The HD video quality is amazing.

Good for what it is
I've never seen a "great" digital pocket-sized cam before, but going on the assumption that all of these tiny cameras with tiny optics and sensors will basically suck compared to a DSLR one can put this into perspective. The TS1 is pretty pricey at 0, but it is fairly feature packed. The video mode actually works quite well, and the AVCHD compression is exceptionally good. This is really the main stand-out feature of this camera because the general image quality of the still shots is pretty marginal, but still in-line with what you'd typically get with these kinds of cameras. There is a fair amount of JPEG artifacting, and I don't know why for 0 this thing can't save out RAW. It really should.

The auto controls work reasonably well, but there is only fair manual control. There's also no lens cover of any type, and this doesn't come with a case. For the price, it should have a case since it seems too easy to scratch the glass over the lens.

I bought this to take kayaking, rafting, and on hikes where carrying my Canon 450D would be a pain. I don't expect the best images, but most of the flaws of the files can be fixed simply by importing the JPEG's into Photoshop's Camera RAW importer and tweaking the whitebalance et.al. there.

For what it is, I like the camera, but you'll never get professional shots out of this or any other camera with a 1 cm lens. That tiny lens means you'll have to deal with slow shutter speeds and high ISO's, so you'll get grainy, blurry images. Although the Optical Image Stabilizer does work well to reduce some of the blur from slow shutter speeds.

Terrible Product
I don't know where all these great reviews are coming from. I bought this one because my other one was stolen. I thought it was supposed to have FM radio...not on mine. Also, no speaker to listen to. The directions that come with it are a joke. The website is no better. I know I have the same model and these options (FM radio and speaker) are NOT on it. The software is the biggest pain to get songs onto the player. Its not intuitive, thats for sure. Then, the player stops after each song. You also can't separate audio books from the music. It just goes from a song to a chapter in a book. I'm returning mine. What a waste!

Lastly, Walmart sold me one that had been returned and had a bunch of files on it I had to try to remove.

A lot of bang for the buck!
I bought this for my daughter based on the many positive reviews... and...

I haven't been disappointed. This player is well designed and easy to use. Best yet, the battery life is amazing! Playing with headphones or in the car (via AUX jack) the player regularly goes 25+ hours at a time between charges. Another great feature is the built in speaker, which my daughter loves... and is surprisingly useful. This speaker is clear, albeit small, but would be great for audio books, etc. It's also a lot smaller and lighter than you think.

There are almost no cons on this product, except maybe the case is a little "plasticy" and the buttons a bit small, but, really... this is just nit picking. I am almost certain to buy a 16GB when my current player gives up the ghost. Buy this player and you're almost certain to be happy.

Zen
This was the second MP3 player I've owned and compared to the first one is so much nicer and easier to use. Lots of features too.

Best bargain for an mp3 player these days.
Creative Zens and Muvos have always had great sound, but their BEST benefit is the way you can use Windows Explorer to just drag and drop song files and folders into the player just like you handle ANY OTHER FILE. As someone who has sat waiting for friends as they wandered through the wilds of iTunes (mandatory software for iPods) trying to find where iTunes has put their latest fave (is it under techno or electronica or something else?), I know the value of being able to categorize the music on your hard drive the way you personally prefer (for me, 1GB folders of genre, like "80's 4", and so on). The navigation on this player is pretty standard for the button-click type, and the battery life is above average. So save your money and get a Zen.

i love listening to books on my zen
i love to listen to audible.com books on my zen. i can fit 150 hours of books on it.

Altec rocks
This is a great little speaker.

I bought it to hook into my son's Sansa Fuze before we went on vacation, since we were throwing a surprise luau birthday party for two family members during the trip.

We recorded tropical party music on his Fuze ahead of time, then plugged it into the speaker for the party. It worked great. It's not going to be as loud as a big speaker, of course, but it suited the need.

It also fits snugly into a little padded case for travel and there's a built-in recessed area for the cord, which comes with the speaker and plugs right into the MP3 player, so you don't have to worry about buying a separate cord. The cord isn't very long but it didn't need to be.

He also has used the speaker when his earbuds died. I'm glad I bought this little speaker, it definitely doesn't seem to be of the "disposable" quality that I've heard about with other brands.

Highly portable, great sound
I cannot praise this enough. I got one for a recent vacation near a lake, and every night I would plug it into may iPhone and use it for tunes around the campfire. This was four nights, and 4-6 hours per night at a decent volume. Batteries are still going strong (1000 mah rechargable Ni-MH), Sound was impressive, though I usually ended up setting the speaker sideways and aiming it toward the group.
Another use for you iPhone/smartphone users is that it is a great speaker for conference calls and for use as a speakerphone. Much less tinny than the built-in iPhone speaker, it can really broadcast phone calls, streaming audio, anything you need amplified.

Portable Speaker
Great product. Works much better than Altec's lower-end product where you have to "twist on" the speaker. This unit has a simple on/off button. Sound is excellent. Arrrived on time.

Perfect for the Palm Pre
I bought this speaker after reading the reviews. I use it to stream Pandora Radio on my Palm Pre. Sound is great. Also works great with movies on a laptop. Its no ipod doc, but does the trick...

Great little speaker, needs some refinements
I actually love this little speaker. It provides pretty good sound at an affordable price. BUT...the clips that hold the batteries in aren't big enough. I've found that all AAA batteries are not EXACTLY the same size, and the clips in every other device make up for it but in this speaker, some of my batteries won't even work because they are just a touch shorter than the rest. And even the ones that work can get reseated easily, and I'll have to open the cover and adjust them. Kind of annoying. :-(

I Love My Sony Mp3 Player
I love this Sony four GB mp3 player that holds around 500 songs. I like the different colors you can choose from. This Sony mp3 player is way better than the Ipod and alot easier to use. If you have windows all you need is windows media player. I like that you can charge your mp3 player on your computer. it's a lot easier to put songs on the Sony mp3 player compared to the Ipod Nano. I use my mp3 player everyday at least 6 hours. I say you should get this Sony mp3 player over the Ipod Nano, because it's cheaper and way easier to use. I enjoy my mp3 player everyday, and wouldn't live without it, because for me music is life without music there is none.

Got it for free and going to buy a replacement instead
I got this unit as a free employee gift. I was hoping to use it to replace my Creative Zen but it has a number of problems that make it a non-starter for me. It uses a proprietary cable so I can't multiplex the micro/mini USB cables I already carry. The Creative can hang from my neck which looks goofy but is great for sleeping on a plane--the Sony has nothing like this. I often listen to audio books. The Sony doesn't support Audible. I listen to podcasts and the Sony support is pretty limited including the fact that you can't delete files from the device which is how I keep track of the podcasts I've listened to.

I think I'll buy a new Creative instead of using this free Sony.

Perfect MP3 and Video Player
The Walkman E438 does music, FM radio, pictures, and video well. The sound is excellent, the controls are intuitive, and the 2 inch display is dazzling. Plays Amazon unbox-mobile video movies, also has pictures with slide show. Works flawlessly with Windows Media Player and Amazon's MP3 store. For those Apple die hards, it also plays unprotected AAC.

FM radio is a plus when at the gym (tune into what's playing on the tv).

Small, pocketable. As with any MP3, invest in some good headphones.

Very Nice Walkman!!!! Heeeeermoso !!!!!!
I have purchased this walkman because I like music very much and I have the opportunity to keep my songs and videos in a very small walkman that it is great.
I would like to share something in Spanish: "Este walkman es incríble, su tamaño tan pequeño lo hace fácil de llevar a cualquier lado ocupando el mínimo espacio. La sintonía de las estaciones es perfecta.
Lo que podemos decir en contra es que requiere mucho tiempo para recargarse y no puede ser usado mientras tanto. Pero en general, estoy muy satisfecho con esta compra."

A lot of Bang for the Buck
I wanted to avoid the nightmare of an IPOD and hassle of downloading onto a portable device using Itunes. This is a sweet little unit that has great features and is easy to use. I use 128k bit rate and have about 50 albums on the unit. I use it mainly in my 3 cars that all have aux inputs and it sounds great. Battery life is as advertised. I also use it to easily download music to my office computer which is on a highly restricted network. Make sure to get the low-cost accessory kit for this unit. You won't be disappointed.