After Apple announced the iPod sports kit, it made sporty MP3 players cool again. But while the Apple Nike combo requires an additional Bluetooth-connected impact counter, a Bluetooth transmitter, an iPod nano and a pair of Nike shoes, the Sony NW-S203F does away with all the peripherals with an all-in-one solution.

Design
Look at it. The NW-S203F sure comes across as some cyberpunk fairy's version of a magic wand. Or the same pixie's karaoke mike. It's long, the body's metal, and there's a plastic knob at one end for twiddling with the navigation. It's no fancy Click Wheel, but it gets the job done.

	Knob, knob, who's there?

Navigation with the control knob involves rotating the barrel on a horizontal plane, either twisting right or left, but it's not all that static. Cleverly, Sony extends the versatility of the knob by placing it on a slider. With it, the knob can be shifted vertically into three different positions. The first is for skipping songs by folders, the second for left/right browsing of menu items, and the last acts as a Hold switch.

While we are not enamored with the monochrome two-line display, it's understood that dedicated runners wouldn't be impressed with a video-playing screen while pounding the track. But the screen is bright enough. Even in direct sunlight, we can still see the display, albeit faintly. Going monochrome also has a positive impact on battery life.

Buttons on the MP3 player are small and minute. Difficult to come to grips with. We aren't in love with the silk screen printing on the player body. After some use, we can see the Walkman logo coming off.

	All snug in slot

Like a Cuban cigar, the NW-S203F carries the same ostentatious flair. It has an aluminum body that's water-resistant enough for a good runabout in the rain. And, yes, the NW-203F is all about jogging. Its long cylindrical shape means it can be held comfortably in the hand while running. We like that the control knob fits well between the index finger and thumb. We could effortlessly skip songs while making a mad dash for the office coffee machine.

For non-relay runners, the baton-like NW-S203F comes with an adjustable black armband which the player can be slotted into easily. According to our muscle-bound colleague who took it for a whirl, it fits well, so no worries about flying MP3 players in the middle of interval training.

The mini-USB slot on the NW-S203F is well fortified against wet elements. It's screwed on with an interior rubber bund for a good seal to prevent liquid spills. However, there's a price. Normal mini-USB jacks are too short. We needed to use the bundled mini-USB jack in order to plug in, so it's as good as a proprietary cable.

Features
The flagship offering of the NW-S203F is its built-in pedometer. Unlike the iPod Nike solution which requires an extra Bluetooth module and impact counter, Sony presents its version in a slim 96.5mm solution. Since it uses the motion-detecting G-sensor rather than an impact counter, it is necessary to input height, weight and stride distance (walking and running) into the player first. Do note that only one profile is stored at anytime, so it will be a hassle to share.

	The MP3 All-Blacks

The pedometer allows targets to be set. Calories, duration and distance goals can be controlled singularly, though not in combination. Unlike treadmills, it will also not take into account inclines or slopes.

For running with tunes, it is also necessary to add songs to the two preset playlists via the bundled SonicStage software. Otherwise, the user can also create extra playlists and designate any of them as a reference for running or walking.

That's good since high-energy songs can be listed in the running list, while slower ones can be added in the walking version. But one bad thing is we could not bookmark songs for either of the playlists from the player itself.

The NW-S203F's Music Pacer feature will automatically switch playlists based on your running pace. However, it's always preceded by a voice announcing the switchover which, incidentally, cannot be switched off. This can be grating when a runner is on his last legs and will probably be alternating his pace with increasing frequency. The irritated runner, however, can always treat it as an incentive to keep up his pace. Else, he can always disable the Music Pacer feature.

	Slim enough?

Though infrequent gym rats may appreciate the pedometer and stopwatch functions, seasoned runners we talked to seem to want more. For instance, there isn't a way to upload data into a computer for analysis, nor is there an A2DP Bluetooth profile for wireless earphones. Everyone hates tangled earphone wires. A marathoner also asked whether she could view maps on the MP3 player, so she wouldn't get lost. Seems there's just no pleasing some runners.

Other than MP3 player functionality, the NW-S203F has an FM radio receiver. There's also a search feature to troll for tunes on the NW-S203F based on artist, albums and titles. For music tweakers, selection will be scarce. Sony includes only heavy, jazz, pop and a five-band custom equalizer. The quick charge function which yields 3 hours of playback time with a 3 minute charge is also featured.

The new SonicStage software performs CD ripping to six different formats; ATRAC, ATRAC Advanced Lossless, WAVE, MP3, WMA and AAC. As well as acting as music management, there is also an Artist Link feature which was first introduced in the NW-A series. However, the NW-S203F does not support it, so songs cannot be tagged with Artist Link meta tags and transferred into the player.

Performance
In our FM autoscan tests from our test location, the NW-S203F scored every major station. In battery drain tests using 240MB of files played on a looped playback, the NW-S203F reached 16 hours 23 minutes.

	No Artist Link for the NW-S203F

The NW-S203F does not allow for drag-and-drop when it comes to music transfer; everything must be done through the medium of the SonicStage software. For drag-and-drop of 240MB worth of MP3 files, the NW-S203F averaged 1.53MB per second. However, when we transferred the same files using SonicStage, it averaged 1.23MB per second.