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The Sony X-Series Walkman is a solid device with a graceful, practical design and a completely unique, engaging interface ; it’s compatible with both Mac and Windows and supports podcasts from iTunes and videos from Amazon Unbox ; it offers a variety of features including an onboard Slacker app, integrated YouTube support, Wi-Fi, an FM tuner, and inbuilt noise canceling.

The X-Series is a wonderful choice for audiophiles who need a luxury device with a superb touchscreen interface and lots of other knobs and whistles.

Touch-screen MP3 players are very popular, so it was only a matter of time before Sony hopped on the bandwagon. The organization’s X-Series Walkman was published at CES 2009 and was predicted to hit shelves in mid-June, but the player did not go up for sale until early July.

The player is priced the same as the iPod Touch, with the 16GB going for $299 and the 32GB listing for $100 more.

The player is formed of strong metal and has a weighty quality that makes it feel as pricey as the price ticket insists. It isn’t as slim as the iPod Touch, measuring 3.8 inches by 2.1 inches by 0.4 in., but it is still quite pocket-friendly, and the 3-inch OLED display is zip to snigger at. Our one complaint is the shiny surface is very smudge-prone and virtually impossible to keep clean given the touch sensitive screen interface.

Perhaps the most engaging feature offered by the X-Series Walkman is the onboard Slacker app, letting you get all of the free music you would like on-the-fly. And unlike with the Apple iPod Touch, you will not need a recurring Wi-Fi connection to be able to access to it.

While the X-Series does include a wireless antenna for hopping on to hot spots, the Slacker app only needs access to the network when refreshing station content. Every time you refresh, music is cached to the Walkman so you can hear it wherever you are without regard for Net access.