In the dock: Sony's new CMT-E350HD music system boasts a 160-gigabyte internal hard drive for storing digital music, enough to store a stack of audio libraries, and is the latest swipe in the company's rivalry with Apple. The CMT-E350HD has left out an iPod dock in preference for a WM-PORT, which in effect is a dock just for Walkmans. You can still hook up your iPods to the Sony stereo, but only via a USB connection. The lack of an iPod dock might deter Apple fans, but Walkman owners will feel the attention is overdue. The CMT-E350HD can play back MP3, WMA, AAC, ATRAC and PCM files and can record from CD to hard drive. It has a pair of 20-watt speakers, an FM/AM radio tuner and a prominent 8-line LCD display.
The cost of the CMT-E350HD is ¥44,800 and Sony is also offering the CMT-V3, a more compact system that lacks the hard drive but costs ¥24,800. Alternatively the SRS-NWGU50 at ¥14,800 takes the bare bones approach and is just a speaker dock for Walkmans.
All models are set to hit the market Saturday. www.sony.jp/system-stereo/