Sony NWZ-A818BLK 8GB

The tiny Sony NWZ-A818BLK player will offer you good storage for its size at 8gb and what I've come to expect from the company, 30 hours of battery life. it has a great design overall taking away that hold button and a nice user interface. The videos in the screen look really sharp to my amazement given the fact it is their first video walkman and has sufficient buttons to not want to scroll wheel through it. One plus about this walkman that isn't a tradition of many companies is its headphones. It brings high quality headphones that make it by far the best sounding player out of the box. Its also pocket-friendly player and best of all open source. You can just drag your music from many computers and have them come to you with no restrictions. Personally though, I would have liked for them to just come out with a really nice software for it as it would make your music better organized and easier to manage. All in all, a great player and definitively something to consider over the regular mp3-devices without a display.However if you're looking or expecting to impress your friends, in my opinion this won't be a good go.

After being severely disappointed by a Technika MP3 player from Tesco I was extremely sceptical about every finding the kind of MP3 player that I wanted. However, the NWZ-A818 is perfect. That is not an exageration.

I had to save up for two months to buy this device and it was worth every penny at £75. The random music feature really is random. It supports playlists from Windows Media Player. I plug it in to my computer and it is good to go. Charge time is not too long, not sure exactly what it is but perhaps one hour of charge for five or six hours play. It can only be charged by USB though.

I rip my music at 192Kbps and the sound quality is absolutely fine. I have not had any need to use the graphic equaliser or different sound options that it supports simply because it sounds good straight off the bat.

The display is lovely, album art looks very nice on it. I have not used it for video yet, but given what I have seen so far I have every confidence that it will be fine. I bought a leather case (available from Amazon for between £10 to £15 that comes with a screen protector) which means the device is doing fine even though I have dropped it a number of times.

This is my fourth MP3 player and I have to say it is excellent. With a nominal recharge frequency of 500 times for the battery, I expect the device to last between 2 and 5 years and it will have been worth the money for sure.

I was quite dubious about the Sony NWZ-A818BLK after reading so many good reviews. To be honest it was between this and the new Ipod Nano...... how glad i am that i chose the Sony. This is an amazing MP3 player. The screen resolution is excellent, the sound quality is excellent, and it's so simple to use my 5 year old nephew could operate it with no problems. If your after a great little MP3 player and in my opinion a slightly better alternative to the Ipod then you can't go wrong with the Sony NWZ-A818. The 8GB memory is a bonus and at £69.99 (Tesco) is excellent value for money.

The music is clear. It is easy to download music onto it. I would recommend it even though it doesn't except all songs.

Audio sound quality is my priority and this unit really delivers. I rip mp3 files at 320kb/s since I am spoilt with 300 Sennheiser HD650 phones through dedicated Hphones amps on my main hifi unit. I am still impressed with this Sony (through 30 PX100 Sennheisers).

Two customisable graphic equaliser memories are included which allow you to adapt the unit say for two different sets of headphones.

Sound is powerful; bass is full but not boomy or shapeless and bloated. Treble is crisp but not harsh with virtually no sibilance unless you overemphasise the treble.

Photos and video look crisp and motion is handled well - the screen is just on the small side for prolonged video entertainment. I would have preferred a radio too. Sony's SonicStage software is (thankfully) completely unnecessary as Windows explorer/Media Player drag and drop file management work with the unit.

Get the transparent hard shell case (or ask for it for your birthday) as the unit can live in the shell permanently but will still look great and be 100% useable. It is just over-priced (as usual).

I bought this based on reviews and it has exceeded my expectations both in terms of ease of use (using Windows Media Player 11), sound quality and battery life. Does feel a bit flimsy compared to my old i river H10 6GB... but that was something of a brick! Screen is fantastic, and although I use it only for music, video playback is outstanding also. My first Sony in 7 years, and definitely an i Pod beater!