Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony Walkman NWZA-826 4GB Video

* Superb sound and earphones.
* Great battery life even when playing videos.
* Plug and Play - can just drag and drop files directly. No need for 3rd party software.
* Can not only browse the media library by Artist/Genre etc, but also by Folder which is great for someone like me who has lots of techno/trance/DnB sets/mixes. The iPod can't do that.

Don't forget to tweak the Equalizer for extra Bass. ;)

I will never ever buy a non-Sony portable music device.

I cannot believe that Sony don't allow bookmarking or 'Remember Playback Position' with this MP3 player. This makes this MP3 player practically useless for playing audiobooks and only suitable for playing short songs.

Very poor!!

This is a great mp3 player. I've put mine through the test and its fully lived up to most of my desires. The Capcity is good 8mb gives you plenty of space for putting music on at 256 and 320kps. I currently have over 1500 songs and 3 hours of video on mine. I have never had any issues with battery power or sound quality. Sound quality is far better than an ipod anyday of the week and twice on Sundays. As well as having an EQ it has several sound enhancements (though you don't need them on to see the difference in sound from an ipod) Anyone who is critising this player because of the sound platform sonic stage should be aware you dont need it for this player (or any of sony's mp3 players that were manufactured in the last few years). I use Windows Media player to transfer music and Media manager to transfer video (media manager comes with the player)I don't get on with the drag and drop feautre as it I don't understand how to get reliable album images tagged to my music. I use Windows Media Player to load and tagg art to my music and this works 100 percent perfectly. The Bluetooth Transfer is great and I have no problems, sound is smooth and high quality (for mp3). The Video does drain power, but thats also true on ipods. I did hope that i'd be able to plug the player direct into a monitor to watch video and use it as a video player but this isnt so (and isn't advertised as doing it so I can't complain) Overall I love this player and it goes everywhere with me

Sony NWZA829B 16GB Video Walkman

The new Walkman is greatly improved on previous versions, it now needs no software just media player and is very simple to load, the screen is much improved especially viewing outside in strong sunlight and the sound is just superb. All in all a great player thats easy to use, nice one Sony!!

I have had 5 iPods to date, but this player beats them into the ground!
I am a bit of an audiophile, and spend ridiculous amounts on cables, interconnects etc, so I do know and require good sound quality in my components. I had read reviews regarding this players sound quality, and I can assure that even playing back 192kbps music fom Napster, it sounds INCREDIBLE!!
Try playing MP3's at 320 kbps, and it blows you away! The headphones included are a revelation for a portable, they are in my view astounding, (and I have a pair of Sennheiser 650's so I think I can make this comment confidently).
The player also plays lossless WAV (and supports gapless playback in this format), and I can assure you that this player playing back this format is nothing short of a truly high end piece of portable kit! I have heard it through my Graham Slee Voyager amp, and it is amazing! WAV is memory hungry however, so unless you need gapless playback from an album, stick with 320 kbps MP3, it is almost as good!
It doesn't suport BBC iPlayer, but here's a hint, it DOES support converted playback of Sony Play TV material, when encoded using the Sony Media Manager software, included in package! You do have to pay about £7.99 to upgrade to Media Manager PRO, online, but this does mean that if you copy recorded material (any channel) from Play TV to a memory card using the PS3 USB connection (I used an 8gb SDHC card) and then drag the file into the Media Manager PRO Transfer window, it then converts it to the format needed for the A829, and hey presto! It works brilliantly! It takes ages, but it's worth the wait!
Any channel, any film, any programme! If Play TV records it, this player (using the software above) will play it! It looks great too on the superb screen!
I really can't praise it highly enough! Three months FREE Napster, fantastic sound quality, superb style, and the ability to play back Play TV recorded material!
This is the best player on the market in my view! Highly, very highly recommended!!