Sony NW-A808 user reviews
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User reviews10
John Kam 21 October 2009
Good: Sound quality, that's all i need
Bad: Not to this product
Comment: i bought this unit from a local dealer, as display unit.. it's cheap and functional, along with superb musicality. i don't use it to watch movie or whatsoever... to me..it fit perfectly for my daily audio needs...
Eunice Ridge 4 September 2007
Good: Convenient to use the buttons
Bad: The headphones... (won't stay in )
Comment: I only wish that I had bought the larger GB instead of the 2GB that I was talked into by the assistant... but nevertheless it is pure magic.
My previous player was a 20GB Samsung quite good but larger and heavier.
I am 80 years old and use it when I take the dogs for walkies... but have better headphones (Sennheiser PX100) since I don't like the ones with the product.
Emmanuel Runes 31 July 2007
Good: The interface, the video & sound quality
Bad: Sonic Stage
Comment: As soon as I set my eyes on it, I knew that this was the perfect one for me. This player really does the job if you don't need a lot of features; the sound, video, and photo quality are all stunning, and you can listen for 4 hours a day and not have to recharge it for a week. However Sonic Stage can get pretty annoying sometimes. If you're not keen on all those other features, the Sony NW-A800 is just right.
Duck Inapond 24 July 2007
Good: Design, easy to use, sound quality, video, thin and small.
Bad: Area of earphone jack, no radio, and is somewhat pricey...?
Comment: Really, really good. Its sound quality is one of the best players around. The screen is nice and the video option is nice, but you can only enjoy something like a movie trailer, a music video or a short clip on it. The screen is too small to watch anything longer than around 5 minutes. Included earbuds worked well. Strangely, it's not available in America but it is in Canada...
engenhokeiro maravilha 15 July 2007
Good: Amazing sound quality, great battery life, good interface, great build quality
Bad: Sonicstage
Comment: I'm using this player for a while and everything about the quality of the player it's true. Sound quality is unbelievable and it's really a joy to use.
Now, about Sonicstage. As the player is unbelievably good, Sonicstage is unbelievably bad. It's not what it does (you eventually manage to get your music on the player and it has nice features) is how it does. It's slow, it's clumsy, it's unconsistent, almost any slow operation blocks the interface forcing long waits, you cannot batch transfers, etc. This huge number of little and not so little things make it a complete nightmare to use.
But once you get your music, it's like the ad says, everything else is just noise.
Mike Weston 21 June 2007
Good: Awesome sound quality - and the bundled buds are almost the equal of my Etymotics
Bad: SoundStage and it's lack of support for DRM WMA files
Comment: Sony and Apple have, for me, much in common. They both make outstanding products which they then hobble with their insistence on their own proprietory formats. Why-oh-why should I be limited to using Sony Connect (or iTunes in the case of Apple) to buy my digital downloads?
This is a surmountable obstacle, and at last I have an excellent reason to surmount it. The Sony NW-A808 is my fourth mp3 player and by some distance the best, despite the quibble above.
The two key factors are sound quality - punchy, detailed, flexible and simply awesome; and usability. The SoundStage software may be rubbish, but on the device itself the usability is the best I've seen: logical, easy structures and the best implementation yet of album art to select playback choices.
Better on-the-go playlist building would have been a bonus, but this player (a birthday gift I didn't choose myself) delights me every day.
Werner Mark 7 June 2007
Good: Cool design, big screen, good video
Bad: The software, no picture zoom
Comment: I can't believe that no one mentions the fact that you can not zoom the pictures you load into that thing. Hello, even my cell phone can do that! And what is with the power-on routine?
This thing turns on all the time when you carry it around in a pocket. No way to turn it off, each button turns it on again at the slightest touch and drains the battery. Not even the lock button disables that feature. I was lured by the design but I regret I bought that thing. Don't want to start talking about the software!
Chris Vagai 30 May 2007
Good: Quality sound, spectacular display, superb video quality & improved software
Bad: Price, software (same old sony complaints)
Comment: My review may be biased so you are warned ;) I have owned Sony products since I was born [or so I like to think :)] Walkmans [tapes] to CD player to MD player to MP3 [HD5] to this A808!!!
The sound just keeps on getting better! I'm into hip hop and r&b [clap once if you're with me!] and BASS and DUFF DUFF is what I find important in my music! This player ALWAYS delivers, no EXAGGERATION! [note I use CX300s, the ones supplied are aite, but I love my CX300s] Anyways...
Sound - EASILY a TEN!
Video. Not the fastest transfer but hey, I've gotta minute while watching Friends. 30 frames per second is off the hook [i.e. amazing!] I only use 30fps for my music clips while for my haha clips [comedy] I use 15fps to transfer [btw Maz Jobrani RULES :) ]
Battery charges relatively fast via USB, However, I would like/prefer an in-wall charger like the iPod has.
Menu is easy to navigate [once you get the hang of it]. Half an hour of playing around with it while on the bus [I was bored] and I figured out the *tricks* to getting to where i wanted fast [and I'm no techy kinda guy].
Price is my only complaint [hey, I'm a student, what do you think ;) ]. But I'd much rather be complaing about price than about sound quality, navigation, video quality etc etc.
How could this player be improved [me playing the devils advocate] - Bigger storage - 10gb, 15gb, 20gb?!?... FM function would be nice... blah blah blah... Not much really, I'm very satisfied with my A808...
Hope Ya'll found this review useful! [I should get paid for this lol]
Peace, Chris.
Andy Stacey 25 May 2007
Good: Just about everything
Bad: My Sony Connect Shop is in german, probably my fault!! Can't seem to change it.
Comment: This is a class bit of kit from Sony, I have the 4gb version - NW A806 and it is a day old, easy to use and sounds superb I love the menus. In spite of the software being slagged off, I am used to Sonic Stage as I have owned another Sony MP3 player and I find it perfectly usable. I understand that some people have had nightmares trying to use it. Buy one now, I doubt you'll find a better player!!
Pamela Beeching 28 April 2007
Good: Long battery life, superb sound and colour repro - a player for grown-ups
Bad: Headphone socket on the base - makes rubbish of the silly plastic cradle!
Comment: I've just bought a 8GB black one of these neat little players. I have 3 other Sony MP3 players because I think Sony make MP3 toys for grown-ups who aren't into massive accessory purchasing and are after quality with good, enduring funtionality.
The sound from this slim little gadget is smooth and rich both vocally and instrumentally with full bass and amazing top notes - try Nigel Kennedy's Classical violin tracks and you will see just what I mean. In places you can even hear the guy breathing and I don't think you will better that for superb audio reproduction!
The video side? Well it has great video colour reproduction but not for those whose eyesight isn't brilliant because I think you would have serious problems - as with all hand held tinies - in seeing details for any great length of time.
ATRAC? I don't see what all the fuss is about. Maybe it's because it's the only compression program I have used but it works for me with no loss of quality at all. Previous versions did have trouble with handling duet tracks with a tendency to splatter them all over the player rather than putting them neatly into one folder but this version seems to have got that cracked to a great degree - at least on the CDs that I uploaded onto it.
Earphones? Well I have long thought that my ears are definitely not the same shape as other people's, however these "in-ear" 'phones work for me after sort of screwing them into my ears - they cut out most of the outside world and are brilliant compared to other MP player supplied efforts. Terrifically comfortable too.
Downside? The accompanying cradle is next to useless - why not have the earphone socket on top of the player so that you can actually use the cradle with earphones plugged in? Any why oh why do Sony refuse to pack this lovely gadget without a lanyard or at least a little slip case to protect it? Minor points but it would ease the pain of parting with the cash!
Precis? This is a seriously superb, sleek and sexy player with great battery life, great sound and video quality and great good looks for grown-ups who have got over the Ipod stage.
Pam Beeching