Sony 8 GB Walkman Video MP3 Player with Built-in Bluetooth (Black)

The Sony Walkman 16GB is a fact. It has 16GB of internal memory. It has a bluetooth connection for seamless syncing. It is lightweight but feels substantial, indeed reminding me of the original cassette Sony Walkman from more than 2 decades ago that used to be constructed in a metallic case. It is the finest portably music player that I have encountered. I won't bother comparing to others, including the iPod, because the Sony tops them all.

First, the sound: it is fantastic. It is not a CD player in terms of fidelity, but it gets you 95% of the way there. Using both the included earphones, which are not too bad at all, and my superior Shure e4c earphones, which are fantastic, the fidelity of recorded MP3s and WMAs was outstanding. Bass was tight and not overpowering. There is a bass enhancer for those of you that like more of a thump. Trebles were clear and bell-like. Distortion was not evident across the volume range.

Second, the interface: I love it. The Dpad makes scrolling around and finding songs very intuitive and easy. Volume controls on the side of the unit, Play/Pause dead center of the Dpad. Navigation is very easy using a menu-driven system that does not require any manual to understand. The lock button is also on the side of the screen to prevent against random taps.

Third, the form factor: It's small and light, but the unit feels tight, firm, and solid. It doesn't remotely feel plasticky and cheap. I love the audio jack at the bottom of the unit instead of the top. The screen is breathtaking. I'm not kidding, it's like a mini HD-TV. Very bright, adjustable, and 100% smoothness of motion. Videos are crisp as is the player interface.

Fourth, connectivity: Just plug into your USB port on the computer and the Sony is recognized immediately. There is no need to install anything (I used Windows Vista). Did I already mention Bluetooth? Wireless autosync could be the coolest thing ever. It paired immediately with my computer and syncs right to Windows Media Player 11.

Net net, this unit just does everything that I want in a unit: solid, light, sleek, great sound, great video. I hate that this review probably reads like a Sony commercial but I can't believe how enamoured I am with the Walkman. I've been waiting years to upgrade my iRiver 1GB MP3 player but nothing ever really convinced me until now. I never liked the Apple offerings since I think the fidelity is mediocre and found the non-Apple products to be wanting. I'm glad that Sony finally got serious about this product segment again because their previous efforts were pretty poor. Well, not anymore. Two thumbs up all the way!

This product is amazing,, althogh it has a big screen and looks big but its pretty light and it is just pretty,,, sound quality just awesome,,, headphones awesome,,,, bluetooth conectivity awesome,,,, Just forget Nano 4th generetaion and its stupid fancy stuff, i was a big fan of all nanos,,, but this oen is classy with better sound quality and light better battery,,, 36 hours and close to 10 hours of video,,, i dont use videos,,,, just music,,,, and i really love its WMA compatibility,,,, thats how ipods suck,,, then the good thing is that u can sync music from your Windows media player in any computer,,,, In I-tunes,,, aaa aaaa,,, nope just one pc for one ipod,,,, i have had both ipod and zune i have returned all of them and just got this one,,,, i really recommend this,,, i really do,,, good luck! it cost me 312.67 $ from walmart woth second day shipping included,,,, just awesome and classy

I just bought the NWZA828KBLK. It has 8GB and comes with a DR-BT21G Bluetooth Headphone and a MDR-EX082 Cord Headphone. All I can tell you is that this is a wonderful product. The music sounds great with the cord headphone and the Bluetooth headphone works wonderfully with the music player without requiring me to configure it. All I need is to press the Bluetooth button and I am able to listen to my music. I was able to walk around my room and listen to my music that sounds great for more than eight hours. I was surprised that I was able to pair my DR-BT21G Bluetooth headphone with my Bluetooth phone. I can now listen to music and use the phone with the same Bluetooth headphone. When my phone rings, the headphone pause my music player and I was able to answer and talk to my phone. It is easy to pair the headphone with your phone. While the headphones are off, hold down the power button for 7 seconds and enter passcode "0000" when your phone ask for a passcode.

I will second the previous review by nycebo. He sums it up nicely. Sound quality is amazing, blows my ipod out of the water. The only problem is that it does not support my Audible files.

I bought the Sony Walkman NWZ-A828, a month ago so I could listen to audiobooks while exercizing. I wanted to get away from the wired headset on my IPod, and this was Consumer Reports recommended. The only flaw in this player, and from my point of view a major one; the max range of the bluetooth transmitter in the player is 3 to 4 feet! Thats unobstructed! Placing the player in my left chest pocket causes drop outs, and the same goes if I drop it in my right hand pants pocket. I verified it's the transmitter, and not the head phones, by pairing it with the bluetooth earpiece from my cell phone, which I do use at ranges up to 15 feet from my phone!

The clear bass is amazing, I am using these with a pair of Denon C551k's and this player sounds much better than my previous iPod Touch & Cowon D2.

There are not many features in this player to be honest it's lacking
but at what it does.. it does it very well.
Videos are fine, you can use the same software presets you use for the iPod classic "mp4", where this player shines is the excellent sound quality and portability and the ease of use.
This thing is smaller than it looks and despite the specifications saying "Windows only" it shows up as a UMS device in Mac Os X and Linux.

I can not comment about the Bluetooth feature because I bought this player for the sound quality that I read about and using a Bluetooth headset would dampen that, but bluetooth is very easy to pair with this device if you are into that.

Everything about this product was good I just wish sony would make a mp3 player with more GB.

This is my first portable mp3 player...I spent weeks studying players and reading reviews all over the web before I settled on this little beauty and I'm thoroughly pleased. The controls are very intuitive and easy, the sound is terrific (with my elderly bulky, clumsy stereo headphones.) The bluetooth headset doesn't fit me properly and I don't like neck bands so I have a DJ style bluetooth set on order, but it works just fine. Walking around without wires is great. Syncing with WMP 11 is a snap, software supplied is not needed. I'm retired now and walking my dogs with music accompanying me is so pleasant. Who needs an iPod...my grandkids are a bit jealous because this sounds better than their Nanos.

This unit has some great features:

1. Bluetooth streaming is easy to use and very convenient. Wireless headset is very cool, never had a need to use the xlnt earbuds supplied with unit

2. Xlnt sound quality, there is is a myriad of options to for sound equalization and other audio options.

3. Very good interoperability with cell phone, when used as a stereo headset with a bluetooth phone will cut off music to answer phone and then start music after call. Supplied bluetooth headset can be used as replacement headset for phone.

4. Great interface with bluetooth car stereo. Streams effortlessly with no problems with properly equipped stereo.

5. Very nice form factor, built solid and is small enough to easily fit in shirt pocket.

Down Side
Proprietary usb interface can be a pain if it gets lost.

I usually don't review things but I love this mp3 player. I think nycebo pretty much sums up the good. I bought the 16GB in July for $300 through Amazon Prime. It was more than I wanted to spend to replace my 3 year old Dell Jukebox 30GB but now I wish I'd saved a lot of frustration with syncing the Dell and it's slow hard drive and bought a Sony a long time ago. My only complaint is it comes with just a USB cable so you have to have a computer to charge it unless you buy the power adapter (which was not available when I bought mine) or something like the MusicPower Duet Two-USB Port AC Charger. I use the Sony plugged into my car stereo with the volume turned up about 2/3 of the way and the batteries still last forever. It has a lot of different audio settings but even on the default settings it still sounds almost as good as a CD on my 8 speaker stereo. It plays Napster files but does not sync well with the Napster software so I recommend using Windows Media Player.