I was repeatedly told that it would be no problem at all. After a frustrating several hours of playing with it, and e-mailing their on-line support center, I called customer support. I was then told that I could not transfer files from I-Tunes, everything is copywrite protected.

After spending >2 hours on the phone with Sony, and having my questions 'escalated' up to higher departments, I am told that it is common when using Windows Explorer to drag-and-drop mp3 files that the YEAR tag cannot be read. This is trivial, but for the fact that the screen readout for all songs will say "Unknown" on the bottom line, as you cannot customize the display (only whether album art or title information present or not). Furthermore, one of the main menu items, the time capsule shuffle is not applicable, because for it to work, it needs to see release year.

Once this is officially sold on every electronic outlets, Sony immediately refund $20 to my credit card account. If I did not see the refund, I probably won't even notice the price change.

Once I powered it on and played it, I'm now not too fond of the sound coming from my other larger player. With this one, you don't have to mess with iTunes or other garbage bundled software. You simply hook it up via USB and it looks like a hard drive on your system that you can simply drag and drop your music or videos into the proper folders.

With my old player, it did have the software that so many detest -but it allowed to rip the music directly on to the player, windows media player (or atleast the version I have [one of the more current ones mind you]) does not. Basically that translates to me having a rip-fest of sorts, and then ofcourse never listening to the music on my computer (I dont really use WMP all that much). As a redeeming quality, I recently found out that if I plug my player in and rip the music to the computer then the music will be put on the player, but the middleman thing is annoying.

I have tried converting files to MPEG4 from AVI & WMV (basically because the thing came with a Spiderman 3 trailer and it is an MP4) , no luck. I even downloaded a TV show from itunes thinking perhaps that would work better then my home made movies. Obviously that didn't work (but I really liked that Bugs Bunny cartoon about baseball).

On my quest to find the least crappy mp3 player, I considered a Zune 8g (small screen w/ thick black border wtf??, poor battery, limiting zune software), Meizu (poor USA CS, QC issues, stuttering tracks problem) and ZEN(plastic-ky, buggy, unstable firmware), Clix2(expensive, D-click issues) Sansa View (big, ugly, cheesy GUI), to name a few and all had deal breaking faults.

I had no idea this wasnt a common feature, so I did this on the nwz-a818 only to find that I had to repeat the process of sifting through the list to find the song I wanted to listen all over again. Oh but other then that, it's very easy to navigate. No bugs or technical flaws to speak of (my song years haven't gone awry for those of you eyeing the time shuffle), my old player would freeze every once in a long while -this one doesn't (always nice).

I have the software now and have converted some files into MP4's successfully, I've put them on my player but it's coming up with "file not recognised" messages for clips from bought DVDs. I have managed to load some stuff from a DVD I've recorded myself though. I still think I'm doing something wrong but I'm not a novice at this kind of stuff and it's not simple to work out.

It is Sony-specific, which means that the device can only be loaded and charged from a PC with the Sony cable attached. So, unless you buy extra cables (I don't know if there an power adapter available), you are effectively grounded to the one PC. For me, given Sony's history, this restriction was reason enough to return the unit.

I've already managed to break mine once (ill be getting that snazzy hard case) and sony fixed it up and returned it shockingly quickly. such a sleek interface i feel fuzzy inside everytime i pick it up. some cons easily overlooked: not an expansive variety of play modes or equilizer settings (comes with custom though).

I bought this MP3 player based on other reviews on this site and have not been disappointed. The sound is concert-hall quality (try Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" if you haven't already), but the main reason I bought it was to download free audiobooks from my library's website. The audiobooks on the library website can't be put on IPods but will work with other MP3 players.

I almost completely overlooked this player due to all of the hype surrounding other players, and Sony's historically poor selection of mp3, i mean ATRAC players. This has to be not only the best overall flash mp3 player on the market, but considering build quality, and brand name the best valued player. Even though Sony omitted some "extra" features, there are absolutely no problems that I have to "live with" or "just get used to".

GUI is clean and chic. Drag and drop anything into it with windows explorer, syncs with WMP 11, except the vids (mp4) which WMP doesnt recognize... not Sony's fault, maybe im doing something wrong.

I'm not a professional when it comes to audio, but I do know outstanding sound quality when I hear it. I thought it was just the headphones (because if you do your research you'll find that these come with earbuds which sell for $70 on the SonyStyle website), but it really is the player. I've taken the same mp3 file and played it on a 3rd generation nano, and just switched out my headphones back and forth between the apple and the sony.

I longed for a higher capacity (flash memory based) mp3 player but was repelled by the idea of an iPod because (a) the sound quality never seemed right (b) let's face it if you have tens of gigabytes of music, you probably didn't purchase it, and more to the point your mp3s quality probaby kinda sucks to begin with, and (c) I will not bow to the "look at me" sheep mentality behind the Apple brand. So how does this fare in real life? Pros

So if you have a song with funny symbols in the song name (since sometimes when you rip the music, information is lost), it's only going to come up as symbols on the player. Either way - that's something I've noticed most reviewers didn't bring up, I thought I'd share it with others who might have a similar concern as I do. (Though I'm not sure how it would work with some other languages like Arabic, Thai, etc.

After seeing and hearing this the ipods are junk unless you want alot of memory. Other than that this thing has a alot more technology but i think youve got the point after what it says on the top.

i use Mediamonkey to load/edit files on it. The only things i don't like about it are the lack of on-the-fly playlists, and the fact that altering ID3 tags for files that are ALREADY on the player is at times troublesome (nothing unusual about that for non-iPods tho). But these are insignificant in the face of all that this player does right.

The Sony also feels more sturdy, and, since the Sansa crashed and died, I'm a little more comfortable with a player from a company that has earned a reputation for making reliable products. So, even though Rhapsody doesn't list this player as compatible, or anything by Sony for that matter, and even though the A818 is marketed with a Napster partnership, it will work with Rhapsody To Go!

Once I powered it on and played it, I'm now not too fond of the sound coming from my other larger player. With this one, you don't have to mess with iTunes or other garbage bundled software. You simply hook it up via USB and it looks like a hard drive on your system that you can simply drag and drop your music or videos into the proper folders.

I bought this MP3 player based on other reviews on this site and have not been disappointed. The sound is concert-hall quality (try Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" if you haven't already), but the main reason I bought it was to download free audiobooks from my library's website. The audiobooks on the library website can't be put on IPods but will work with other MP3 players.

I'm not a professional when it comes to audio, but I do know outstanding sound quality when I hear it. I thought it was just the headphones (because if you do your research you'll find that these come with earbuds which sell for $70 on the SonyStyle website), but it really is the player. I've taken the same mp3 file and played it on a 3rd generation nano, and just switched out my headphones back and forth between the apple and the sony.

I longed for a higher capacity (flash memory based) mp3 player but was repelled by the idea of an iPod because (a) the sound quality never seemed right (b) let's face it if you have tens of gigabytes of music, you probably didn't purchase it, and more to the point your mp3s quality probaby kinda sucks to begin with, and (c) I will not bow to the "look at me" sheep mentality behind the Apple brand. So how does this fare in real life? Pros

The bass is extenuated more than a 1st generation Nano but the Sony outshines in overall sound quality. The provided headphones are good, but if you want that golden sound you will want to upgrade. You cannot create, alter play lists or delete songs without being jacked in to your computer.

I have to add that the headphones rock - the sound is so smooth, even at higher volumes. There isn't that harsh metallic feeling from the sound, unless your tracks of choice include it intentionally.

I must admit it wasn't as god-awesome-enlightening as I was expecting (my old player had relatively good sound quality as well, but this player trumps) but when you're confused because listening to an old favorite CD you think you've discover a "new" song only to realise it isnt new at all, merely that the real beginning of the song never was defined amidst the fuzz before -well then that is something remarkable. It is also nice to discover subtle layers or inserts on an old song that you've never heard before.

Additionally, the sound quality is the same if not better. I think Cnet gave it a higher rating because the Iriver has an FM tuner, voice recording and flash games. Personally I dont need them, I think if Iriver did not have those three options the Sony would have been rated higher.

Even on Head-Fi people are praising it's sound and that says alot, you have some hardcore users there :) One member said he was going to buy another a818 as back-up because he said he couldn't bear to live without it if he lost or broke his.

Almost everything about this product is great ,exept its missing radio ,and doesnt have a built-in delete option ,everytime i want to delete a song i have to connect it to pc and also the most important is that its not loud enough on 30 max ,just still not satisfactory and if i wanna go deaf thats my choice and if sony wants to limit my sound thats their mistake

Once I powered it on and played it, I'm now not too fond of the sound coming from my other larger player. With this one, you don't have to mess with iTunes or other garbage bundled software. You simply hook it up via USB and it looks like a hard drive on your system that you can simply drag and drop your music or videos into the proper folders.

With my old player, it did have the software that so many detest -but it allowed to rip the music directly on to the player, windows media player (or atleast the version I have [one of the more current ones mind you]) does not. Basically that translates to me having a rip-fest of sorts, and then ofcourse never listening to the music on my computer (I dont really use WMP all that much). As a redeeming quality, I recently found out that if I plug my player in and rip the music to the computer then the music will be put on the player, but the middleman thing is annoying.

I longed for a higher capacity (flash memory based) mp3 player but was repelled by the idea of an iPod because (a) the sound quality never seemed right (b) let's face it if you have tens of gigabytes of music, you probably didn't purchase it, and more to the point your mp3s quality probaby kinda sucks to begin with, and (c) I will not bow to the "look at me" sheep mentality behind the Apple brand. So how does this fare in real life? Pros

So if you have a song with funny symbols in the song name (since sometimes when you rip the music, information is lost), it's only going to come up as symbols on the player. Either way - that's something I've noticed most reviewers didn't bring up, I thought I'd share it with others who might have a similar concern as I do. (Though I'm not sure how it would work with some other languages like Arabic, Thai, etc.

So, when it comes to music it is fool proof. There is a BUT... I'm still trying to work out how to get all DVD files onto the player.

Directions helpful and almost not necessary. I'm over 60 and not regarded as an electronic wizzard, but I was listening to music is a half hour or less.

I imagine this is a pretty advanced feature and there may not be an MP3 player out there that can do it, but it would allow me to switch between listening to a book to listening to music without losing my place in the book.

Perhaps I am a minority in the day-and-age of download, but most of the music I have is on CD -and most meaning 95%. Being someone whose against free downloads (and loathes the crap quality they often come with), and believes in supporting the musician thus means my musical collection is located predominately off my computer.

And I don't suppose most others have this problem, because most others already have their music on their computer. I rarely touch the extra features, don't really look at pictures (my old player allowed you to set them as backgrounds, this one does not.. you're kinda stuck with the display they send you), watch short movies, etc.

I ordered the silicone case set and may decide on the hard case because I travel a lot and I don't want inadvertent damage on the plane or while the security gorillas are pawing through my bag. The music quality is, to me, just fine. I have an eclectic mix of oldies and rock -- no constant moronic "bump-bump" of rap and no classical so I find the tonal ranges and presets to be just fine.

I was repeatedly told that it would be no problem at all. After a frustrating several hours of playing with it, and e-mailing their on-line support center, I called customer support. I was then told that I could not transfer files from I-Tunes, everything is copywrite protected.

After spending >2 hours on the phone with Sony, and having my questions 'escalated' up to higher departments, I am told that it is common when using Windows Explorer to drag-and-drop mp3 files that the YEAR tag cannot be read. This is trivial, but for the fact that the screen readout for all songs will say "Unknown" on the bottom line, as you cannot customize the display (only whether album art or title information present or not). Furthermore, one of the main menu items, the time capsule shuffle is not applicable, because for it to work, it needs to see release year.

I have tried converting files to MPEG4 from AVI & WMV (basically because the thing came with a Spiderman 3 trailer and it is an MP4) , no luck. I even downloaded a TV show from itunes thinking perhaps that would work better then my home made movies. Obviously that didn't work (but I really liked that Bugs Bunny cartoon about baseball).

I have the software now and have converted some files into MP4's successfully, I've put them on my player but it's coming up with "file not recognised" messages for clips from bought DVDs. I have managed to load some stuff from a DVD I've recorded myself though. I still think I'm doing something wrong but I'm not a novice at this kind of stuff and it's not simple to work out.

i use Mediamonkey to load/edit files on it. The only things i don't like about it are the lack of on-the-fly playlists, and the fact that altering ID3 tags for files that are ALREADY on the player is at times troublesome (nothing unusual about that for non-iPods tho). But these are insignificant in the face of all that this player does right.

For photos I personally did not think that WMP 11 did a good job getting the photos onto the player. It copies the files in the same folder hierarchy as they are on your system which may be a problem because for photos the player only recognizes files one (or two?) folders deep. It also does not resize the photos and many thumbnails did not show up on the player.

I used RealPlayer with some success... only thing is that when you create a playlist it copies the mp3 files with it so you'll have double of the same file on your player. Do NOT use the Walkman Media Manager (which you can download from the Sony support site)...

So, when it comes to music it is fool proof. There is a BUT... I'm still trying to work out how to get all DVD files onto the player.

Other thoughs: -Even though it doesn't say its Mac compatible I have transfered files on/off of it using Leopard and no special software, go figure. (Player doesn't eject properly but no damage to data so far)

I'm not a professional when it comes to audio, but I do know outstanding sound quality when I hear it. I thought it was just the headphones (because if you do your research you'll find that these come with earbuds which sell for $70 on the SonyStyle website), but it really is the player. I've taken the same mp3 file and played it on a 3rd generation nano, and just switched out my headphones back and forth between the apple and the sony.

(Hence why the jack is at the bottom of the player, as opposed to the top.) The overall design is very Asian (the one long and one short headphones, jack at the bottom, etc.), so it would be something that I need to get used to. It's not a design flaw - it's meant to be that way. ;)

The bass is extenuated more than a 1st generation Nano but the Sony outshines in overall sound quality. The provided headphones are good, but if you want that golden sound you will want to upgrade. You cannot create, alter play lists or delete songs without being jacked in to your computer.

Second, the headphones are better quality than the 600 series but the screwed up sony version where the left cord is shorter than the right is annoying. Third, it is more expensive. On the positive side it works with WMP 11 and you do not need to load any new software.

I have to add that the headphones rock - the sound is so smooth, even at higher volumes. There isn't that harsh metallic feeling from the sound, unless your tracks of choice include it intentionally.

I couldn't believe the headphones bundled with the player. They're Sony's top-of-the-line earbuds that retail for $99, and I've not seen them discounted for less than $75 anywhere.

The headphones that come in the package are very good, unlike the ones bundled with the Nano. Spending $70 on headphones might be OK for many people but why buy when you can get it as a part of the player? 3) Video and Photos: I loaded some photos onto the player on Day 1 and they look good.

Some people have mentioned the great headphones that come with this unit (an they are)the only thing wrong with the headphones is the short cable but they do throw an extension cord in with them.

I'm not a huge audiophile as I mentioned above, but all I know is I have the volume set to 10, plugged my headphones in, it completely drowns all the sound out. The music sounds really good without messing with any of the setting, but I'm looking forward to playing with it and see what it has to offer.

I'm not a professional when it comes to audio, but I do know outstanding sound quality when I hear it. I thought it was just the headphones (because if you do your research you'll find that these come with earbuds which sell for $70 on the SonyStyle website), but it really is the player. I've taken the same mp3 file and played it on a 3rd generation nano, and just switched out my headphones back and forth between the apple and the sony.

I longed for a higher capacity (flash memory based) mp3 player but was repelled by the idea of an iPod because (a) the sound quality never seemed right (b) let's face it if you have tens of gigabytes of music, you probably didn't purchase it, and more to the point your mp3s quality probaby kinda sucks to begin with, and (c) I will not bow to the "look at me" sheep mentality behind the Apple brand. So how does this fare in real life? Pros

The bass is extenuated more than a 1st generation Nano but the Sony outshines in overall sound quality. The provided headphones are good, but if you want that golden sound you will want to upgrade. You cannot create, alter play lists or delete songs without being jacked in to your computer.

I must admit it wasn't as god-awesome-enlightening as I was expecting (my old player had relatively good sound quality as well, but this player trumps) but when you're confused because listening to an old favorite CD you think you've discover a "new" song only to realise it isnt new at all, merely that the real beginning of the song never was defined amidst the fuzz before -well then that is something remarkable. It is also nice to discover subtle layers or inserts on an old song that you've never heard before.

Additionally, the sound quality is the same if not better. I think Cnet gave it a higher rating because the Iriver has an FM tuner, voice recording and flash games. Personally I dont need them, I think if Iriver did not have those three options the Sony would have been rated higher.

I longed for a higher capacity (flash memory based) mp3 player but was repelled by the idea of an ipod because (a) the sound quality never seemed right (b) let's face it if you have tens of gigabytes of music, you probably didn't purchase it, and more to the point your mp3s quality probaby kinda sucks to begin with, and (c) I will not bow to the "look at me" sheep mentality behind the Apple brand. So how does this fare in real life? Pros

Foreign characters could only be synced and displayed (often time incorrectly - or words were missing) if Sonic Stage was either Chinese or Japanese (you only get one or another). This is one of the reasons why my brother went with an ipod a couple years ago, since it would display Chinese just fine. Anyway, after I charged and uploaded my player, I played around with it and saw that my player could display BOTH Chinese and Japanese just fine.

My son wanted an MP3 but NOT an ipod since the last one he had never worked right, even after several calls to technical support. After researching, I got him the Sony and boy, he has not been disappointed!!! The size is good, the quality good and so far, 2 months after the purchase, he prefers the Sony to ipod.

there is no lag whatsoever between button-press, execution and display. that was deal breaker for me on the ipod Nanos (reminded me of my terrible cellphone).

But the video thing is pathetic. I was looking forward to watching a few cartoons on my little 2 inch screen for laughs & I guess I should have got that dumb ipod huh?

Sony thus recommends that Windows Media Player be used for transfers, which essentially replicates the iTunes-ipod pairing that so many of us want to avoid. TOO BAD, because this is a simple programming fix! If you don't care about album year stats and an 'unknown' line will not bother you, then this is a non-issue, and I strongly recommend the player.

I've had ipod, but I was so disappointed by the quality and battery life. I've been a loyal Sony fan, and never had any problem with all Sony electronic products that I have.

I had an ipod for 3 years. That was fine but I wanted to try another type of MP3 player.

Once I powered it on and played it, I'm now not too fond of the sound coming from my other larger player. With this one, you don't have to mess with iTunes or other garbage bundled software. You simply hook it up via USB and it looks like a hard drive on your system that you can simply drag and drop your music or videos into the proper folders.

With my old player, it did have the software that so many detest -but it allowed to rip the music directly on to the player, windows media player (or atleast the version I have [one of the more current ones mind you]) does not. Basically that translates to me having a rip-fest of sorts, and then ofcourse never listening to the music on my computer (I dont really use WMP all that much). As a redeeming quality, I recently found out that if I plug my player in and rip the music to the computer then the music will be put on the player, but the middleman thing is annoying.

On my quest to find the least crappy mp3 player, I considered a Zune 8g (small screen w/ thick black border wtf??, poor battery, limiting zune software), Meizu (poor USA CS, QC issues, stuttering tracks problem) and ZEN(plastic-ky, buggy, unstable firmware), Clix2(expensive, D-click issues) Sansa View (big, ugly, cheesy GUI), to name a few and all had deal breaking faults.

I have the software now and have converted some files into MP4's successfully, I've put them on my player but it's coming up with "file not recognised" messages for clips from bought DVDs. I have managed to load some stuff from a DVD I've recorded myself though. I still think I'm doing something wrong but I'm not a novice at this kind of stuff and it's not simple to work out.

Second, the headphones are better quality than the 600 series but the screwed up sony version where the left cord is shorter than the right is annoying. Third, it is more expensive. On the positive side it works with WMP 11 and you do not need to load any new software.

Other thoughs: -Even though it doesn't say its Mac compatible I have transfered files on/off of it using Leopard and no special software, go figure. (Player doesn't eject properly but no damage to data so far)

With my old player, it did have the software that so many detest -but it allowed to rip the music directly on to the player, windows media player (or atleast the version I have [one of the more current ones mind you]) does not. Basically that translates to me having a rip-fest of sorts, and then ofcourse never listening to the music on my computer (I dont really use WMP all that much). As a redeeming quality, I recently found out that if I plug my player in and rip the music to the computer then the music will be put on the player, but the middleman thing is annoying.

The bass is extenuated more than a 1st generation Nano but the Sony outshines in overall sound quality. The provided headphones are good, but if you want that golden sound you will want to upgrade. You cannot create, alter play lists or delete songs without being jacked in to your computer.

- The cable you use to connect it to the computer is proprietary, which doesn't bother me, except there's a good chance I'll lose it... That would definitely suck, especially at $20 bucks or so a pop. If you're not as easily distracted then it's not an issue.

Perhaps I am a minority in the day-and-age of download, but most of the music I have is on CD -and most meaning 95%. Being someone whose against free downloads (and loathes the crap quality they often come with), and believes in supporting the musician thus means my musical collection is located predominately off my computer.

And I don't suppose most others have this problem, because most others already have their music on their computer. I rarely touch the extra features, don't really look at pictures (my old player allowed you to set them as backgrounds, this one does not.. you're kinda stuck with the display they send you), watch short movies, etc.

I did a lot of shopping and it seemed like the perfect thing based on my needs (I have a lot of MP3s and WMAs on my computer). As an added bonus it claims it is a video player, not happening. Go ahead and try to put a video on this thing (and explain in detail how you did it).

After spending >2 hours on the phone with Sony, and having my questions 'escalated' up to higher departments, I am told that it is common when using Windows Explorer to drag-and-drop mp3 files that the YEAR tag cannot be read. This is trivial, but for the fact that the screen readout for all songs will say "Unknown" on the bottom line, as you cannot customize the display (only whether album art or title information present or not). Furthermore, one of the main menu items, the time capsule shuffle is not applicable, because for it to work, it needs to see release year.

On my quest to find the least crappy mp3 player, I considered a Zune 8g (small screen w/ thick black border wtf??, poor battery, limiting zune software), Meizu (poor USA CS, QC issues, stuttering tracks problem) and ZEN(plastic-ky, buggy, unstable firmware), Clix2(expensive, D-click issues) Sansa View (big, ugly, cheesy GUI), to name a few and all had deal breaking faults.

But the video thing is pathetic. I was looking forward to watching a few cartoons on my little 2 inch screen for laughs & I guess I should have got that dumb ipod huh?

I guess movies eat up a lot more space but I'm not planning to put any video on it (the screen is a decent size for an MP3 player but it's still pretty small and my eyes are over 50:-)) I'm not super technically inclined and it was relatively easy to get set up and download content.

I gave it a 4 because of the movie viewing on a tiny screen. I would recommend this player for listening to music which is what I got it for.