The New Sony DAP - A820

pleasant Co.

Hear ye hear ye! Read all about it!

Michael over at DAPreview has a nice little run down on Sony's latest and greatest DAP, the A820... seems pretty hot.. should be out here in April.. can't wait.. http://www.dapreview.net/comment.php?comment.news.4233

youcancallmeal

Looks pretty nice alright but still not enough storage my likings.

pleasant Co.

youcancallme>al wrote: »

Looks pretty nice alright but still not enough storage my likings.

Yeah, same as... hence the ownership of an ipod classic

But, I loved the A81X, absolutely awesome DAP, nearly as good as the Cowon D2, certainly it was/is the best mainstream DAP available.

Looking forward to this too and hopefully I can get my hands on one to review.

eclectichoney

now i am so glad i waited for the new model. looks gorge and 36 hours battery life!

16GB ftw!

Kintarō Hattori

I have to say I do like the look of this. Like yourself Mactard I'm a big fan of the NWZ-A818. I prefer the styling of it but the added functionality and longer battery life of the A820k series would be nice. Any idea on pricing? I'd consider upgrading if it's not too expensive.

pleasant Co.

Yeah, it's fairly pricey... the most expensive model (16gb) will be €310/320 (not sure which as it will vary over here thanks to the north using sterling)

However for that price you get a pair of bluetooth over ear phones and those in ears from the A810 series. It certainly has many things going for it which would make you want to upgrade, but I'll leave my judgement blank until I get my test unit.

BostonB

Mactard wrote: »

Yeah, it's fairly pricey... the most expensive model (16gb) will be €310/320 (not sure which as it will vary over here thanks to the north using sterling)

However for that price you get a pair of bluetooth over ear phones and those in ears from the A810 series. It certainly has many things going for it which would make you want to upgrade, but I'll leave my judgement blank until I get my test unit.

How do you know that will be the price, and will include Bluetooth earphones. I haven't see either info anywhere else.

eclectichoney

Grrr why are sony doing this to me? It turns out that the 16GB is probably not going to be released in the UK/Ire for the time being anyway!

https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/b2c/display/(xcm=PCM_b2ccrmstandard&layout=15_116_61_50_117_121_2&uiarea=2&ctype=areaDetails&carea=45E339DEB33B0095000000002BC29B85)/.do

Maybe I should just go for the 818 after all? I'm not going to be using the bluetooth and screen size doesn't matter as I only use it for audio. The battery life would be a plus on the new player though. Oh and even if we get a 16GB it is only available in black and not pink

Wertz

Currently on eBay from Japanese seller for ~$430. No BT earphones that I saw. Looks nice, but I'm going to stick with my A808 for another geration till there's a 32gb.
Prices of the NWZ81X series is dropping due to this release...

pleasant Co.

eclectichoney wrote: »

Grrr why are sony doing this to me? It turns out that the 16GB is probably not going to be released in the UK/Ire for the time being anyway!

https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/b2c/display/(xcm=PCM_b2ccrmstandard&layout=15_116_61_50_117_121_2&uiarea=2&ctype=areaDetails&carea=45E339DEB33B0095000000002BC29B85)/.do

Maybe I should just go for the 818 after all? I'm not going to be using the bluetooth and screen size doesn't matter as I only use it for audio. The battery life would be a plus on the new player though. Oh and even if we get a 16GB it is only available in black and not pink

if it makes you feel any better I've tested the A818's battery life. With high bitrate files (256kbs AAC, ~256kbs vbr MP3) I averaged 37hrs over 3 tests.

BostonB

eclectichoney wrote: »

Grrr why are sony doing this to me? It turns out that the 16GB is probably not going to be released in the UK/Ire for the time being anyway!

https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/b2c/display/(xcm=PCM_b2ccrmstandard&layout=15_116_61_50_117_121_2&uiarea=2&ctype=areaDetails&carea=45E339DEB33B0095000000002BC29B85)/.do

Maybe I should just go for the 818 after all? I'm not going to be using the bluetooth and screen size doesn't matter as I only use it for audio. The battery life would be a plus on the new player though. Oh and even if we get a 16GB it is only available in black and not pink

The Irish site never has MP3 players so I don't get you here. Often the Sony sites bear no relation to whats in the shops. Thats my experience anyway.

BostonB

Wertz wrote: »

....
Prices of the NWZ81X series is dropping due to this release...

I'm thinking for the SQ the current 818 is a decent price, compared to the alternatives.

pleasant Co.

BostonB wrote: »

The Irish site never has MP3 players so I don't get you here. Often the Sony sites bear no relation to whats in the shops. Thats my experience anyway.

You've just been looking on the wrong site. Sonystyle.ie does not have DAP's listed but Sony.ie does.

eclectichoney

So, finally took the plunge and went for the a818, still loading songs at the moment. Cost me €135 so happy enough

Oh and it's pink

pleasant Co.

Nice one! enjoy it! It's certainly the best mainstream 8gb DAP on the market.

BostonB

eclectichoney wrote: »

So, finally took the plunge and went for the a818, still loading songs at the moment. Cost me €135 so happy enough

Oh and it's pink

Where from?

eclectichoney

Sony centre in Dun Laoghaire - they had 10% off the pink ones for Mothers Day and they still had the sign up by mistake so I got the reduction (They took the sign down as soon as I left the shop!)

Loving the sound quality so far.

Wertz

That's a great price...amazon is looking £115stg for the pink one (in fact all colours except black which is going for £95stg !?!).
You'll not be disappointed...definitely the best sound from any walkman I've had over the years, including CD ones.

BostonB

LOL, well I think I'll get a black one.

Nightwish

Its a gorgeous DAP and was interested in it until I saw the storage. I have a 4 year old Sony NW100 and I am thinking of upgrading to a better model but my old one is 20BG. There's no way I'd go backwards in terms of storage, even if everything else is superior.

eclectichoney

I used to go in for hard drive players in a big way - i had an iriver 140, then h340 then an ipod 80GB, but now I'm a total flash convert. Possibly because i have occasionally dropped my player and use it in the gym a *lot*. Flash gives you that flexibility which makes up for the lesser storage imho - the smaller size is great too.

Also I found didn't really listen to most of the stuff on my larger HD players anyway, so my ipod is now docked at home and hooked up to my stereo.

If and when the new 820 series 16GB comes out here, that might be a decent compromise for those who want HD-type storage size.

Wertz

eclectichoney wrote: »

I used to go in for hard drive players in a big way - i had an iriver 140, then h340 then an ipod 80GB, but now I'm a total flash convert. Possibly because i have occasionally dropped my player and use it in the gym a *lot*. Flash gives you that flexibility which makes up for the lesser storage imho - the smaller size is great too.

Also I found didn't really listen to most of the stuff on my larger HD players anyway, so my ipod is now docked at home and hooked up to my stereo.

If and when the new 820 series 16GB comes out here, that might be a decent compromise for those who want HD-type storage size.

That goes double for me (except for the gym part).
I went from a 40gb vaio pocket to the 8gb a808...I still use the pocket in the house and car hooked up to hifi/stereo but it's heavy and the small pause/lag you get when changing tracks is sort of off putting once you get used to instant response from flash memory.
I notice that 8gb (which I haven't even filled) is adequate and don't even find myself juggling folders for variety....even though half the 40gb was filled, I used only really listen to ~4-5gb anyhow...

Kintarō Hattori

As always another thumbs up for the A818. A great great player, sound quality is amazing.

I've had a 40GB Creative Zen NX, a 40GB iRiver H140 and a 30GB Cowon A2. I don't miss the masses of storage space as I used to pile everything onto my player just for the sake of it. Now I only put on what I'm actually going to listen too.

Again the sound quality is the best of the players I've had and the A2 was no slouch but the battery life is superb.

beardybrewer

Mactard wrote: »

However for that price you get a pair of bluetooth over ear phones...

It sounds tempting but those earphones aren't supposed to be that great. The review I read on cnet said there was a faint background hiss at all times. I wonder about the battery drain and about the quality of sound via bluetooth. One of the main draws of the a818 is the high quality ear buds and sound quality. Frankly, I think this is early-adopter terriroty. If that's your thing great. But I think I'd wait 2 years until the technology evolves and a good pair of headphones can be had for less than €100.