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markey, I'm around for most of the day so don't hesitate to ask anything else. So did you copy and paste into the right place and did you find SS??

markey, you copied and pasted in the wrong place!! You know the giant orb thing on the start menu of vista? Click on that to bring up the start menu (you'll see the seach feature there) and copy and paste it there, not wmp 11. The reason you got the error message from wmp is because you don't have any albums/artists/tracks called SonicStage! From one of my earlier posts: Copy and paste C:\ProgramData\SonicStage\Packages\ into the 'Search' on the Start button Let me know what happens!!

Markey, I'm on Vista too. Copy and paste C:\ProgramData\SonicStage\Packages\ into the 'Search' on the Start button. As soon as I type that in, it brings up everything I have in SS. Try that and let me know. You can also find it using Windows Explorer. Do it exactly like this: Computer > C: > ProgramData > SonicStage > Packages

Actually, you're right. They 'pretend' to be available and then you see they're out of stock. I found a refurbished Grade A for £79.95 complete with a 12-month warranty. But that's all I could find. I could have sworn I saw some the other day retailing for £129 (rip off) but I can't find them now. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B...347&sr=1-31 Comments: Grade A units. Direct from Sony. Complete with 12 month Warranty.

Funnily enough, I'm not fussed about the playlists. But if you're looking for the same features as the 808, why not get another one if they're still available? Or are you 'done' with SS/Atrac?

Right, that's it then. Thanks Old skool for saving me loads of money! I'm not going to get one now. I really like the features on the 808, and it seems more user friendly than the new model. Looks like the only advantage of the 829 is a slightly bigger screen, slightly better sq, but with less features than our beloved 808's! Seems like a sideways step to me. I'll stick with the 808 and Zune for now and wait till Sony bring out something with the 808 features plus extras, not minus extras! I can go buy some Denon AH-C551s now with the cash. P.S So you're going to get the 818 to supplement the 808 and get 16GB that way? You still can't make on-the-fly playlists with it. You know that don't you?

Heman - I knew someone would know of an easier way to do it! Thanks. That's really useful to know. I've always used the long-winded method.

markey - go to WMP > File > Add To Library When the pop-up window appears - click 'Add' from the window and then browse to the SS folder. Yours should be in the same place as mine. C:\ProgramData\SonicStage\Packages\ When you get there, click on 'Packages' and then click 'OK' if you want to transfer the whole lot, or click on individual folders to select the ones you want. You should then see a progress bar showing how many files it's adding while WMP adds them to the library. That should work for you. If not, let me know. EDIT: If you've changed the location of imported files from the default, then go to SS > Tools > Options > Location to save imported files - and see where the loaction folder is. Then browse to that as above.

Ohhh, so it's a Vista thing then. As for what it's doing, who knows? I know it takes ages just to apply album art now, and half the time it only applies it to the front cover and not the individual tracks. I didn't have this problem with XP. Next time your hard drive is stressed, try looking at task manager to see what's going on.

I have Vista Premium and it sounds fine through 4.3. I wonder if it's an 'Ultimate' thing? There isn't a lot of choice for adjusting the sound through SS, except the DSEE enhancement which is really intended for mp3s. Have you tried playing wma files or CDs through Media Player to see if it's a speaker problem? Or try a CD in SS and see if it still crackles.

Yes, keep us posted. I think it's criminal that they're asking for money. If you'd said the screen had spontaneously combusted while you slept, I could understand them asking for something (as the likelihood of that happening is nil!!), but they're aware it's a battery issue. Exactly how can a battery be 'not looked after'? Maybe all our 805/6/8 batteries are designed to give up after 12 months and 1 day, and yours 'mistakenly' crapped out within warranty!!

It's obviously a battery issue and nothing to do with mistreatment. They'll be able to tell that. How can someone mistreat a battery? By using it?? Pay the thieves the money. You'll get it back anyway, it's pretty clear cut. You've got a duff battery. Thank God it screwed up within warranty!

It looks the perfect size! I always thought the 808 was too thin. That was one of the reasons I bought a case, to bulk it up a bit! Old skool, congrats! When you've loaded some of your own music, tell us about the sq compared with our beloved 80x series. Zizone thinks the soundstage is a bit bigger. I've kept my Zune because I really like the bigger soundstage, but if the new Sony sounds noticeably better than the old one, well, umm, guess I have to get out my credit card!

I can't see any here either. Are they very small???

It's all flat, nothing boosted or taken away. The only thing I use is CB +1 sometimes and I always use the Dynamic Normalizer. I used to fiddle around with the EQ a lot when I first got the 808, and some headphones are so bad they need all the EQ they can get! With the supplied headphones I think I reduced the treble by one notch and kept the CB +1 up permanently.

It depends on what kind of music you listen to, and what kind of effect you're after. The only 'enhancement' I use is the dynamic normaliser and occasionally I boost the Clear Bass by one notch. The other effects (Club, Live, Arena, Studio, etc) sound very strange to my ears so I leave them all off. The best thing to do is listen a few favourite tracks, and then play around with the effects. It's the only way you'll find the sound you like. I experimented with all the preset EQs and found them absolutely awful, except for the 'unique' setting (which I don't use, but is the lesser of all the evils!!) The 'pop' setting is the weirdest with the music sounding hollow and echoey. But try some for yourself and see what you think. Sometimes less is more!

I bought my sister-in-law the NWD-B105 and she complained bitterly about the lack of volume. I did try it myself before I sent it to her, and with those stupid bundled frisbee earphones I had to have the volume on almost full. But with my Denon C700 I was able to set the volume to about 22/30. And with the Sennheiser CX300, around 22 as well. I also tried the earphones that come with the Sony A808 and I had to go almost full volume with them (but they sit at the entrance of the ear canal and therefore don't isolate very well anyway). I wasn't aware there was a volume limiter on any of the European models after the NWS series came out. Maybe it just has a lower volume???

Old skool, you'll definitely have plenty of space with 16GB. Having converted my entire library to wma lossless, (so much space on the Zune, I figured why not!) I wasn't too happy with the battery hit, so I encoded all the lossless files to lame 320kbps mp3, variable bitrate, using the free 30-day-trial of dbpoweramp music converter, and I couldn't tell the difference between those and the lossless. So I went with the mp3s to save battery, and I've now filled up 12 GB with 88 hours of music. So that gives you an idea how much the 829 will hold (at 320 bitrates). If I had the Sony now, I'd still have 4 GB left, enough for another 30 hours on top of the 88 . . 118 hours in total. Would you need more than that in the near future? I know I wouldn't. And I'm adding CDs much more slowly now, since all the bulk was done in one hit! But I can't honestly see that I'd ever need more than 100 hours of music with me at any given time, so 16GB should be way more than enough for a very very long time!!!

I agree with Dura. The 829 doesn't appear to be 'leaps and bounds' better than the 808/818. And a plastic back??? Well, I've decided (after much deliberation), to keep my Zune and 808 as my only players. I was very excited about the new models initially, as were a couple of others as I remember, oldskool But my enthusiasm has waned a lot. If I was to upgrade my 808, (and pay those extortionate prices) it would have to be for a much-improved model, and it seems the 82x is not, at least not improved enough for me to lust after it any more. My 808 is in perfect condition, plays gapless, and has great battery life. The Zune has the extra capacity I need and sounds pretty good too. So I'm 'set' for now, but I will always be interested in another Sony player, just not the new series.

I only know that the 808/818 are exactly the same, except for the software they use. But if you search the forum you'll find a review on the 829 by Zizone, and it does appear to sound slightly better than the 808/818 series.

Hello! You typed the A818 twice so I assume that was a mistake. I don't think the A818 was available a year ago. Do you mean the A808 with SonicStage/Atrac? Which model do you have - and which model are you referring to as the 'new' one? It will be easier to help you once we know that.

I don't think either of them have radio Zizone. I'm waiting to see if the 729 pops up at Amazon UK and at what price. Still think £225 for the 16GB is a huge rip off, and if the non-Bluetooth model doesn't get released here (despite different Sony people saying different things all the time), then I won't be buying the 829. I don't want BT and I definitely won't pay for BT when I don't want it!! So, I'd like a 16GB A729 for a maximum of £150. Until that's available, I'm sticking with the 808 and the Zune.

That's true. I use mine with a speaker cradle occasionally and I have to take it apart to get it to fit. A slight annoyance, but the case itself does a great job of protecting, and it doesn't detract from the appearance at all. I actually prefer the tiny amount of thickness it adds as I always felt the 808 was a little too thin for my liking. Now it's perfect!

Actually, they're 5+5mW. Might not seem much, but it's 20% more power than you stated. And, unlike other brands, (Creative Zen etc, 16+16mW) I'm pretty sure Sony doesn't publish peak output figures, which is more accurate, since peak output tells you nothing in terms of what you're going to hear! The amp can't sustain peak output for prolonged periods of time anyway, (which is why the figures are meaningless) but most people will think 16+16mW HAS to be more powerful than the puny 5+5mW Sony, when this isn't the case at all! And to prove this, my b/f's Zen, 16+16mW has a much lower overall volume threshold than my 808, on ALL the headphones /earphones we've tried it with. To get equal volume levels on both units with the same track - we have to set the Zen to 20/25 (80%) - and the 808 to 18/30, (around 60%), and that's with the dynamic normaliser off. So you can't judge a player based purely on specs. There are several people over at Head-Fi who are stunned by how powerful the humble little 808/818 is, and many of them are using them with higher-impedance headphones with no problems. I used it (briefly) with the Klipsch Image, rated at 50ohms, and the 808 needed no more than 12/30 for an acceptable listening level. Companies quote peak outputs because they sound better, as in 'bigger' - but you can generally get an approximate idea by dividing peak output by 4 to get sustained output, so the Zen would (in theory) have only 4+4mW - which would explain why it's not as powerful as the Sony!!!

You haven't said what your previous mp3 player was!! If it was a Sony, which model? If it was an unknown brand (or an iPod!!), I'd expect the Sony to crush it anyway. So what model were you comparing it with?