8 GB MP3 Players
Ranked #7,631 in Computers & Electronics, #159,511 overall
Are 8 GB MP3 Players the Perfect Balance of Cost and Functionality?
Certainly there are those devices that will hold far less than 8 GB MP3 players and many that will hold more, but we think a player of this size is the perfect balance between affordability and the convenience of having all of the tunes and video you love with you at all times. We'll give you some tips for choosing one and guide you through some of the more popular options. We'll even provide some brief video reviews of many of the products on this page to help you along.
Things to Consider When Shopping
Your budget is a prime consideration of course but here are a few other things to think about as you compare the various models.Most people want small and portable. Obviously flash based devices are going to have the smallest size. All of the 8 GB MP3 players on this page have this covered.
Lower end devices tend to have plastic housings and are damaged a bit more easily. In some instances, this is ok, but certainly something with a more substantial housing will be more durable.
Most MP3 players now have rechargeable batteries, which is of course good. But having one that can be replaced is even better as you don't want the end of a battery to spell the end of your device. You also want to compare how many hours of operation you will get with each charge unless you just like taking time out to charge rather than listen to your device.
The best way to determine the audio quality of a device is to listen to it. You can do this in a store and then come back to buy online for the best deals. Of course headphones/earbuds are a critical factor in this as well. The headphones that come with the typical MP3 player aren't generally optimal, so considering the purchase of some upgraded headphones might be a good choice.
Know what music you'll be wanting to get on your new MP3 player then be sure it will support the file formats used. MP3 files are pretty much a given, but how about WMA, or AAC, or something else? Be sure you know where you will be getting your tunes from; specific sites, online stores, the radio, or just from CDs that you already own. In addition, assuming this 8 GB MP3 player will also be used for video, you'll have to assure it will also support the needed video formats.
Again, if your player will be used for video as well, you should check to be sure the video is suitable. Screen size needs to be adequate; this will vary based on personal preferences. In addition, check brightness and resolution. Clearly a screen with 240x320 resolution will have more clarity than one with lower resolution. Some devices even offer anti-glare features to make the screens easier to view in bright lighting.
How easy are the controls to use, how quickly can you navigate to the songs you want, and so forth.
Be sure your new 8 GB MP3 player will connect with your computer and be compatible with your OS.
Do you need a clock, a timer, a calendar, a stopwatch, an FM radio, games, a voice recorder or some other function?
Other Related Items to Increase Your Enjoyment
Most new 8 GB MP3 players will come with any of the necessary accessories like a USB cable to make them functional. However, there are a few things to think about to make the most of the entertainment it offers:
is a common item to consider as are armbands, covers and clips. can really enhance the listening experience by helping to filter out unwanted background noise. that allow you to connect wirelessly and enjoy your tunes without wearing the device when you're at home. This is an option of course only if the player you choose is Bluetooth capable. Otherwise speakers with a docking station are needed.SanDisk Sansa Fuze
SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Silver)
Amazon Price: $76.95 (as of 02/17/2012)
This 8 GB MP3 player offers video playback on a 1.9" color screen as well as a digital FM radio and voice recorder with a built-in microphone. It's hefty memory is expandable with a microSD/microSDHC slot to assure you can carry all of the entertainment you want. It can house up to 2,000 songs, 12 two hour movies, or 4,000 of your favorite photos to enjoy yourself or to share with others.
It comes with an internal rechargeable battery which gives you up to 24 hours of audio playback and 5 hours of video playback on a single charge. Using it's a breeze as it's USB 2.0 connection allows you to simply drag and drop files from your Windows Media Player. It supports MPEG-4 video files, MP3, secure and unsecure WMA, WAV audible and overdrive file formats.
This player comes with earphones, USB 2.0 cable, and a user's guide. Also Available in Black
Review of the SanDisk Sansa Fuze
Coby 8 GB MP3 Player
Coby MP705-8GB 8 GB Super-Slim MP3 and Video Player with Touchpad Control (Black)
Amazon Price: $40.00 (as of 02/17/2012)
With a backlit touch pad control this is one very slim 8 GB MP3 player. It features a large 2" LCD screen with 176x220 resolution for a great looking display. The 8 GB of flash memory gives you plenty of storage for songs, video, photos and text.
This device also provides you with a voice recorder and FM radio. It comes with a rechargeable battery. Transferring songs is a simple process with the USB 2.0 connection that requires you to simpy drag and drop the tunes you want from nearly any online store or subscription service. It comes with USB cable, stereo earphones, and installation CD.
Coby MP3 Player Review
Creative Zen
Creative Zen 8 GB Portable Media Player (Black)
Amazon Price: $91.22 (as of 02/17/2012)
This Creative Zen 8 GB MP3 player sports an impressive 2.5" screen with 320x240 resolution for viewing photos and video. It's huge storage capacity is further expandable with an SD slot.
The device supports most of the popular options for audio such as iTunes Plus tracks from the iTunes store, MP3, WMA tracks as well as subscription and pay-per-download music services such as Yahoo Music Unlimited and Napster To Go. Video support is equally impressive with MJPEG, WMV9 and--with transcoding--MPEG1 and 2, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4 and 5, and XviD support. Users can also view purchased or rented movies and TV shows from online services such as Amazon Unbox and Walmart.com, watch home videos, or load Tivo To Go movies and TV shows onto this device.
This Creative Zen player also boasts an alarm clock function, volume restriction, eight equalizer settings, and a USB hard drive mode, which allows you to drag and drop files directly to and from your Zen. It also functions as an organizer, allowing you to synchronize with Microsoft Outlook and display your contacts, calendar, and tasks. It comes with earphones, USB 2.0 cable, installation CD and users guide.
Creative Zen Review
8GB Zen Moziac
SanDisk Sansa e280
SanDisk Sansa e280 8 GB MP3 Player (Black)
Amazon Price: $66.50 (as of 02/17/2012)
This Sansa allows you to enjoy music, video, and photos on it's 1.8" TFT color screen. It's another one of the 8 GB MP3 players and boasts a microSD slot for expanding it's memory capacity; it supports SanDisk TrustedFlash and gruvi content cards, which can be shared with mobile phones.
This device will play MP3, WMA, and secure WMA formats. Other formats can be converted using the included Sansa Media Converter. It's PlaysForSure technology let's you know at a glance whether or not the music and video you see online will be compatible by simply looking for the matching logo. You'll be able to choose from a large number of digital music and video stores, including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more. You can also view video clips by using the software to convert most popular video formats (such as MPEG-4, WMV, or DivX) into the MJPEG format.
This device also includes a voice recorder and FM tuner/radio function. It comes with travel pouch and lanyard, stereo headphones, lithium ion rechargeable/replaceable battery, USB cable, and quick start guide.
SanDisk Sansa e280 Review
Sony Walkman 8 GB MP3 Player
Sony 8 GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Black)
Amazon Price: $65.00 (as of 02/17/2012)
Need space for 1,850 songs or 30 hours of video? This device is among several of the 8 GB MP3 players that can do the job. This Sony Walkman allows you to enjoy up to 45 hours of continuous music or 8 hours of video on a single charge and boasts a 2-inch TFT color display with QVGA (240 x 320) resolution, and 262,144 colors for a great viewing experience.
It supports MP3, WMA, AAC-LC, and Linear PCM audio formats and AVC(H.264/AVC), MPEG-4, Windows Media Video 9 video formats. It comes with headphones, quick start guide, USB to WM-Port, and CD-ROM.
Also available in Pink
Another 8 GB Sony Walkman
Sony 8 GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Black)
Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)
This Walkman lets you view video and photos on a 2" bi-directional QVGA LCD screen with 320x240 resolution. Users can store up to 5,050 tunes or 30+ hours of video with this robust 8 GB MP3 player. You can even enjoy up to 33 hours of audio playback or 8 hours of video before recharging.
This player supports MP3 and WMA DRM and non-DRM audio files as well as non-DRM AAC content. It's compatible with Windows Media Audio and supports MPEG 4 and M4V profiles as well. Once on the device tunes are easy to find. Time Machine Shuffle plays among songs from a randomly selected year, while Music Search lets you identify tunes by All Songs, Album, Artist, Genre, Release Year, Folder and Playlists. Finally, Initial Search gives you the ability to use the first letter of the song, album or artist to easily find music.
This device comes with USB Cable, headphones, extension cord, CD-ROM with Windows Media Player 11 and MP3 conversion tools, quick start guide, and adaptor plate (for optional 22 pin cradle). This device is also available in Silver.
Sony 8 GB Walkman Review
Transcend T.Sonic 850
Transcend T.sonic 850 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)
Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)
One of the most affordable of the 8 GB MP3 players, this Transcend T.Sonic 850 offers a 1.8-inch color TFT LCD display with 176 x 220 pixel resolution for viewing photos and video. It supports MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM10, and WAV audio formats as well as MTV video format (convert using included software); JPG and BMP image files as well as TXT text files. This player will provide up to 22 hours of audio playback per charge.
This device also features a recordable FM radio with 20 station presets, an advanced voice recorder with built-in microphone, and clock. It comes with a protective silicone cover, neck strap, software CD, earphones, USB cable, quick start guide, and a 2 year limited warranty.
Philips SA61
Philips SA61 8 GB Flash Video MP3 Player with FM Radio and 3.5-Inch Color Screen (Black)
Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)
This Philips MP3 player features a backlit 3.5-inch, full-color LCD (320x240 resolution) to fully enjoy video and photos offering one of the largest video screens of the many 8 GB MP3 players on the market. Users can enjoy up to 5 hours of video playback or 25 hours of audio on a single charge. Navigation is easy with it's SuperScroll feature which allows you to move through a playlist swiftly or one song or video at a time.
This device supports MP3 and WMA audio files and WMV video files and also features an FM radio. It comes with CD-ROM, media converter and Windows Media Player; high-definition headphones, quick-start guide, USB cable, and storage pouch
Samsung P2
Samsung P2 8 GB Touchscreen Bluetooth Portable Media Player (Black)
Amazon Price: $189.00 (as of 02/17/2012)
Want an 8 GB MP3 player with a digital FM radio, text viewer, alarm clock, world clock, and calendar? This would be a great choice. This Samsung P2 also features a 3-inch widescreen LCD with touchscreen controls and compatibility with Bluetooth headphones and speakers for wireless stereo playback. Yes, you can connect with other Bluetooth devices and even produce podcasts with this device using the SMS software that comes included.
This device is compatible with Windows XP and Vista and it comes with a file viewer, which you can use to view and delete any file on the device without the PC. It supports MPEG4, SVI, and WMV9 video file formats and MP3, WMA, and subscription WMA file formats audio formats. JPEG files can also be viewed as pictures or slideshows.
It comes with an internal rechargeable Li-Poly battery that can provide up to 30 hours of audio playback or 5 hours of video per charge.
Samsung P2 Review
8 GB Zune
Zune 8 GB Digital Media Player (Black)
Amazon Price: $59.00 (as of 02/17/2012)
Zune is among the more talented of the 8 GB MP3 players on the market. It features a 1.8-inch color LCD with 320 x 240 resolution, built-in FM tuner, and free games. You can listen to FM radio and even tag the songs you want to buy directly from there. It also gives you the ability to connect to your home wireless network and remotely sync with your PC as well as access wireless hotspots around the country.
Zune offers a large variety of options for listening and purchasing music, sharing it with friends, and enjoying TV shows, podcasts, audiobooks, and more. This device comes with earphones including three earpiece covers and sync cable.
This device is also available in Blue, Pink, Green and Red.
Review of 8GB Zune
8 GB iPods
Apple iPod nano 8 GB Silver (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL
Amazon Price: $169.95 (as of 02/17/2012)
As the most popular of the 8 GB MP3 players iPod is also a very good choice. This particular Nano comes in a wide variety of colors and boasts the brightest 320x240 resolution screen available by iPod. Using iPods signature click wheel you can adjust volume, navigate songs, browse in Cover Flow, or explore the music menu by playlist, artist, album, song, genre, composer, and more. Of course you can also shuffle songs if you want something more random.
Of course movies and TV shows are also available from iTunes and you can enjoy up to five hours of them before recharging. This device comes with a handful of free games but of course more are available. Free podcasts are there for the taking and audiobooks can be purchased too. You also get a calendar, contacts list, stopwatch, and world clock.
See other other 8 GB iPods
8 GB iPod Review
Other 8GB Players
Let Us Know You Stopped By!
If you didn't find the media player you want, be sure to visit our online electronics store.
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mp3playerluv
Nov 24, 2009 @ 3:33 pm | delete
- I just got one of these as an early holiday gift. Love it so far! Thanks for sharing the info.
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JaguarJulie
Aug 2, 2009 @ 8:18 am | delete
- I've got one of these!!! Bought 2 of them as anniversary gifts for me and hubby -- the Apple iPod nano 8 GB Silver (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL!
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JonoEvo
Apr 2, 2009 @ 1:10 pm | delete
- Love the lens. Found it very well done and very useful.
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restlesslimbs
Mar 4, 2009 @ 11:39 am | delete
- Nice lens. Thanks for joining portable electronics.
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Introduction: threefingeredlord.
Things to Consider: teresawer. (no derivative work allowed)
Other Related Items: CLF.
by mulberry
8 GB MP3 Players give users plenty of storage space to enjoy their music and, in most cases their video of choice. Learn more about them here.
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