The TEAC MP-8000 arrived at our labs in the European retail pack that contains everything. That wasn’t really surprising since TEAC is always careful with their products. Inside the package, we found the device securely placed and separate from the other contents, probably to safeguard the hard disk as much as possible from any knocks and bumps. A small AC adaptor is also included for charging the battery.

The charger cable that plugs into the MP-8000 is a mini USB, since the data transfer port and the charger port are one and the same. Of course, this means that every time we plug the device into our computer, it is also automatically charged through the USB port, making the use of the charger unnecessary.

There's also a USB cable included for data transfers, as well as a Line In cable to be used for recording from external sources.

A nice detail is that there are two different earphones, one with a straight stereo jack and one with a curved, so that we can use the one that best suits us according to how we carry the MP3 player.

And since we are talking about carrying the device, the carrying case the package contains is really excellent, made from leather with a belt strap.

There's also a very simple instructions manual since the more comprehensive manuals are contained on a CD in 9 different languages. Finally, there is also a CD with all the programs we will need to make our own MP3 audio files as well as 3GP video files and transfer them to the device.

-SOFTWARE

The MP – 8000 comes with two programs that are necessary for working with all the media file types, InterVideo’s Mobile Copy and WinRip. The first is a very useful program with which we can encode all our video files into the 3GP format so they can be compatible with the MP-8000. WinRip is an all in one program that is capable of playing, ripping and coverting our audio files into MP3 format. It is a very easy program to use and with a familiar interface, but it also has a second mode we can use, where the program is more complicated and more like a "Windows Media Player".

The installation is completed in three easy steps where we choose which files we want the player to handle and the preferred bit rate to be used for the MP3 encoding. The program's interface is friendly and familiar.

Using Mobile Copy is extremely simple, with most of the functions performed with the use of just two buttons.