The CD has many things going for it but there is one very nagging aspect that couldn't allow me to give it a full 5 stars. For all this CD player has going for it, again, one aspect in the design had me wonder just what the heck Sony was thinking when they did this. You'll see what I'm talking about below. Pros:
- Sound: The Player has a good sound system. Each volume level has about three settings each, totaling nine levels in all. Meaning if you are at volume 1, you can increase the volume three times before it goes towards it's next volume level of 2. So for each volume level your on, it can be increase further to your preferred settings. But honestly, most people won't tell the difference cause most of us jam the volume up towards the maximum by default. There is also a nice feature included here which allows the volumes to be placed at a low standard settings of 3 and below. I believe this was put in just in case one needed to quickly lower the volume from it's high setting to low instead of holding the volume button all down until it was low or turning the player off instead. But Sony says it's for ear protection. There is also a bass settings that allows you to control it via two simple settings. But the way the sound quality on this player is, you won't even need it unless you really wanna kill your ear drums.
-Size: The size of this player is very nice and compact. It easily fits into an average pocket and bag without much of a fuss of being big and clunky. You can palm it in the palm of your hand for goodness sakes. Small size with good sound quality? Isn't that what your here looking for?
-Features: Well, other than having the ability to play CD-R/RW cd's flawlessly, there's not that much to this category.
-Accessories: This player comes packed with standard car kit accessories of a tape and battery adapter and a regular AC adapter. But it does come with a nice extras with the average driver in mind. Included with the player is a small knob shaped remote that connects where the headphone would go. This adapter allows you to fast forward and rewind by turning it in the proper direction as well as stop the CD player and move back and forward through song selections all without having to take your eye off the road to see where you are on the player. Oh yeah, don't be fooled by the picture of this CD that you see above. Those flip back headphones DO NOT come with the player. The player includes standard headphone that, surprisingly, are very good. Also to be noted is that this player doesn't come with batteries. The player can use rechargeable metal nickel hydrate, A.K.A Ni-MH, batteries. It can even charge them for you by using the AC adapter as a power source. But one thing here is that Sony advises that you only use THEIR brand of rechargeable Ni-MH batteries for the recharging feature. I don't know if this is a ploy for sales or that the player is not configured to charge those of another brand (which doesn't make sense since the recharging process is no different). I'd say as for recharging the batteries people, do so at your own risk.
Design 1: The Design of this player is nice, sleek easy to get to buttons with no fuss in trying to find things while jogging or in the dark. This player if very sturdy. Virtually NO SKIPPING AT ALL. I played the CD upside down and moving the player left, right, and sideways and no fluxtuation in the sound occurred. This player is built right. BUT....
Cons:
-Design 2: ....Sony's choice for where you put the batteries to power the player is absurd!!! The battery compartment is actually located INSIDE THE CD PLAYER!!! That's right, right were you put your CD's in. Right under the lid!!! This is the most dumbest thing I've ever seen. Most battery compartments are either located on the side or on the bottom of the CD players, but this player has you putting the batteries under the CD lid. And UNDER THE CD ITSELF!!! Now, let's look at this logically. Your batteries run out of power, what do you do? Replace them by going through a quick two step process: 1) open battery compartment, take out old batteries 2) put in new batteries and close battery compartment. Simple! For this player you have to 1) Open the lid, TAKE OUT YOUR CD!!! 2) Open battery compartment and take out the old ones 3) Replace with new batteries, close the lid 4) Put the CD back in, close the lid, then press play! This is so dang ridiculous I had to laugh when I seen this for the first time. How are people who are walking on the street or jogging have the time to go through this long process, which has you actually taking out the CD every time you want to change your batteries. Meaning you'd have to actually stop walking cause I doubt you'd want to drop your cd which you'll have to either hold with your other hand or between your fingers. And to make matters worse, but not too worse, the anti-shock/skip button is located here also. What makes that not so bad is cause well the CD comes with the anti-shock on the "on" setting by default. I mean who wants to listen to skipped music and have to go back and forth inside the CD lid all the time.
Conclusion: What? You still here? You've got a player that:
1) Has good sound
2) Plays CD-R/RW CD's
3) Won't Skip
4) Comes with nice Accessories
5) And Will last you a while.
Your search is over. Just buy and be happy.
I purchased this player to plug into my car cassete deck and I am very happy with the results. The kit comes with a remote knob you can plug into the unit if you choose to and they supply enough velcro if you want to attach the remote knob and the player to your car. You can either use the supplied car cassette adaptor or use the headphones, which are surprisingly good. Comes with a cigerette lighter cord to save on batteries, and the Walkman can also charge the batteries through the lighter cord when you're not playing cd's! A very nice feature.
The controls, although tiny, are simple to use, and have a lock-down feature which when pressed, prevents the other buttons from working. I have played every brand and type of cd and cd-write imaginable on this player and they all worked perfectly. If you burn your own discs this is an important feature. Haven't had a single skip either, even when driving on bumpy roads.
All-in-all a well thought out kit with great sound. I can't imagine a better system, although I must admit sometimes all the wires are a pain. But, if you're not ready to dump your car cassette deck, and still want to play cd's while driving, Sony has provided a great product.
