Panasonic SL-SV550 CD/MP3 Player

Pros: mp3 capability, excellent FM tuner, good S-XBS, 30 station presets. Great sound overall.

Cons: doesn't read ID3 tags, subpar headphones, no line level out (like Sony).

Some headphones that work very well with this unit are Koss's KSC55 or "The Plug", also by Koss.


Good product, but not enough volume   May 14, 2004
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

For the price, this is a good MP3/CD player. The AM/FM tuner is great and is hard to find in other models and the battery life is excellent. But clearly the max sound volume is extremely weak. I like to listen to music while mowing the lawn, but that's practically impossible with this unit. And another major drawback is the horrible "random" feature. I must've listened to the same song 4 times in one three hour car ride out of a possible 150 songs! Still, good bang for the buck.

PROs:
- AM/FM tuner
- Good battery life
- Decent sound quality
- Sleek, lightweight design
- Good price

CONs:
- Very weak max volume
- Inability to FF/REW in MP3 tracks
- Random/Shuffle feature is horrible


It's a piece of trash, don't buy it   April 13, 2004
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

It's really crappy stuff. The sound is not good, the earphone is cheap, and it died around a couple of weeks.
You will regret if you buy it.


i'm back... and i'm mad!   April 11, 2004
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

when i first bought the CD i left a review saying that the latch which keeps it closed breaks off very easily...
will guess what? a couple of month later, after i had gotten it fixed, the latch broke off AGAIN.
and then today... my CD player just stopped functioning. the buttons don't really do anything... and the the CD doesn't spin.
SAVE YOUR MONEY... DON'T BUY THIS PIECE OF TRASH!


Don't Give Up On This Gem   March 13, 2004
I have had this CD player for about a year, and have thoroughly enjoyed using it. I use it every day while commuting between home and work. I have never had any problems with CD skipping, radio reception, or battery life. In fact, I have only changed the batteries three times in the year that I have had it--and I use it five days a week!

I, too, had the cd-tray latch pop off, but it only happened when I recently dropped the player on the ground. A quick call to Panasonic Parts got me a replacement latch--and it only cost me $5 (including shipping). The $5 I paid for the replacement part is a steal compared to what I would have paid for a new player of the same caliber.