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Panasonic SL-MP80 CD/MP3 Player

Panasonic SL-MP80 CD/MP3 Player

List Price: $69.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Slick look,.......But that's pretty much it.
Review: I was on the prowl. Searching for an mp3/cd player at low cost, and amazing sound, both volume and levels. I got this player and although it looks very cool indeed, it's still weak. There's no fastforward or rewind in songs! What's that about? How could you not add that? To get to song 160 you have to click the forward button 159 times! Very inconvenient. But that wouldn't bother me at all! If the sound was blow me away, amazing. But it wasn't, it was what you would expect from a generic cd player. I need loud and I need bass. I also bought new koss headphones for this thing and still, dull sound. I can't yet point you to the perfect mp3/cd player. But trust me, it's not this.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great Sound Quality and Battery Life, but not a Rio
Review: I'm such a spoiled..., i just love to navigate through a mp3 cd (RioVolts did it beautifully, but the battery life is horrible) and this device just isn't friendly that way...a downright pain in the... if you have a bunch of random songs. Additionally, the resume feature only works on one cd and starts at the beginning of the track (again, RioVolts do multiple cd resuming and resume wherever you are in the track). Best sound quality and battery life I've ever had the pleasure of partaking of in a cd/mp3 player though...the concert hall setting makes the sounds resonate beautifully. Oh ya, one more bad thing...no protective case...which is a must with these delicate and thinly designed cd players.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pleasantly Surprised
Review: I've started using the MP3-Pro format and then discovered my 1st gen Casio portable wouldn't play them and was getting a little tired of converting files. I stumbled across the Panasonic surfing the web on my phone and made an impulse buy. Wow. It plays MP3-Pro (and about every other MP3 rate), has a great battery life, it's light-weight and overall very cool (that's important, right?). It also plays WMA files and normal audio CD's (haven't tested/listened to either so far). It reads song tags in its 2-line, arc shaped LCD display - which is nice when you can't remember a song or artist name, or are searching for a specific title. I've got a disc burned in MP3-Pro (96Kbps) with 110 songs (300 megs) playing in random currently and song access time is great (fast). The headphones are light in weight and sound fine. The earpiece is at a different angle and so rotating the headband back on your head a little gets the earpieces in the sweet spot. However I prefer to listen through a pair of Sony MDR-7506 phones (the coiled cord is heavy and can pull the light player off a table or desk if you're not careful). If you're already comfortable burning data or music CD's and new to portable players and don't want to drop a ton of cash, I think the Panasonic hits the mark perfectly. Note: No AC adapter came with this package (SL-MP80) and the Amazon price is better than the competition. I don't personally care for the preset EQ settings either. Of course on my wish-list is hardware based crossfading - maybe someday.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pleasantly Surprised
Review: I've started using the MP3-Pro format and then discovered my 1st gen Casio portable wouldn't play them and was getting a little tired of converting files. I stumbled across the Panasonic surfing the web on my phone and made an impulse buy. Wow. It plays MP3-Pro (and about every other MP3 rate), has a great battery life, it's light-weight and overall very cool (that's important, right?). It also plays WMA files and normal audio CD's (haven't tested/listened to either so far). It reads song tags in its 2-line, arc shaped LCD display - which is nice when you can't remember a song or artist name, or are searching for a specific title. I've got a disc burned in MP3-Pro (96Kbps) with 110 songs (300 megs) playing in random currently and song access time is great (fast). The headphones are light in weight and sound fine. The earpiece is at a different angle and so rotating the headband back on your head a little gets the earpieces in the sweet spot. However I prefer to listen through a pair of Sony MDR-7506 phones (the coiled cord is heavy and can pull the light player off a table or desk if you're not careful). If you're already comfortable burning data or music CD's and new to portable players and don't want to drop a ton of cash, I think the Panasonic hits the mark perfectly. Note: No AC adapter came with this package (SL-MP80) and the Amazon price is better than the competition. I don't personally care for the preset EQ settings either. Of course on my wish-list is hardware based crossfading - maybe someday.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Buyer beware
Review: If you purchase this product, I hope you are completely satisfied. It is my opinion that the reliability of Panasonic products has slipped in recent years, and this was confirmed to me when a product I purchased quickly failed. The reason I'm posting this is to warn you that the warranty that accompanies Panasonic products only has value if the company chooses to stand behind it. In my case, they weaseled out of it, leaving me with a total loss and no further recourse. Good luck with your decision.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It DOES have resume
Review: If you read the manual it does have "Resume". Amazon has even included the manual online to confirm. It clearly states the resume function is automatic but is cancelled if you replace the disc. Excellent product for the price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy to use
Review: It must be hard to be a gadget designers. You take an excellent CD player and decide to add the ability to play MP3 and WMA files while selling the new model for the same price, and then, to your surprise, you get a bunch of whiners complaining why you didn't make it capable of showing porn movies and also washing dishes at the same time, all for the same low price.

The point is, this is a very solid CD player that can also play MP3 and WMA files. The interface is very simple, just like on a regular CD discman. Yes, if you had 1000 songs you'd have to press the forward button 999 times to get to the last one. But this is not meant to be a dedicated MP3 player. For that you have the iPods, the RCA Lyras, the Rio's, the Archos jukeboxes. If you listen to a lot of MP3's, you should get a dedicated MP3 player, not this. This is for those of us who listen to CDs on the go a lot, and sometimes have a CD-R or two burned with our favorite MP3s.

Tip - to get around the "press forward 99 times to get to the 100th song or 999 times to get to the 1000th song" problem, put a dozen songs in each folder. The Panasonic automatically designates each folder an album, and you can skip to the next album by holding down the fast-forward button.

As for the criticism of the volume, I guess it's a very personal thing. I listen to music on the earphones for about 1.5 hours each day, usually during my commute to and from work. I believe my hearing is excellent -- at least that's what my company doctor tells me -- so to me, the bundled Panasonic headphones are already pretty loud at volume level 18, even on a noisy subway such as the No. 1 train or one of the older N trains here in New York. But I usually use a set of Aiwa headphones with bass boost and in-line volume control (bought at Centure 21 downtown near the World Trade Center site) and everyone I've let try out this combination says the volume is more than adequate, even at mid-level settings. I think the upshot is, you have to try it yourself. If you have indulged in loud music directly over your ears over the years, the sad truth is you probably should cut down the amount of music you listen to and work with a specialist to restore some of your hearing abilities.

So these are my 2 cents on the excellent SL-MP80. (The slightly cheaper SL-MP70 does not support WMA but is otherwise identical. I have a longer review for that model because that's what I eventually kept.) The sound quality is great, battery life is excellent (although it's stupid for Panasonic to put the battery compartment inside the player so you can't change batteries without taking out the CD), and the design is stylish. I think you'll like this CD player a lot, assuming you are not too hard at hearing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy to use
Review: It must be hard to be a gadget designers. You take an excellent CD player and decide to add the ability to play MP3 and WMA files while selling the new model for the same price, and then, to your surprise, you get a bunch of whiners complaining why you didn't make it capable of showing porn movies and also washing dishes at the same time, all for the same low price.

The point is, this is a very solid CD player that can also play MP3 and WMA files. The interface is very simple, just like on a regular CD discman. Yes, if you had 1000 songs you'd have to press the forward button 999 times to get to the last one. But this is not meant to be a dedicated MP3 player. For that you have the iPods, the RCA Lyras, the Rio's, the Archos jukeboxes. If you listen to a lot of MP3's, you should get a dedicated MP3 player, not this. This is for those of us who listen to CDs on the go a lot, and sometimes have a CD-R or two burned with our favorite MP3s.

Tip - to get around the "press forward 99 times to get to the 100th song or 999 times to get to the 1000th song" problem, put a dozen songs in each folder. The Panasonic automatically designates each folder an album, and you can skip to the next album by holding down the fast-forward button.

As for the criticism of the volume, I guess it's a very personal thing. I listen to music on the earphones for about 1.5 hours each day, usually during my commute to and from work. I believe my hearing is excellent -- at least that's what my company doctor tells me -- so to me, the bundled Panasonic headphones are already pretty loud at volume level 18, even on a noisy subway such as the No. 1 train or one of the older N trains here in New York. But I usually use a set of Aiwa headphones with bass boost and in-line volume control (bought at Centure 21 downtown near the World Trade Center site) and everyone I've let try out this combination says the volume is more than adequate, even at mid-level settings. I think the upshot is, you have to try it yourself. If you have indulged in loud music directly over your ears over the years, the sad truth is you probably should cut down the amount of music you listen to and work with a specialist to restore some of your hearing abilities.

So these are my 2 cents on the excellent SL-MP80. (The slightly cheaper SL-MP70 does not support WMA but is otherwise identical. I have a longer review for that model because that's what I eventually kept.) The sound quality is great, battery life is excellent (although it's stupid for Panasonic to put the battery compartment inside the player so you can't change batteries without taking out the CD), and the design is stylish. I think you'll like this CD player a lot, assuming you are not too hard at hearing.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: MISLEADING , but still good in other ways.
Review: Let me first say I am no PC Wiz as it were, and This is my first CD player that I have brought that can play WMA AND MP3'S.
All that being said, let me tell you why I have given this only three stars.
I have a PC that has WINDOWS ME LET ME MAKE THAT CLEAR and try as I might, and I had verrrrrrrrry good help doing so. THIS CD PLAYER DOES NOT---- LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN, DOES NOT!!!! SHOW ID TAGS if you are using WINDOWS ME. XP is a different story and it should work fine for you. I brought this model because it can play just about anything you put in it, MP3, WMA, CDRW AND CDR.
BUT not being able to have the ID TAGS show is a real let down. I really don't need the display screen without it doing that so. It should have made things CLEAR and not just say it works with WINDOWS. RATHER IT SHOULD SAY , IT SHOWS ID TAGS WITH WINDOWS XP.

Somethings you just need to see and buy in a store to learn all the hidden facts, a lesson learned for me. I hope this helps you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: great cd/mp3 player
Review: my dad bought a 300 cd/mp3 player and this one is just as good. i love it. has great sound. the headphones arent that great so i got new headphones and now its great. my only vice is it doesnt come with a charger so you can plug it in & not have to use batterys.


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