Rating: 
Summary: Stay away from this.
Review: I just started getting into old time radio and was recommended this cd player. It was a disaster. It would play like one hour's worth of stuff and then start skipping and then not play any stuff at all. Tried like others here have said the musicmatch software(very good software though) and even increased the bitrate to hopefully improve play. The same thing happened and it didn't play alot of my collection. It was a disaster. After spending countless hours of frustration on this thing trying to make it work I brought it back to walmart and bought a sony mp3 boombox.
I am in heaven with this new player. Sound is better. It doesn't have any skip problems. I listen to all the shows in my car on the way to work now and have none of the problems I had with this model. Save yourself the trouble and spend the extra $50 or so bucks and buy the sony model. You'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Piece of junk
Review: I purchased this box at wal-mart and, as mentioned by other reviewers, it can only play MP3 or regular CDs for about 30-35 minutes before it starts getting distorted and seeking all the time and doesn't play unless I shut it down for awhile. The reviewer who said it is overheating is probably correct.
The other thing that irritates me is that if there is just a little bit of static electricity on me and I touch the box, the display will go blank and I have to unplug it to reset the display, which also resets all my settings. If I use batteries to keep the settings, I have to remove all the batteries to get the display to return.
Rating: 
Summary: a reliable player for an excellent price
Review: I purchased this player from Walmart and was astounded and was pleased to find it to be a very reliable player - supporting all different bitrates (which my previous SONY player did not). The price was right and the player works great - what more can I say!?
Rating:
Summary: Piece of Junk
Review: I purchased this portable unit to play mp3 files. I currently have a home cd/mp3 player and wanted a unit I could take with me while camping. This unit wont play ANY mp3 file I own, while my other player and even my dvd player has no problem with my mp3 discs. This unit will read the files and menu, but will not play. The display is almost impossible to read even in room lighting because RCA was too cheap to include a backlit display. This unit is going back to the store tomarrow. I wish I would of read this review forum before I bought this thing. What a waste of my time!
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad for the price
Review: I researched around for a MP3 Boombox and the most popular seemed to be the Sony S2 and the RCA line (118, 148, etc). I have tried both the Sony and RCA and went for the RCA because of 2 reasons: 1) RCA plays WMA and mp3Pro files along with the mp3. Those that are not familiar with these formats, they provide equal or better sound quality at lower bitrates. You can put more songs on a CD-R and not give up quality. 2) Approximately half the price of the Sony. I have had the unit for about 1 week and have NO problems playing Audio CDs, MP3, or WMA files. For those having trouble playing MP3 or WMA files, need to make sure their media is compatible. The product manual suggests the following bitrates: MP3: 32 - 320kbps
WMA: 64 - 192kbps (Sampling rate: 44.1 - 48khz)
Mp3Pro: 24 - 96kbps (Sampling rate: 44.1 - 48khz) PROS: Versatile audio player - MP3, mp3Pro, and WMA. Stylish. Rugged. Comes with a remote. Of course, PRICE!!!! Can't find many Boomboxes that play all the audio formats for under $60. CONS: Sound quality isn't spectacular. Could be louder too. The bass is clean at most volumes, but tends to deteriorate at the peak, like most "low budget" Boomboxes. Navigation and seek are a little slower than expected. Display is small and not backlit. Overall, the PROS outweigh the CONS in my book. Although the sound is inferior to the Sony, it is above average for a Boombox. I will live with Boombox sound quality and power and the poorly lit display, knowing that I can play MP3 files, amongst others and it is half the price of its competitors. Also, this box will probably take a couple of hits, bumps and come back with some scratches. That's why I'm glad I didn't break the bank to get music while traveling and even happier that I get to put 10 albums on one CD-R. **Grins like an idiot**
Rating: 
Summary: "Bang for the Buck" Great Value
Review: I researched around for a MP3 Boombox and the most popular seemed to be the Sony S2 and the RCA line (118, 148, etc). I have tried both the Sony and RCA and went for the RCA because of 2 reasons: 1)RCA plays WMA and mp3Pro files along with the mp3. Those that are not familiar with these formats, they provide equal or better sound quality at lower bitrates. You can put more songs on a CD-R and not give up quality. 2)Approximately half the price of the Sony. I have had the unit for about 1 week and have NO problems playing Audio CDs, MP3, or WMA files. For those having trouble playing MP3 or WMA files, need to make sure their media is compatible. The product manual suggests the following bitrates: MP3: 32 - 320kbps
WMA:64 - 192kbps (Sampling rate: 44.1 - 48khz)
Mp3Pro:24 - 96kbps (Sampling rate: 44.1 - 48khz) PROS: Versatile audio player - MP3, mp3Pro, and WMA. Stylish. Rugged. Comes with a remote. Of course, PRICE!!!! Can't find many Boomboxes that play all the audio formats for under $60. CONS: Sound quality isn't spectacular. Could be louder too. The bass is clean at most volumes, but tends to deteriorate at the peak, like most "low budget" Boomboxes. Navigation and seek are a little slower than expected. Display is small and not backlit. Overall, the PROS outweigh the CONS in my book. Although the sound is inferior to the Sony, it is above average for a Boombox. I will live with Boombox sound quality and power and the poorly lit display, knowing that I can play MP3 files, amongst others and it is half the price of its competitors. Also, this box will probably take a couple of hits, bumps and come back with some scratches. That's why I'm glad I didn't break the bank to get music while traveling and even happier that I get to put 10 albums on one CD-R. **Grins like an idiot**
Rating:
Summary: I got a lemon
Review: It's just what I wanted, but mine is heat sensitive & quits playing the CD after about an hour with a room temperature of 77 degrees F. It goes into the "searching" mode and stays there or after changing the disk it comes up with a "No Disk" message. After cooling off it will play again. It will play much longer when the room is 70 degrees.
Rating:
Summary: Run, don't walk away from this product.
Review: My wife purchased this boom box for me for Christmas. Great idea! Wrong player! Fresh out of the box and FM tuner does not work at all. Tried playing a MP3 CD on it and it worked for approximately a half hour than stopped working. Now the unit does not play ANY CD at all. There is not any warranty return information with this product at all. No place to write to or any place to call for help. Seems like they knew they had a bad product.
This is the second RCA product that we've purchased this year that seems to be a complete and total piece of trash. First product was a color TV that died after two months of use. RCA no longer seems to be making products of any quality. Consumers may be better off not purchasing ANY of their products. I know I will not consider purchasing any of them from now on.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Money
Review: Paid $59 for the BoomBox. It plays all of my MP3 CDs. The sound quality is good, but not great. Regular CDs have pretty good sound quality. The unit could use a larger and backlit LCD screen -- this one is hard to read. The AM and FM sound is good. I purchased this unit for the MP3 feature for which I am satisfied. I believe the unit is worth the $59.
Rating:
Summary: Not hi-fi, but good bang for the buck.
Review: When I shopped for MP3 boomboxes, I could only find 3: a Durabrand (generic), this one, and the Sony ZS-X3CP S2. This one definitely sounds better than the Durabrand, and sounds about as good as the Sony. It has less amplifier power than the Sony, though. GOOD POINTS: Handles every MP3 disk I've tried, including variable bitrate and 32 kbps mono. Good workmanship for an inexpensive unit. Lots of features for the price (Timer, Hi/Lo EQ, Random play.) Good radio reception (but see note below regarding AM.) Excellent sound quality when using headphones or high-grade external speakers. BAD POINTS: No cassette--not a problem for me, may be a problem for some users. No matter how much you adjust the EQ, you will not get full, rich sound from the built-in speakers. You can't quite get rid of that "inexpensive boombox" sound, but that's to be expected from any boombox in its price range. AM stations come in better if you approach the frequency from the top rather than the bottom (i.e. start at 1710 and tune downward, instead of starting at 520 and tuning upward.) BOTTOM LINE: If you can live with the limitations of inexpensive boomboxes in general, this boombox will probably serve you well.
| 
