Sony CDP-CX333 ES 300-Disc Changer

Rating:
Summary: The CDP-333ES is a keeper!`
Review: The CDP-333 is a bit pricey yes, but hopefully worth it in the long-run. As an ES product, Sony warrants the product for 5 years which may justify the cost.

I particularly like the "group file" and the "hit list" features. The group file allows you to group your CDs into 8 different categories--I used Mozart, Organ music, Bach, Beethoven, etc. After you group the CDs, you can play them in group numerical order or randomly, which is rather neat. If you choose your hit list (maximum of 32 songs or tracks), the player plays them in numerical order or randomly like the group function. The player also allows you to easily play a single disk you may have borrowed (be sure and leave slot one open, however).

Now the drawbacks. I spent about 8 hours installing my 175 CD collection and typing, using a keyboard I borrowed from my PC, descriptive names of each CD. While Sony advertises this information (CD Text) is on some newer disks, 99 percent of my disks required me to type the data in. Hopefully I won't have a power failure as the machine does not have a back up, beyond 24 hours or so (per Sony), as I do NOT want to have to do this again! While the keyboard function is useful when entering names, there are some functions that you can't use the keyboard for (coding in group names for example), a bit of a disappointment (more to the point, I wouldn't pay extra for the keyboard feature). Some other issues. The display is only 13 characters long, which I found too restrictive for most CD titles and you can't assign a CD to more than one group. Specifically, I could not assign my Virgil Fox Bach CD to both the Bach group and my Organ group; a minor inconvenience.

Despite the above noted issues, I find the Sony ES line excellent and their products very good. The machine just feels better than the regular Sony line. I purchased this machine because of its very good features and the 5 year warranty. There are a lot of moving parts in the machine, and I can envision a product failure in the next 5 years. At the end of 5 years, there will be undoubtedly new and better technology and it will be time to replace this unit!