Panasonic SL-MP75 Portable CD / MP3 Player

Rating:
Summary: A good mp3/CD player with some shortcomings
Review: Pros

1. nice battery life, almost last twice as long as last year's mp70.

2. inexpensive for something with ID3 tagging.

3. I use it with the car kit, and the player standed the Southern California heat in the car just fine.

4. Headphone an improvement from last year's model. Volume is loud enough; I use 10 (out of 25) under most conditions.

Cons

1. No fast forwarding for mp3 songs (same issue with last year's models, mp70, mp80). Therefore, this is not an ideal player for mp3 audio book listening.

2. Slow/awkward, non responsive controls; you can forget about getting to the songs quickly. The controls looks ipod-ish, but are truly the most non responsive design I've ever seen.

3. Display has no backlit, this saves battery life, but it's a major inconvenience at darker condition.

4. The player doesn't like CD-RW disk; somtimes it takes a very long time to load when using CD-RW disk. CD-R and regular CD work just fine.

5. Awkward profile, the side with the batteries is thicker than the other sides, but this is minor gripe, overall, the player is relatively slim.


Remember to group songs into folders, otherwise you'll have an even harder time getting to the songs you want to listen.

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Rating:
Summary: Great little CD player !
Review: When I got this inexpensive player, I was expecting bad sound and even worse quality...but, I was wrong !
The power output for the headphones included with it, is clear and more than adecuate; for everyday music, I listen at 15 (minimun 0, max 25) and I don't have any problems, however for quiet classical music (Tchaikovsky)it needs to be set at 23-25.
If you plan to use it in a very noisy enviroment, get some different headphones (closed type) and a headphone's amplifier.
It is not heavy to carry around, but it does not have a belt clip.
The EQ works, but does not provide much difference, however there is some.
Now for the MP3's, it is a little confusing at the begining, the way the folders are set up, but it is not a huge problem, however when you burn your CD's, if you have it, use software with volume normalizer and set it as loud as you can without distortion, and you will enjoy your music.
Battery life, I don't know, as I use it only 3 or 4 hours a day, and I really don't keep track.
One last word, IT IS made of plastic and kind of fragile, if you are going to put it in your backpack under several books, it might no be the player for you.