Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Bought one at Best Buy, the screen kept going black and flickering, couldn't tune in more than 2 FM stations, taking it back for a refund.
Rating: 
Summary: Should have read the others' reviews
Review: Bought this unit because it was a good price and really wanted a portable MP3 boombox. It should not be called a boombox, as it certainly is incapable of booming. I work in a fairly noisy production area, and only can hear this player by being next to it, a problem I think is due to being strictly a 9-volt system. Also, like all the other reviews, the MP3 loves to screech on the slightest hint of haze or dust, much more on an honest scratch or fingerprint. Embarassing. Wish I'd bought another selection, but the design is nice.
Rating:
Summary: An MP3 player that will not play all mp3 formats
Review: Bought this unit for my wife as she wanted to play mp3 CD that I make of her bluegrass band. The CDs I make play fine on my iRiver SlimX and my Amphion Surround Sound system DVD player. The Sony ZS-X3CP will not play only half the songs. It returns the message "NOT MP3". I'll take the unit back to Best Buy tomorrow. Did SONY actually test drive this unit before it was released?: Don't believe Eric Pettit's 5-star review. I know how to make mp3 CDs and this Sony ZS-X3CP has serious problems.
Rating: 
Summary: MP3 playback is suspect
Review: I agree with another reviewer who said MP3 playback cuts off the first 10 seconds of every song. For me though, this only starts happening about 20 songs into an MP3 CD. My Rio MP3 player doesn't do this.MP3 sound quality is worse than audio CD for some reason. Manual states ESP shock protection mode will degrade sound quality and it is in fact on during MP3 playback - and you can't turn it off! You can turn it on and off during audio CD playback however. Regular CD sound quality is good but not great, but you can crank the box to eardrum busting levels and there is no degrading of sound. The megabass seems to have no effect unlike other Sony radios and players I have used. The joystick is terrible to work and non-intuitive. Buttons, please. My decision to choose this product was availability at my local Radio Shack and MP3 playback capability. I may return this product. Not sure.
Rating:
Summary: Good for the price
Review: I agree with many of the reviewers that the boombox could be better, but for $60 on ebay, it's definately worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: Great design, so-so sound
Review: I agree with the previous reviewers who rate the sound of this unit as "so-so". It's disappointing because the design is so good. I bought this unit for my father, who is less particular about high-quality sound than am I. I would not have bought it for myself.
Rating: 
Summary: pretty darn good little boom box
Review: I bought one of these right when they came out because I wanted a mp3 playing boom box that could take some abuse. After a year of carting it around in my pick up from worksite to worksite, its held up quite well even after being dropped and rained on a few times. I've had no problems playing mp3 cd-r's (burnt on my old mac with toast) except for 'chirping' on an occassional tune. My major complaint with it is that it eats up the D cells when playing cds. Now I carry the AC adapter in my glove box and use it when not just listening to the radio. The sound is decent given its small size and light weight. My only complaint with the controls is when scrolling through my station presets, I always use the toggle the wrong way (you have to toggle down to go up, rather upside down, I believe).
Rating:
Summary: Here's my list of deficiencies for this player
Review: I bought this for keeping my field season full of music. After 3 weeks of using this unit, here is my list of cons:
1) Takes about 1-4 seconds between MP3s; this is in addition to any silence that may be encoded on the MP3. 2) Only 15 seconds of skip protection. Most discman models offer much, much more. 3) No DC (auto) adapter like Sony models of old. 4) No remote. 5) Long load time (30+s for MP3 CDs if you have, say 6 directories). 7) No auto-power off. Bad for batteries. 8) Poor error correction for scratched CDs, particularly with MP3 playback. 9) Should be two shuffle options, all MP3s and those within the current directory.
I suppose these are the reasons that led to discontinuing of this player. Hopefully its successor (the ZS-XN30) will address some of these problems. I was bummed that it was within two weeks of purchasing this unit it was discontinued. As other reviewers say, it sounds great, generally works as it's supposed to, and it is fairly rugged.
Rating:
Summary: Here's my list of deficiencies
Review: I bought this for keeping my field season full of music. After 3 weeks of using this unit, here is my list of cons:
1) Takes about 1-4 seconds between MP3s; this is in addition to any silence that may be encoded on the MP3. 2) Only 15 seconds of skip protection. Most discman models offer much, much more. 3) No DC adapter like Sony models of old. 4) No remote. 5) Long load time (30+s for MP3 CDs if you have, say 6 directories). 7) No auto-power off. Bad for batteries. 8) No track seeking on MP3s. (You cannot rewind an MP3 a few seconds). 9) Poor error correction for scratched CDs, particularly with MP3 playback. 10) Should be two shuffle options, all MP3s and those within the current directiory. I suppose these are the reasons that led to discontinuing of this player. Hopefully its successor (the ZS-XN30) will address some of these problems. I was bummed that it was within two weeks of purchasing this unit it was discontinued. As other reviewers say, it sounds great, generally works as it's supposed to, and it is fairly rugged.
Rating:
Summary: Worst AC plug design ever - portable NOT!
Review: I bought this unit for my daughter for Christmas after seeing it at Target - great styling, ok+ sound quality and features - BUT - be aware that Sony designed this product with a HUGE AC power brick transformer rather than with an internal transformer - measures 3.25" x 2.25" x 2" and weighs a ton. We are returning the unit because we use the AC power much more than batteries - we can't imagine lugging this brick with us everywhere! Too bad because we liked everything else about it.
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