Rating: Summary: Best CD player i've had!!! Review: I bought this portable CD Player last July for an upcoming vacation. This was the fourth portable player I had to buy, after buying unimpressive players I was so glad I shelled out the $90 to buy this. I used to lug around a CD player and tape/radio player, because I would listen to radio sometimes on trips, this player was perfect for me.
Pros-
*GREAT battery life- I took a pair of rechargeable batteries on the trip, and a charger. I didn't even really need the charger. I needed it after listening to it about 5-6 hours straight and then sporadically for about 20-30 minutes each.
*ATRAC software- I've had great luck with it. I love being able to compress my CD selection down to just one CD because you can put so many songs on one. It's very convienant.
*Great sound- I've gone through a couple different pairs of headphones, most of them had great sound, but one pair was not great, and the pair they give you is not that great.
*TV/Radio- I listen to radio all the time and on this player the batteries last longer when listening to it then any tape/radio player could. Also I usually just listen to late night on the TV function, it's convienant because when I watch something it keeps me awake, just hearing the sound helps me go to sleep.
*Skip free- I've never had mine skip on me. I've took it on plane rides, bus rides (in a school bus and a tour bus), and walking, and I've never had a problem with it skipping.
*Thin design and lightweight for when you go jogging or are going on a trip, the headphone take up the space, not the player
*I love how it can be off for a week and it will still go back to the exact spot where you turned it off, middle of a song, or beginning, it will come back at that spot.
Cons-
*About a month ago when I went to press the button in to get the battery door to open up, the clip broke, so the door swings free, not a big problem but if it's turned upside down then it could ruin the CD
*The CD buttons- play, pause, and skip buttons are pretty bad. There all smushed together on one button so if your trying to skip a song you might hit stop instead, it's annoying.
*Volume buttons could be bigger also, it's hard to press.
*The hold button only goes for the CD part, the radio/tv part can still turn on and then in order to turn off you have to turn off hold and stop it.
Overall after a year, I love it, it has gone on all my bus trips and is about to come to Florida with me again. I suggest you buy a carrying case to, I got one free which was nice because it prevents it from accidentally turning on. You get what you want for $90 that's for sure!
Rating: Summary: great CD PLAYER but.................. Review: I had my doubts about this unit after reading the reviews from naysayers here. However, those doubts proved wrong.This is a solid unit with very good sound. The only detractors are the non-lighted LCD, could-be-better ergonomics, no included AC adapter and reasonably useless enhanced bass settings. The latter produces good bass, but minimizes treble, which I need to hear to enjoy music. The mid-range bass setting is OK but still reduces highs too much. The extra bass setting is heavy-handed and overkill. I bought this unit at a bricks and mortar Target for $64 on clearance, and consider this an excellent buy at this price. The SonicStage software for recording ATrac disks needs work, and Sony is reportedly working on a version 2.0 --- the sooner the better. 1.0 is nothing but a glorified beta release in my opinion. The radio features are a definite convenience. I've paired these with a pair of Sennheiser PX100 headphones, probably the best sub $100 phones on the market (bought for $35 off Amazon). With these headphones, frankly, I don't need any extra bass boost. They sound wonderful with this Sony player. Do yourself a favor if you buy this unit and trash the included headphones for a quality earphone; you won't regret it. Unlike other reports found here, I have experienced no audio anomolies --- no background whining or other artifacts as others have reported --- just clean, perfect sound. I've also been using rechargeable Monster batteries, and they seemingly last forever between charges. This unit is a very good choice for casual portable music users. If you're hard core and need sound all the time with you, you should consider an iPod. But if you're like me, and use portable audio to a lesser degree than a typical "iPodder," a unit like this might just fit the bill.
Rating: Summary: Solid CD Walkman Review: I had my doubts about this unit after reading the reviews from naysayers here. However, those doubts proved wrong. This is a solid unit with very good sound. The only detractors are the non-lighted LCD, could-be-better ergonomics, no included AC adapter and reasonably useless enhanced bass settings. The latter produces good bass, but minimizes treble, which I need to hear to enjoy music. The mid-range bass setting is OK but still reduces highs too much. The extra bass setting is heavy-handed and overkill. I bought this unit at a bricks and mortar Target for $64 on clearance, and consider this an excellent buy at this price. The SonicStage software for recording ATrac disks needs work, and Sony is reportedly working on a version 2.0 --- the sooner the better. 1.0 is nothing but a glorified beta release in my opinion. The radio features are a definite convenience. I've paired these with a pair of Sennheiser PX100 headphones, probably the best sub $100 phones on the market (bought for $35 off Amazon). With these headphones, frankly, I don't need any extra bass boost. They sound wonderful with this Sony player. Do yourself a favor if you buy this unit and trash the included headphones for a quality earphone; you won't regret it. Unlike other reports found here, I have experienced no audio anomolies --- no background whining or other artifacts as others have reported --- just clean, perfect sound. I've also been using rechargeable Monster batteries, and they seemingly last forever between charges. This unit is a very good choice for casual portable music users. If you're hard core and need sound all the time with you, you should consider an iPod. But if you're like me, and use portable audio to a lesser degree than a typical "iPodder," a unit like this might just fit the bill.
Rating: Summary: One of the best all around cd/mp3 players with AM/FM tuner Review: I have been shopping around , and have owned quite a few portable cd players. This is one of the best. It offers all of the features that you could want, for a low price tag. Great battery life!!! It beats the over priced Ipods, that only have a battery span of about 8 hours, if you are lucky. This sony cd player can runf for over 70 hours on just two AA batteries.
Rating: Summary: Solid MP3 CD walkman Review: I have had this walkman for a week now and I am very satisfied with it. Surprisingly, there are very few CD players out there that also play MP3 CD's and have a radio built in. I think this one is one of the better choices among those. I use it for commuting to work (about 45 min. each way) and it serves it's purpose well. The amount of music you can put on one CDR is great, so i don't have to change CD's at all. The sound quality is decent enough considering the street noise would probably interfere even with the finest sound you could get. Out of the 3 bass settings i find the middle one perfect: not dry and not muffled. The battery life is great, at the rate this is going i'll probably have to recharge mine once a month or so. The drawback is that all you get is the CD player. The headphones that come with it are inadequate: cheap, uncomfortable and do not sound good. Prepare to buy separate headphones. There is no beltclip included. There is no AC adapter or car (tape) adapter included. Overall, i would recommend it with the caveats listed above.
Rating: Summary: Poor Sound.. Review: I just bought Sony D-NF610 from a local store. I also returned it after several hours of testing. For a good summary, read mzadony's review below and especially his update after two months of using the player. It reflects the actual situation. Three main points: 1. The player is poorly designed. 2. Sound quality is terrible - when bass turned on, there are noticable (!) sound distortions. 3. Its not loud even on max. volume. I compared with an old Panasonic model (SL-SX469V), which is an excellent CD player even by today's standarts, and its not even close to the clear powerful sound of Panasonic. My advice: go to the local store, take good pair of earphones, and test it yourself along with other players. Sony D-NF610 looks perfect on the picture with great options, but the sad reality is that you probably want to avoid this player. Thank you.
Rating: Summary: From a Sony fan from North Carolina Review: I love this CD player. So much. I researched what I was going to get before buying it, and although it wasn't the model I was looking for (I wanted the 710- $10 more, generally), I am very glad I got this. I'm going to make my own little pro's and cons list, since it seems to be the thing to do. Cons: ~Headphones it comes with. Kill them! I'm guessing Sony wanted to keep the price lower and thus didn't include the behind-the-head model that rocks, but they shouldn't have. A true music lover spends $80 or $90 on a CD player and knows sucky headphones. I reccommend Koss behind-the-head headphones with the little volume adjuster on the wire. Very nice. ~Radio band: the reception is not very good, although it can be awesome. I live in Raleigh, a major city, and often times the recpetion is static-y even for a local station. It does help to stretch out the wire, but that can be annoying. ~ATRAC software: I use it a lot so that I don't have to take my CDs with me everywhere, and it breaks down a lot. Especially with my MP3 files. Be careful. Don't overload it with stuff, you waste time because it will crash. If it does, reload it and it should be ok, at least for a time. ~Battery location: inside of it. And if it needs a battery replacement, it erases all of your favorites on CDs, which sucks. ~Play/Stop/Change File Button (I'm not sure what its called): This really makes me mad. Often times I will push the next song button and it will go on pause or turn off. GRR! It's quite annoying and I hate that function. Also quite easy to mistakenly turn on. ~Not nearly enough bass. Disappointing. ~Its not very pretty. Pros: ~Volume: Awesome range, and easy to find. ~ATRAC Options: I love the options this gives you... song name, artist, album, its incredible. I really reccommend using this program. The only bad thing is that the CDs you make do not play on other CD players. But who cares about them? ~Display: It constantly amazes me how the words just drift across the screen. My last CD player sucked, ok? ~Jog Dial: to the other commenter... learn how to use it. It's so useful, especially on ATRAC CDs. Learn those too. Technology amazes me. ~Favorites: Even though I don't much use this option, its really cool. It takes some time to figure out at first, but it's worth it. ~User's manual: call me a nerd, but I use it. And I love that I have to. All the options make it very useful and necessary. It explains things quite fully and easily. ~Hold button: a CD played without it is ridiculous. ~Battery life: its AMAZING. They say 90 hours, they mean it. Tip: use rechargable batteries. It is meant to use those, and they last the longest. No more wasted money on batteries! ~Radio. Although at times it sucks, it is ultimately very useful. I think that covers everything... I highly recommend this CD player. Sony strikes again, another step towards world domination.
Rating: Summary: Great Player but... Review: I love this player, but the software makes it not live up to potential. CD text feature is great. Love the fm/am radio and also tv feature. The only hold back is the crappy software. The software will freeze your computer, cause many errors in burning. Look at Sony's message boards on thier site if you do not believe me. There is currently no support for the software. When emailing Sony about problems they just say check back on there website for updates, how does hat help? Buyer beware.
Rating: Summary: Great Player but... Review: I love this player, but the software makes it not live up to potential. CD text feature is great. Love the fm/am radio and also tv feature. The only hold back is the crappy software. The software will freeze your computer, cause many errors in burning. Look at Sony's message boards on thier site if you do not believe me. There is currently no support for the software. When emailing Sony about problems they just say check back on there website for updates, how does hat help? Buyer beware.
Rating: Summary: A reliable cd/mp3 player Review: I originally wanted a 20gb ipod but since money was tight I decided to buy this disc player. I was brought in by the Atrac format software that would allow nearly 400 songs to fit on one single disc. Allow me to explain to you the positive and negative things about this product before you consider buying it. Positive -It plays MP3 cds -The Atrac format software allows up to 400 songs to be stored on one disc (depending on the song's bitrate rate) -Jog Dial allows you to search for particular songs on the disc without having to skip through hundreds of songs -The song titile display is a nice feature. It shows the song title, artist name, album title, and bitrate rate for each track. -It's great on battery life. I use to Energizer AA Ni-Ca rechargable batteries and I haven't had to recharge them in a long time. -G-Protection virtually eliminates all skipping unless your cd has tons of deep scratches all over it. You can shake the unit, turn it upside down and whatever and it still doesn't skip. -TV/FM/AM/Weather tuner, the TV and FM/AM radio features are a great bonus to this unit. It's fairly easy to get reception. I can't tell you anything about the Weather tuner though since I hardly use it. Negatives -I would prefer it that the max volume of the unit were louder. You can hardly hear it in extremely noisy and crowded places. -I hate the cheap headphones that come with the player. I recommend you get the street style headphones that wrap around your ear -This last negative is my biggest problem with the unit. It has to do with the Atrac format software. When you have a lot of mp3s stored on your computers (more than 1,000), the software will freeze for about 5 minutes after you start it up in order to load your files. The other problem with the Atrac software is this: I like using it to save several full albums on one disc but sometimes errors come up and some songs are left off the cd. This can be very annoying at times. Other than that the software is ok. Overall I recommend you purchase this unit if an ipod isn't in your best financial interest at the moment. It's very reliable and will last for a long time. The Pros outweigh the cons as you can see so get it...
|