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Rating: 
Summary: Good-looking. Inexpensive. Intriguing operating method.
Review: After some 15 years of use, my Sony Discman (of an early vintage, to be sure) bit the dust. While it was expensive when new (the price of my perpetually being an "early adapter"), by now it owed me nothing. So it was well past the time for me to find a replacement.
It didn't take me long to decide on the Philips AX5210/5211 CD player (satin chrome with dark blue trim [AX5210] or dark red trim [AX5211]). I happened to choose the blue to match some of my other computer peripherals, but the models are otherwise identical. The player is especially attractive and slim, taking up little more than the diameter of a CD and the thickness of a CD jewel box on my desktop.
The player works flawlessly and provides excellent sound to these modestly critical ears: I feed the output into both my Cambridge MegaWorks 210D self-powered speakers and my Bose TriPort headphones (both reviewed elsewhere at Amazon).
The player has some functional and ergonomic strengths and as well a few minor weaknesses. The controls for starting, indexing, pausing and stopping the player are conveniently located on the top surface, which also includes a full display for indicating running time (something the old Discman did not have). Volume adjustment for headphones is conveniently placed at the front of the player, as is the output jack for headphones and/or speakers. But the latch for opening the cover is somewhat inconvenient, and there is only one output jack, requiring a "Y" connector if one is to feed the output to both headphones and speakers. "As packaged" (in one of the more infernal blister packs I've ever encountered), the player does not include a power supply, requiring the additional expenditure of about seven or eight bucks for a "universal" power supply. But it does include two battery covers, permitting one to use either AA or AAA batteries (in pairs) if one is so inclined.
The operating principle-new to me and no doubt a consequence of the player being designed and constructed for wearing during activity-loads the signal into a memory buffer. The player will spin the CD for about 30 seconds, and then will let the CD coast to a stop while, for about 20 seconds, the buffered signal is fed to the output. This "start and stop" motion no doubt adds to battery life (not an issue for me) at the same time that it eliminates mistracking due to body motion while the player is being worn. Intriguing, to say the least.
I consider this player to be excellent in performance (and style and small "footprint"), even though it was necessary for me to add to it the additional expense of a "Y" connector and a power supply to account for the use to which I put the player. Others who use only headphones and batteries will have no such problems.
Red? Blue? It's up to you.
Pick one. :-)
Bob Zeidler
Rating: 
Summary: Great cd Player
Review: I recently bought this cd player off of ebay as a replacement for my messed up Sony D-EJ360 Walkman (wouldn't read disc). So far, I have had absolutely no problems with this VERY pretty cd player. The first thing that caught my attention was the thinness of this device. The pictures dont do the justice for the look of this cd player. Great Buy. Recommend to everyone!!
Rating:
Summary: An awsome CD player
Review: Just got it today this thing is awsome its really thin and lightweight the sound quality is exelent and the headphones it comes with are great they are the kind that go behind your head.I really like the design the buttons are in all the right places.Im only dissapointed about the durability the cover is a little loose and I dont think it has the repeat option and thats why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 stars.I also like how it looks and its some of it is red so thats pretty cool.
Rating:
Summary: Great portable player -- but a little flimsy
Review: This is a great portable cd player -- one of the best I've tested -- but I think that it is a little flimsy. I abuse my electronics, and I like them to be durable. (Read: I drop my nice things quite often.) But the sound quality on this product is top notch -- and the headphones are very very nice. I also like the red rim (also available in blue). The button configuration is easy to use; all of them are in the right places. But I think the best thing about this player is the fact that you can use two different types of batteries! You can insert two AA or two AAA. There are different battery covers provided to accomodate these different configurations. What an awesome feature! I highly recommend this product.
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