Philips AX5210 Compact Portable CD Player

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 be "off to seek a replacement."

It didn't take me long to decide on this Philips AX5210 CD player (satin chrome with dark blue trim; also available in satin chrome with red trim as the Philips AX5211 CD player). The Philips 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.

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 be "off to seek a replacement."

It didn't take me long to decide on this Philips AX5210 CD player (satin chrome with dark blue trim; also available in satin chrome with red trim as the Philips AX5211 CD player). The Philips 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.

Rating:
Summary: I hate to say this, but...
Review: First, let me just say that, in general, I am a fan of Philips electronics. I had a Philips CD player for three years (before it was stolen) that gave me absolutely no problems, that played CD's perfectly without exception, and that gave me excellent sound and skip protection. As a matter of fact, it was the quality of that CD player (which is unfortunately no longer made) that convinced me to buy this one.

UNFORTUNATELY...this CD player gave me nothing but problems during the ONE MONTH that I was able to use it. The most glaring problem with it is probably the skip protection, which is very poor, especially at the beginning of songs. I could be standing perfectly still, holding the player upright in my hand...and it would STILL skip! I couldn't get over that.

Another big problem (which has already been mentioned by the reviewer who came before me) is that it EATS batteries ALIVE. You can use either two AA or two AAA batteries, but if you pick the AAA option, be prepared to change your batteries every five hours (at BEST, probably). The AA option is not much better; after only about half an hour of playing time, the battery indicator had already gone from 3/3 full to 2/3 full.

The sound isn't so great either. You get only one level of bass boost, and though I guess it sounds Ok, it doesn't even begin to compare with the quality of sound you get through the Sony Walkman.

So what's the kicker? Well, here it is: after only a month of using this thing, it suddenly will not read CD's anymore. That's right; it's just stopped. I've tried everything: switching CD's, switching batteries...EVERYTHING. As I write this review, I'm about to consult the warranty information to see if I can't get a refund for this piece of junk.

I'm very disappointed. What happened to Philips? Why did they take such a giant step backwards with this model? Yep; I stronly advise anyone and everyone to go for the Sony Walkman as opposed to this one. It's comparably priced and performs at a level that, quite simply, dwarfs this poor little thing. I hate to lash out like this...but it's the simple truth. If you're gonna buy this thing...BEWARE.

Rating:
Summary: i like it
Review: im not much of a freak on the technical stuff but i think this is a good cd player. too bad it does not play mp3 but its great for just cds. i have only one problem with this cd player....it eats batteries...