Sony DEJ825 Walkman Portable CD Player (Thin Design, Skip Free G-Protection, Long Battery Life)

Rating:
Summary: I love my DEJ825
Review: I cannot say enough good things about this Sony product. I am happy with just about every aspect of this disc player. And I'm afraid that I'm going to have to disagree with the other reviewer on the running thing. I run 5 miles a day, six days a week. I've had the DEJ825 for almost a year now, and I can say that it has only skipped three times in all those months, and each time, it was very close to when the batteries need recharged. I've had it out in extreme cold, extreme heat, humid conditions, windy conditions, all sorts of weather. This thing has been a great companion on my runs.

Rating:
Summary: Nice CD player/ should be compared with 925.
Review: I just wrote a review for this models sister model. (the DEJ925) I've used the liberty of editing my former review and changing it wherever necessary. Please compare the models because they do have differences.

Anyway about this model: This one is made in malaysia. It's no biggie, the quality seems consistent either way but it just feels different. the 925 is made is japan. Functions: It uses G-protection which gives you skip free playback as long as you DONT RUN. Running is going to make any CD player skip. G-protection is a bit different than normal protection. It reads beforehand and stores the music in memory and reads again when depleted. So there is this ongoing on/off spinning that goes on. Basically it goes on/off every 5seconds or so. It also reads at different RPM's when moved toward or against inertia. Confusing? Just take my word for it. It comes with an optical out (for those who need it for MD recording), and CD-TEXT. CD-Text is rarely used in US CD's so unless you burn CD's with text you won't see any letters on your remote control. This biggest drawback with this model is that it won't read CDRW's. It will read CDR's though. Only a few select CD players will read CDRW's. Not this one. This model comes with NICD rechargeable batteries. This is pretty important though because the batter life is different. But even with NICD it will be sufficient. 925 uses NIMH. As for size, 925 is a bit smaller and lighter but this is very compact too. You can't compare with some 80dollar model. The remote control is backlighted. no display on the cd player itself. (size reasons)

If you do plan to get this feature full CDplayer, do take good care of it. It is delicate and I doubt it will appreciate let's say desk high fall. OUCH

Excellent cd player, with only 2 faults. It won't read CDRW's and sensitive people might dislike the ongoing read/pause cycle with g-protection.

To conclude this review, you all must be wondering why this model is 50 dollars cheaper than the 925. 1. Country it was made. japan vs malaysia 2. Design differences. Materials/ size/ weight 3. Battery. NIMH 1400 vs NICD 600 (both are gum type) Perhaps I'm getting too technical but simply put the 925 can play twice as long as the 825. Other than these differences since they are from the same lineup they are very similar

Rating:
Summary: Sound quality is decent
Review: I know I'm not supposed to write more than 1 review on 1 topic but I forgot to comment on sound quality. Such an important topic. Simply put. The megabass is as expected from sony. Not good. I just stick to normal because all bass does it make it muddy. If you get good headphones or earphones, like the sony mdr-888 (too bad it costs a bundle), it will sound great. Bad sound quality is not because of the CD player. More than that is it the speakers. As for the remote it is the same one used on MD's these days. It has bass, enter, pause, display and play mode buttons the the top side. (five) Hold on the bottom and a cool jog wheel on the side that controls both track and volume. The remote itself is a little big but very! functional. Great.

Rating:
Summary: This thin CD player is eye-catching
Review: This CD player's size and weight is its best feature. Plus with the G-shock protection, you can take it anywhere. One feature that is especially useful (and present only on higher-end CD players) is the Optical Output. I use it all the time with a fiber-optic cable to copy music from CD to MD digitally. With optical output, the data loss is virtually zero. One downside is that there is little control of the CD player without the joystick. On the unit itself is only play, stop, skip forward and back, and volume control. Also, there is no back-lite on the joystick itself, so in the dark it is impossible to see what's being displayed. The included NC-6WM rechargeable batteries (about a quarter-inch thin!) last a long time, and with an external AA battery pack the battery life is tremendous. The price is steep but well worth it. I get many comments about how small the CD player is.