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Sony D-NE518CK ATRAC3/MP3 CD Walkman with Car Kit

Sony D-NE518CK ATRAC3/MP3 CD Walkman with Car Kit

List Price: $119.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Re: car kit problemns. (Car kit works great)
Review: I have seen several reviews (here and elsewhere) incorrectly mentioning problems with low sound levels when using the car kit. This is not true, and is due to clueless users who complain before checking the "troubleshooting" section of the manual. They have auto-reverse cassette units, and their unit is "playing" in the wrong direction, so it is listening to the wrong tracks! My car kit works perfectly.

In particular the car kit's "Remote Commander" is an absolute godsend in a car. Without it, trying to find a button on the unit while driving would be difficult, and quite dangerous.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I Love This Unit !!!
Review: I own many Sony products. So choosing this item was not a difficult choice to make. It costs more than similar products in this category, however everything you need is included (headphones, cassette adapter, ac power cord, car power cord, corded remote control and SonicStage Simple Burner software). I use it strictly in my car with the cassette adapter, car power cord and remote control and WOW the sound is even better than the stock CD player that came with my car. Needless to say I don't even use the stock CD player anymore. It never ever skips, even if you hold it in your hand and vigorously shake it. The stock unit always skipped, and was very picky about what CD's it would play. I would estimate 75% of my CD's wouldn't even play in the stock unit. This baby plays everything. When you press the stop button on either the unit itself or the wonderful remote control, shut the car off get back in and press play, it picks up exactly where it left off. I was considering buying an I-Pod or similar type of MP3 player, I'm glad that I didn't because this product is so much more versatile. Try playing a CD in an I-Pod. Take my advice if you're in the market for a portable CD/MP3 player don't hesitate on this product. It won't disappoint.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Player... Sony delivers again...
Review: I really love this CD Player. First of all, it looks stunning. The mix of color and smoothness make it one of the best looking CD Players out there. Then of course there is the Car Ready feature which I found to be quite easy to use. The Atrac3Plus software was also pretty simple and I immediatly transferred all of my music library to about 3 discs. My library was only 800 songs, but it lets you pick the quality you want. For only 80 dollars, it is good for your money. Sony does it again...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: NOT reliable
Review: I researched online for the perfect MP3 player for about one month, and I ended up buying this since it had alot of features. I used this almost everyday in my car, but I could not play MP3s because of the poor sound quality. Even with a brand new cd and recording at 128 I was not able to get cd sound out of my sony. But I was able to get cd quality sound on my old panasonic (which I got rid of because it did not tag the songs) and my computer. To make matters worse the atracs sound worse than the MP3s and you cannot play them on your computer. To make matters even worse the thing just stopped working after about a month even though I took care of it and never dropped it or anything that would damage it severly. And I thought sony's could take anything! heres how I rate each feature
Display- too small, but I do like how it has the album and song name on the same mode (instead of pressing display to get each different one) 3/5
Remote- perfect for car, but not so perfect for walking or sitting 4/5
Design- this is your opinion really but I didn't like it 2/5
button placement- buttons are to small. Unless of course you are using a pencil to press the buttons 1/5
sound quality- bad MP3 good audio cd 3/5
Given equipment- car adapter is fine 4/5
Bass- on level 2 it starts distorting the music 1/5
So I would recomend the panasonic with that tags and has a remote over this. I just bought it and the sound quality on the MP3s is better and the audio cd quality is great. plus the bass does not get distorted.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Nice Player
Review: I totally agree with the previous reviewer. This thing has everything you need to play audio and mp3 cd's. It never skips, it has very good g-protection. Remote control is a very nice and it is included too. Very good buy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WOW!
Review: I was somewhat skeptical about the claims made for this unit. I couldn't imagine having hundreds of tracks with quality that was supposed to be as good or better than MP3. I took a chance on the Sony brand and am thoroughly impressed! I loaded a CD up with a range of tracks from heavy rock to intricate jazz to old blues to delicate classical to big Beethoven symphonies. I thought it might handle the average pop/rock stuff, but would be taxed by the jazz and/or classical, but it came through with flying colours. I'm not easily impressed by electronics since they usual over-promise and under-deliver, but I'm forced to admit that this unit not only met my expectations but even exceeded my most ambitious hopes. It's terrific on the train to/from work as well as in the car. The well-designed remote allows you to keep your eye on the road while having total control and confidence while flipping through the albums and tracks. I wholeheartedly recommend this terrific product. I can't say enough good things about it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best CD player I've had in years
Review: I'm really happy with this CD player. It muddles through skips VERY well and most cds that are unplayable in all other cd players play flawlessly in this one. It produces great sound and the car kit that came with it works better than all others I've found. Some people complain about the ATRAC thing . . . I just don't bother and listen to a CD of mp3's instead and I have never had a problem getting them to play. I've had other sony's that have died quickly, but this one has been very resillent. I bought this one to replace my rio cd player (I had a good one, followed by one that didnt work after the first two months and was 150 dollars more). SPEAKING OF PRICE . . . this cd player is amazingly well priced and does plenty of things. I'm really very pleased that I picked this one.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pros and Cons
Review: Pros:
-Plays Mp3 Files
-High Quality Sound Output
-Comes with everything you need for automotive playing
-G Protection
-Jog Dial
-Wrist Band Compatible
-Long Battery Life
-Main Play Modes Available
-Slim
-Durable
-Dial is easy to read

Cons.
-Remote has no volume control
-Takes a while to load mp3 cds
-Jog Dial can become a pain
a. Mine is hard to push in (which acts as an "enter" action) in certain areas of the wheel.
b. There is no hold command on the jog dial, and tracks cannot be changed when it is activated (feel free to email me with questions about this as it is a complicated subject). This causes problems when it is activated accidentally.
-Play/stop/track change button hard to navigate in the dark as it is one button.
-Adjusting the play modes takes some getting used too

This review has been stricly pro con with little of my oppinion or specific experience in any areas of this cd players performance. The above mentioned are simply the most outstanding pros/cons. I would be happy to answer any questions you have about this player via email. My address is Litdboy@yahoo.com.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Unreasonable 400 Mp3 Limit.
Review: Pros:
80 hour mp3 play time.
Resume to the exact point within MP3s.
Fast forward.
Supports 16 to 320 kbps.

Cons:
Unreasonable 400 Mp3 Limit.
Fast forward is slow/awkward.
Mysteriously doesn't play all discs (possibly burner soft/hardware related?).
Cumbersome controls and wires.
Hassle to plug/unplug from car.
Remote ignores hold switch when unvelcroed.
Remote too sensitive, when bumped wastes batteries.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: mp3 player?
Review: Sony's mp3 decoder is horrible, it makes all mp3's sound [horrible]. Although I am not an audiophile the difference in quality of playback using Winamp on PC and Sony's mp3 player was very obvious.

I you don't mind the terrible mp3 playback quality then go ahead and get this, otherwise look for something else. This one is designed to play CD and ATRAC formats, mp3 playback is a joke.

Sony makes awesome hardware (like 50+ hrs of battery life) but spoils it by using some propreitary formats like ATRAC3. Why would anyone want to convert to Sony's propreitary format is beyond me.

It seems like Sony has purposefully added a [bad] mp3 decoder on this player, perphaps under pressure from its music unit. That's what happens when a big company with numerous conflicting interests like Sony (member of RIAA) makes an mp3 player. Korean startups like iRiver seem to do a much better job.


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