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Sony D-CJ500 Portable CD/MP3 Player

Sony D-CJ500 Portable CD/MP3 Player

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the best audio device on the market
Review: I got this thing a week ago and loved it when I first used it. The battery life is awesome, and the cd player starts the music up much quicker than most cd players. The volume is a little low, and that is the only problem. It is a great cd player, and anyone with a cd burner and 15 or more cd's should have this.

Pros:
:The music starts much faster than most mp3-cd players
:Very durable
:Long battery life on 2 AA's (24 hours mp3-cd, 32 cd-audio)
:G-Protection
:Plays very loudly
:Sony brand
:Cool design and color
:Controls are very easy, once figured out. (the stop button is pause)

Cons:
:It plays loudly, but needs to be louder
:Controls take some getting-used to

This is no doubt the best cd player on the market, mp3 or not. I have 163 songs on one cd, they start so quickly, and it is great for working out, too. Recommended to anyone and everyone.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Player!!
Review: I had a Rio 600 before this but expanding the 32MB memory backpack was too expensive. This thing is the ticket though for long play. I have 186 mp3s on one cd and hardly ever have to swap it at work. Battery life is great! I plan on getting a 4V adapter to save on buying batteries anyway. Not sure what else you could want in a player since it does most everything for [money].I hightly recommend it. I think the folder problem can be avoided if you name you mp3s correctly. One more cool feature is it will scroll on any ID tag you want. I think there are 3 or 4 tags. So you can just scroll the name of the song or folder or album..etc...kinda nice instead of waiting for the whole title to scroll.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Some real problems with some real strengths.
Review: I have a real love/hate relationship with this thing, the latest in a long line of portable CD players I've owned.

Pros:
- The design is very chic and the buttons are sensitive. Great colour scheme too. Very good aesthetic sense.
- Good sound quality when playing audio CDs. Probably the best-sounding portable CD player I've owned.
- MP3 compatibility. A standard CD is 650-700MB, which means one CD can hold over a hundred MP3s. A real joy for compilation-minded music listeners like myself. It can also read folders created in computer, allowing for a solid degree of file management. Those two "Folder Up/Down" buttons are a godsend.
- Thin size makes for easy portability.

Cons:
- I don't think I've ever had a portable CD player that likes to skip as much as this one. I've only had it about two months and it skips every day. It's supposed to have a G-Protection of 60 seconds, if I remember right, but when this thing skips, it pretty much stops playing anything and freezes up.
- this may be due to the fact that the locking mechanism for the disc isn't as sturdy as on other players I've owned. I think the CD may literally be jumping out of its proper place.
- the Open button is too loose. It's easy to hit it by mistake while the player is in operation and screw things up.
- this player eats batteries fairly quickly. Not awful, but still a nagging flaw.
- no program feature available. Perhaps that's not possible on an MP3-compatible player?
- no pause button. I like the fact that the disc can start playing from wherever you stopped, but there could still be an easier way to momentarily suspend playing.

I like this product, but I think it could've been improved substantially on these fronts, especially on the skipping tip.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow!
Review: I just bought this thing a couple of days ago and all I can say is: Wow! When I bough this thing I had only 2 things on my mind no Rio Products! and MP3 compatible. The reason I bought this player is because my Rio 600 busted after only a year of operation (another reiview). I was torn betwenn an MP3 compatible CD player or an actual MP3 device. Based on cost, the CD is clearly the better option. A cd can hold at least 700MB, to get that kind of memory in a actual MP3 player prepare to drop at least [$$$]. Here is the coolest part, the player reads the song, stores it to memory and stops the motion of the CD! About 5 seconds before the end of the trak it starts loading the next song into memory! That's how it gets 24 hours of battery life.

As far as sound quality goes, its excellent. This thing actually sounds better than my Rio 600. The only problem I have with it is that the Bass Boost function doesn't work too well on the upper level (2 of 2). Other than that minor probelm, excellent.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great portable player
Review: I just got this player and it is fantastic. The sound is great, and it's very lightweight. Not bad if you intend to take it jogging or to the gym. Also, it didn't skip once during a recent 3 mile walk.

Someone else mentioned that there is no "line out" jack. This is true. However, the instructions do state that you can plug a line out connecting cord to the earphone jack to listen to your CDs through a stereo system.

Overall, it's totally worth the hundred or so bucks- especially with the MP3 player function.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Overall good, with one major problem
Review: I originally wanted to get the IRiver Slim-x 350, but I got this player (actually the model with the car kit) as a gift instead. For the first week of use I was pleasantly surprised, but as I continued to use the player, I noticed a rather large flaw.

Pros:
-The sound quality is excellent with good headphones (the included headphones don't sound very good), along as the bass boost is not turned on (see below)
-Extremely easy and intuitive to use
-Loaded mp3 discs reasonably fast
-Orange backlight on car model is nice (no backlight on the standard model), but probably reduces battery life
-Information display is limited, but efficient
-Finish seemed good; nice symmetrical design
-Tech support was easy to reach
Cons:
-The major deficit in everyday functionality is the inability to select a track to jump back to or ahead to-you just have to advance, either by folder (mp3's) or by song. This can be slow, especially if you change your mind, and want to go to something else

-My major problem with this CDP: after a week or two of use I realized there is tremendous distortion on really low frequencies with the bass boost function on. You have to have the right music to really notice it, but it's quite disturbing. There are two levels of boost, and the distortion gets worse with each one. I tried troubleshooting with several different headphones and different players. I even exchanged it for the identicle model at the store- but the problem is clearly built into this model. I did speak with tech support but they didn't have any suggestions except to exchange it.

In summary: If you don't plan on using the bass boost function, or at least don't mind turning it off if this becomes a problem, this is an excellent CDP for the money. The lack of backlight could be a problem for use at night as well.

My final decision was to return this model and get the Slim-X 350 which I have been using daily for the last 3 months with no problems, and which sounds great and includes many more features.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great MP3 player and great battery life
Review: I purchase this player about 2 weeks ago and I use it all day (6 hours) at work. I am still on the first set (2) of batterys. (energizer E2). The sound is great, although I recommend getting a different set of earphones. I have burned 4 different cd/r's from a TDK burner and the player has not had one problem playing any of them. I originally bought a RCA mp3 player, and it took 4 batteries that lasted about 5 hours, and it constantly would mis-read tracks on the same cd's that I play now.

Even though I payed alittle more for this player, the extra cost was well worth not having to pay the cost to replace batteries or get agrivated because cd's wouldn't read.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty good MP3-CD/CD-DA player
Review: I received this player from a friend as an early Christmas present. I have to say that it really does play MP3s really well. No distortions or anything. The one and only gripe I have with it, and it's not that big a gripe, is the LCD display. Long story short, I like a bigger display with a hierarchial listing of folders and lists ala iPod. Unless you know exactly what folder is what/where and which song belongs to which band, it's kind of a clausterphobic experience. Even the two lines of info aren't enough for some songs. Another thing, unless I've missed how to do it, is that it doesn't play by track number when it comes to MP3s. It plays according to name. Which is really bad when tracks run into each other. For the guy who was complaining about long load times of file structures: yes, it does take a long time if you're flipping from one song to another, especially when the disc has stopped spinning and you're flipping from the current song to the next in the middle of playing. It does, however, play seamlessly when you let the songs play continuously. Because just before the current song ends the cd starts spinning to load the next song to provide seamless playback between the MP3s. This is also true with shuffle mode IIRC...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: another piece of Sony junk
Review: i've had this mp3 player for a year. It takes forever to load and keeps skipping to the next track without me touching it. It seems like every Sony product I buy breaks!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bliss and Heaven
Review: I've owned this player for a week, and it's the first portable CD player I've owned. The greatest aspect of this little wonder by Sony is the battery life--I've played this all day at work, and played it more at home, and the batteries last a very long time! (I'd definitely recommend rechargeable batteries for this unit, preferably nickel-metal hydride.)

As far as playing MP3's, I'm very impressed with the ease of control and the quality of sound. A folder button allows for easy navigation, and a display button alternates information about the folder and tracks. My player does not skip.

All in all, a truly wonderful gadget for a person like myself, who likes to carry the entire Beatles collection on a single CD.


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