Panasonic SLS362C Portable CD Player Car Kit with Remote

Rating:
Summary: Panasonic SL-S362C Portable CD Player
Review: I have owned this CD player for about two weeks now and have not experienced any of the problems mentioned by the others... I bought the CD player with a little caution flag and as soon as I got it tested it out. Battery life is excelent, actually better if the anti-skip feature is turned on. I do a lot of off-roading (Rocky Mtns. and all) and it hasn't skipped once. I do make many of my own compilation CDs and have not had any trouble with CD-RWs or CD-Rs. The remote works fine but it's not realy necessary (half the time you're holding the player in your hand anyway so it's just a gimick for the gadget adicts like me). The one thing I have noticed is the player's poor tollerance of scratched CDs, but then again CDs need to be taken care of so it's not Panasonic's fault. As for sound quality, Panasonic's supplied headphones leave much to be desired in terms of music clarity, but replace those with a high quality pair from Sony or Koss and the improvement is mind-boggling.

This is definitely the best portable CD player I have ever bought and Amazon gave me an excelent deal. If you love high-quality music on the go, definitely take this Panasonic into consideration.

Rating:
Summary: Looks nice, plays well, but it's delicate
Review: The SL-360x series is animprovement over past Panasonic models.

Briefly, here are the strong points. The player has good looks and usability. It's slim, and the buttons have never faulted me, although they could be accidentally pressed if you keep the player in a backpack or a suitcase. The anti-shock memory (40 sec) works well even when driving off-road. The sound quality is average (you don't buy such players to enjoy the nuances of a Debussy prelude anyway). The nicest feature of the player is that batteries last much longer than any player I've had before, I would say in the 15-20 hours range.

And now the bad points: the silver fit-and-finish is very delicate, so it will age quickly as you use it. Most important, when playing long CDs (70+ minutes), the laser head loses the CD trace, and a "sorry" appears on the screen. Which reveals two things about electronic appliances: i) they are not infallible; ii) they can experience a sense of guilt.

Finally, I'd recommend the Panasonic, but only to very careful users who don't expect absolute reliability from it.

Rating:
Summary: Solid player
Review: This player is an excellent performer with its anti-shock and extra bass options. Unfortunately, unlike its predecessors it offers little physical shock resistance, so you have to leave the anti-shock on or it'll skip when you set it down.

It plays CD-R discs with no problem but has a strange quirk with CD-RW audio discs; it will play them 3 or 4 times but after that won't recognize them. Erasing and re-recording the disc does make it go away, but it's not worth it.

The battery life is excellent, even with the anti-shock on. One feature from older Panasonics that I miss is the ability to quickly pull the AC/DC adapter out of the back of the unit while it was playing. The old ones switched to battery; this one shuts off.

Don't buy this unit for the remote; wireless remotes on portable CD players are not worth extra money. Unlike wired ones, they get lost easily and must be pointed at the unit.

The tape adapter works just fine and the AC and DC adapters run very cool . . .

Rating:
Summary: Solid player
Review: This player is an excellent performer with its anti-shock and extra bass options. Unfortunately, unlike its predecessors it offers little physical shock resistance, so you have to leave the anti-shock on or it'll skip when you set it down.

It plays CD-R discs with no problem but has a strange quirk with CD-RW audio discs; it will play them 3 or 4 times but after that won't recognize them. Erasing and re-recording the disc does make it go away, but it's not worth it.

The battery life is excellent, even with the anti-shock on. One feature from older Panasonics that I miss is the ability to quickly pull the AC/DC adapter out of the back of the unit while it was playing. The old ones switched to battery; this one shuts off.

Don't buy this unit for the remote; wireless remotes on portable CD players are not worth extra money. Unlike wired ones, they get lost easily and must be pointed at the unit.

The tape adapter works just fine and the AC and DC adapters run very cool . . .

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for Long Road Trips
Review: We purchased the Panasonic SL-S362C Portable with Remote because we were headed on a 2,000 mile trip with our family of six and we can never find appropriate radio stations as we travel. We had read other reviews and weren't sure we needed the remote, but liked the price. The remote was a life saver. We velcroed it to the dashboard within both driver and passenger reach and put the player behind the 4WD shifter on the floor. The only time we had to reach for the player was to change the CD. We found the player very durable considering the jostling around stuff that you get when taking supplies to munch, read etc on a long trip like that. Also, the player is not very sensitive at all. We drove a couple of times for hours in our 4WD older style Suburban before we even realized the anti-shock wasn't on. The first time was on the back roads where we lived, that are know for twists, turns and bumps. We have never purchased a portable CD player before, and it looks like we won't have to again for a long time.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for Long Road Trips
Review: You get a durable, very ergonomic CD player. The display illuminates when an external DC source is plugged in. A car adapter kit and a wireless infrared remote control are included. Sound wise, the only portable CD players which can top it are the more expensive, less ergonomic 460/470/850 models. However, you're trading all those goodies for a higher price and just slightly more focus in the bass. I recommend buying one of these Panasonics, an external rechargeable jewel-case-shaped CD Battery..., a CD Washer carrying case..., and some better headphones (most portable CD players come bundled with lousy ones). I think you'll be very pleased with the results.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Buy
Review: You get a durable, very ergonomic CD player. The display illuminates when an external DC source is plugged in. A car adapter kit and a wireless infrared remote control are included. Sound wise, the only portable CD players which can top it are the more expensive, less ergonomic 460/470/850 models. However, you're trading all those goodies for a higher price and just slightly more focus in the bass. I recommend buying one of these Panasonics, an external rechargeable jewel-case-shaped CD Battery..., a CD Washer carrying case..., and some better headphones (most portable CD players come bundled with lousy ones). I think you'll be very pleased with the results.