Sony D-EJ106CK Walkman Portable CD Player with Car Kit (Silver)

Rating:
Summary: Walkman EJ106CK not up to Sony past standards
Review: I've owned Sony Walkman CD players in the past that were really good and performed well in my car. When my last unit started to have some problems, I immediate bought another Sony, assuming equally good functionality. NOT. This unit has no backlight - try to change tracks in the dark car. The BIGGEST problem for me is that there is no "resume" function as in past units and no way to retain settings. When you disconnect the power source (as in shutting off the car) you lose volume settings and track settings so the unit always goes back to track 1 as opposed to resuming where you left off. There's an annoying beep if you change from one track to another also. You can turn that off but then when you shut your car off, the setting is lost and you have to reset the "beep off" setting. Lastly, the unit is hard to open. Not a problem if you're using it on a walk but a big problem if you're trying to change CDs at a stop light in your car or trying to do it in the dark. While the anti-skip protection is great and the sound is reasonably good, there just have to be better buys out there.

Rating:
Summary: One of the SOUNDest electronics purchases I've ever made!
Review: Looking to add CD-playing capability to my tape-decked automobile (and myself), I decided to give this particular Sony model a shot. While it's not quite as easy to handle or open and close like other portable CD players I've owned, its shock/skip protection capabilities are far ahead of any other player. I've driven over many a bump and pothole whilst listening to my CDs on this player, and I've encountered only one skip so far. And we're talkin' speed bumps as high as Mount Everest and potholes that can swallow a Yugo, here...

The tape deck adapter puts out a surprisingly clear and high-quality sound through my Buick's speakers, although I imagine the sound quality's not quite as good as that coming from a proper car CD player system. On the upside, it gives out a better sound than most of the FM broadcasts my car radio picks up. And Sony was kind enough to include a car lighter-socket power adapter AND an indoor outlet power adapter. Both are good to have when my cache of AA batteries are runnin' low. Only thing is, whenever the player's unplugged from the power adapters, the volume and bass levels default back to zero (e.g. no sound or bass), and I hafta put a CD in, have it play, and reset the volume and bass back to my preferred settings.

Also included with the player is a remote control Play/Stop/Pause/Skip control knob, which is supposed to help you out when you need a free hand to do something else... like driving for example. While the simple push-button Stop/Play/Pause part's fairly convenient, I'm not too hot with the Skip- Forward/Skip-Back twist-knob control. Sometimes you need one hand to hold the control whilst clicking the knob one way or the other just to get the thing to respond! An all-buttons control would have been my preference, but hey, ya can't have everything! Oh, and fair warning: be sure to press Stop rather than Pause on the knob; when the player is Paused it lets off an incessant, rhythmic beeping that can really grate on ya after a few seconds...

I'm also not too hot with the headphones included with this set. Being someone who prefers large, heavily padded phones that totally cover my ears, the small, lightly padded dealies provided just don't do it for me. Fortunately, I still have my fave pair of old phones about...

Bottom line: This player puts out really good sound, and has amazing shock/skip protection. The included headphones and remote knob control could use a little work, though. Despite its drawbacks, however, I've found this to be one of the best electronics values for my money.

`Late

Rating:
Summary: junk
Review: This CD player has no line out jack, only audio out (headphone jack). So, you need to turn up the volume on the CD player and turn down the volume on your car stereo to get reasonable audio quality on your car stereo using the cassette adapter. Unless you keep the CD player connected to a power source (either to car's 12V outlet using the supplied power adapter or 2 AA batteries), it does not remember the volume setting so you'll have to readjust it on next power up. Also, this unit feels flimsy and seems like it won't hold up more than about a month. Only comes with a 90 day warrantee. All in all, a piece of junk. Not worth $60!!