CD-Player Reviews

Off on switch OK, but should have been a push button. Gave it to my teenage daughter and she loves it...

I finally invested in a stereo in which, i feel the manufacturers made mp3s their main focus. Other manufacturers treat mp3 capability as an after thought. With a large collection of mp3 cds, i enjoy being able to listen to them without changing cds all the time. (have yet to hook it up to pc via usb,though)--My main concern was mp3 cds.

The sound quality is excellent. It produces a clean, balanced sound, not too bassy(more natural). DVD movies sound very good through the auxilary inputs. Only issue, is the stereo has a fan built in it, in order to keep from overheating (i guess), which isn't noticeable unless you have very quiet songs or volume turned down low. (the fan is built at the back of the unit and turns on when the unit is on(similar to a computer drive).

First of all, it looks great. I love the styling, although I'm still not real fond of the blonde speaker cabinets, but it's growing on me.

The unit sounds like a washing machine when you first turn it on, I guess it's checking each of the CD drives. The main reason I bought this was the MP3 capabilities, and I believe Philips has optimized it for that purpose. Instead of a single platter type changer, it has FIVE separate cd trays. You can play all 5 CDs straight through, but shuffle and repeat modes only apply to the current disk. So, if you load this thing with 5 CDs, it won't shuffle between all 5 disks, only the current one, then it switches to the next CD. This is fine if you want to shuffle through a homemade MP3 CD each with hundreds of songs, but not so good for plain old audio CDs.

The best feature of the unit is the sound, it is enormous for such a little thang. I have a big Sony system in my with den with huge JBL speakers, and this little dynamo sounds darn near as good.

I've compared standard audio CDs versus my homemade MP3 CDs, and I really can't tell the difference in sound quality. It has 4 equalizer and 4 reverb settings, they all sound great to me. The MAX SOUND is basically a loudness button on steroids, boosting both the highs and lows and adding some reverb. Again, I hate to keep repeating this, but it sounds great for such a little unit.

It has a clock display and a timer feature. The FM tuner is okay, it comes with one of those dopey wire antennas, I wish it had a telescoping type instead.

Overall I am very happy with this unit and would recommend it to my friends.

I shopped for several weeks for just the right boom box. I wanted something that would survive the rough construction site abuse it would have to take at work. I initially passed this one by trying to avoid push-button volume controls and radios "that look like space ships." But I came back to it because of its hardiness, even though I had vowed to get one with a rotary volume knob. Both the cassette and CD doors have mouldings inside that prevent dirt and dust from getting into the mechanisms. (Most others looked like they would let stuff get in the cracks, but if any gets into the cracks on this model it's confined to an interior trough separating it from the sensitive moving parts). It is very solid feeling and very durable.

It is stable laying flat or standing up and sounds great either way (but if you're a thump-hound you might find it a tad lacking in bass despite the "mega-bass" feature.) The preset sound settings are, at best, a fair substitute for tone control, but that's pretty standard these days. I would have liked a Jazz setting. (It has Rock, Pop, Vocal, and Live)

The store I tested it in was on the fringes of the city and so radio reception was marginal on most of the boom boxes in the store. This model, however, pulled in all my favorites without even extending the antenna. This is the primary frustration I had with my old radio, it simply didn't have a very good tuner. This one is really nice. Having a digital tuner is a very nice convenience. Plus I think it pulls in stations better than other models (both cheaper and more expensive ones).

The CD player works great as does the cassette. I have not made a recording with it yet. The alarm clock function seems like it would be useful, but the LCD display has no illumination so its alarm clock capabilities would be of limited use for me, especially at night.

This is the only boom box I have ever heard of that comes with both an AC adapter and a 12v car adapter. What a great convenience! However, the one complaint I have about this model is with the AC adapter. It is one of those "wall-warts" with a big heavy block that plugs into the wall. Every other boom box I have had just used a cord to get AC to the unit and it had the adapter built into the radio. Instead, with this model you have to lug the bulky adapter around separately. On other models you could wrap up the cord and stuff it in the battery compartment. Not with this one. The adapter is too big - it's very large, about the size of a can of SPAM. The car adapter is relatively compact although it does not fit in the battery compartment either. In short, this nicely portable radio is encumbered by having to carry bulky accessories separately.

I have not used it on battery power yet so I can't testify to its efficiency. It takes 6 D cells for the main unit and 4 AA batteries for memory backup so your preset stations will stay in memory. The clock and alarm settings are also retained.

I use this unit as my primary source of music away from home. I use it at job sites and in the office (I carry it around a lot which is why I have found the power adapter to be cumbersome). A little bit of me wishes it had a remote control, but that's less of a complaint than a testimonial to what a great radio it is -- I want to use it as a stereo. All in all it's a great item. A tad pricey for it's class but for the extra durability and dirt and water protection I found it worth the money.

Good luck and happy shopping.

The rest of the CD player is ok.

You should check it out....IT BEATS EVERY OTHER DISCMAN!!!!
Greetz Matthiaz

The only downfall is the headphones it comes with. I WOULD recommend using your own. But they ARE free... so no biggie. Use them for spare parts. All together, I highly recommend this player.

Sound: * * * * *
Design: * * * * ½
Bat. Life: * * * *
ESP Qual.: * * * * *
Usability: * * * * ½
Accessories: * * * *

The only feature I'd like to see is the ability to resume playback after a power outage. The 12V power plug in my car cuts out when I start the car. Unfortunately, the DVD player insists on starting all over again. This is only a small inconvenience since we use this player primarily for long trips.

Cons:
Very poor sound (must
buy headphones to use)

All in all this is an excellent item. The Sound quality is so poor, that I couldnt use this item until I bought a pair of good head phones. The Costomer service at Amazon.com was the best Ive ever seen. The first unit that was sent to me had a problem with the screen(which should be bigger, it was innefective at this size). The LCD display would not light correctly on one side of the screen, so I sent an email to Amazon.com's costomer service center, and right away(within the next day) I revieved and answer. They said it would be fine, to just send them the deffective player, and they would send out a new one(checked over personally by them) ASAP. And I guess they did, because the new item arrived within the next week. Orrigionally I wasnt supposed to recieve the player for another two weeks, so all in all, I recieved the second, working one, before it was predicted that I would get the first one. THANK YOU AMAZON.COM. If you order this product from Amazon.com you will be amazed by the quality of the product and service.

This unit is also safer than those "in a bag" portable DVD players, which hang on the back of the seat. Imagine what would happen in a car accident with one of those. I wouldn't want to be sitting behind it.
The RCA rests on the seat, and is buckled in with the seatbelt, a much better (and safer) design.

The only downside is there is no battery, but if you are using this for the car, or for a hotel room, you simply don't need one.

You receive full, round sound from either recorded format. A Steely Dan CD and Gregorian chants cassette (my musical taste, what can I say?) caught most subtleties. A brief listen to an AM music station sounded deeper and richer than in the car. You miss normally standard features such as adjustable speaker balance and bass/treble control. The analogue radio dial helps for better tuning, although the short airial hinders far away signals. The advertised "Big Sound" tends more bass heavy than I prefer, but that probably won't matter to rap and hip-hop fans prefering those styles phat-bottom anyway. (You can record from CD or radio to cassette, although it's hard imaging anyone but pre-teens doing so in these Napster days).

Overall, the QT-CD210 is a solid, unspectacular purchase for passive listeners. If you need little control over sound but to pop it on or in while working or playing, this set provides reliable, affordable entertainment.