CD-Player Reviews

My LVW-5005 was defective from the start. It was noisy and would not read any DVD's. It would try, then give me a 'FAIL' message. I like the styling and features I was able to use. It was easy to hook up. The manual was easy to follow. The setup menus were easy to use. Wish it would have worked. I was looking forward to using it.

Imagine being able to plug your miniDV camcorder Firewire cable into the front LVW-5005. Load a DVD R or RW, hit the REC button on the LVW-5005 and the play button on your camcorder and minutes later have a DVD copy of your video. It's really that easy to use. Yes there are some menu's to navigate, but once you read the manual and figure out what each item in the lcd display means your can be recording a dvd in seconds. For the faint of heart there is an on-screen menu system with a wizard that walks you through the recording process. AND the unit can play any CD or DVD you feed it, except DVD RW's recorded on some other brands. Perhaps earlier models were buggy, but mine has been great. One issue that may be by design: when you record from firewire the monitor audio drops in and out BUT the recording is fine. All audio does transfer with the video. For the price, you can't beat this box.

I have had my LiteOn for almost two months also and I love it. Make sure to check the LiteOn website from time to time for firmware updates. They are easy to install. I have already done one update so far. I have used both disk formats (+/-) and they work great.

For the asking list price of nearly $500 and the JBL brand name, I was expecting a system that could compete with Bose Wave CD/Radio. I was extremely dissappointed when I listened to Wager and Stravinsky on the JBL Harmony. Strings sound artificial and like a synthesizer. Bass response was good however. Dynamic range is limited and the sound sounds small. Pop music does sound excellent however with the help from the woofer. While radio reception in stereo sucks, the reception is very good in mono. I have to agree with others on how good the JBL Harmony sounds for its size. But you could do much better with Bose or any other audio systems in the $200 range, at least in terms of sound quality.

Overall this is very nice combination CD player and FM radio for the bedroom or office. The unit has internal speakers and recessed slot in the rear to pick the unit up. The construction is solid and together with the looks, has a luxury feel. There is plenty of nice bass although I would prefer also a tone control to sometimes bring out more treble. There is also an AUX input and the antenna is a wire "T"

My Harmony has given me a couple of slight problems. One was a quiet occasional beep sound when on, because the unit was too close to a cordless phone base station. The other is a very slight buzz in the base (after a year), presumably from the power supply. A good hard wack on the base stops it for a couple of weeks at a time.

I'm not an audiophile, but I can tell to anyone how goooood it sounds!! After its brake-in period, the sound became spacious, crisp and clear. Originally was a little bit stiff. Good things: solid. Well built. It has CLASS and presence. It has 2 JBL speakers pumping 10 watts each. 20 Watts coming from the integrated subwoofer. I love its bass! It's tight, cozy, espectacular and clear. VERY unusual quality of sound for its price. I even hooked up a single tape deck to it, and I listen also to my tapes while in bed. I have also cranked it up several times, including with the Beethoven's 9th and the crazy sounddtrack from A Clockwork Orange. It came out impervious!! What a puppy!! The JBL Harmony is a very versatil: dual ALARM CLOCK, AM/FM RADIO/CD PLAYER and a very decent ornament in the table bed too. It's so good in sound reproduction that people entering the room will be surprised the sound is coming from such a little thing!! Its sound will make you think it came out of an expensive component turned on and hidden somewhere in your bedroom. I'm not going to get into the technical data. I'll let you check it up by yourself under "explore this item". I'm just telling you how tremendous value it is and how beautifully it sounds. THERE IS NOTHING IN THE MARKET THAT CAN COMPETE WITH THIS PUPPY IN QUALITY, CRAFTMANSHIP, SOUND AND VALUE FOR THE MONEY.
On the bad side: Display cannot be read from 2 ft away. You hardly can tell what track is being played even by getting closer than one foot to check it out and you can't even tell what time it is from the other side of your bed. The remote is non-illuminated. No treble/bass controls whatsoever, but it's functional when you can see its markings to activate its functions. You will love it!!

THIS IS MY FIRST PORTABLE CD PLAYER I LOVE IT THE REMOTE CONTROL WORKS WELL. I CAN OPERATE THE NON REMOTE FEATURES IN THE DARK AND THE UNIT SHUTS OFF IF NOT PLAYING ON A REPEATING MODE. THIS IS NICE TO GO TO SLEEP TO. THE UNIT DOES NOT SKIP ITS ALL AROUND GOOD VALUE FOR THE MONEY.

I bought this portable CD player over three years ago and it has not given me any problems, at all. The anti-shock feature is wonderful and the preset volume is perfect. The remote control is an added bonus. I have dropped the CD player numerous times, on carpet and cement, and nothing has broken or cracked, unlike other CD players I've bought. This is definitely worth buying.

Wonderful product! I have had it for a year now and have even taken it to Florida and all the parks in Disney world. I have also dropped it several times from concrete to carpet and every time the sound still burns my ears! I use it a lot and it never skips. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a CD player that will last a long time.

This is a good overall portable cd-player. However I don't think that it is quite worth [the price]. I have gotten a good two years out of my cd-player but it has been shuting off in the middle of a song for no apparent reason.

I currently own this CD player. It is a good player and works ok, but there are better ones out there for the price of this one. (...)

If you really like this player you would not be let down. The skip protection is fair but don't even try to run or walk with it. This player also has a good sound quality and base.

However, the headphones that Sony gives you STINK. They are horrible quality and will brake. Only recently however I have noticed that with this player when I play a song it shuts off in the middle!!! Keep in mind though that I got it 3 years ago.

Overall ok player.

Well, I have this player but it just broke on me (the pieces that hold the cd have been going one by one, and finally the cd cannot be held level on each side as it spins)...so now I need to get a new one and have no idea what to get (don't want to spend too much either, but I really would miss having a rechargable player.) Overall I rate this cd player a 5, because while it skipped at times (like during walking/jogging), it lasted me about 5 years so was worth the money in my opinion.

not impressed, I just packed this up to ship back to sony.
If I paid less for it, I would've just pitched it in the trash and avoided a sony next time. I had to deal with a voice recognition system for customer service ( how lame is that? )
I was finally able to get a semi-english speaking person on the other end of the line who made me unplug\plug-in the unit to see if that would fix it... ( no, it's not a windows pc )
cd players have been around for about 20 years now, it seems to me that they should be able to build a fairly reliable one at this point.

This is the best alarm clock I've ever had, except for one thing. No battery backup. I suppose I could plug it into one of my UPSs to alleviate that problem, but I was surprised at how quickly it lost its memory after power loss. It would also be nice if it had a digital tuner, but that isn't a big deal to me since I don't use it for readio much. If I did use it for radio a lot, it would drive me nuts manually tuning to stations.

I love the snooze feature where you can keep tapping it to change when the next alarm will be. The ideal alarm clock would be similar to this one, with a battery backup, and a digital tuner. Oh yeah, it sounds pretty good too. I have it set play a nature sounds CD when I wake up. When it plays the morning birds I sometimes confuse the recording for the real birds outside my window, and vice versa. I'm not saying these are excellent speakers, but they definitely sound good for an alarm clock. Oh, and it looks pretty stylish to most of the other boxy CD alarm clocks out there.

In short, a very good alarm clock, but plug it into a UPS if you want to be sure you won't be late for work because of a power outtage in the middle of the night.

It's hard to find information on the power consumption of many products, even though the cost of energy can sometimes add up to be more than the purchase price. Since parts of this unit are powered up all the time, I was concerned about that before I bought it. But it is pretty good: I measure about 1.3 to 1.6 W with the display on dim; 1.7 to 2.0 W with the display bright. On dim, that's no higher than some plain alarm clocks without a radio or CD player. And it's much lower than some of the "high-end" competitors: about 6 W for the Bose Wave radio or the Cambridge Soundworks equivalents, or 3.3 W for the Panasonic RC-CD600. Still, if Sony cared to, they could cut it down to about half a watt.

On other aspects, it is very good. The display is easy to read even when dim--much better than backlit LCD displays. There's no mistaking the sound for a full size stereo, but the sound is decent and solid, and is loud enough for me to follow the news broadcast while I'm in the shower in the next room. The controls are easy to use.

One thing to look out for--the "PSYC" version looks different from the plain white one: it has silver trim and fluorescent pink lettering. This Amazon listing says PSYC but pictures the plain white one, so I don't know which you'd get if you ordered it. If you care about the looks make sure you are getting the one you prefer.

I go through my share of cd players. I usually pay a little more and enjoy the extra features. My last was lost. I received this Sony model as a gift. Its a lower priced model, and based on the length of the headphone cord (short) I think this item is for kids. The unit performed ok for the first couple months of use. I run with the unit, and now it skips constantly and it will mysteriously stop mid-song leaving the display of the nnumber song, and the disc spinning, but no sound. Odd. The volume is locking now, the sound was never great.

I put the unit through its paces. It can't hold up with my usage, but for someone who's needs are not athletic the quality of this unit may suffice.

I've owned Sony cd players and like their features and sound usually, this is a lower end item that I am not accustomed to owning,

After having two Koss players break on me, I wanted something that was durable and long lasting. I got this player over a year ago for $$$ and though it is a very good player, for the money I could of got one with better features.
First, let me say I've gone from one extreme to another. Instead of having a cheap model that lasts about three months and lots of features, I now have one with little features yet is VERY durable. I've heard stories, and even witnessed people dropping their non-sport Sonys and Panasonics and having them work fine and have a healthy lifespan.
Other than the high durability, there isn't really anything more special on this thing than [more $$$]model. One that may last just as long. Some neat features include the ability to charge batteries, resume play and a jog strap. However, most players in this price range can charge batteries as well as feature resume functions. And an extra [$$$] bucks (Canadian) doesn't seem worth it for a [$$] jog strap. The water resistant is good for jogging in the rain, but most people would rather jog in dry weather (except me =)). The antiskip is top notch. You can go jogging and not have the thing skip once. With G-Protection, CD skipping is becoming a thing of the past and this player shows it quite well. Unfortunately the thing SOMETIMES stops and skips ahead about 15 seconds when you turn from horizontal to verical (or vice-versa). This only happens a little bit and usually will occur near the end of a disc (extra scratches don't help either!). Best thing to do is to hold the rewind button down and return to the previous point in the CD and continue listening. Battery life is nothing to scream about either. Though it says 30 or 40 hrs, I find it lasts me about a week, sometimes two when I'm not listening that much. For the same money I could have got one with 80 hours, slim design, optical output (whatever that is!), and a remote!
The supplied headphones lasted me just under a year, which is very impressive for any set of supplied headphones. Plus the sound quality is top notch. ONE BIG PROBLEM THOUGH: setting the bass boost to max caused alot of distortion. One way to get around it is to set the bass to max and turn off and open the lid to clear resume play. Close the lid and start the player up again. The player will start up with max bass and sound amazing, giving big stereo sound with no distortion. But if you turn off and on the bass, it'll screw up the sound again. I also find this happens on other older Sony models with the "CD WALKMAN" on the unit instead of just "Walkman."
The good news is that there are now newer Sony Sports discmans available! So you may now be able to get this thing for much less on clearance! However I wouldn't reccomend you spend much more than say [$$$]on this thing, otherwise you may regret it. But if you can find it for a good price, you'll have a cheap and efficiant Sony discman with extra durability!!!

This baby does not skip.. hit it, shake it... it simply doesn't skip. Excellent sound with enough volume unless you want to destroy you ear drums! Having a radio built in is a waste of money. This is the best Sony yet and you don't have to worry about water and sand. The seal works perfectly. It only takes one mistake with sand and you can toss those other units in the trash. Plays for hours on rechargable batteries. Maybe the make a better unit but I haven't seen it..............

I found this unit to be of excellent quaility like all JVC products. The unit does not come with a remote. It is accessed through JVC's Compu Link using the remote ,in my case, with my JVC Receiver. Sound is excellent and the optical output is a plus. I would recommend this product for anyone with a JVC Receiver!!

I love this JVC CD changer. Sounds great and works flawlessly. Only downside is that it does NOT come with a remote so if you don't have a JVC receiver to hook it to (with compulink system) in order to use one remote, I'd suggest another model.

THIS UNIT IS A GOOD VALUE WITH GREAT FEATURES AND SOUND FOR THE PRICE. IF YOU'RE LOOKING IN THIS PRICE RANGE, CHECK IT OUT. AS USUAL, JVC DELIVERS.

I just baught this unit from costco. I think its a worst unit. I cut two mp3 cds of 650 mb capacity TDK one. None is working, But these CD's are working on other player and on my desktop.
Normal CD works but Quality is not impressive. SKIP protection is very very bad. I think mucic player is not entirely a field for Casio. They put there mind somewhere else.

I have yet to be able to hear even 1 song on the player, even normal CD's don't work - everything sounds like the chipmunks. Trying to deal with casio support is a joke - nothing on their web site (web site listed in manual doesn't even exist) and only 1 number in the manual that is open for 8 hours a day monday-friday. After 1 hour on hold (wasting my lunch hour at work) they said it is defective and they can't help without having the player sent to them or to return it where it was purchased from. I feel like I just wasted my money and time trying to deal with the problem - it is not worth it.

Not sure why there are negative impressions of this unit. I received as a gift for the holidays '01 and it's worked great every since. I almost always listen to CD's I've burned and the unit has always recognized them. In fact, I wanted a unit that would be able to read CD-R's, CD's. and MP's. The unit has done this flawlessly. The headphones are comfortable and sound quality is good. Overall, this is a super value in comparison to MP3 only players with expensive memory add-ons. The only drawback is I wish their was a rechargable battery included.

1 Nice Christmas gift. (Thanks WBHW!)
2 Belt clip should be mandatory on all portable cd players! Love it! Love it! Love it!
3 Problem--not loud enough. (I'm a head banger like the "electronics fan from Dallas, TX" reviewer. {Smiles} The only way to listen to Dream Theater is full volume!)
4 Above "problem" solved by replacing headphones provided (too-short cord for exercising/jogging too by the way) with longer, alien-ear lookin' ear buds by Sony. (I'll review that next.)
5 Plays burned cds perfectly. (Thanks ZA!)
6 Doesn't skip as promised and I have even dropped it! Oopsie! Ha. Tough little puppy.
7 Recommended.

Music is my elixir. This little gadget makes me very happy. Rock on everyone and soar to the music!

Hey, all I can say about this is it is GREAT value for the price. You can get other cd players for twice or three times the price but you won't get anything exceedingly better. This is quality at its finest. Granted I have only owned 3 cd players but this is by far the best. If you are looking for a mid range player that has everything you need including a remote then you have found the one. For a little...you are getting the best money can buy. This has 40 second shock protection and plays your homemade cd's. I was worried about this at first but my burned cd plays perfectly. All I can say is that if you are looking for a cd player for school,work, or just exercising this is it. Also, the only bad part I would say is the headphones. Well, they aren't "bad" but I added a new pair of Philips Hp170 full-size headphones and the sounds are MUCH improved. If you save the money on the cd player and buy this then pick up a new pair of headphones and you will have the best money can buy... Hope this helps!

I bought this one at Best Buy and then took it to Europe while I was on vacation. There, it was stolen, so I bought it again on amazon; and the price was so much better! This is an awesome CD player, mostly because of the remote control; making it so much easier that having to pick the whole unit up to change a song or change volume. Works very well with almost no skipping just be sure to push in the remote control plug all the way in or else it will not work. The only problem is that it is favored by French gypsies and other thieves.

i have the same cd/mp3 player, except it was an order version. it's cheap, and pretty decent

pro: cheap, remote control

con: headphone sucks, don't last very long (my remote lasted for about a year), no anti-skipp (for most of the time it's not a big prob, but still it's nice to have one), the metal finish is really cheesy

I recently picked up this Panny to replace the SV-570. Unlike the 570, the 430 does not have a radio tuner. Instead, it has a nice remote that the 570 lacks. Since the tuner is only mediocre, the remote is the trump card between the two models. Plug the headphones into the remote and the remote into the player. That design would work well with waist straps that include a headphone jack on the outside of the CD player storage pocket.

Other differences: the 430 includes a 'Live' equalizer setting, while the 570 only has two bass settings. The live setting actually does improve the sound of some live recordings, though it makes studio recordings sound worse.

The 430 also offers two changeable levels of CD skip protection, 10 seconds or 45 seconds. The 570 does not. Supposedly the 10-second protection, which you would use for ordinary activities, sounds better. I did not notice a big difference, however.

The 430 supposely can also compensate for MP3 files with compression errors. On the downside, this player does not handle WMA, as the back of the package suggests.

The sound is rich and warm, the bass tight. Volume, as noted, does not go as high as Sony models. The player is not as solid as a typical Sony, either.

I still havent decided if I will keep it. The player skipped on a few mp3 songs on the first night of use, when I went jogging. It might have been the recording. I will jog with the player for another week and report back. When I shake the player in my hand, at home, it doesnt skip. So I wonder if the problem lies elsewhere, including perhaps my headphones (plug not always in full contact with player, etc).

This cd player is great. The sound is great, the skip protection is awesome. For the price, this is one of the best you will find.