CD-Player Reviews

I've had this for less than a day, and am already tempted to chuck it out the window. The anti-skip feature apparently works by just randomly stopping the music altogether...ingenious.

This is just a piece of crap. Really, that about sums it up.

I received a GPX CD player (same model as this but older version) for Christmas. I used it pretty regularly for about a month (during which I was very happy with it) and then put it away for a while. The next time I used it, it wouldn't recognize any CD.

We returned it and received a new "updated" version which again worked for about a month. It has now been a month since I last used it and once again, it is not reading my CDs.

My advice? Don't try this one unless you enjoy being frustrated!

I bought my CD Player back in December, and it has not failed me yet! The car adapter waorks very well, and the unit itself offers okay sound. For the price of this item, you have to know that you aren't going to get "state of the art" anything - but the anti-skip feature has worked fine for me, the sound is fine and I utilize the "Hold" switch (which keeps the unit's buttons from being accidenatlly pressed) and the Bass Boost. The Bass Boost is pretty wimpy, although I must admit that I've never tried it with good-quality headphones, which might change the sound considerably. Speaking of headphones, my included pair did break about three months after I started using them. I simply replaced them with another cheap pair.

Complaints of short battery life can probably be attributed to the user leaving the anti-skip protection on for long periods of time. In my experience, this will drain the batteries faster than anything else, when using any CD player. If you need to use the batteries for an extended time, try to *not* use the Skip Protection, or else try to find a way to use one of included two adapters. Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase, although your mileage may vary.

In conclusion, I must say that if you are looking for top-quality sound and construction, look elsewhere; if you just need something to play your CDs in and you can't afford to spend a lot of cash, this one's for you.

I was very impressed with this player at first. It was a bargain, and nice and lightweight. I was thrilled to find that even scratched CDs didn't skip and played well. However, I noticed after about two months (without having used it excessively), the CDs, even new ones, did not read as well as they had done at the start. 4 months later, it will play about 40 seconds of a song, and then the CD will just keep spinning with no sound, and no reading on the display save for the "Sorry" message. I was careful handling the product, and certainly didn't use it 24/7, so I can't understand why it doesn't function properly anymore. Now I have to search for another walkman!

I've had this CD player for over a year now, and it works OK, but I am pretty sick of a few of its unexpected "features", namely: (1) You have the volume on 3 while you listen to a CD. Then, you turn the player off. Then, you turn the player back on, but when it plays again, it plays at volume 13 for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, your ears get an unexpected blast. (2) You insert a new CD into the player and hit the play button. For no apparent reason, the player starts playing track #7 instead of track #1. (3) You play a CD with the bass-boost "off". Then, you turn the player off. Then, you turn the player back on again. You guessed it -- for no apparent reason, the bass-boost is now on.

I purchased this CD player for my daughter. Although the features are fine, I question the durability. She has had it for about a year and it constantly skips and/or does not recognize certain CDs. I plan to return it. I would recommend spending a little more for a quality unit.

DO NO BUY THIS CD PLAYER!(...)
You may ask why I hate this so much. Here are the reasons.
1. The ting eats up batteries, I only get 10-15 hours for 2 AA batteries.
2. The sound quality is bad. Out of nowhere it will get all fuzzy and skippy and sometimes it will skip 5 second clips.
3. It reads the cd tracks very slowly.
4. It takes about 30 seconds to load, WHY DOES IT HAVE TO LOAD.
5. You can not just skip right to one song, if you press buttons too fast it will get confused and the laser will move all around for no reason.
6. (...)The prosessor is too slow to show streaming graphics so the games are all skippy. If you play the games a lot you loose even more battery life.
7. The only format that it plays well is mp3. I do not want to waste a ton of blank cds just so that the cd player will play right.
8. You have to keep it still. If you dont then the sound quality is even worse.
In conclusion AVOID THIS CD AT ALL COSTS and buy the newest modest mouse cd. You wont be dissapointed.

This player, given the cost is dissapointing for two reason. First the resume fuction doesnt work right. It constantly will reset back to the begnning of a track, making it difficult if not impossible to listen to audiobooks. 2nd, there is no ability to fast forward (scan) thru mp3 tracks. Again, it ruins spoken word mp3 tracks, which is what I wanted to use most.

The games are fun to play for the 1st 5 seconds. Dissapointing, I had to sell it and now am looking for something better. Its expensive too.

My former CD/MP3 player was the Philips EXP503, which I had for two years before it I damaged it by mistake (long story). I desperately wanted to buy the same model again, but it was out of stock. I visited the Philips website and saw the new Expanium CD/MP3 player, the EXP521. The EXP503 was definitely the best CD player I've ever owned, so naturally I figured the 521 would be even better...
I couldn't hate it more.
There are several annoying issues with this CD player. Here are the worst that come to mind:
1. It takes a long time to start. I'm driving my car with the CD player hooked to my car stereo, pop in an MP3 CD and hit play. And I wait. I keep driving along, and wait a little longer. I know it's alive because it makes all sorts of noises as the CD spins and the laser reads the information. So finally I lose my patience and look away from the road for a second to see what in the world is taking so long. FINALLY...a song begins. The longest I've ever waited was about 30 to 45 seconds. To some it may not seem like a lot, but again...my old EXP503 spoiled me.
2. I'm a nut for perfect sound quality, which is why I rip my MP3's at the highest possible bit rate (320). When I plug in my headphones into the CD player, I sometimes hear static and broken audio, which drives me crazy.
3. The push button for the bass has to be pressed every time you change CD's. My old EXP503 always kept it on, because the batteries inside remembered the last setting used. The only thing the EXP521 remembers is to cancel the annoying BEEP that you hear every time you push a button.
4. There's no belt clip, which may not seem like a big deal, especially if you're driving...but isn't this a portable CD player? Am I supposed to hold it wherever I go? If that were the case, I'd buy a small portable boombox with a carry-on handle. Again...my old EXP503 had a very useful belt clip.
5. You can't fast-forward or rewind MP3 files. On that same note, you CAN fast-forward or rewind through normal CD's, but the audio transition is very choppy. On most CD players, you fast-forward and you can sort of make out where in the song you are. The EXP521 sounds so choppy you have to let go of the button to figure out how far into the song you are. Unless of course you look at the time lapse and know exactly where you want to stop.
6. The background never lights up, which is pain when you're driving at night and you're looking for a certain song among 100 other MP3's.
7. The buttons don't respond. I'm listening to a song, hit the "next" button and nothing happens. The up, down, left, and right buttons on the left side of the CD player have to be PRESSED to make them respond. The two "Stop" and "Play" buttons on the right are the same. You have to press them either harder than normal or repeatedly to make them work. All the other buttons work normal.
On the other hand, I do have some positive things to say about the EXP521 (which is why it earned two stars):
1. It takes either AA or AAA batteries. Pretty cool engineering idea.
2. The remote control has a clip to attach to your pocket or your shirt (but again...where do you put the CD player itself? Do you carry it or put it in a huge pocket?)
3. It reads ID3 tags, although slowly.
4. It has a good shuffle feature with or without repeat, which I use often on road trips.
5. Other than the occasional crackling, the sound quality is very good. I've heard other CD/MP3 players, including Panasonic's new model, and they sound very dull, like the treble is all the way down. The EXP521 has very clear sound.
Overall, I wish I had saved my money and not bought the EXP521. I'm desperately looking around the internet for any retailer that still offers the EXP503, or even a used one from someone who doesn't like it (how can they not???).
Shame on Philips for making a newer product worse than its predecessor.

I'm revisiting to update my earlier 1-star review. Since posting a few months ago, I, too, figured out that the finalization problem only occurs when you try to record over 74 minutes of music onto a disc. Since that realization, I've been able to successfully finalize every disc I've recorded.

I'm still only going to give the unit 3 stars (and I'm leaving the earlier 1-star review) because a) the unit should be able to record up to the full capacity of the disc, and b) given that it can't, the instruction manual should clearly point that out. You shouldn't have to fumble around wasting time (and wasting discs) until you stumble upon the fact that you have to keep the recording time below 74 minutes. A very bad documentation flaw. Luckily I figured it out before I returned the unit in disgust.

Beyond the finalization issues, the only other problem I have is the unit's multi-disc playback capabilities. When I'm playing multi-discs randomly (this is how I listen to the unit 90% of the time), it's VERY annoying that the unit has to re-read each disc every time it reselects it. Causes loooonnngg silences between songs. No, not the worst problem in the world but annoying nonetheless.

Overall, a great unit for recording, an okay unit for multi-disc playback. Three stars.

Folks, I have had mine for a few weeks, and after many calls to Sony I believe I sorta understand the mystery about the love hate relationship of this product. It appears that if one tries to burn over about 74 min of material (and this varies due to disc to disc variations) on a 80 min disc the machine freezes up after the recording process and will it not fianalize. Sony says that this normal for this machine. I know one needs to leave room for the TOC, but this is more than anyone elses home burner specifies. I like the changer and the ability to program and burn from multiple discs all at once, very nice! Keep your recording time down to around 72 minutes on an 80 min disc and it always works.

I was attracted to try this unit, but was also concerned, given some of the above reviews. Today I bought it, read the manual, tested almost every function, and it all worked great. Finalizing and unfinalizing, copying, recording direct from disc AND from my analog turntable was fine. There was even a feature that enhanced the analog recording, making it sound better than the original. This is my first cd recorder, and I'm no techie, but managed fine with a couple of thorough reads through the manual. Very nice to have 5 bays, for easy compiling, although that does make for more moving parts to eventually break. I'll update at a later date if I run into problems, but I am PEACHY pleased right now.

I owned this player for almost two years before it had an irreperable failure. The same goes for the 110 CD version which I also owned for two years before its mechanism jammed and failed. This twice-shy buyer will never again buy a Technics or Panasonic product.

(I write this review and refer to both the SL-MC4 and it's 110+1 disc counterpart the SL-MC7)

I originally bought a Technics mega changer for two reasons:

1. Cool features such as direct disc and track acces from remote AND from the unit itself as well as .

2. The reputation of Panasonic and their Technics line.

Well, their reputation is a bit mis-leading. These units did last past their warranties, but not too long after. The problems I have had with these include: playing the wrong disc from the wrong slot (example: I select disc 43, and it plays the disc in slot 42.), and when I would select a track towards the end of a disc, and it would skip at the beginning of that track. Now, it will barely play to the end of the disc. At 5 minutes into the last track on a disc, it suddenly skipped back to 4:21.

I thought this was maybe just a problem localized in one changer or perhaps one model, but then, the EXACT same thing occured with the SL-MC7.

As for sound quality, it is pretty much standard. Don't expect any "super sound quality". Also, I have noticed a significant incompatibility with many CDR's.

Like I said before, there are some nice features on these changers, but they're not worth the trouble I've had with these units. It is best to buy either of these changers only if:

A. You don't use it all that often. (I listen to music at least 3-4 hours out of a day.)

B. You're using it as maybe a back-up changer or some other temporary use.

I give this two stars mainly because I do give Panasonic credit for the features incorporated into these changers. I wish other companies had direct disc and track access from the unit as well as the remote.

We have a SL-MC7 (110 disk big brother of SL-MC4). It's worked fine for several years, long enough I can't remember exactly how many - more than 4, though. It skips on a dirty or scratched disk like any other player; cleaning or polishing the offending disk usually fixes the problem. It also plays cdr's burnt on a Liteon 52246S with Nero, although it isn't guaranteed to do so. It plays the wrong disk on occasion, that occasion being when the disk is in the wrong slot. That is easy to do unless you've really good eyes and good light, but there isn't anything to be done for it: you want the disks crammed all together, right?

It has played the tracks of a disk in a funny way, and I can't really say why, but it was purely temporary and only happened a few times, maybe 3 or 4. My Sony 5 CD changer that cost twice as much fouled up much more regularly. But because we had to shuffle disks in and out it seemed more like something expected, simply because of all the handling. We just pulled the disk and reseated it, a procedure with which almost everybody is familiar. The same thing fixed the SL-MC7, but it might seem like a bigger deal to do.

There is a way to reset the internal micro (along with several warnings about various things not to do) documented on a separate sheet tucked in the owners manual. I had to do it once, when it was new; the thing didn't respond at all. I'm reasonably certain (I design micro based embedded systems) that I was the source of it's confusion, playing around trying to get familiar with it. And NO, it shouldn't have any such Achilles heel, but lots of stuff does, anyway. (Can you say Microsoft?) Once we had the thing stuffed and a stable pattern of use, it faded right into the background, an ideal state for any piece of equipment. The music is what matters.

As far as we are concerned, recommended.

We are on our third GE/CD player and it will not work consistently. The CD often skips or does not play at all, or plays nicely for a couple of songs and then skips or stops. The radio and remote work nicely, it is the cd feature that we have found flawed.

My husband got me this for Christmas since I love listening to music. However, the volume on it started randomly changing all on its' own within a day of use. Fearing a short, we exchanged it for another one. The display on the new one stopped working by the end of the first day. The next day, the volume started messing up again! We returned it and will not be buying another one of this brand.

Remote was defective, didn't work from the start. Batteries got very hot. Replaced w/new ones, and they heated up immediately. Called GE Support and they said they couldn't do anything w/out serial #, even tho I had reciept, model #, etc. and volunteered to mail remote back to them. Serial # is on back of unit, and when mounted acc to GE instructions it is not visible w/out removing from cabinet (which in our case would be a major hassle). I explained this and they refused to provide any assistence, even after I appealed to several diff reps. Worst customer service I have ever encountered. I will NEVER purchase another GE product.

Aprroximately 1 1/2 years ago I bought a new Harmon Kardon CDR 26 (CD recorder). It worked well for the first year, recently though it has been skipping during recording and playback. This skipping problem occurs frequently and is especially annoying during the recording process. In the middle of a recording the laser will skip, basically ruining the recording.
The malfunction only occurs on the right side (record side) of the player. The only reason I bought this unit was to record. It has been a huge disappointment and not worth the hassle or the money ($150-$200) to repair.

Right side laser (record side) skips frequently during recording and playback. This problem occurred about 1 year after purchase ($400). Still skipped after cleaning laser. I am very disappointed with this unit and would not recommend it.

Do not purchase any model beginning "CDR" made by harmon kardon. I manage a professional audio duplication facility and have been quite shocked at the downright poor performance of HK's CDR30 and CDR26 units.

-Brand new unit malfunctioned, unable to open tray. I sent it back RMA, and received ANOTHER BROKEN UNIT in exchange.

-After light use for two weeks, a different BRAND NEW machine also failed to open both doors.

That's three terrible machines, at a cost of $1200. Please do yourselves a favor and buy a unit from Pioneer.

The features the cdr820 offers are exactly what I am looking for. With this machine and it's three trays you can program various tracks from the three trays in any order and record these all while the cdr820 adjusts volume/recording level automaticly. After recording from the three trays you can put in another 3 cds and add this to your compilation. This machine evens stops after each record song or program so that there are no long spaces inbetween song. the only problem is this feature lasts less than a day then the recorder starts doing whatever it feels like. sometimes it only records the first song of the program and continues to say it is recording, even though it isn't recording anything. the only way to stop this is to shut off the power and unplug the recorder, otherwise it would record nothing and stay in record mode indefinitely. sometimes while recording in 4x speed it changes to 1x speed and then back to 4x. the same goes for 2x speed. I originally bought the cdr800 and it did the same thing. I thought maybee I just purchased a bad unit, I guess I was wrong. Make sure if you purchase this product to get the extended warranty. If you have any problems within the first 30 days take it back and get your money back, don't wait, the problems won't go away.

If our friend wants another good laugh,try getting the Yo-Yo's at Hardon Kardon motovated.My CDR26 dual recorder came back 3 times Un-fixed. It didnt last long anyway.
Then I went and wasted 600 bucks on the Pioneer PDR839-
Best recording ever!- As long as the seperate 3 draw tray doesent
eat your CD.A big Double 0 for their custormer service dept also.
Sometimes its the luck of the draw. These guys dont care, it's
not 1973 it's 2003. anyway-
Thust me, I started recording back in the Reel to Reel days.
For the working mans buck, the 820 is Top Flight!
It takes the place of a Dual Draw recorder AND a 3 draw[ROTATING]
CD player.Just dont ask it to do back flips.
Thanks -

I had previously purchased a Phillips CDR800. It would not finalize anything but TDK CDR discs. I had returned it for repair but Phillips did not fix the problem.

Fortunately, I was able to exchange this unit for a new CDR820. This time I got a perfict machine: it has great features and appears to burn all brands of CDR.

Clearly, if you are one of the lucky few, a Phillips purchase is OK. But..they really need to fix their design, repair, and customer service.

Be careful!

This thing is another stupid bedside clock. The unit is so outdated. The sounds are like a cheap unrealistic sound machine with no purpose at all. the radio has a terrible tuner. It's nice looking, but poor quality. It worked for a week and it broke. This is not a good product, spend your money on a better portable radio. this one is not worth anything at all, so avoid this horrible clock.

I purchased this item new at a local electronics store. It functions good as an alarm clock. The CD player is another story. Within the first 6 months the CD player developed problems. Any CD inserted would spin briefly and stop. The display would show "NO" for no CD inserted. A CD leanse cleaning gave me a few more months of service. Several times an hour a click is heard in the speakers. This click is soft but can be a little distracting when placed close to the bed. The useful life of this unit appears to be around 1 - 1.5 years. The warranty is poor at only 90 days. This is one Timex product that Can't take a licking and Won't keep on ticking.

I like the sound quality and the choices of realistic nature sounds, radio or CD to listen to. I like that the display can be dimmed easily if it's too bright. For dependable Timex alarm clock quality, it can't be beat.
BUT....
1. If you listen to a CD to sleep, you cannot set buzzer for alarm & the CD will play at alarm time. The only way to set buzzer is to not have a CD inserted, and CD/alarm is selected.
2. Although the snooze button is big & at the front & center, it's also next to the Alarm Reset button. If you're like me & can go through an hour of snoozes before getting up, you'lll learn this the hard way. I pried the button off with a screwdriver in frustration.
3. Although there are plenty of buttons on the front to go with the bells & whistles, the placement isn't entirely intuitive, ie: since they don't light up, it's hard to guess which one is which.

But I'm high-maintenance when it comes to mornings, so account for that when weighing my opinion!

Machine worked fine for about the first 3 months. Didn't really use it that much during that time. After 3 months(coincidentally the same amount of time the worthless warranty covers) the machine began a process of self destruction, getting worse each time I tried to use it! The ONLY thing on it that now works is talking through the mike! I'm sure that will cease to work too. Basically a piece of junk. The maker must know this too or else they'd offer a REAL warranty! Buy ONLY if you enjoy THROWING YOUR MONEY AWAY!!

What a crock. My machine conked out a week after the 90 day warranty expired. To get it repaired I have to ship it to CA (I live in FL). The shipping charges and minimum cost of repair is more than I paid for the machine.

I bought my machine, and am having a lot of problems with
the cd sticking in the middle of a song... the cd's play
fine on other machines - am trying to sort this out right
now but from the rankings, it seems you either get a wonderful one that works perfectly or you get a lemon? High price
to pay if you're the one that gets the lemon?