Customer Reviews

PANASONIC SV-SD80 e-wear SD Audio Player

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This review comes after using the SD80 daily for nearly two years.

Pros

Sound quality is generally excellent
Battery life is fantastic, especially with backup AAA battery
Player is tiny and can be worn on your person or put in your pocket
Protective case offers outstanding protection and is functional
Transferring files to SD card is reasonably simple
DRM protection has never caused an issue for me

Cons

Panasonic support is woefully lacking, to the point of irresponsibility

Product is now dated for what it offers
You must use Real Audio or, when you can find it, Panasonic's SD Jukebox software to transfer files
Limited to USB 1.1; no support for third party card writers, 1.1 or 2.0
Included 64mb SD card would not function in the Panasonic USB Reader/Writer, but was able to bring it to life formatting it on another writer
Panasonic does not maintain an archive of all of the software needed to make the player work should you lose the installation CD.
Maximum volume below average - you may find it too low in noisy environments.

Overall

A great choice if you can find it at a substantial discount. I would have rated it four stars a year ago. The unit has become considerably dated now, with far faster USB 2.0 units for less money and fewer problems. This has always been an obscure player in the MP3 marketplace, and Panasonic has done nothing to change that in North America.

Some tips and observations:

Throw away the included headphones. They're terrible. I recommend the Koss Porta Pro or KTX Pro 1 headphones. They have better bass response and carry a lifetime warranty.

Panasonic in North America has been completely unresponsive to customer support requests for their SD series players. Many customer service reps do not even know the line exists, much less offer support. Panasonic online support for the product is completely unacceptable. They have essentially abandoned updating their website with software and driver updates, and they unacceptably do not provide online access to all of the software necessary to make the product work. If you lose your installation CD, your player is worthless.

Multiple experiences with customer service have never produced a satisfactory result. This is a major negative for the entire Panasonic product line and is an important consideration if you think you will need product support.

Unit must be used with included software (or SD Jukebox, usually found overseas). You also cannot use a third party USB reader/writer, which limits you to their own unit, which operates at USB 1.1 speeds. If their reader is missing/broken, it is not cheap to replace.

Certain MP3 files encoded with lower end "ripping" software do not play correctly. Those songs will abruptly end. The only way to predict this behavior is to compare the reported length of the song as it sits in your library with that reported by the Panasonic unit after transferring songs. There is no fix - you can only re-encode the song in hopes of getting through this. It affects about 3% of songs I've found, but almost always those produced by individuals, not professionally encoded files.

WMA files play at louder volumes than MP3 files.

Transfer times can be laborious. Make sure you have the software set not to re-encode your files or convert them to another format, such as AAC. It will add lots of time to the transfer.

Player controls are not intuitive for changing to random playback, boosting the bass, or other extra functions. But you can usually manage it in five minutes or less. Note the playlist function does not appear to be implemented.

Clearly the Panasonic line is not well known and you can impress your friends with the individuality of their product line. Unfortunately, it turns out there is a reason why a product line is not well known - in this case it's Panasonic's own fault.

I hardly ever write one of these reviews, but this product in particular really got me fired up.

This product is one of a few MP3 players that supports the SD format. I was excited about this since I have several devices that use SD and a few others that use CF. I travel quite a bit, so I carry a small multi-reader to read all my memory formats.

This product requires you to use their proprietary reader. YOU CANNOT USE A STANDARD SD READER!!!! So now I have to carry a separate reader for this SD device. The software is also a bit of a pain. MP3 is a generic format. Why must this software convert the MP3's to a S01 (or whatever) format? I'd like the freedom to choose my media software much like I can choose my MP3 player.

By having to carry a proprietary reader, and use proprietary software (by the way, good luck upgrading to the latest Real Player, you have to apply fixes) this product is utterly useless to me.

This is the smallest 1.75" x 1.688" x 0.688", and lightest at just under an ounce(without battery). Comes with a small, sealed(water resistant), hard plastic carry case (w/belt-clip) which I use almost all the time with single AAA battery; last over 30hrs (tested myself), and is the only way to use a battery. Otherwise you can use alone with the thin Ni-MH Rechargeable Battery, which last about 18-20 hrs (tested myself)recharges in its own base charger. Use both the rechargeable and a AAA with the case, for over 50hrs (also tested).!! WOW !!

Sound quality of the supported AAC (MPEG2) codec surpasses the quality of MP3 (MPEG1). Uses all three, AAC, MP3, WMA. You get noticeably greater clarity using AAC rather than MP3 or WMA. At a bitrate of just 64kbps, AAC sounds clearer and better than 96kbps MP3, and is smaller size too. At 96kbps, AAC sounds CD quality and beats 128kbps MP3 hands down! I fit 26 full 3-5 minute songs (AAC at 64kbps) on the included 64MB SD card. I know it supports 256MB SD , and I think it just might support 512MB card. The player itself has very small buttons : play/pause, forward/next, reverse/back, and volume + and -; very easy to learn and use. The hard case's rubber buttons are slightly hard to push, but it protects your player. Large enough 2 line LCD screen for this size; very leggible. No Backlight, but it only uses next or previous song selection so you really don't need it. Included earphones sound great and clear; cable is very short, long enough for wearing player around your neck or arm, but also includes a long extension cord which is great. Includes a neck strap, and armband that's great for working out or jogging.(ABSOLUTELY NO SKIPPING-no moving parts). The included RealJukebox software sucks(you can upgrade to RealOne)and is the only software that has Panasonic SD support for AAC music. It brings its own Panasonic USB SD card reader/writer which works great. Tranfer rate is ok using the Real software.

Only cons are that it's just a little pricey, [$$$], no backlight, and no Mac support yet, but WORTH EVERY SINGLE PENNY for Size, Quality, Amazing Sound, and Simplicity!

wonderful player with great features BUT it only works with real one software. I could not get the real one program to recognize the panasonic player. Panasonic tech support was zero help- the "tech" who answered the phone barely recognized the name of the player.they could not help so I had to wait 3 days for a technician (?) to call- they had no help. After attempting again with tech support I gave up and returned the unit. why don't they support other software like musicmatch? "Brent's rule": if a piece of computer equipment can't be made to work in 1 hour- return it.

Bought player just about a year ago. Since then have upgraded to a 256mb SD card. Has been used every day commuting to work. In the gym, biking, running whatever - this player is just the best.

Tiny size and battery life are the key for me. Okay so you have to use the free Real One Player to transfer files - but how hard is that?

This is my second mp3 player, and it is an amazing player. Although it is only 64 megabytes, the sound quality is amazing, it is very small and comes with a bunch of accessories. Personally, the software is not the best after using my first mp3 player. It is only compatible with their software from the cd that is included (Real Jukebox), and I have used much better and more user friendly software. The software makes it a little slower as well to download songs than others I have used. Also, it won't play every song that is in an mp3 format. Some songs just are not compatible with this player (don't know why), and that is something I have never experienced. What I dislike most is the customer service. If you have a problem with this player, be prepared to have the service rep not be able to help you.

I've owned my SV-SD80 for 3 years now and have been through a variety of SD cards as bigger sizes became available and prices dropped. I've got 1GB in it right now and I'll soon be ordering a 2GB card from ebay (already under £100).The thought of something half the size of a box of matches packed with 2GB of music should be enough to make even the most ardent of iPod fans go a bit green..

The things others say regarding non-existent Panasonic tech support and the awful USB 1 reader/Realplayer combo are all true but at the end of the day there's just something about this little device that I really love.

I think I'm right in saying it's still the smallest MP3 player on the market with removable storage (some feat considering how old it is) and this upgradeability has allowed me to stick with the same player over the years.

One word of advice which I haven't seen elsewhere - if ripping CD's via iTunes encode them in Mp3 format as the SD80 doesn't like Apple's interpretation of the AAC format... I personally blame Apple not Panasonic for that one!

This has to be the most enjoyable electronic player I've come across. People can whine about the software all they want, once you get used to it, it's easy, reliable and fast. I've never had trouble copying anything I wanted to hear. Everything about it is convenient. The battery charger is fast, the wrist case also holds a booster battery that almost triples battery life. The sound, and quality of the product is nothing short of great. One day at the gym I forgot to take it off going in the shower. It took a full hit of water and cut out. I shook out the excess water and it started playing immediately. No other music player would ever be that forgiving. Panasonic's got a winner here. GET ONE! You won't be disappointed.

This is an awesome product! (So much better than my previous Nike psa play 120). The product comes equipped with a number of ways to transform--everything from the armband, neck strap, and the belt clip. It's all nicely designed. This product fits very easily into any situation. It's worth the money.

The main draw of the SD80 is just how small it is--I throw it around my neck everytime I leave the house because it's so non-obtrusive to anything. You might as well have it with you 'cause you never know when you're going to have to wait a couple of minutes for a bus, get bored walking down the street, or whatever. It's there when you want it, and is so simple to use you can operate it even under clothing (living in Seattle, I often wear it under a sweater or coat).

The player's functions are simple, but enough. Random play, playlist play, and repeat... All playback operations are handled with three buttons--skip back, skip forward, and play/stop/pause. The play/stop/pause button is actually very functional, despite combining so many things.

The player doesn't come without some problems, though. First of all, it's not a straight MP3 player. To put files onto the SD card you need to use the Real software. It's not bad software per se, but I would unquestionably prefer being able to simply drag MP3 files from my hard drive folders to the removable USB drive that shows up in Explorer. Also, the included 64MB card is a little stingy ... It's enough to fit a whole CD, but nothing more. At least you can upgrade...

Overall, the convenience of being able to just throw the thing around my neck when I leave the house is what makes the player really really usable. It's always there, never in the way...and the other complaints are minimal.