Customer Reviews

Panasonic SL-CT700 Portable CD Player

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

 

 

Outstanding Qualities
I own several Panasonic CD players, and this is a very refined CD player, with or without its MP3 capabilities. First, it's very quiet in operation, so you won't hear unmusical motor whirring or seeking while you listen intimately to bedtime music :) The audio signal is also relatively noise free, and there is absolutely no hissing noise when the music quiets down. My previous Panasonic SL-CT560 makes a high pitched noise in the headphones whenever the remote backlighting came on, but the with CT700, Panasonic fixed that, too.

Model Family Comparisons
In comparison to the CT700, the CT800 is basically the same unit with metal casing and bundles Ni-MH instead of Ni-Cd reachargeable batteries, offering twice the battery life of CT700. I chose a red CT700 based on the look. Stay away from the budget SL-CT500 and SL-MPxx models, because although they're all Made in Japan like the CT700 (a rarity these days), they apparently use lower quality electronics and have much more noise in the audio.

Comparison with other Brands
A major strengh of Panasonic CD players is their superior mechanical engineering, and you can expect much better compatibility with different CD-R/RW discs and much longer product lifetime than with Sony CD Walkmans. This Panasonic is quality built to last. The only reasons you may choose a Sony might be its second-accurate resume feature, which like cassette Walkmans start at exactly the same point in music from which you left off yesterday, and better sound quality of the top end models. But Sony's all about marketing these days, and sound quality is a mixed bag, as are reliabilty, value (pricing) and design.

I've had a great experience with this mp3 player.

... The rechargable batteries that come with the unit are thin-form Ni-Cd rechargables. These are standard format batteries that can be bought at any standard electronics store, such as Best Buy. The unit is simply *too thin* to have space within the main unit for standard size AA batteries. However... you can attach an external battery pack (included) that accomodates AA size batteries. It's a bit more cludgy, but I can still fit the unit in my pocket with the external battery case attached if I need to. If not, you can always use the thin profile internal rechargables.

Removing the CD is like any other compact CD player, not any easier. But with mp3 format, you only have to change the CD rarely anyways.... not a big deal.

The controller is actually very compact. The screen is a bit small, but legible. Normally, I don't look at the screen anyways, so it's not a big deal for me.

Some other good points:

(1) This unit *sips* batteries. Using AA rechargable NiMH batteries in the attachable battery pack, the unit will run continuously for more than 24 hours. I once left the unit running in the car all night by mistake, and it was still running when I came back. Panasonic lists battery life at 80 hours for 2 external Alkaline disposable plus the 2 NiCd internal batteries combined. Expect the batteries to last a little bit less if you are using only the NiCd thin-profile internal batteries (which I haven't tried yet), or a lot longer if you use alkaline disposable batteries (don't do that - wasteful and {spendy}). As noted, the disc spins down between songs, so the motor is not continually running. Is suppose this saves a lot of batteries. It's a bit strange to see the CD sudeenly stop spinning while you are listening to music. Most of the time, the disc is completely stopped.

(2) Sound quality. This is my primary concern. It's great. The preset equalizer settings are very nice also. I know what audiophiles say about not toying with sound quality using these types of things, but unless you are buying a {very high cost} piece of equipment, equalizer settings can help offset some of the deficiencies in the types of standard audio equipment that mere mortals can afford. For example, I use the unit often with my car stereo, and the equalizer settings are quite helpful for that.

(3) The display doesn't bother me. I don't have problems with it.

(4) Nice construction. Made in Japan.

I received this unit today; all-in-all, I think it was good for the...price. It looks stylish, is thinner than a dime's diameter, and isn't clumsy (when you don't attach the remote/battery pack/AC adapter), and has the yummy sound quality I expect from Panasonic. Below are (to me) the most important points/dirt I noticed within 2 hours of playing with it.

To be fair, please note that I only tested it with a Joliet-format (ISO-9660) Mp3 disc, and its files were 128kbps CBR.

BASE UNIT:
+ Does not spin CD through whole song in MP3 mode; for one particular song, it spun about 10 seconds before stopping, then spun again 1.5 minutes later.
+ Remote control is not necessary for basic operation of the unit. The base unit supports play/pause, stop, track skipping, and volume up/down. Functionality like EQ is on the remote.
- 2 second delay when skipping tracks.
+ Quiet, great sound quality (for an Mp3)
- Uses abnormal rechargable batteries (included, but good luck getting them replaced) to help form
factor, though you can use AA batteries (not included) with the external battery case (included).
- My last Panasonic CD player allowed me to press the center of the spinny thing to pop the CD out, rather than trying to pull it. This player doesn't have that functionality, unfortunately. It's still relatively easy to pull the CD out, but I worry more about scratching the disc now.

- When turned off/on, unit will resume play at the BEGINNING of a track. This is normally fine, except when listening to long tracks, like 30-minute audio books. Don't plan on fast-forwarding, either; I haven't found a way.

BATTERY CASE:
- Awkward to carry alongside unit (don't underestimate the weight of 2 AA batteries). Cord is only 5.5 inches long.
+ Its use is optional, but you can't recharge the base unit's batteries while these are plugged in.

HEADPHONES:
- The average quality you come to expect of "free" headphones. There's a noticeable difference between these and my Grado SR-80 headphones. Differences aside (Panasonic uses an in-ear design, and the Grados go over the ear.. plus the Grados cost about as much as this MP3 player), I'll stick with the SR-80.

REMOTE (some severe lack of QA testing here, I'm afraid):
- NO BACKLIT DISPLAY. The display is small and lacks contrast; very hard to read. The manual explains how to adjust contrast on the display, but after significant effort I was unsuccessful.
- Requires strange combinations of holding buttons and pressing other buttons to extend functionality. Normally I'm okay with this, but some of these combinations were tricky, and I found myself holding buttons longer than I would have preferred. If you enjoy playing games like Twister, Street Fighter or Mortal Combat, this is perhaps the Remote for you. Otherwise, stay away.
- Slight degredation in sound quality (non-audiophiles won't notice) when listening through remote.
- The display only shows 6 characters of the file/ID3 tag at a time. The scrolling is relatively fluid (pixel-by-pixel rather than character-by-character scrolling), and uses lower-cased letters where they exist, but it makes my 8-characters-at-a-time JVC car stereo look like a luxery.
+ Cord is 28 inches long
- There is a slightly-raised piece of plastic near where you would plug your headphones. Depending on the diameter of the base of your headphone plug, this might hit the plastic, preventing you from plugging your headphones all the way. I had to push a little extra hard with my Grado headphones, otherwise the plug kept falling out. No problems with the base unit.
- No reverse timer for MP3 nor CD playback (that is, you can't see how many seconds remain; you can see how deep into the song you are, but not at the same time as you're viewing the title).
- No fast-forward in MP3 nor CD mode; you only seem to be able to skip tracks, not fast forward or rewind in the current song.
- No custom EQ settings besides the 3 presets (Train (allegedly easier on your ears), S-XBS (bass boost), and Live).
+ Has a "Hold" switch that is exclusive to the Remote, so you can choose to lock functions on the Base Unit, on the Remote, or both. Might confuse some people, but I like it.
- I'm not sure how to hold the remote. I'm always tempted to hold it like a wand, with my thumb on the circular controls, however if I do this, button functionality is awkward: pressing right decreases the volume and pressing left increases the volume.

I got mine off ebay for ... dollars, but even at retail price ($...+) it's worth the price. Very good battery time, even on the rechargeables.. I have played it on and off for about 2 weeks and only last night did the recharge batteries die out. The sound quality is great; before I had a minidisc player, and this surpassed the sound quality by leaps and bounds in my car, probably thanks to their MASH 1-bit DAC System, designed to inhibit distortion, a common problem with mp3 playing. cdr playing has been a relative non-problem so far, and most of my discs are 3 year old silvers.
The only peeves from me are the non-seeking ability and with the remote. It is hard to advance the tracks without turning off the player, operate it and you will see what i mean. The sound quality out of the remote is also not as good as directly out of the drive, but only slightly. Also the remote is not backlit, so it can be frustrating to see where you are at or what you are doing in the car at night. This is only small a small problem though. The remote is very simple to operate and easy to use when only using your sense of touch. All and all, i would take this over any other portable device that i've handled so far. It's light, efficient, and sounds excellent!

I received this unit today; all-in-all, I think it was good for the 20%-off-retail price. It looks stylish, is thinner than a dime's diameter, and isn't clumsy (when you don't attach the remote/battery pack/AC adapter), and has the yummy sound quality I expect from Panasonic. Below are (to me) the most important points/dirt I noticed within 2 hours of playing with it.

To be fair, please note that I only tested it with a Joliet-format (ISO-9660) Mp3 disc, and its files were 128kbps CBR.

BASE UNIT:
+ Does not spin CD through whole song in MP3 mode; for one particular song, it spun about 10 seconds before stopping, then spun again 1.5 minutes later.
+ Remote control is not necessary for basic operation of the unit. The base unit supports play/pause, stop, track skipping, and volume up/down. Functionality like EQ is on the remote.
- 2 second delay when skipping tracks.
+ Quiet, great sound quality (for an Mp3)
- Uses abnormal rechargable batteries (included, but good luck getting them replaced) to help form
factor, though you can use AA batteries (not included) with the external battery case (included).
- My last Panasonic CD player allowed me to press the center of the spinny thing to pop the CD out, rather than trying to pull it. This player doesn't have that functionality, unfortunately. It's still relatively easy to pull the CD out, but I worry more about scratching the disc now.

BATTERY CASE:
- Awkward to carry alongside unit (don't underestimate the weight of 2 AA batteries). Cord is only 5.5 inches long.
+ Its use is optional, but you can't recharge the base unit's batteries while these are plugged in.

HEADPHONES:
- The average quality you come to expect of "free" headphones. There's a noticeable difference between these and my Grado SR-80 headphones. Differences aside (Panasonic uses an in-ear design, and the Grados go over the ear.. plus the Grados cost about as much as this MP3 player), I'll stick with the SR-80.

REMOTE (some severe lack of QA testing here, I'm afraid):
- NO BACKLIT DISPLAY. The display is small and lacks contrast; very hard to read. The manual explains how to adjust contrast on the display, but after significant effort I was unsuccessful.
- Requires strange combinations of holding buttons and pressing other buttons to extend functionality. Normally I'm okay with this, but some of these combinations were tricky, and I found myself holding buttons longer than I would have preferred. If you enjoy playing games like Twister, Street Fighter or Mortal Combat, this is perhaps the Remote for you. Otherwise, stay away.
- Slight degredation in sound quality (non-audiophiles won't notice) when listening through remote.
- The display only shows 6 characters of the file/ID3 tag at a time. The scrolling is relatively fluid (pixel-by-pixel rather than character-by-character scrolling), and uses lower-cased letters where they exist, but it makes my 8-characters-at-a-time JVC car stereo look like a luxery.
+ Cord is 28 inches long
- There is a slightly-raised piece of plastic near where you would plug your headphones. Depending on the diameter of the base of your headphone plug, this might hit the plastic, preventing you from plugging your headphones all the way. I had to push a little extra hard with my Grado headphones, otherwise the plug kept falling out. No problems with the base unit.
- No reverse timer for MP3 playback (that is, you can't see how many seconds remain; you can see how deep into the song you are, but not at the same time as you're viewing the title).
- No custom EQ settings besides the 3 presets (Train (allegedly easier on your ears), S-XBS (bass boost), and Live).
+ Has a "Hold" switch that is exclusive to the Remote, so you can choose to lock functions on the Base Unit, on the Remote, or both. Might confuse some people, but I like it.
- I'm not sure how to hold the remote. I'm always tempted to hold it like a wand, with my thumb on the circular controls, however if I do this, button functionality is awkward: pressing right decreases the volume and pressing left increases the volume.

One of the great things about this product is how light it is, even with batteries in it. Love the rechargeable aspect because I hate buying batteries.

It has a beautiful sleek design. The remote is wonderful for just walking around. Also, one of my own quotes on this product is, "it's not spinning but it's still playing!" The Panasonic comes with built in memory to save battery power. And it backs up songs so that the CD itself is not even spinning, which is also great for anti-skip. Not to mention just a cool feature.

The play/stop buttons etc on the actual CD Player light up while charging and playing. Just a nice little display.

In addition the sound quality is amazing, crisp, wonderful.

The only things I wish this item had was an option on what kind of headphones one can receive. I've never been a fan of earbuds, I have small ears and they always tend to fall out or hurt my ears.

I've had two previous CD/MP3 players (Philips Expanium & Rio Volt), and this Panasonic is the best so far, at a fraction of the price I paid for the others. It's not perfect -- I'd like to have a pause on the remote, would like it to restart at the time on the disc where the power was turned off, and would like a backlight on the remote. But on the plus side are the long battery life, particularly with the extra AA attachment, the absence of skipping, even on bumpy roads and hopping up and down stairs, and the sound (I use a pair of Sony NudeX buds rather than the junky buds that are included), which is excellent, and offers four different EQs. The remote operation is simple and intuitive. The unit also seems quite sturdy. I've played the heck out of it, and it plays every MP3 I've thrown at it, which I can't say for the quirky earlier models I've had (and returned as defective). If you burn your MP3s to full-size CDRs, like I do, and want something that will play regular CDs as well, this is a terrific little unit.

Pros:
+Very nice sound quality
+Good Price
+Has not skipped on me yet, even while jogging
+Good MP3 Playback
+Does this thing where it spins up disc for about 10 seconds and then stops spinning for around 1 minute.
+Silent Operation
+-good battery life. 15 hours on rechargables included. but the AA case is very bulky and hard to carry.

Cons:
-could use a radio
-no backlight on remote
-headphone jack on remote is a bit awkward
-Cannot FF MP3's
-sound quality/volume is dimished a little throught remote

overall this is a very good cd/mp3 player. most of the cons are not very inportant to me. if your looking for a player under 100$ then definately get this one

I love It!!! It's three sound qualitys, normail, concert hall, and Bass, make all diferent songs good. I is thin and light, and the buttons are very good. The batterys that it comes with can stay in the CD player and only have to recharge for 2 hours before running for 15 hours. It is very good for a lo pryc.Thee 'nd

The SL-CT700 is a great cd player. It plays cd-r and mp3 which is fantastic. What I was dissatisfied was the remote. The remote is so small that I couldn't even press the button to raise the volume. Also, when I brought this cd player, the remote back-lit display does NOT work. The manual book and the box clearly states that the remote light feature is avaliable for this cd player. I was so mad that I exchange it. When I got the exchange one, I went back home and tried the remote. Once again, the back-lit display does NOT work. I didn't exchange again and I kept it because I really don't care about the backlit light that much. Despite that problem, the cd player works perfectly and the sound crisp and clear.