Customer Reviews

Philips AZ1155 CD Boombox with MP3 CD Playback and Remote

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This unit, while missing a few desireable features, makes up for them in other ways.

What I like: design/appearance/size; cute little remote control; backlit display; comprehensive mp3 file format handling [note: not WMA or others]; fit and finish; controls layout; excellent sound; fully digital tuning and volume controls (all accessible from the remote); price; two-color display (green for tuner/cd; orange for mp3-cd's).

What I dislike: NOTHING IMPORTANT. I knew that it lacked ID3 track label display (though it does differentiate different albums within a CD), so that's not really a disappointment though, obviously, it would be nice. Hopefully, you know what you laboriously spent time collecting and burning anyhow, I feel. I wouldn't have minded a clock/alarm/timer function though [a slight disappointment here]. Not sure how well I like the on-board jog dial, which controls ff/rev/play-pause/stop, etc, plus it may be the only part that seems as though it may exhibit potential fragility, though that remains to be seen. It may be fine. In any case, the controls are all replicated on the remote and then some.

I had considered the RCA mp3-CD player, but it lacked a backlight, though it did display ID3's. I personally feel that a backlight is far more important -- a stupid feature to not include. I prefer the Philips brandname anyhow, and it can't touch this unit for looks and style. This unit is built well and looks great, like the Sony CFDE75, but the Sony lacks MP3-CD support (and a backlight!). I didn't care about a cassette player -- usually the weakest link in a portable system.

To summarize, I highly recommend this product. You won't be disappointed, so long as you acknowledge its few shortcomings (and aren't unpleasantly surprised). It's a winner for sure. I think it will sell -- and serve -- very well.

I did a lot of research on these. I suspect more manufacturers and models will hit the market with the MP3 decoding feature, but Philips is serious about this niche, and they have a very well designed and stylish product. I highly recommend it. The sound is great, with plenty of volume and a nice bass enhancement option. The look is cool, with nice touches like the amber colored display in MP3 mode versus green for FM and normal CD. For anyone unfamiliar with the benefits of the MP3 decoding feature...Instead of having to take the compressed MP3 file and uncompress it to put on a regular CD-Audio, you can burn a data CD with compressed MP3 files. So, instead of (about)18 songs fitting on a normal audio CD, you can have (about) 180 songs on a data CD in MP3 format. So, you need to be computer saavy enough to be able to rip and/or download MP3's and burn CD's - or, you can have a friend do it for you. At any rate, you can put all or most of your favorite tunes on one CD and have hours and hours of listening. Kind of like a portable jukebox. I have a portable Rio/Nike MP3 player for running, but this boombox is great for taking around as I do chores and run on the treadmill. Some minor negatives - the shuffle/random play feature can only be done from the remote (which is a critical feature when you have so many songs on one CD). No ID3 support, so you don't see the track name on the display, just the track number. Small things overall. You may be able to get another model for 10-20 bucks less, but the cool styling, quality, and dedication from Philips to this medium makes the AZ1155 the best buy.

There isn't many Boomboxes that even play MP3s (believe me, I've looked). This is the first that I've found that has the quality and features that you need with MP3 playback. It has Nice looks, decent sound, colorful back light, cute little remote, and most important of all it will play your hundreds of MP3s in a Random Order (which for some reason, is every Rare!). If you burn you own CDs than you probably know that you can get about 80 min of music on a regular CD (about 22 songs) and about 10 times that with MP3 format (about 13 hours and well over 200 songs). It not only lets you shuffle you songs but will recognize and let you select different folders of MP3s on you CD. So if you're looking for a nice CD/MP3 player in a Boombox with MP3 Shuffle...this is it!

I just recentley purchased this boombox after my old double cassette player (and I) had enough of playing radio stations all day long at work. I hadn't looked into what features where offered before I started shopping for one. I was excited to find this boombox that plays MP3s. I had to hear it though before I purchased it. I finally found one at a retail store and was very surprised with the bass response and crispness of the sound it produced.

I wasn't interested in headphone jacks or line-out jacks and definitley not a cassette player. So I wasn't dissapointed to find out this unit didn't carry any of those. The remote control was a big bonus. What a great idea! I carry that remote on my cart at work and can control my music all day long without having to touch the radio. I switch back and forth from cd to tuner all the time, its not hard to say that this was a major selling point for me.

As far as MP3s go, it has played every CD I've tossed at it without a hiccup. In fact I have been so pleased with this unit that I bought a second one for home. I plan on taking this boombox camping, swimming, and just to use outside when I have guests over.

This is actually my first Philips brand item. I am usually a big Sony guy. But the quality of design that was put into this unit has made me look closer at the Philips line.

This is a great box. It played every mp3 disk I threw at it without skipping, including disks written in Macintosh VBR format. The sound is very good and the remote is very useful (BTW, you CAN access the shuffle mode from the unit itself). The only real negatives are lack of ID support (though navigation by numbers is not that hard especially if you have a printout of what's on the disk) and the fact that there is no headphone jack. This means you cannot hook the unit up to your home stereo either. Not a big deal if you already have an MP3-playing DVD player, however. All in all a nicely-designed portable. Currently the best on the market.

Used Sony's boombox for MP3, An excellent sounding unit for music and had all the wanted features BUT could not play my OTR programs without skipping unless I re-recorded them at 128 kb. With over 1000 programs it's just too much to ask.
I purchased the Philips unit and it hasn't had a skip yet. The unit appears to use the better Expanium player with anti-skip as it even plays on its side. An equalizer would have been nice but sounds great for such a small unit. No earphone jack installed on unit nor are there any sleep or timer features.
Am having a jack installed to avail myself of the 12 volt from my auto. Long trips where radio reception is poor will no longer be a problem and with OTR a pleasure to drive.
The unit plays all of my CD's and CDR and CDRW perfectly.
Price is very good considering it has its own amp and speakers.

Just go this and so far it works without a flaw. I bought it for the ability to play MP3s so that when I travel I don't have to drag around a couple hundred CDs. ALL of the mp3 discs I have tried so far work without a hitch (burned using Toast on a Mac). The sound is not great, but pretty good given the small size. I was looking at the Sony MP3 boomboxes, but went with this because Sony has become so hostile to the MP3 community (even though Sony wants to sell you CD burners, MP3 players, etc. - kind of a wierd double standard). Most of the Sony machines seem to have problems with MP3 compatibility as well.

One very minor point on the Philips is that the battery compartment is kind of poorly designed. The contact tabs inside didn't quite reach the batteries, so I had to bend them with a screwdriver to get them to work.

I read the reviews above and found them very helpful. I purchased the box and was very happy with the price and the amazon.com terms (free shipping). It works as designed and looks very good. One item that others have brought up is that you can't power it "on" with the remote control. I think that is because they are trying to cut down on "vampire" electronics which draw power when the unit is not in use. For instance in my office when the light is off there are about a dozen green lights for all of my PC's and related components and they are all drawing power, even while turned off. If this is the case and it is not an intentional oversight, I applaud Philips for this design even if it is slightly less convenient.

I also like the perpetual "repeat" function. My condo is very loud and I use a white noise tape to drown out the outside noise and leave it on all night.

I really wanted to buy this item for my office. Sometimes I have to share my office with freelancers and I need to use headphones as not to bother anyone.

Philips OWN spec-sheet from their website (.pdf format) says a 1/4" headphone jack is supplied.

When I looked at the item at a local retailer...NO jack!

I've done a lot of research on boom boxes and Philips is the ONLY one that gets it right. The bass response they give you at any sound level out performs the rest.

I will probably by the higher end model the AZ4000. Their tech people confirmed it has a headphone jack.

If you DON"T need to use headphones this model just can't be beat on the price/perfomance ratio.

Overall, I like it because I can play my mp3 CDs without the need of a computer. I get a lot better sound quality. There aren't as many similar products out there when I bought in February.

The problems:

1. You can turn it off but can't turn it on with the remote.

2. Small LCD panel doesn't display song name.