Customer Reviews

Sony D-NE718CK ATRAC3/MP3/CD Walkman with Car Kit

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

this is my first time reviewing anything online, and the reason i feel compelled to do so is because i think that this discman is an absolute must for anyone out shopping for an mp3/cd player (Especially one for the car). i have spent quite a bit of time researching for the best cd player out there, have owned quite a few, and without a doubt this is the best one. where to start... the battery life is fantastic at 95 hours for two AA's. it's wonderfully slim and sexy, stylish and elegant in all the ways good electronics are. sound quality is great... some other discman's (panasonic), seem to sacrifice sound quality or the volume tops off at a level you cannot hear over the subway roar (not this one, this will break your ears at full volume...break them). it features fantastic antiskip... the thing will put the current song in memory after 10 seconds and stop it from skipping, making skipping virtually impossible (ie: you can hurl it at a homeless person and it will not miss a beat). the ease of switching between songs in mp3 or atrac form is unsurpassed. the id tagging here is perfect, but the big news, and the thing that makes me absolutely enthralled with this device is the jog dial. not to exaggerate, but the jog dial is the greatest invention since the typewriter... and more useful than water or air. it allows you to easily roll your way through hundreds of songs or folders in seconds. it is so simple that i am shocked other companies havent thought of this sooner. in many other players you have to tap a button a hundred times to get to the song you like... doesnt that suck? no one likes tapping!! here you roll, and its much faster and easier and looks cool as hell. what else to say? there are no problems with this discman...its perfect... it looks great, the buttons all make perfect sense in their placement, it works better than any discman i have ever seen or read about.... and if youre looking for the best you cannot do any better (Serisouly, even those more expensive ones out there arent more functional.... sure they look like miniature ufo's...but they dont have no jogdial).
enjoy it.

This Walkman by Sony offers serious music lovers the opportunity to listen to MP3 files stored on a CD, CD-R, CD-RW, a regular CD (of course); and even a newer technology called "ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus." The remote and the car accessories come in handy if you don't want to carry the actual player in your hands as you walk about town or drive along the highway--great! Moreover, to do all this it only uses two AA batteries at a time and you get lots of play time out of that single battery.

At first glance the controls on the Walkman itself appear intimidating but after about ten minutes tops you learn all the important and most commonly used functions. The controls also make it easy to adjust the levels of bass and change equalizer settings. Other features, such as adding bookmarks on a CD and learning how to use this in a car, require a bit more concentration and time to learn. However, the instruction manual is fairly clear and if you have questions you can always contact Sony customer support by phone or Internet.

One special feature that is very much worth noting: the advantage of making an "ATRAC3plus or an ATRAC3" CD is that you can fit much, much more music onto an "ATRAC" CD than you ever could otherwise when making your own CDs. Indeed, the owner's manual for this Walkman states that you can fit 999 music files on a single "ATRAC" style CD. Excellent!

However, I noticed two relatively minor disappointments. First, Sony advertises this Walkman as being for the music enthusiast--and they are right. This means that the average layperson like me will have to spend a couple of hours learning how to use ALL the functions of this Walkman. The capabilities of this little machine impress me greatly; but there will be a small--but worthwhile--learning curve for persons like myself. I did not anticipate that. In addition, some of the control buttons are rather small so you need to be careful of how you touch them with your fingers.

Overall, music enthusiasts will be thrilled with this Walkman. The abundant features amaze me and I believe you will be impressed, too. The quality of the sound is excellent. The shockproof "skip-free G protection" impress me, too. I highly recommend this portable CD player for music lovers everywhere. In addition, if you have the time to learn how to use this machine to its greatest potential, any layperson like me will also come to cherish this Walkman.

Im not sure what the other reviewer of this product is talking about. The D-NE718CK IS most definitely an MP3 player. Without using any of the included software, i popped in a cd of my mp3s and started listening to them 2 seconds after opening the player.

It is nice that Sony supports ID3 tagging, but I don't understand the logic in using these internal MP3 tags to sequence the playing order of your data files. Winamp, and my old Philips CD-Player, both use the file name to sequence the playing order of the data files. I believe this makes more sense, because it makes the data files easier to identify, and gives the user more control of their content.

I bought this product 6 months and I was very excited then since it have fulfilled all my expectations and my needs! it was just what I wanted...MP3, car kit and remote control, G Protection, and used less batteries. Until recently, this CD player started skipping and also making scratching noise as I tilted or shake it smoothly! I have not dropped it and it should have G protection, so should not skip! I really don't know what happened. I am now a little disappointed.

I must say, I was a little hesitant at first to buy this product. After receiving it not 3 hours ago, I can clearly state this is one of the best combinations of price, features, usibility, and duribility EVER concocted by ANY portable audio company\makers!!!! Even though this player does not have any of the preset EQ's of a panasonic, or the shiny-ness of an RCA, or the super unnecesary anti skip of an iRiver, it is in my opinion still one of the best in the biz. I was really looking for a cd player than had an LCD display on the lid, and walla, this player has a crisp and clear dot matrix with enough room to display pretty much everything you need.
The digital bass is some of the strongest, richest sound production I have ever listened to, and it completely makes up for the lack of preset eqs (that are on panasonic players). The balance of sound is mastered. And trust me, i listen to everything...Punk, Heavy Metal, Pop, Classical, Jazz, Blues, Johnny Cash (heh heh) Techno, Dance, you name it, i listen to it.
The controls are very cleverly placed on the lid and on the sides. They are easy to find and use.
Another clever design desicion i found is that the players lid opens sideways when compared to the LCD screen. This is because the AA batteries go in the back of the player, behind the horizontal LCD. This causes, when the player is put on a flat surface, a ever so slight increase in the readability of the screen, but not so noticible as to take away the style and smallness of the player in general.

All in all, get this. Im serious. Stop reading and buy this player. Really stop. Im not kidding!!!! GRRRR BUY IT!

I am very satisfied with this model of the mp3/cd player. I had one before and it will not play cd's any more. I liked the unit so well I wanted another one just like it. I did not need the car kit but it was the only way I could replace the previous one so I bought another one.

I bought this player to use in a car. I have a Honda Accord LX '03 which only has factory CD player. Luckily, it has AUX input to which I connected a special box sold at Crutchfield. It is named HON03 or something of the sort. I am able to plug in anything that has a 3.5mm audio output.

I used to connect my iPod-like mp3 player but it did not work out well because I had to look at the display all the time to switch songs, etc. Also, I had to manually turn it on/off each time and set a bookmark at each stop.

After that mp3 player died, I started looking for something:
1) with a remote;
2) something that I could hide in a hand rest and not touch for days, preferably;
3) something that could be powered by car's 12V socket;
4) something that would remember its position in a song when ignition is turned off;

I was surprised that there was no other solution than this Sony mp3/cd 718CK player (except for the option to install factory mp3 player into dashboard, which is ~$300-400, or some other aftermarket mp3 player).

I won't write about sound quality, G-shock, usability, reliability, etc. The name Sony speaks for itself, meaning all the above could not be any better for a portable device made by a company with the longest history in producing Walkmans.


I want to write about those nice features that you start loving right away:

1) I mounted the remote just to the left of the dashboard, behind the windshield wiper's handle. It is easily accessible while driving and does not obstruct anything. I had to pass the remote's cord inside the dashboard to hide it, then it went to the underarm compartment. 12V DC, 110V AC, and RCA AUX input jack were already there. I just had to put the player there and connect it. Now I only see and use the remote, nothing else needs to be touched except when changing mp3 discs. Considering that each mp3 disk is >10-15hrs of playback time, it is not something you do every 10 min. as is the case when using regular audio CDs.
My only wish is that the remote could be wireless.

2) To turn the player on and start playing, I just need to push Play button on a remote. I DO NOT NEED to turn it off or set a bookmark - the player starts at exact same song at exact same position when you turn the ignition off and then on. You just need to push Play button on a remote after starting your car and you are all set! It could not be easier!
My only wish is that the player could start by itself when powered back up, just like a regular in-dash CD player.

3) This player has line-out 3.5mm output which I connected directly to AUX of my car. 99% of other CD/mp3 players have only one 3.5mm output, and it is usually located on a remote. It really creates a web of cords in your car that way.


Now somewhat bad things about the player and ways to overcome them:

1) The player has to have batteries inside to memorize its last song and position. I believe it also memorizes the whole song since it starts playing it in only 2-3 sec after you turn it on!
Good thing is that when connected to external power source the batteries are re-charged RIGHT INSIDE the player if you press Charge button! So you don't have to take them out very often (recharge, maybe once a month, and replace every year or so), especially considering the fact that the player will run from car's 12V DC all the time. The batteries will be used only for holding player's bookmarks in memory when it is turned off.

2) Now real bad thing: when connected to AUX and 12V DC socket using the Sony-supplied 12V adapter, the player produces loud hissing sounds. Starting the engine makes the sounds unbearable. I believe it has to do with the car's 12V power system. Although it is a straight DC current, there might be slight modulations in it that interfere with sound wires. When you plug in earphones, however, all is well. It is only bad when connected to AUX of the car. When 12V DC is disconnected, the problem also disappears. But, in this way, the player has to purely on batteries which is not a good thing.
My solution was to use the step up 12V->110V invertor ($20 bucks at Walmart for 100W) and then use the Sony AC adapter that came with the player. Now it was all perfect. Somehow the invertor and the adapter filtered out all bad interferences, and the sound became clear.

All in all, I highly recommend buying this player if you need a portable mp3 player in your car. It is a very neat solution indeed, thanks to Sony engineers!

I bought this cd player for my husband who drives a semi. He listens to audio books. The last couple of years the books have gone to cd instead of cassette. He loves it and has not had the first problem with it. It was a great buy. Carol

I bought this Sony Walkman about a year ago. It has been the best portable cd player that I have had so far. So far, I have dropped it a couple times and yet it still has worked. That has really impressed me. Having all the ATRAC features makes it feel like a really high quality player, which it is. Being able to read text cds has been my favorite feature about it. I do wish more of my cds were text cds.

Overall this has been a great cd player and a good choice for anyone looking to by one.