Customer Reviews

Sony WM-FX290 Stereo Cassette Player with FM/AM/TV/Weather Tuning

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

The WM-FX290 plays tapes clearly without the warbly speed changes (known as "wow and flutter") that render piano music unbearable. At this price point, competency is the key; anything better is icing on the cake.

These days, people shopping for a cassette Walkman probably listen to audiobooks or have a boxful of old tapes they think they'll get around to playing. Neither customer likely expects Dolby noise reduction or the ability to play CrO2 or metal tapes. Also, in case you were planning to dictate notes to self, note now that this unit does NOT record.

The pleasant surprise is what you DON'T expect to find at this price: Attractive styling, digital tuning with presets, comfortable headphones, exceptional battery life (from one AA battery!), and a "hold" button that prevents unintended station changes when the unit is stuffed in a pocket.

What isn't so hot? Well, weather band has weak reception even in areas with usable signal, the "bass boost" function produces a sonic mudslide that will alarm even "boom car" afficionados, and the nearly opaque clamshell makes you eject to read the tape label or see how much tape remains on a side (yikes).

At this humble price point, the presence of a few nice touches -- and lack of jarring penalties -- spells an easy five stars.

I haven't owned a walkman in quite a few years. I bought this to listen to books-on-tape while I workout. It's very compact and has worked well. There is sufficient volume for my needs and the sound quality seems just fine. The fabric/plastic cover has to be removed to change tapes (I usually just leave it off now ... but you need it if you want to clip the unit to your waistband). Battery life seems good and it only requires one AA. Since I've only had it one month, I can't really comment on durability.

I am disappointed in Sony with this product. Sony charges a premium for their Walkmans. And I really expected them to deliver.

In the last two years I have purchased three Sony Walkmans. They all broke within 4 months of the purchase. One ate every tape it touched, the other two stopped turning the reel.

I strictly listen to books on tape that I borrow from our local library, I don't use the radio or other features, so cannot rate them.

This particular model is very sensitive to how the tapes line up. So if you get an older tape that is a little loose it cannot handle it. I had to rubber band the tapes to get them to fit tight enough to play.

Second, the lid on the battery slot stopped snapping shut. And the battery would just slip out! Again a good rubber band helped hold it closed.

Last, the player just stopped turning the tape reel! Sony does warranty their products but you have to pay to exchange it for a refurbished one. Ship the old product back etc. This is the same problem I had before.

For the price, this player is not worth the hassle. You are better off buying two of the cheaper brand, then you can just recycle it when it breaks and move on to the next one.

Adequate.

I've owned four of the Sony WM-FX290 series over the years. I use them primarily for audio-books - and I listen to thirty/forty books a year which easily means hundreds of hours of use. I'm mostly satisfied with the model, taking into account price, durability, ease of use, quality of sound, etc. There are significantly more expense cassette players (as well as really inexpensive, rather breakable models)but overall, this model is about as good as I've seen for the price. I'm not particularly thrilled about it mostly because I can remember sturdier models with more features and better design (at the same price) but, alas, they're no longer made.

Good points: Moderately priced, decent sound, great battery life (1 rechargeable lasts 4-6 hours cassette playing), easy-to-program radio

Bad points: Opaque-cover (you can't just look & see how much tape is left without taking tape out), no auto-reverse, battery "holder" easily broken (from a six inch drop)requiring tape to keep battery in place, no "clip" to attach to pants, too sensitive too squeezing (when I jog or walk, I hold the Walkman in my hand or pocket squeezing the player and slooowing the playback). Further, after several months of opening/closing, the tape holder doesn't seem to keep the cassettes in alignment making them again slow down (and making me adjust the tapes to just the right spot).

Despite all this, I'd recommend the player mainly because of the price. While I remember 10 years ago, we could've gotten auto-reverse, translucent views of the cassette, a molded rubber exterior, a convenient/unobtrusive clip, etc. from Sony, but they no longer bother with them at this price. I remember they also had the ability to rewind a tape while listening to the radio: not possible now.

(I've owned 4 over the 6 years: two I dropped (from less than a foot and once on a carpet) after several months and damaged the battery spring holder; eventually taping them didn't work, one just grew too old after fifty audiobooks (at least 400 hours use), and the fourth one's sound gradually faded away after a year.

My kids and I listen to books on tape from the library, and it's getting increasingly hard to find cassette walkmans at local stores, even though we live in a large city. All our usual sources had dried up, so we were delighted to be able to buy this one through Amazon. It's a basic, functional walkman. Nothing fancy, but just right for elementary/middle school kids who still tend to break their electronics fairly often.

I've had several of these Sony Walkman cassette players. I usually wear them out or drop and break them while running for the bus home. I like the TV sound because I can catch the evening news while riding the bus home. I also listen to a lot of talk radio so it's good for that as well. I use it to listen to the morning DJ's (Steve Harvey, Tom Joyner, etc.) and the reception is pretty good. Unlike a lot of folks, I like the fuzzy headphones. I'd much rather have the earphones on top of my ears than the ones that stick inside - so these are perfect for me. I like the fact that you can program several stations on AM/FM or TV. It's a pretty durable little cassette player - although I have broken several over the years, it's usually been my fault. They are, however, getting hard to find - so it was good to be able to get one on Amazon because the stores don't seem to be selling them anymore. The stores only want to sell CD players now and the sale of cassette players seems to be phasing out. It's a great companion during my morning walk to work and on my weekend power walks - I would recommend it to anyone who likes to listen to music, talk radio, TV or who still has a few cassettes lying around.

I love my Sony Walkman WM-FX290! So much so I have bought 3 of them so far for different purposes for myself. Work, home, play, working out, you name it. It is lighter than a previous version that was out and only uses one battery. I have an office job and do the type of work where a TV would be nice but sometimes all I have time enough to do is just listen instead of watch so this works out great. I love the features of having FM/AM and TV. The Weather Band I hardly ever use and usually I don't hear anything on it anyway. There are CD Walkman's I have seen that have AM/FM (a feature that was a long time coming) but no TV so this is a great unit for the money. How much do I love this little unit? One day I forgot to bring it to work. Did I go home during my lunchbreak to go get it? Yes, I did! Lol! I have gotten that used to it! Living and working in the Washington, D.C. area, a city that takes it Radio and TV news, entertainment and music seriously, this unit more than fits the bill. It keeps me feeling "in touch" all day with AM and FM talkshows, the noon newscasts, NPR stations, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Soul, Classical, Rock, Oldies and more. Whatever formats your city gets, this little unit seems to be able to pull it in with a generally great reception. Also with all the syndication changes and format changes that have been going on in radio in general, this unit keeps you up to date with what the latest changes are (good or bad) by having so many FM choices programable. If you like variety in your radio listening this unit is great with a total of 40 Presets AM/FM/TV/Weather combined. On the inside of the office, some stations just do not come in, but most of my favorites do. When you go out for lunch you will generally be able to pick them all up anyway on it. Overall, I think you will be happy with this Walkman. Kudos to Sony on an excellent job with this one! I traded up the earphones for a Phillips SBC HS500 so I could have the wrap around headphones option and it works great at work as well and also when you are wearing baseball caps. Hope this was helpful!

I have a wonderful new car with a great 6 CD changer. The only problem is that I love to listen to audiobooks while I drive, and many of these are available only on cassette. Enter the Sony cassette player. It's small and light and runs for HOURS (like, 20) on just one AA battery - one! I must confess that I bought earphones that fit over my ear instead of the rather cumbersome pair that came with the player, but I still think it's a great deal.

If you're looking for a portable stereo/cassette player, buy this one! I love mine. I looks great, it's light weight, and uses only one AA battery (what a weight and cost reducer!). Don't let anyone fool you, that one battery powers a lot of great features like Mega Bass and 40 presets(40 hours of battery life according to Sony if used in radio mode). In addition, it produces plenty of volume and great sound. A previous reviewer complained that the one AA battery did not produce enough volume. As far as I'm concerned, nothing could be further from the truth. There is volume to spare on this baby! You'll never be able to listen to it on full-blast.

My only (minor) complaint about this Walkman is the location of the preset selector switch. It's recessed, slim, and located below the LCD display. This makes it inconvenient to locate and operate while running on a treadmill, but its no big deal. The many benefits of this unit easily outweigh this minor disadvantage.

As I stated before, I love my Sony WM-FX290 Walkman. I bought mine for the gym. I highly recommend it and don't workout without it. It comes with a nice carrying case and headphones making it a great deal. Give it a try; I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

This is a very good cassette player - and, these days, the local stores do not cary many, or no, cassette players - so I am comparing it to my old trusty Sony Walkman that died ... The sound is great with and without the Megabass feature. At first I didn't like the caring case but I got used to it and have no problems with it. On the downside the player doesn't have continuous play, or reverse, feature so, if you'd like to hear music on the reverse side, you have to stop, open the carying case, take the player out and reverse the cassette ... a pain. The window that displays control features is very very small so it is difficult to see the commands. The controls themselves are not very intuitive and I needed directions to set up, or change, the pre-sets but when that was done the player was fun to have and use.