Customer Reviews

Sony WM-FX495 Walkman Stereo Cassette Player with In-line Remote

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

 

 

I recently tested, and reviewed, Sony's WM-FS222 S2 Sports Walkman Stereo Cassette Player which I found seriously flawed in a number of significant areas. Most importantly, I was unhappy with the standard headphone set included with the unit and discomfited by unacceptable levels of distortion at surprisingly low volume levels. Having returned that Walkman for credit, I decided to have another go at a Sony product finally selecting the WM-FX495 Cassette Walkman after much thought and consideration. Thankfully, this portable tape player met all my expectations. First of all, the included headphone set is adequate (and comfortable) and the reproduction sound quality overall is excellent. A plastic case that comes with the unit has a belt clip which provides adequate stability for vigorous exercise and a handy remote module allows for control of playback without having to take the Walkman out of its case. Moreover, auto reverse and continuous play functionality allow for uninterrupted playback of cassettes. Although I am always wary of electronic products which rely upon only one AA battery to meet their energy requirements, in this instance there does seem to be ample power and indeed, each battery lasts hours and hours; even longer than I anticipate it will! Finally, this Walkman is very light and therefore hardly noticeable when carried and its controls are both super-sensitive and efficient. A convenient hold switch on the remote (which does not affect volume control) guards against accidental, and unwanted, activation of the controls and permits unfettered movement while listening to one's favorite music. In summary, having been disappointed by a previous testing of a Sony portable cassette player, I feel I have now discovered a winning model with the WM-FX495 Cassette Walkman. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a portable, high fidelity, tape player.

I agree with the other positive reviews, here I'll just point out a few things missing from the reviews I read and the product description. I bought this unit as an exercise peripheral for listening to lecture tapes.

1. There's an attachment point for a wrist strap, but oddly enough I didn't see the 5 cent nylon wrist strap in the package. I passed a very slender nylon pull tie through it and then locked on a metal key ring. I can use that to attach the device to gear.

2. It comes with a very lightweight unpadded nylon jacket with a belt clip. The clip is worthless (slides off a belt) but I threaded a thin nylon climbing belt through the jacket and it's easy to carry this way.

3. It has a remote with an somewhat longish cord. Looks promising if one keeps the cord bundled up safely. I used another nylon tie for that.

4. It's made in Malaysia (I think that's where SONY's better quality stuff is made now).

5. It's VERY light -- feels empty. That's good.

6. The included headphones are not appropriate for exercise. Most people use earbuds or the ultralight over the head earphones (same style as in the poorly reviewed SONY sport). So budget another $10-15 for exercise headphones if you don't have any on hand.

Seems to be about the best available device for exercise on the market nowadays.

I took delivery of this Sony Walkman (WM-FX495) a few days ago. I purchased it through www.amazon.com and it arrived five business days later w/ free shipping and no hassles.

Overall, I would have given this product a strong five stars for sound quality and fit & finish. However, many people (less technically minded) are going to be troubled by the less than intuitive interface. Please read on.

I read some of the reviews of this product before I ordered so I was already expecting some of the short falls of this device, which are few. The main short fall of this product is initially dealing with the interface out of the box, but once I got use to the menu-based interface and got all the presets "dialed-in" to the radio stations I like, I found it to be very simple to use. At first, I was not sure if I would use the in-line remote, but once I programmed all the presets, it made the device even easier to use. I also liked having the redundancy of two ways to access all the radio and cassette tape features. This will prove even more important as time goes on, as inventible the most used buttons will fail to function.

I would have to say the best feature is the favorite button, or as Sony refers to it as Direct Station Buttons (DSB). Or the F1 thru 5 presets on the outer ring . You will have a "one-touch" button access to your five favorite stations regardless of what frequency the device was set to before it was shut off.

Sound reproduction is excellent (the best in this price range), provided you have high quality headphones. If you have the cash, I would suggest you drop it on a pair of Bose QuietComfort 2 headphones.

Reception is good, provided the station is not too distant.

As for the battery life, it is still too soon to tell, but so far, I have use this product for many hours on a high quality fully charged Ni-MH battery and it is still going strong.

The two major improvements of this product I would suggest to Sony is one, provide a flow chart diagram of the menu-based interface (a picture is truly worth a thousand words!). Secondly, is to provide an AC power adaptor input on the unit for people who would rather not rely on batteries.

Just remember direction <> = play ...according to Sony.

Enjoy!!

I purchased this model solely on the strength of the review I saw listed. I too had purchased the sports walkman FS222. Two hours later I returned it, thoroughly distraught and wondering where to find a suitable replacement for my five year old sony sports walkman. I only use my walkman in the gym, so a cd player, or the clunky buttons and lack of a belt clip on most of sony's models wouldn't work for me. I had almost decided to go with an ipod when I checked amazon for options... and there it was! the answer to all my problems. This walkman is light, easily programmable; features a weather band & TV settings AND.. comes with a carrying case & belt clip. I really couldn't ask for more....except to ask some major retailers to stock this model since I might have to buy a spare for the day this one gives out!

I bought this walkman based on the recommendations here on Amazon. Unfortunately, I now disagree with all the favorable feedback.
First, the controls are totally counterintuitive. Instead of a "play" button, there's a "direction switch" button, which happens to also work as "play" (I actually had to look through the instructions to figure out how to play a tape!!)

Next, the controls are on the front, and are just small buttons which tend to get pressed by mistake if the unit happens to be in a pocket. Terrible design, unintuitive, and forces you to have to look at the unit in order to do anything - you can't operate it by feel as the buttons are too small to feel with your finger.

Finally, maybe I got a lemon, but in 3 of the total of 6 times I've used the unit so far, during operation (both radio and tape) I would hear a loud beep, and the the unit would either turn off or switch directions on my tape - for no reason. The unit was lying untouched on a flat surface at the time. No idea what was going on, and particularly annotying while trying to listen to a meditation tape.

It is true that the unit is very light, which is a big plus, and the sounds seems to be decent. But I'd happily sacrifice the sound a bit for faultless and intuitive operation... Very disappointing.

The unit is a great idea, but either has a poor design or my unit was defective. It failed outside of 30 days, so I called Sony. After a lot of time on this, they finally said that they would eventually (no time line) replace it if I paid $15 to send it to Texas. After chatting with second level support, it seems clear that there is no good process from Sony US to support warranty on small items.

So, if you buy this, be prepared to throw it away if it has the same defect. Or, look for another brand, which probably means not using Amazon.

I have now tested all of the Sony Walkmans featuring tape / radio that are found at Best Buy and Amazon. I thought this product would finally be the best combination and was happy with the unit, until I discovered that the FM radio has such poor reception! I liked the remote which has the preset radio stations and you could play the tapes easily from it. The belt attachment fit nicely on the belt buckle and the tapes sounded great. I can hear AM radio, but the FM reception is just terrible, so this essentially becomes just a tape player and is not what I wanted. Still searching for the ultimate tape / radio combination that I can exercise with...

This is the worst set of controls I have ever seen on a radio/cassette player. Good thing it only takes one battery -- it will inevitably be left on. DO NOT buy this unless you're about 14. I hate it very much.

Very very nice piece of equipment. Practical and functional, extremely lightweight, the sound quality can't be better.

POSITIVE SIDES:
1. Quality of sound is OK. Need to test more.

NEGATIVE SIDE:
1. Cassette door has a sliding lock. It is difficult to slide and open the cassette door. POOR DESIGN
2. The controls are confussing. NOT USER FRIENDLY.
3. The volume control is difficult in the inline remote. The KNOB IS NOT ACCESSABLE.