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54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A player for those who listen, August 31, 2003
First, let me say this player is the best one I have ever owned. Now that doesn't mean a thing unless I explain that I've owned about 8 portable CD players, and this is my 3rd mp3 CD player.I got this player to listen to books on CD while at work (often times converted to mp3 or Atrac so that I don't have to change CDs.) As such I often push the envelope of compression and at times I'll have 400+ mp3 files on one CD. I've found you can really tell a lot about how well the player is made by using it under these extreme cases, so here's a feature list and my thoughts on each feature. Batteries:
A definite plus. If you have regular CDs, this player will last about 30 hours, and with mp3/atrac you get that near 100 hours of play time on 1 set. Oh, and using NiMH batteries work great with this player, I highly recommend adding a set and a 1 hour charger. It took a week before I had the battery meter go down one notch, but it went down quite quickly after that. Also, it should be noted that this player uses a technology where it conserves power by using the spinning down CD to recharge an internal battery. Really cool to show your friends. Atrac:
This was a surprise to me. Atrac is a proprietary format (used with mini-disc) and it offers better compression than mp3. The software that came with this player will convert from mp3 to Atrac, but it is painfully slow. On the other hand, if you are ripping a CD for the first time, converting to Atrac is faster than ripping to mp3 by a factor of 1.5. The part that was disappointing was that you couldn't save your CD and add more files at a later time, it had to be done all at once. The sound quality is the same, and quite frankly my advice is this; if you already have mp3s, just burn them on a CD. However, if you have a bunch (10 or more) CDs that you want to put on a single CD use Atrac (but remember it is only compatible with Sony players.) Something else to consider is that there is no equivilent tool for Linux users, which is a real shame. If Sony was to support Linux, then I'm sure there would be easy ways to re-configure the software to better suit those power users Overall, I rate this feature a mixed bag. mp3:
Perfect. Quite a surprise, as my mp3s are often variable bit rate and on the high end of compression. Other players have trouble at the level of compression I use, not knowing when a track really ends, this player worked perfectly. One annoyance, sometimes there's a 1-2 second gap when loading the next mp3. Random mode:
Good algorithm. I've had players that would play the same song 3 times in a row, because they didn't have a good method for choosing a random song. This player doesn't do that at all. Another plus for the Sony developers. File System:
If you're like me, you like a nice, organized file system to order things. This player works great with folder and such. The only downside is sometimes folder names get cut off due to the display, so put the disc number first if you want to see it using the jump wheel. Also it is alphabetical, case sensitive, so don't be surprised if Zebra comes before aardvark. Finally, as adding leading zeros is automatic for me, I don't know how this player will work without them, so make sure you leave them on (not needed for Atrac.) Oh one more thing, because I may have hundreds of files on a CD I was expecting a long time to load the CD. However, this player loaded it quite quickly, a very nice surprise. Resets/Resume Mode:
This is another annoyance with this player. Every once a while it will reset and you'll loose your place in a CD. This happens so infrequently though, one shouldn't worry about it. On flip side, this player remembers where you were when you stopped, so you can always pick up right where you left off (even in the middle of a track.) Very cool. Another plus. Durability:
This player is solid. I have no worries about it breaking like my Panasonic did. It's quite rugged, and will take some real abuse. Remote:
Remotes on these types of players are inline with headphones, so you don't have to mess with the unit to skip past a track or such. This player has the spot for a remote, but it doesn't come with one. I contacted Sony about finding one, as it would make this player even better, but I didn't get a response. I'd really like a remote for this player, it is one of the only things I can find lacking with it. The remote is included in the next step up, but that version has no controls on the player it's self. Summary:
If you have the money, this player will satisfy even the most discriminating user. I have been using it for two months, and love it. The only thing that could make it better is a remote, and some improvements with the software. Overall, definitely worth the money, and the +5 rating.
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