For many years I wanted an MP3 CD player so that I could burn all my MP3s to CD and play them when I go on holiday, but I was thrilled when I found the Panasonic SL SX425S for just £70 which could not only play MP3 but the much smaller WMA - which are roughly half the size but remain the same quality as the MP3
You can cram as many songs as you like onto a CD-R or CD-RW and it will play them, although beware when playing WMA the battery power can go down pretty quickly!
The general layout and style is good, and it looks very attractive, there is also a useful "Hold" button so that when it goes into your pocket you don't change the song by mistake. There is also a great little inline remote control which you can use to quickly access you favourite songs. The system is very easy to use and even without reading the instruction manual you can figure things out for yourself - basically just play, stop, next track, last track, pause and so on...
Another of the Panasonic SL SX425S useful features is its display screen which shows the song number you are playing and the time remaining, you can also alter some of the features, so that your songs sound better, for example their is a setting for live songs and for those rock songs which you want a bit more of a beat with!
The sound quality is excellent, but I really depends on what you put on your CD, if your original is poor then of course the CD version will also be poor. My advice to anyone getting this is the get a good pair of headphones, personally I hate the horrible little ear plugs that came with this device they are extremely uncomfortable and they keep on falling out of my ears!
It also comes with a memory feature to store your favourite songs so that they will play in the order you want, you can also programme it to play a song repeatedly, or all the songs repeatedly or your selected songs repeatedly.
I have dropped this thing so many times and accidentally trodden on it and it has been fine afterwards, battered but no deterioation to the sound quality of the speed of the player, although I should mention that MP3s and WMAs can take a long time for the player to get started when you first put the CD in but afterwards they play fine. Also I noticed that you can't "fast forward" MP3s and WMAs only normal shop bought quality CDs.
Another of the few disadvantages is that it doesn't show the name of the song like some of the more modern players.
Generally good value for money especially if you can't afford the more glamorous iPods!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
seems like a nice cheap mp3/cd player. whats the jog protection like, i have a memory based player but would like more songs to be stored, but dont have much money. i.e. no ipod for me.
thespurs 17.06.2004 14:00
i havent needed a cd or mp3 player as yet, but if i do need one i will consider this
Deru 17.06.2004 13:57
I have somethign like this. Don't think mine plays WMA's but it works well. How's the shock protection on this Panasonic one?
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