Sony CDXF5500 > Reviews (1)

I received this product as a christmas present to replace the standard tape player I had on my 1996 ford fiesta. I can say I was not disappointed.

The stereo was fitted in 1/2 hour using a sony adaptor from a local store. One end plugged into the stereo, the other into the car. Simple. The security is great; it has a removable cover, which goes in a nice little case, and the system bleeps when you turn off the ignition to remind you. You can store up to 6 of your favourite stations, and manual frequency lets you choose your favourite if the accurate seek button does not find them.

I have to say that the system can go very loud indeed (enough to blow my small speakers) and went louder in my parents ford ka as well. Bass/Treble/Middle settings are easily accessable to fine tune your sound. The player has played every single CD I have put in it so far, even an mp3 CD made by my band, so you shouldn't have any problem with CDs not being playable.

As for small issues that some people may have, it took me a while to get used to the setup for the CD, in that you have to press the "open" button on the top-right of the face to make it kind of come down while connected to the pivots at the base, exposing the CD entry. Then you must put in a CD, and close the face to begin playing. Its an easy set up once its been done a few times, but not neccessarily easy to begin with. However, the instruction book should rectify these issues, as it is very thorough and detailed in order to help you get the most out of the CD player.

Another feature I haven't mentioned yet is the auto news/traffic updates which, when pressed, will let you receive automatic news/traffic when it happens. What it actually does, is when the news or traffic update occurs on the players set station, it will jump straight to it and stay there until the update is over. I haven't experimented a lot with it, due to not having much need, but the default radio station for the update appears to be something like BBC oxfordshire, so expect nationwide traffic reports. Nothing like a satellite nav or anything. And it has no facility to play casettes, so make sure you are ready to make the switch to only CDs, as I was.

Overall, I would strongly recommend this product to a potential buyer, and would consider it very good value for money. As long as you are willing to spend a little bit of time sat in the car to learn about some of its features, you can rest assured a pleasant and enjoyable experience with this CD player. It would suit a range of people, which is what makes it a great addition to your car's sound system.