Sony CD Walkman D-SJ15

Author's product rating:   

Sound Quality	Good
Look & Design	Excellent
Range of Features	Average
Durability	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	long battery life, easy to carry, doesn't skip when jogging
Disadvantages:	hand strap should be tighter, skips when biking, curling earphones

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

OK, I admit it. I am a miser. I like to buy new things, but I just don't like to spend money. So, normally it takes me a long time to decide to purchase anything that costs a considerable sum. However, last summer (2001), I decided that I needed a new CD Walkman and actually bought it that same day! The reason was that I was visiting a friend who lives on the border of Massachusetts (USA) and New Hampshire. There is NO SALES TAX in New Hampshire, and this Discman cost around $99 (USD), so I saved $5 by purchasing it over the border. I don't regret my impulse purchase, as this Discman is very durable, light-weight, and has excellent sound.

[I've never seen this model of Discman for sale in the UK, but maybe you could find one on Ebay.]

Portable CD technology has improved A LOT in the past 10 years or so. My previous Discman would skip if I walked so I certainly could not take it out jogging. It also did not have a wrist strap and ate up batteries like a fat man at a buffet. This Discman has extremely long battery life and also indicates how much power the batteries have remaining in the window. I can't say for sure how long the batteries last, but if I listen to this Walkman for two hours a day, I would probably have to change the batteries only every four weeks or so.

The Walkman is attractive (as you can see from the photo) with its black, yellow, and grey colour scheme. It has seven normal buttons and a yellow 'hold' button that has to slide to the left to lock the key-pad. From top to bottom, the buttons are 'Sound,' 'Play Mode,' 'Repeat/Enter,' and the 'play/pause,' 'stop,' 'forward/skip,' 'and reverse/skip.' The sound button allows you to adjust the amount of bass. I usually keep it on the middle level of bass. The 'Play Mode' button allows you to set the player to shuffle or 'program.' I never do this since it uses up more batteries. Also, since I am holding the Discman, I can very easily just skip songs that I don't like.

An unusual thing about this Walkman is that it REMEMBERS which part of a track you were on if you press stop. If you pressed stop on my previous Discman, it would revert back to the beginning of Track 1 when you pressed play again. This is a huge advantage in terms of musical continuity! I find it annoying to have to skip through several tracks to get back to the one you left off. And this machine starts up at the exact spot on the track where you had stopped it! If you want to reset the CD to the beginning, you have to open the lid.

---'G-Protection'---

The main feature of this Discman is called 'G-Protection,' which means that it's not supposed to skip if it shakes a bit. When you first press play, the CD takes a while to start playing because it is building up a BUFFER of 30 seconds. So, if you shake the machine for 25 seconds, it will still play smoothly. There is a setting on the inside of the player (under the disc) where you can turn the G-Protection on or off. Even if it is turned off, it still doesn't skip when you are jogging. However, I turn the G-Protection on when I strap the Discman to my bike handlebars. Even with the G-Protection, it still skips sometimes if I am going over a particularly bumpy road. However, it works perfectly on a smooth bike path.

---Holding the Discman---

This Discman is fairly light, so it doesn't interfere with your running stride. It is comfortable to hold and has a nice little notch for your thumb. Your hand goes behind the controls so you don't accidentally press skip. When I'm running, if I want to skip a song, I have to reach over with my left hand. The volume control is in kind of an inconvenient place somewhat underneath the machine. The hand strap is comfortable and adjustable, but I wish it got a bit smaller so that it could be strapped tighter to bike handlebars (and machines in the gym.) The hand strap was the reason that I chose this model over cheaper ones that had just a string-type of holder, which didn't look very comfortable. Also, other Discmen I looked at were perfectly round, and, thus, didn't have a convenient spot to place one's thumb.

---Ear Phones---

This Discman comes with yellow, sports earphones that go over the crown of your head and inside the ears. These are my favourite type of earphones, but the only annoying thing about them is that the chord starts to CURL almost immediately. Does anyone know a cure for this phenomenon? They have good enough sound for my purposes (listening to music whilst exercising), and make up for their lack of quality by being extremely light and comfortable.

---Durability---

I have dropped this machine on the floor a couple of times, and it has survived with nary a scratch each time. To open the lid, you must push back a metal clasp, which makes the Discman seem solid.

I really wanted to title this op 'I Seem to Have Made a Great Purchse Somewhere Somewhere in a Shop in NEW Hampshire. alright.' But it was too many characters. Sorry, Jarvis.

N.B. New Hampshire's state motto is 'Live Free Or DIE!!? Which would be funny except that it means that loads of people there own handguns. So it's just scary.