Panasonic SL-SX390 Personal CD Player

I got this player for Christmas 2002 and after a couple days of evaluation, the best evaluation I can give about it is that it could be much, much worse, or, turning to the other side of the coin, it could be much better. For the price, it makes a fine player when you think about convenience. First of all, the anti-skip mechanism seems to work flawlessly, giving, as advertised, 48 seconds of protection. That's very good if you do jogging or, like me, use the player in the car. It's also very small, and you can fit it even in your pants or jacket very easily, being just a bit bigger than a CD. The button layout is weird and hard to reach in a purse, but that's when the remote comes in hand. As the player itself, the remote has a digital volume control, hold functions, and forward/reverse buttons. But it also controls the EQ, and that's always very handy, especially when you are listening to compilations with many styles of music, that need different equalizations to shine, or at least be listenable, with the stock headphones, which seem to need all the help they can get since they are so bad. Also, the beeping sounds in the remote can be turned off, and that's a very good thing if you find the beeps as annoying as I do.

Well, that's the good part of the review, let's go to the bad.

The lowest point in this player is the sound quality. Since the anti-skip is always on, all you get, all the time, is compressed sound. For some reason, the player sounds a bit harsh with no EQ on, and using the two EQ options, "train" and "s-xbs," usually is not of great help and the sound distorts or you get big goops of bass. Granted, some music actually sounds good or OK on this player. Jazz music has, in my opinion, the inherent quality of sounding good almost in every piece of hardware, and my Heavy Metal Cd's from the 1980's sound a bit less wimpy with the s-xbs on. But the rest of the music sounds either like an FM radio or lacking livelihood, if you will. Good headphones help a bit, but most of the time they reveal the limitations on the player.

Another low point for this player is the lack of recharging capabilities, it's fragile looks and the lack of a line out. I also have some problems with Sony CD-R's, while other brands have no issues at all. I wonder why, since all my CD-R's are recorded the same way. Other than that, all CDs are accepted by this machine.

Lucky me, if I really want to listen to my music in some other place instead of my car I use a Lenoxx CD-50. It's not the best player ever, is bulky, takes four batteries that last maybe 8 hours and does not have the modern looks of the Panasonic. But, hey, it sounds better and it's cheaper. So, I guess I'll use the Panasonic in the car and the Lenoxx while walking around or listening in bed. Don't get me wrong, the Panasonic is a great gift, a very good machine, but with a not so good sound