Panasonic SL-SX420 Personal CD Player
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Similar in Portable CD Players
- CD-R/CD-RW Playback: CD-R/CD-RW
- Bass Boost: With Bass Boost
- Anti Skip Buffer: 45 sec.
- Supported Formats: MP3
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Entry-level Portable CD/MP3 Player -- Listen to Your Favorites a Long, Long Time!
Pros
It plays MP3s! Shake-and-bake stability, low price!
Cons
Not loud enough to damage your hearing (that's a con?)
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
This beauty cost half as much as my old Sony Diskman, plays 60 MP3s on a single CD, and seemingly never skips! That's progress!
My wife purchased a Panasonic SL-SX420 Personal CD Player this summer at Target before road-tripping from Tucson to Colorado Springs and back. We rigged it up to some portable speakers in our van, powered it off two AA batteries, and enjoyed both "store-bought" CDs and our favorite songs in .mp3 format on CD-Rs and CD-RWs for hours and hours and hours!
Target website for this product, with photo:
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=sc_pgp_c_5_0/601-9812789-7696968?asin=B00008IP5O
HOWEVER, this site incorrectly states that this model has ID3 Tagging ... but it doesn't.
A cutting-edge electronics aficionado I'm not, but the Mrs. and I recently added KaZaA Lite file-sharing and WINAMP .mp3 playback software to our wideband cable-modem Internet access. (According to an article posted in the Drudge Report today, 57 million American households are engaged in illegal online music file-sharing!) Tsk, tsk, tsk ;-) We have compiled a modest library of our favorite songs, in .mp3 format, on our home computer hard drive. We also have software to convert (expand and manipulate) the .mp3's into traditional music ".wav" files, for playing on standard CD players.
Update: Those were the salad days of Internet music file-sharing . . . can't really condone that now that the Music Industry is subpoenaing participants via their Internet Service Providers by the thousands!
Converting .mp3s into .wavs so they may play on older CD players increases the size of the files a great deal (I believe at least three-fold). It is also a multi-step, additional hassle. We have burned over sixty songs in .mp3 format onto a single CD, when less-than-twenty would fit in .wav format.
Here's where .mp3-capable players such as the Panasonic SL-SX420 Personal CD Player come in. With this nifty little gizmo, we can listen directly to either traditional CDs with songs in .wav format or listen to (only our favorite!) .mp3 files burned directly onto CD-R or CD-RW. Our older CD players and especially the players in our cars would not play music in the .mp3 format, or CD-Rs and CD-RWs.
Now, how does the Panasonic SL-SX420 Personal CD Player stack up against today's competition? As far as features go, and given my very casual online browsing of MP3 players, you do get (or don't get) what you pay for. At $49.99, this is an entry-level system. It does NOT have the following capabilities found in pricier (2 to 5 x as expensive) players:
- ID3 Tagging (on higher-end players, lets you read artist, title, album in text format during play)
- AM or FM radio
- Clock/sleep timer
- Extreme volume
- High-end headset
- Car kit
- Voice recording
- Personal calendars, organizers
- For the sport-minded, a strap or band system
That last omission is probably the most damning. Considering that the SL-SX420 has a 48-second No-Skip memory buffer and a "Hold" feature to prevent accidental button-pushing, it would seem obvious to include a suspension system for sport use. You have to figure your own way to carry it (my suggestion: a small belt-secured fanny pack.
There is a "Mode" button which allows you to listen to the music with more-or-less treble and bass (we always listen in the richest-sounding mode). There is a "Menu" button for which I have determined no use (honestly, nothing happens, and no display changes).
As for sound quality, the SL-SX420 has digital, CD-quality sound. What more can you say? Actually, .mp3 files do not have the fidelity of .wav files since they are compressed, but the difference is apparently inaudible to the human ear. I think it sounds crystal-clear and devoid of noise. I haven't done a head-to-head comparison with others, but I have observed that it isn't terribly loud. You can listen to it at full volume ("25" on 1-25 scale) with no discomfort.
The SL-SX420 does include headphones but you may want to upgrade. It plays up to 37 hours in .mp3 playback on two AA batteries, or you may plug it into an AC adaptor (not included) for your home or car.
There is a six-key remote control so you may manipulate the player on-the-fly. You can fast-forward through songs or skip over songs, or program it to playback in random order.
The case is plastic, in a metallic finish with electric-blue trim. I cannot imagine it surviving much of a fall, but the fit and finish are good. There is a sliding lock which secures the enclosed disk.
At $49.99, it cost half as much as I paid some six years ago for my Sony Diskman. What a difference six years has made! This new product, which has very modest capabilities in today's market, completely kicked my original Sony Diskman's tail. Here's why it's so much better than its predecessor:
- Costs half as much
- Plays .mp3s
- Runs 37 hours on two AA batteries (when playing .mp3s) compared to 3-4 hours for the old Sony
- Doesn't skip, even when walking/jogging
All in all I am happy with my first portable .mp3 player. We may get something better (and more expensive) later, but this was money well-spent, and I highly recommend it for entry-level users, the budget minded, and gifts for teens. If I have through my ignorance, unintentionally omitted pertinent info, please comment and I will edit this review. I have already updated this review to correct info (particularly in regard to ID3 Tagging capability).
Target website for this product, with photo:
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=sc_pgp_c_5_0/601-9812789-7696968?asin=B00008IP5O
HOWEVER, this site incorrectly states that this model has ID3 Tagging ... but it doesn't.
A cutting-edge electronics aficionado I'm not, but the Mrs. and I recently added KaZaA Lite file-sharing and WINAMP .mp3 playback software to our wideband cable-modem Internet access. (According to an article posted in the Drudge Report today, 57 million American households are engaged in illegal online music file-sharing!) Tsk, tsk, tsk ;-) We have compiled a modest library of our favorite songs, in .mp3 format, on our home computer hard drive. We also have software to convert (expand and manipulate) the .mp3's into traditional music ".wav" files, for playing on standard CD players.
Update: Those were the salad days of Internet music file-sharing . . . can't really condone that now that the Music Industry is subpoenaing participants via their Internet Service Providers by the thousands!
Converting .mp3s into .wavs so they may play on older CD players increases the size of the files a great deal (I believe at least three-fold). It is also a multi-step, additional hassle. We have burned over sixty songs in .mp3 format onto a single CD, when less-than-twenty would fit in .wav format.
Here's where .mp3-capable players such as the Panasonic SL-SX420 Personal CD Player come in. With this nifty little gizmo, we can listen directly to either traditional CDs with songs in .wav format or listen to (only our favorite!) .mp3 files burned directly onto CD-R or CD-RW. Our older CD players and especially the players in our cars would not play music in the .mp3 format, or CD-Rs and CD-RWs.
Now, how does the Panasonic SL-SX420 Personal CD Player stack up against today's competition? As far as features go, and given my very casual online browsing of MP3 players, you do get (or don't get) what you pay for. At $49.99, this is an entry-level system. It does NOT have the following capabilities found in pricier (2 to 5 x as expensive) players:
- ID3 Tagging (on higher-end players, lets you read artist, title, album in text format during play)
- AM or FM radio
- Clock/sleep timer
- Extreme volume
- High-end headset
- Car kit
- Voice recording
- Personal calendars, organizers
- For the sport-minded, a strap or band system
That last omission is probably the most damning. Considering that the SL-SX420 has a 48-second No-Skip memory buffer and a "Hold" feature to prevent accidental button-pushing, it would seem obvious to include a suspension system for sport use. You have to figure your own way to carry it (my suggestion: a small belt-secured fanny pack.
There is a "Mode" button which allows you to listen to the music with more-or-less treble and bass (we always listen in the richest-sounding mode). There is a "Menu" button for which I have determined no use (honestly, nothing happens, and no display changes).
As for sound quality, the SL-SX420 has digital, CD-quality sound. What more can you say? Actually, .mp3 files do not have the fidelity of .wav files since they are compressed, but the difference is apparently inaudible to the human ear. I think it sounds crystal-clear and devoid of noise. I haven't done a head-to-head comparison with others, but I have observed that it isn't terribly loud. You can listen to it at full volume ("25" on 1-25 scale) with no discomfort.
The SL-SX420 does include headphones but you may want to upgrade. It plays up to 37 hours in .mp3 playback on two AA batteries, or you may plug it into an AC adaptor (not included) for your home or car.
There is a six-key remote control so you may manipulate the player on-the-fly. You can fast-forward through songs or skip over songs, or program it to playback in random order.
The case is plastic, in a metallic finish with electric-blue trim. I cannot imagine it surviving much of a fall, but the fit and finish are good. There is a sliding lock which secures the enclosed disk.
At $49.99, it cost half as much as I paid some six years ago for my Sony Diskman. What a difference six years has made! This new product, which has very modest capabilities in today's market, completely kicked my original Sony Diskman's tail. Here's why it's so much better than its predecessor:
- Costs half as much
- Plays .mp3s
- Runs 37 hours on two AA batteries (when playing .mp3s) compared to 3-4 hours for the old Sony
- Doesn't skip, even when walking/jogging
All in all I am happy with my first portable .mp3 player. We may get something better (and more expensive) later, but this was money well-spent, and I highly recommend it for entry-level users, the budget minded, and gifts for teens. If I have through my ignorance, unintentionally omitted pertinent info, please comment and I will edit this review. I have already updated this review to correct info (particularly in regard to ID3 Tagging capability).
