RCA RCD160 Radio/CD Boombox
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- Weight: 5.8 lb.
- Playable Disk Types: CD (Audio) CD-R CD-RW
- Batteries: 6 x D
- Functions: CD Player Radio Tuner
- Number of Discs: 1
- Output Power: 10 Watt
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skip CLICK pop
Pros
reads regular cds, plays them too
Cons
annoying pops and clicks, poor unreliable MP3 playback, not worth extra money for "MP3 functionality"
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Not worth the extra money for poor MP3 playback in addition to other annoyances and lack of features. Will be exchanging it once i'm back in that end of town.
I'm not very satisfied with the RCD160. At first I thought it was a good deal for its relatively low price, but it's got some minor annoyances and major problems. I'm not sure if all or most other boomboxes do the same things, but this one does.
First, on the positive side, it at least plays normal CDs pretty well. I haven't had problems with that. Radio reception seems reasonably good. Sound quality is respectable for its size.
But then there's the bad.
Its shape is bulky, for one, but I can live with that.
Its buttons are very clunky. It doesn't need to make a loud CLICK with every press, and each press takes an unusual amount of force. But if that was the only problem, I could live with that.
But also, half the time when you hit a button, the speakers will make a rather loud POP/thump sound, as though RCA didn't wire something properly and so there's a discharge going through the speakers. Why??
Worse, it makes a POP sound at the end of every CD played.. and a slightly quieter pop between every MP3 -song- played. This is worse than just annoying, it's bad bad bad.
And though the box is MP3 compatible, its VERY finicky. An MP3 CD that worked fine on my older portable mini-PANASONIC CD player.. that CD doesn't work in the RCA. The RCA plays one song fine, then stutter in the next, and then it would skip two thirds of the next song, and the next song entirely. This box has limited, if any, read-ahead buffer and should deal with read errors much better.
(A new MP3 disc I just burned today to test the system hasn't skipped any entire tracks yet, but it still stutters at some point in most songs. Not acceptable.)
And there is no battery backup for saving your radio station presets, so you've got to reprogram them every time you unplug the box or change batteries. Annoying.
But basically, its annoyances would be manageable if the MP3 portion was more robust. I paid extra for a box that can play MP3 CDs, so it should at least work well.
-Update- When I entered $100.. of course I meant $61 USD. Got it messed up with taxes and conversion from CND.
First, on the positive side, it at least plays normal CDs pretty well. I haven't had problems with that. Radio reception seems reasonably good. Sound quality is respectable for its size.
But then there's the bad.
Its shape is bulky, for one, but I can live with that.
Its buttons are very clunky. It doesn't need to make a loud CLICK with every press, and each press takes an unusual amount of force. But if that was the only problem, I could live with that.
But also, half the time when you hit a button, the speakers will make a rather loud POP/thump sound, as though RCA didn't wire something properly and so there's a discharge going through the speakers. Why??
Worse, it makes a POP sound at the end of every CD played.. and a slightly quieter pop between every MP3 -song- played. This is worse than just annoying, it's bad bad bad.
And though the box is MP3 compatible, its VERY finicky. An MP3 CD that worked fine on my older portable mini-PANASONIC CD player.. that CD doesn't work in the RCA. The RCA plays one song fine, then stutter in the next, and then it would skip two thirds of the next song, and the next song entirely. This box has limited, if any, read-ahead buffer and should deal with read errors much better.
(A new MP3 disc I just burned today to test the system hasn't skipped any entire tracks yet, but it still stutters at some point in most songs. Not acceptable.)
And there is no battery backup for saving your radio station presets, so you've got to reprogram them every time you unplug the box or change batteries. Annoying.
But basically, its annoyances would be manageable if the MP3 portion was more robust. I paid extra for a box that can play MP3 CDs, so it should at least work well.
-Update- When I entered $100.. of course I meant $61 USD. Got it messed up with taxes and conversion from CND.
