Sony Walkman D-E226CK Personal CD Player
- Bass Boost: With Bass Boost
- Anti Skip Buffer: G-Protection By Sony
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2024
Reliable Skip-Free Music for Years to Come
Pros
Skip-free, good sound, durable.
Cons
None come to mind.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
We love this player.
A few years ago, my beloved Barbara and I leased a used car that did not have a CD player installed. A CD player in the car is almost a necessity for us, both being the music lovers that we are. We toyed with the idea of having one installed, but since we were leasing we decided against that. Instead, we started looking at portable players that we could plug into the car's cassette deck. After evaluating several models, we opted for the Sony CD Walkman Model D-E226CK.
I don't think we could have made a better decision. We have put this lightweight, compact model through just about every conceivable situation in the past few years, and it has handled them all admirably. It's a great dual-purpose unit, because not only did it come with the "Car Ready" accessories, but it also makes a great portable. Barbara loved the fact that she could listen to the player in the car, then detach it and listen to it while working.
WHAT YOU GET
Before we go any further, I should mention what you get with the unit:
CD Walkman Unit
Cassette adapter
Basic Sony Headphones
Power adapter to run from cigarette lighter socket
Velcro attachment kit
Basically, just about everything you would need to use the unit in or out of the car.
HOW IT SOUNDS
The audio delivery from the cassette adapter is, as you might expect, not up to snuff with what you would get from an in-dash CD player. Still, it sounds pretty darned good, and we were impressed with it overall. When used as a portable personal player, the headphones provided are basic and adequate, but we found that with the addition of a better pair the unit sounded very, very good. Bass and treble levels are both good, but of course will also be dependent on your headphones or car speakers.
FEATURES
This is a basic player without all the bells and whistles. Still, it has a few features worth mentioning. The basic controls, volume up and down, stop, reverse, and the forward/play key are all readily accessible on the front of the unit. At the very front, the Hold key will suspend all functions if you so desire. This is useful if you are jogging or running and want to avoid accidentally changing your track or volume.
The Sound key will advance or decrease the unit's bass through three levels. The Menu button will toggle you through repeat and shuffle options for your disc. All of these settings are displayed on the LCD menu located at the front center of the player, along with track/time information and a handy battery level indicator.
The D-E226CK also offers a feature called ESP MAX. ESP stands for Electronic Skip Protection, and I can assure you it works and works well. We have driven the car down the bumpiest of roads without the slightest interruption of our music. I've used it while jogging and walking both outside and on the treadmill and it never misses a beat. I have even shaken it like crazy just for kicks, and it still plays flawlessly. One hint: the ESP function can be turned on and off at your discretion. Using the setting consumes slightly more power. The switch is in an odd place: inside the unit under where your CD will be.
BATTERY LIFE
The very first portable CD player I ever purchased was considerably more expensive and simply devoured power. It used eight AA size batteries and gave you perhaps ten hours of playtime, if you were lucky. Science seems to have progressed considerably since then, because the D-E226CK will give you 10 to 15 hours of playtime on just two alkaline AA cells. That's pretty good.
DURABILITY
This has been good. We have owned the player for about two years without a problem. We have dropped it, shaken it, and scratched it without any ill effects. The plastic case still shines and looks remarkably good. Of late, I have been using the player a lot while I exercise, and I love it. It even got rained on when I was caught in a shower and survived to tell the tale.
OVERALL
This is a great basic player. It serves our needs nicely, and we are very happy with it. It doesn't play MP3s, something more and more of today's players do, but we weren't looking for that when we bought it since we already had a portable MP3 player. Whether you're looking for a CD player for car or personal use or even for both, the D-E226CK should provide years of reliable, skip free quality sound.
I don't think we could have made a better decision. We have put this lightweight, compact model through just about every conceivable situation in the past few years, and it has handled them all admirably. It's a great dual-purpose unit, because not only did it come with the "Car Ready" accessories, but it also makes a great portable. Barbara loved the fact that she could listen to the player in the car, then detach it and listen to it while working.
WHAT YOU GET
Before we go any further, I should mention what you get with the unit:
CD Walkman Unit
Cassette adapter
Basic Sony Headphones
Power adapter to run from cigarette lighter socket
Velcro attachment kit
Basically, just about everything you would need to use the unit in or out of the car.
HOW IT SOUNDS
The audio delivery from the cassette adapter is, as you might expect, not up to snuff with what you would get from an in-dash CD player. Still, it sounds pretty darned good, and we were impressed with it overall. When used as a portable personal player, the headphones provided are basic and adequate, but we found that with the addition of a better pair the unit sounded very, very good. Bass and treble levels are both good, but of course will also be dependent on your headphones or car speakers.
FEATURES
This is a basic player without all the bells and whistles. Still, it has a few features worth mentioning. The basic controls, volume up and down, stop, reverse, and the forward/play key are all readily accessible on the front of the unit. At the very front, the Hold key will suspend all functions if you so desire. This is useful if you are jogging or running and want to avoid accidentally changing your track or volume.
The Sound key will advance or decrease the unit's bass through three levels. The Menu button will toggle you through repeat and shuffle options for your disc. All of these settings are displayed on the LCD menu located at the front center of the player, along with track/time information and a handy battery level indicator.
The D-E226CK also offers a feature called ESP MAX. ESP stands for Electronic Skip Protection, and I can assure you it works and works well. We have driven the car down the bumpiest of roads without the slightest interruption of our music. I've used it while jogging and walking both outside and on the treadmill and it never misses a beat. I have even shaken it like crazy just for kicks, and it still plays flawlessly. One hint: the ESP function can be turned on and off at your discretion. Using the setting consumes slightly more power. The switch is in an odd place: inside the unit under where your CD will be.
BATTERY LIFE
The very first portable CD player I ever purchased was considerably more expensive and simply devoured power. It used eight AA size batteries and gave you perhaps ten hours of playtime, if you were lucky. Science seems to have progressed considerably since then, because the D-E226CK will give you 10 to 15 hours of playtime on just two alkaline AA cells. That's pretty good.
DURABILITY
This has been good. We have owned the player for about two years without a problem. We have dropped it, shaken it, and scratched it without any ill effects. The plastic case still shines and looks remarkably good. Of late, I have been using the player a lot while I exercise, and I love it. It even got rained on when I was caught in a shower and survived to tell the tale.
OVERALL
This is a great basic player. It serves our needs nicely, and we are very happy with it. It doesn't play MP3s, something more and more of today's players do, but we weren't looking for that when we bought it since we already had a portable MP3 player. Whether you're looking for a CD player for car or personal use or even for both, the D-E226CK should provide years of reliable, skip free quality sound.
