Sony Walkman D-EJ715 Personal CD Player

Just the other day I saw a guy in the locker room of the gym I use. He was removing a new diskman from its packaging and getting ready for a run. He mentioned to me that he just bought a new Sony Diskman that is supposed to be skip-free... yea right. We were both skeptical. All the diskman, up to this point, have bragged about their anti-skip protection... a 40 second buffer. Well, I may not be in the best of shape, but I run for more than 40 seconds! Well, needless to say, I checked with the guy after my workout. He said he didn't experience so much as a hiccup. I knew I just had to have one to find out for myself.

A day later I bought my Sony D-EJ715. There are numerous models to choose from with this "skip-free G-protection". I liked the inline remote on the headphone cord that this model offered. There is another model (according to the website, the D-EJ815) that had a nicer remote but I could not find in in any of the stores I checked.

My first impression of the diskman was that it felt a little cheap... particularly the inline remote control. However, after a little running I really came to appreciate it. The diskman's diminutive size and light weight really make it ideal for running. Any heavier, and the remote would make for a real headache bouncing around as you run. I know the higher end model (the D-EJ815, I think) has a remote with a clip. I think this would be a little better, but the D-EJ815 remote is much larger and heavier. I was also a little taken back by the "street style headphones". The part that would normally go over your head to hold the earphones in place goes around the back of your neck in the "street style". These things are great! They stay in place and sound great, if not looking a little weird.

Well, I tried it on a treadmill for my first run. Afterall, there's nothing I hate more than carrying dead weight on a run, and if it skipped I'd have to turn it off or go crazy. No skips on the treadmill. Off to the road. Thirty minutes and the tunes just kept coming! I've since had it on the trails for running and some mountain biking. I have yet to hear it skip!

Sound quality of the D-EJ715 was outstanding. I expected the only way I was going to get decent sound quality on a run was by buying an mp3 player and ripping all my cd's to mp3's. I couldn't be any more wrong. Granted the diskman is not as small as an mp3 player, but the convenience and sound quality cannot be beat.

Not only does the Sony offer great sound, it also comes with several nice little options. It came with 2 rechargeable batteries and also runs off 2 standard AA. It boasts an excellent 32 battery life. It has an optical output plug to connect to a minidisk recorder and also allows text transfers to a MD when dubbing a cd. The diskman is very light and has quite a slim profile. It comes with a case/handstrap for taking on a run. I don't care much for carrying stuff in my hand when running and rushed out to buy a neoprene fannypack carrier (made by TuneBelt). Of course the diskman has all the play/programming options that you have come to expect in a Sony DiskMan, i.e. shuffle, repeat, etc. Sony also offers the Automatic Volume Limiter System (AVLS). I have never really had much use for it, but this diskman comes with all the bells and whistles that a nice Sony product can offer.