Sony Walkman D-EJ721 Personal CD Player

Since my second CD player, I have sworn to the Sony name. Sony seems to give their players a little extra something that you won't find on the box or in the instructions, but you can tell it's there when you use their products. That is the case with this player, and although it is not perfect, it is still a worthy player.
First the cons, to get them out of the way. The player has on occasion "froze" on me while it was on hold, where it refused to do anything. This was easily fixed by taking out and putting the batteries back in, but it was a nuisance nonetheless. Also, with the new generation of players, Sony has made the volume control digital. Sounds good, but this means that if the player is on hold, you can't change the volume. And if you are using the case, you have to take the player out of the hand strap to turn hold off. It would have been much better if there were a way to turn hold on and off through the hand strap. The finish on the player makes it look extremely nice, and this is a very tiny nitpick, but it seems to get scuffed up pretty quickly without the case on it. And the final con is the standard junky headphones that are included with almost every CD player nowadays.
But now, the good stuff. The player correctly plays all CDs and CDRWs I throw at it, and never skips. One RW that did not play in a new car stereo DID player in this player. It has a knack of getting around scratches that most other players can't. There is also a "line out" port if you wanted to record to a minidisc player from the D-EJ721. I have not tried recording from this, however the port doubles as a second headphone jack. You can have two people listen to the same CD at the same time and not lose any quality at all. The line out jack has a constant volume that can't be changed, but it is right in the middle so it should be perfect for most users. The buttons are easy to learn, and after a week or so you could probably control them with your eyes closed. The player also sports the standard features of bass boost, play settings, and AVLS. The battery life with two batteries is about 30+ hours, which I find to be pretty impressive. The Battery icon on the LCD is not accurate at all, however. It jumps around and doesn't give any indication of when batteries are about to croak, you will have to go on instinct. This player's claim to fame is the external battery attachment that plugs into the side. It does work, but it very very clumsy. I don't even use it, because it is basically a tube hanging by a power cord. Potentially, this can drive the battery life up to 86 hours, but I am yet to test it. My guess is about 70 with the external battery attached.
The player can also charge rechargeable batteries and run off of the included wall unit, but the rechargeable batteries I used lasted about 20 minutes. I cannot say for certain it was the player's fault, but it seems to be.
Overall, the pros outweigh the cons. Things like two headphone jacks, a carrying case, a sleek, thin design, and CDRW compatibility all make this player better than the competition at the same price in my opinion. Anyone looking for a CD player around the $100 price range, I encourage you to buy this one.