[andrzejpw]

Well, christmas is rolling around the corner. I'm still in High School, and I have a little sister. She has an old audiovox cd player, and lets say its not looking pretty. When you press forward, it gives you repeat, press pause, it turns off randomly, etc.

Anyway, my parents are thinking of getting her a pcdp. Its nothing urgent, I mean we really haven't thought of presents yet, but my dad asked me to do some research.

I currently use a sharp mt90 md player + cmoy + hd580s / mx500s, and well, I'd like to try a cd player from time to time, you know?

So, what's a good cd player for her? I take it she'd like it to look cool. Preferably, it could be found @ best buy, or maybe online.

Oh yeah, preferably it would have a line out, and have good sound quality (thats for me

)

Is the sony 721 good? What about panasonic 2xx? 470? 570?

 

[Russ Arcuri]

"Looking cool" is a tough bill to fill, since everyone's opinion about what's "cool" looking is going to be different. For example, I think the Panasonic 570, with an aluminum lid, looks pretty good. It would look even better, IMO, if all the words below "SL-CT570" were missing. I may take some kind of solvent to that lid sometime soon, just to see if I can get it to look better to my eyes.

However, my kid cousin thinks it looks plain. He's got one of those bright red Sony jobs -- I don't know the model number.

Anyway, from a sound and features point of view, I like the Panasonic 570. It's got a 10 second anti-skip mode that doesn't compress the music, which is a good thing. It won't play mp3 CDs, so if that's important to your sister, you'll have to keep looking.

Perhaps more importantly, you should encourage your parents to get her a decent set of headphones rather than relying on the ones that come bundled with whatever player she gets. I'd suggest the Koss KSC-35s. Not terribly expensive at around $30, and you won't have to feel too guilty when listening to your HD580s.

Good luck,
Russ "The Peripatetic Audiophile"

 

[andrzejpw]

Well, I got the headphones covered.

I returned her sony street styles(I'm SORRY I BOUGHT THEM FOR HER. THIS WAS BEFORE I HAD MX500s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DIdN"T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!!! Thank god kmart has a good policy. Returned em, and got ksc-50s for her @ best buy!!!!)

So, headphones are covered. She really likes the look of the 570 btw.

 

[a1leyez0nm3]

Sony EJ-721 I think it is it has a cool blue lid and it's small and sounds good as well, but I am not sure about the antiskip compresion. i think the model number is the 721, maybe something else 21

 

[a1leyez0nm3]

I have the 780, the cover is loose, so keep that in mind if she is rough on her stuff... otherwise it's nice

 

[andrzejpw]

Quote:

Originally posted by a1leyez0nm3 I have the 780, the cover is loose, so keep that in mind if she is rough on her stuff... otherwise it's nice

Well, I dunno how she's going to be. I mean, I personally cherish all of my stuff, and I die if anything breaks/scratches. My sister on the other hand . . .

Maybe the audiovox died because she didn't care about it, maybe because of neglect, etc. She said she dropped it quite a few times. . .

 

[neil]

K-Mart had some portable CD players on sale for like $14.99 (I saw them on a commercial). Man, you could get her TWO of those, one for standby if she murders the other. Not sure about the quality, but may be worth a thought.

 

[coolvij]

I'd say go for the Sony DE-220 or whatever - relatively cheap, available in bright red, yellow, or, what *I* have, navy blue.

It doesn't have a line out (

), but it does sound better than my my D-121's line-out (BRIGHT!) out of it's headphone jack.

Sounding VERY nice for less than 50 bux..........

 

[MacDEF]

What about the Radio Shack 3904?

 

[Flumpus]

The Panasonic 780 is very nice, looks great, seems sturdy (haven't had any problems with anything being loose...then again it's ALWAYS in a headroom airbag), and has a very good lineout.

 

[andrzejpw]

about the radioshack, I think she wants something cooler looking.

 

[sapphiremodena]

2 of my friends at school have Panasonic 570's and they look really great.
Another 2 friends of mine have the Panasonic 780: Very thin, pretty damn cool looking if you ask me.
As for sound, the 570 apparently sounds better. I've listened to the 780, and I don't really notice a huge improvement over my 510 (from only about 5 mins of listening - so don't rely on what I say regarding sound) - - - The S-XBS was much better than my 510 though, that is for sure.

I'm sure either the 570 or 780 would put the sound and looks of the Audiovox to shame. I have an Audiovox shelf system and it sucks, the speakers buzz (and i mean buzz - damn it's annoying) even when the system is on standby.

The 570 is cheaper and more durable than the 780, and also is probably better sounding, but the 780 is easier to find. I think I'd go for the 570 myself.

(....Have you ever considered doing some research on the 580? Just a thought...)

 

[Vertigo-1]

If you can find and afford it for her, I'd definitely get her the 780. Very cool looking and it's the current generation's 570. The 580 is also the same as the 780 except it has a "compressed music" antishock and doesn't have a lineout I believe.

 

[andrzejpw]

Best prices for the 470,570, and 780?

 

[Russ Arcuri]

onecall.com is selling the 570 for $88.