[Deuce_Bigalow]

Just a warning to anyone thinking about getting one of these don't buy it if you have a history of abusing your stuff. I try and take care of my stuff but sometimes things happen. Especially with portable stuff, it can get beaten up. Anyways the Panasonic 470 is very very fragile. It's lightweight and small size seems to leave it defenseless if it gets dropped. I bought one in March so its about 5 months old and it really only got dropped once and it no longer reads cd's. It doesn't even try. No F15 message like Neruda had. It just won't even spin the cd or anything. No disc on the display. The fall was about 3 feet onto plastic tile in a kitchen. One other time it fell onto grass but it wasn't a big fall cause it kept playing and everything. It doesn't look beat up or scratched or anything either. My older Sony is scratched up pretty bad and looks like its in a lot worse condition than the broken Panasonic. It also got dropped about 12 times in 2 years of heavy use and still always worked.

My friend that bought my Pana. 470 from me also has a Sony D-EJ611 that still works. I thought the Panasonic would outlast it cause of the newer Sony's history of breaking headphone jacks. Anyways don't get a newer Panasonic if your equipment gets rough treatment.

 

[jude]

My Radio Shack CD-3904 has seen its share of abuse. I've dropped it a few times, and every day it sees the very harsh environment of my various backpacks, protected only by a soft case, and so likely subject to fairly significant jostling from all the other stuff I keep in my packs. Mind you, it's not even a year old yet (maybe six months -- I don't remember exactly). It still seems to be working perfectly.

It is rather big (not to mention unattractive), and it's made of plastic, so maybe it does better in terms of impact resistance than a lot of the smaller units out there that have less material between the impact and the electronics.

Does anyone here have experience with a portable CD player that's very small and with a metal outside shell? Such a configuration always concerned me, in terms of impact resistance (that the force of the impact would be conveyed to the internal components too efficiently) -- is this a valid concern? I imagine a metal outside case would have the advantage in terms of crush resistance though.

 

[Duncan]

Erm... I used to have an Aiwa cassette personal that had a metal case... It was very small, and tres chic (cost £130 when I got it 3 years ago) and, well... something hard dropped on it, and a huge dent appeared that went rusty after a while

the player still worked perfectly fine though

I do still have an excellent (metal cased) tape personal... A panasonic - RQ-S75 - I bought this in December 1994 at a cost of £150, and it is still going amazingly well, and (apart from the "Panasonic" raised lettering) it still looks in as new condition!!

Quite unlike its older cousin... the RQ-S40 i believe it was, I paid £100 for that, took it out of the shop, put a cassette in, and the head somehow got twisted, and ate all my tapes... followed by one of the tiny rollers falling out... and to add a final insult, the hinge on the base of the unit decided to fall apart... and the shop couldn't (or wouldn't) do anything for me!! - Heck, can't win them all!

Sorry if that was off topic, but still might be of some use to someone

 

[Deuce_Bigalow]

Probably a good idea to use this thread to give people an idea of the durability of different portable players.

Jude, I've seen some cheap no name cd players last a lot longer than I'd expect or some of them last a couple days . My friend bought a $39 Cnd. Memorex portable cd player and it still works now after a year of heavy use. Now he has a Sony D-EJ611 that we expect to break pretty soon.

 

[Voyager]

I've had my ct470 for about 9 months and dropped it a number of times and it works fine. I've dropped it outside onto grass, in school on a hard floor, and on rugs, all from about 3'. I've been lucky I guess

 

[arnett]

Deuce_Bigalow,
stick to your d-e446ck! i recently had a chance to listen to the 446ck (my brother has one). it sounded much better than my d-e776ck. it was warmer, and the hiss increased with the volume knob. my 776ck has background hiss all the time.

but my brother also has a sony d-368 from 1997. what a great sounding player that is. much better than the 446ck.

but the most durable PCDP i ever had was the 1996 sony d-242. i bought it used off a friend. and it was really used--but it lasted for 16 months (note: using it 2-3 hours a day). in its condition, i thought it would last 6 months max. and it was the best sounding player i ever heard.

well, my 1989 sony d-9 sounds great--but only thru the line-out.

in my experience, the older you go the better the sound.
arnett

 

[Deuce_Bigalow]

Thanks Arnett, I'm glad to read that right now while I'm listening to my d-e446. I still think it's really good. I can't hear any hiss in between tracks and any hiss in the music is almost unnoticeable.
I'm trying to take care of it so it'll last for quite a few more years.

 

[FrostyMMB]

Do you listen through the headphone jack or do you use an amp through the line-out?

 

[Deuce_Bigalow]

Just the headphone jack. I never use the line out cause I use my integrated amp hooked up to my Yamaha CDC-675 for at home.