[redshifter]

i couldn't find the old thread on this one, but i got the blue sony d-ne300 discman or walkman (as it is marked) for $60 from goodguys.com. as others have noted it is a great deal for the price.

it is light and has a sculpted plastic lid and a 3 line dot matrix lcd. when activated the lcd displays a short "walkman" animation.

pro's:
good sound, from either redbook cd or atrac3+ (265kbps/44.1khz). i have not tried mp3.
aa batteries, so far good life
durable (survived a fall clipping the edge of a table to the floor. did not even ding the plastic)
very light
nice customizable equalizer that can be switched off too
cheap (us$60)
classy blue color
reasonable button layout
nifty lcd readout
has notch for attaching a leash
true shuffle play
great anti-skip

con's:
takes about 5 seconds to read a disc
play button is raised and gets pushed by accident a lot (need to use the hold switch)
changing settings takes practice (the buttons are fussy)
thicker than i like (due to the aa batteries; trade off)
no remote or power cord supplied
cd spindle is all plastic (sony really needs to start reenforcing this part with metal)

this is a great choice for those seeking an mp3 player without spending hundreds--if it gets lost or broken you are only out about $60. while not in the same class as the d-777, soundwise the d-ne300 does very well.

 

[Trounce]

Awesome, thanks, I was looking for a good-sounding, cheap mp3 cd player.

 

[Orestes]

got the d-nf400 this morning. basically the two units are the same but the mine has a radio tuner. the sound is pretty good. better than my friend's panasonic that also has a radio tuner. if you don't need radio features, i'm sure the ne300 won't disappoint.

 

[Steve999]

Glad you like the D-NE300 Redshifter. I'm still absolutely loving mine. Mine's the flashy orange and white psych version you can get at Best Buy, as opposed to the classy looking blue one you can get at circuit city. $60 either way.

Here's my earlier thread:

Steve999s Quick Review of D-NE300

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter i couldn't find the old thread on this one, but i got the blue sony d-ne300 discman or walkman (as it is marked) for $60 from goodguys.com. as others have noted it is a great deal for the price... this is a great choice for those seeking an mp3 player without spending hundreds...soundwise the d-ne300 does very well.

 

[Trounce]

Anyone know where in Canada I could pick up one of these PCDPs?

 

[Discman]

I'm in Canada.

I got mine at A&B Sound. You can also get it at The Sony Store or Future Shop.

 

[redshifter]

a few more items:
pro:
gapless playback using atrac3plus encoding. set the player to "seamless" playback (thanks bangraman).
wide soundstage

con:
soundstage software still has a few bugs
can only burn perfect cd's at 4x speed (sony burner).

i've had this walkman for a few weeks now, and am still impressed. the para metric equalizer is fantastic, especially with the ety er6. i use the player every day and the batteries are still on full charge.

 

[Steve999]

I'm still loving mine too.

How's the sound quality with the ATRAC3plus? Are you getting near-CD quality? What compression rate are you using?

By "soundstage software" did you mean sonic stage software?

I love the paramatric equalizer too.

And I'm STILL on my first set of batteries!

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter a few more items: pro: gapless playback using atrac3plus encoding. set the player to "seamless" playback (thanks bangraman). wide soundstage con: soundstage software still has a few bugs can only burn perfect cd's at 4x speed (sony burner). i've had this walkman for a few weeks now, and am still impressed. the para metric equalizer is fantastic, especially with the ety er6. i use the player every day and the batteries are still on full charge.

 

[bangraman]

"Seamless" had quite a few confused apparently outside of Japan. The reason seems to be that the Japanese find it easier to say and recognise "sheemuresu" than "gyappuresu". (all the menus on the Japanese Sony players are in English too, although they are capable of displaying Japanese text)


You'd have thought they'd do the research for outside of Japan... but of course not! They're Sony! The world will bend to their thinking!