Guide to Personal CD Players

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Guides & Resources

Sailing the Sea of Personal CD Players

By Staff Writer

Don't get caught skipping
When you're skipping along, the "skipping" should refer to your mode of travel, not to the playback vagaries of your personal CD player. There is no reason why skipping while using a personal CD player should be a problem. Today's personal CD players are hardy. Skipping aside, a personal CD player may seem to be a simple device. For the most part, it is, but there are some things to consider before choosing a model.

You should consider how and where you'll be using your personal CD player. For instance, the buffer memory — also called anti-skip protection, ESP Squared (Sony's acronym for Electronic Sound Protection) or various other fancy names that all mean the same thing — soaks up battery life when activated. Therefore, consider how you will use your personal CD player. If you're going to use it while jogging, we recommend a sports portable; anything less and the player will eventually skip. If you're merely strolling around town, get at least a 20-second buffer. If you're going to use it in the car, opt for at least a 10-second memory — bear in mind that a car does encounter bumps in the road.

Wherefore art thou, batteries?
Most personal CD players have battery compartments on the rear underside of the unit. Many players, however, including some from Panasonic and Philips, as well as many sports models, place the battery compartment on the inside of the unit. This design requires you to remove the CD before replacing the batteries. When you're actually on the go, you must be very dexterous to balance the CD in one hand while manipulating the battery compartment door and old and new batteries, all at the same time. This positioning of the battery compartment makes changing batteries an awkward process at best.

Reading and writing
All CD players play back the discs made on a CD recordable (CD-R) deck. Not all CD players — particularly the portable variety — will play back CD-RW (CD rewritable) discs, however. Unlike the make-one-mistake-and-you're-done CD-R discs, CD-RW discs work like tape or MiniDiscs you can record, erase and record again. This capability makes CD-RW discs incompatible with many CD players. Many companies are including this feature on select products in their lineup. CD-RW compatibility should be indicated on the personal CD player's packaging. But no Sony Discman will be compatible with CD-RW. CD-RW compatibility would put Sony personal CD players in competition with its own rewritable format, MiniDisc. So if you know someone who's going to make CD-RW disc mixes for you, or if you plan on buying and using a CD-RW deck, look for a personal CD player that is CD-RW-compatible.

Feed your head
The headphones that are included with personal CD players are not generally of the highest quality. You're spending your money on the player. Our advice: invest in quality headphones if you want to get the most out of your personal CD player.

Goin' mobile
Many personal CD players now come with a car kit, which typically consists of a cigarette lighter power adapter and a cassette adapter — a cassette-shaped device that is placed into your car cassette player to allow the CD to play through your car speakers. Some car kits also include some sort of player mount that attaches to the dashboard.

Where the buttons are
Some personal CD headphones have a small remote control pad built into the headphone cord, making it convenient to change the volume level or to switch tracks. If there is no in-cord remote control, then you must use the controls on the personal CD player itself. Most of the time, your personal CD player is going to be in a pocket or bag while it plays. This means that to adjust the volume, skip back a track, skip past a track, pause, etc., you must take the player out of its temporary storage place to punch the right button. On the other hand, some players have uniquely designed controls that allow adjustment-by-feel. Just reach in your pocket and feel for the right button.

In addition, not all the buttons are grouped on the outside of a player. Controls for sound enhancements, such as bass boost, are often located inside the CD compartment. If you like to constantly monkey with the sound, check to see where these controls are located.

Most of the better personal CD models also have a hold or lock function. This is a button or control that prohibits accidental pushing of a button while the unit is in a bag. This hold function, however, works differently depending on the player. For instance, some players have volume + and - buttons that would be locked by the hold button. A toggle wheel volume control, however, would not be locked, allowing you to adjust the volume without disengaging the hold. Again, consider how you'll use your player before you decide which would be more convenient for you.

What's the cost factor?
Differences in price and performance stem from better digital components and pickup mechanisms. To get the best out of your machine, especially the higher-end models buy a comfortable set of good-sounding headphones. Remember also that this is a portable device. It will get bumped, dumped and generally banged about, which obviously shortens its life.

From information provided by etown.com.

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