The design, sound quality, battery life, CD-Text, Line-Out port, ease of use.

No weaknesses, aside from the colour wearing out over time...

I used to have a Sony D-CJ01; I'd gotten it as a Christmas present in 2001 after I'd seen it at the Sony Store in Chicago. I used it almost daily for a good 2 years before the laser wore out and I replaced it with a cheaper Panasonic model.

It was my first foray into the whole mp3 thing and the player is my favourite of the ones I've used. The display was good and I liked the CD-Text capability that it had, so even if I wasn't using an Mp3-CD, I could still see the song info of the CD (depending whether the CD I played had CD-Text on it). The size of the player was nice and I liked the circular shape. I also liked the battery life and how when I used rechargable batteries, the player could recharge them.

As far as headphones went, I went through a couple different pairs. I got rid of the ones that came with the player originally because I had a pair that were better (most likely ones from Sony). Whenever I got a new pair, they were usually inexpensive Sony earbuds because those were the ones I could A) afford and B) they were of good quality for under $20. The sound quality was good, and for most times, I could keep the volume relatively low. It also had a line-out port which was nice because ocassionally, I'd use my Walkman in family trips as the mp3 player for the car with an FM transmitter.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic SL-MP70 (after), and previously: 2 non-Mp3CD players (one a Sony unit, and the other being a Classic unit from Circuit City).

Sounds better than a player in this range has a right to sound. Basic "play the music and forget the toys" operation!

No HDCD capability (what do you want for the price- MP-3 or HDCD?). Output level from the line outputs could be louder.

I bought this unit on clearance from The Brick. They were missing the headphones/remote for the unit, so I made the sales guy an offer on the last floor model there. Great deal for me! What I originally planned to use it for was for my up coming trip to Mexico. What I have so far ended up doing with it is using it as a substitute player for my audio system, following the death of my beloved and much modified Denon DCM-370 (see my review at this site). So its now my main player in my big home system. That is a BIG pair of shoes to fill, and the Sony does a pretty creditable job! While it's not on par with ultra high end players, it DOES compete with the Denon (and the Denon sounded great, BTW) in some areas- mainly in space, image depth, extension at the frequency limits, and in overall musicality. This player sounds great in my big system. It also does well on cans (headphones), prefering high impedance small cans over big one (my AKGs don't get anywhere near as loud as my old titanium Sanyo/Sears LXIs (which still sound pretty good for ten year old cans!) If there is anything to really complain about, it's two trivial things (at least to me)- 1. The unit lacks HDCD capability. I have a few discs that sounded great on the Denon in HDCD, and they lack "something" on this player. I know its nitpicking, but its something that I never realised I missed until the big player went for a dump! I can live without...for now. 2. The second thing, and its a trivial one as well, is the output level from the line output. Its not nearly as loud as the Denon (which outputs at least 2 volts RMS). This just means turning up the volume more on the big system, but its a pain when you know the volume control setting for the old player and expect the Sony to "get up and go" at the same volume setting. Again another thing that I miss from the big player, but something that I'm sure wasn't a priority for Sony during the design phase on this one. So there you have it. I hope this player is a durable as some of the previous reviewers claim. I want it to last for through the trip and as a main player for the time being.

Similar Products Used:

Denon DCM-370 Toshiba 3900 DVD CD rom drive with digital output driving a turtle beach 20 bit sound card.

Solid Build,Looks,easy to use,line out jack,remembers last volume and track used,displays titles,sounds great,bass boost,anti-skip,mp3/r/rw/cd,batteries installed inside so you dont have the problem of battery doors opening when in use.

Would have liked a bit more volume to handle large headphones,but really its fine.Silver-painted finish could rub off over time.

Ive had the Sony D-CJ01 now since March of 2003(over 9 months). It looks great,plays great,bass boost works well depending on headphones used,in either position 1 or 2,and depending on music material. I love the mp3 feature because it enables you to put over 100 songs on one CD. I wish it just had a bit more volume to run large home headsets or pro models such as my Fostex T-20,but thats asking alot,and most people wouldnt bring headphones that size around with them every day anyway.They do make headphone amps at "headroom" for those of you that insist on using monster-sized cans. I have a pair of Sony MDR 301 and Koss "something "k-50? (like $20) I forget the number,but they are great for $20. Anyway,,,the Player sounds excellent with both pairs. I have also never heard the unit skip,,and im only using setting number one of the two anti-skip settings. I really think youd have to put the unit on a paint shaker to possibly need setting number two...lol! Im thinking of getting a set of Sennhieser HD600 headphones($350 USD) and a Headroom Headphone amp for it,,,Ill see. I highly recommend This CD player though.

Similar Products Used:

Other sony units,kenwood,panasonic...etc.

Ease of use, stellar battery life, very rugged (it bounces when dropped on edge, and keeps on playing).

No fast scan (forward or reverse) when playing MP3s.

The previous reviews are all accurate. I owned and used this player for over a year. I've dropped it a lot, it doesn't phase it. It's extremely rugged which is unusual in a CD player and worth the extra money alone. It's primary advantage to me are the clear top mounted controls and clear LCD display. Every other MP3 CD player I've looked at is much harder to operate.

Similar Products Used:

Rio, Philips, Audiophase

Sound. Sound ! Did I say sound ? No skipping. Long battery life. ID display. The looks.

Very short title display (10 chars scrolling), no backlight. No sampling rate info. No >> in MP3. Included earbuds don't show any of the sound the unit is capable of.

The best sounding MP3 player among the ones (Samsung, Rio, Panasonic) I could compare. Surprisngly much better than the cheaper Sony too. However, forget about the included earbuds and buy some quality headphones (I use Koss Porta Pro). Smooth and enjoyable sound, though sometimes a little bit "electronic". If looking for a lot of buttons and gadgets, this is not the unit for you, but definitely recommended for audio enthusiasts interested in the sound. MP3 portables do not get any better today.

Similar Products Used:

Samsung, Panasonic, Rio

Yeah... I'm in love. Compared to the JazzPiper which isn't bad at all this is just so much better. Only thing i missed a little from the JazzPiper are the equalizer presets. I bought it in Sweden and 3000SEK is a bit much but wtf :) Navigating is a brezze whether you use remote or unit buttons and cd scanning is really fast. This is the best portable mp3 product so far, cd is the way to go mp3 thinks I.

Similar Products Used:

JazzPiper Mp3-CD

Sound quality & volume Okay looks Very skip-resistant Uses standard Sony remote (important for me at least) Not overly heavy or large Uses standard AA batteries and AA Ni-Cad/Ni-Mh rechargeables (can recharge them too)

Can't > in MP3 tracks Delay between tracks (well known prob for all MP3 CD players) Everything happens slightly slower than MD's Not overly light or small

I like it. It's bigger than an MD but it suits my needs very well. Paired with a high-speed burner, this is pretty much the dogs wotsits for listening to music on the move. You may not actually listen to the 7 hours of music or whatever you've burned onto the CD-RW, but it's good to have a choice of what you want to listen to, just on one disc. Sound quality is well up to par and volume is superior to all MD's on the market, BUT, there seems to be some distortion when using the Bass modes on quality headphones. I'm not sure what that's about. Folder navigation is a cinch from the remote, and even easier from the unit's front panel as there are dedicated buttons for moving between folders. If you use music cataloging software like RealJukebox which can automatically file music in folders, you'll find it very easy to burn exactly what you want to the CD and to navigate through the CD on the D-CJ01. Compared to other MP3 CD players, it seems like very bad value. However use it for a while and you realize that Sony have put a lot of thought in this baby. Aside from what I've put down below, I've had the opportunity to try out some really crappy MP3 CD players... However the D-CJ01 definitely doesn't fall into that category. If you listen to a lot of MP3's (and a few CD's) on the move, this is the best player on the market.

Similar Products Used:

Sony MZ-N707 Sony MZ-N1 Napa DAV3 TDK Mojo (original)

Playes all mp3''s, and the format of the CD doesn''t really matter much at all. Mp3 quality is upt to expectations. Navigation is reasonable, once glanced through manual.

Can''t display 2 bit letters, but thats asking a bit much from the player anyway. No *.wma support, which others have (I wouldn''t use it anyway) Little bit thicker compared to it''s cd-audio only relatives. (eg D-EJ1000)

Bought the non-US version, which includes remote, ear bud headphones, and rechargeable Ni-cad batteries. The remote displays all the text that''s displayed on the player, and also has backlight. The non-US version seems to be more complete, for a little higher price.

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SONY D-475 Discman.

Quality, battery life, good remote (if you get one), everything works as intended (a rarity in this product category).

Bass control is fine, but some other sort of sound control would have been nice also. A more protective semi-hard bag would be nice, not just a cloth bag. Could be cheaper - but then it won''t be a Sony I guess...

The D-CJ01 is one of the best MP3 CD players around, and is also one of the best ways to listen to MP3''s using any technology - NetMD, MiniCD, solid state and personal organisers included. The unit is fairly compact, very solidly contructed, and is pretty attractive in that contemporary Japanese way. It utilises 2 AA rechargeable batteries (supplied) but can be exchanged with Alkalines or Ni-Mh cells (FYI, Sony''s NH-WM2AA are 1400mah rated). It will charge both Nicad (3h) and Ni-Mh (5h). Although the US version doesn''t ship with a remote, you can get the RM-MC11EL that ships with the European versions separately. This remote is ''universal'', that is it is used on a variety of Sony portable gear. So it''s controls are generic but it does allow you to do everything that you can on the main unit. The D-CJ01 does exactly what it claims to do. It plays back MP3''s in all commonly used formats, displays ID3 tags on both unit and remote, allows for quick skipping of albums, and resumes exactly where you left off once you switch the unit back on. The G-Protection is excellent and all other features are sanely implemented. Sound quality is probably optimised for the ''Street'' or ''DJ'' headphones - the volume is impressive and the sound is on the whole good. However it sounds too harsh on a number of other better headphones. An eqaliser would therefore have been a good thing to have. Apart from that, I was not left lacking for anything. It has exactly the features I wanted with no compromises. I use CD-RW''s with 320K MP3''s almost exclusively. FYI, I picked this one over the iRiver Slim-X. Why? Sony brand, long run on standard AA batteries, don''t need a radio, and it''s small enough. As I keep finding with things that are over-minaturised, they tend to be less reliable. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to enjoy MP3''s on the move.

Similar Products Used:

Various Korean and Chinese-designed CD MP3 players. (crud. all of them.) Sony MZ-N707 NetMD (average as an MD, sucks as an MP3 machine) HP Jornada 720 (It''s an overgrown calculator. That it plays M

Easy to use. Excellent sound quality. Looks cool. Lightweight but not at all flimsy. Strong, driving bass sound that doesn''t distort and doesn''t affect the treble sound.

No backlight. No remote controls on headphones supplied.

Excellent CD and MP3 playback quality. No skipping (even when shaken!) and fantastic distortion free bass. Batteries last longer than any other portable stereo I''ve used, and of course it can use (and power-up) rechargeables.