Good, clear sound quality... strong bass, smooth looking, compact, and lightweight. A very good deal.

The headphones it comes with blows

Purchasing the sub $100 Sony player has got to be one of the best decisions I have ever made! Boasting beautiful clear and vibrant sound, which is unfortunately not brought forth if you use the crap headphones it came with, the entry level CD walkman has looks to die for... Well maybe not die for (I wish more metal was used instead of cheap looking plastic) but still a pleasant site. The DE-J611's size is extremely compact and wieghs only a few ounces.

Some real plusses include the extra long battery life (32 hours or more), 64 track programming option, a remote control port, AVS control (prevents a friend from turning the volume on max), and the G-protection feature. You'd probably have to run over this thing with a big fat chevy before it skips.

An excellent buy.

same as MDR-A34L, and has doubled headband at top of head, may make this hinged point stronger.

none

These headphones are identical to the MDR-A34L, except the A44ls have a double headband on the top half. See my review of the MDR-A34Ls. Global-Mart has pictures.

Similar Products Used:

many

G-Protection
Battery Life
Digital Volume Control
Bass Quality

So small it feels fragile; but its not! Unless you use the G-Protection, it begins to degrade.

This is an excellent CD Player. It is small, blue, the bass and battery life are phenomenal. The G-Protection totally rules!

Similar Products Used:

Sony Discman D-151
Sony Discman D-E301

Sony pays us (emplyoes) nICE!

But makes plastic for you! No soop for you!

Your money becomes my Money, Sony do no pay u quality, they o pay yu only minimal. I werk at Sony Japan. I know. But keep bueing from us. I love Sony promutiouns theu goive to their employees. Thank you.


Young Si

None

Cheap build, Sony name is fuxored up.

Aweful build, terrible headphone connectors. Battery life is only 8-11 hours unless u use top batteries and just leave the unit on with it playing, then u get 30hours. What else, oh yea. Cheap build, Cheap lid, Cheap unit. Mass production only.

G-Protection is only 25seconds anti-shock. Proof?
1) Take a pin or pencil
2) Open the case, find the whole that tells the cd player the lid is closed (it's near the headphone connectors but in the inside)
3) Put a cd in the player, instead of closing the door fool the drive that the lid is closed by poking the hole with the pin of pencil...
4) let it spin a few seconds, then stop it with your hands. THe music will still go on for like 20 seconds or 25 then stops. THere yea go.

Similar Products Used:

SONY YEA!

Uhm, it's kinda small, in a crappy sort of way. The sound isn't too bad, but........it is.

Where to begin...crappy build, crappy plastic, bad connections in headphone and lineout ports, loose buttons, PLASTIC gears (jaw on the floor).

Over the past 11 years, I have watched the quality of Sony's products steadily descend. With the new line of Discmen this year, the "Crappiness" hits a rock bottom. The price was very cheap for a "Coming of age Discman," but the inexpensive pricetag is matched only by a cheaper made model. To put it another way, this discman sucks. I have never been ashamed of a sony discman yet. But this is an embarrassment to the company. The sound on the unit is terrible. It is beyond me why they every stopped using digital filters and oversampling. Loose buttons, lid, GEARS!!!, and more add the frustration. Though this Discman doesn't audibly skip, it is aparent that every shake to the system is a cut off of its life, which probably isn't very long. One good drop and this one's in the dumpster. Well, the D-303 is the best one that I've had yet, I guess I'll just stick with that one.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Discmen D-9, D-303, D-11, D-131, D-141, D835k, D-E561

Never skipped. Compact size.

Cheap build.

I had been in the market for a portable player since my old Sony's headphone jack had loosened. I had read a review about the new generation of players with G-protection (great marketing name) which praised this new feature. My old Sony had something like 3 second shock protection which was severely inadequate.
I wound up purchasing this unit upon auditioning several units side by side. The other makes included Panasonic. My top priority has always been sound quality. Even though some people like Panasonic (or hate Sony) I have never liked their MASH dac, it always sounded muddy to me.
I now find myself looking for a new player. This unit developed a problem where it would just stop and start. It would also make a noise similar to putting a baseball card in the spokes of a bicycle wheel then stop. Very annoying! I don't think one should have to replace a unit every 1.5 years so looked away from Sony this time.
I have been scouring the internet for suggestions on what to buy. Someone on this site who is a self described audiophile recommends Philips players above all others for their sound quality. But I have not been able to audition them, plus I had to rule them out because they don't have a dedicated line out jack to run through an external amp. They only have one jack for both headphone AND line out. How they claim this I don't know since a line out is supposed to avoid amplification in the first place. I emailed Philips on this point but, not surprisingly, haven't heard back yet.
BUT STOP THE PRESSES! There is good news. Having looked up specifications of several manufactures' units I discovered most of them lacking either information or basic quality. For example neither Sony, Panasonic, RCA or Philips list any oversampling on their 1-bit DAC's. Either they just don't list it (not very smart marketing and not forthcoming enough with information) or they don't have it (inexcusable). I did find what I was looking for at, would you believe, at Radioshack.com. Not only did they list the oversampling rate (8 times) but they describe their laser (3 beam) and their headphone output (15 mV (about 3 times the output of Sony and Philips players!)). This was all listed in their online manual to their CDP-37 model (list price $69.99).
I picked up this unit last night without audition. They have a generous 30-day money back guarantee. How could I go wrong. And what about the sound? Night and Day difference from the then near-top of the line Sony. The Sony worked OK with my Etty's (s model) but what a difference this new player is. The sound is in every way much better. I could not believe it was the same recording when comparing the two machines. Much more detailed, dimentional, greater dynamics,and tonal quality much fuller. This is the result of just using the headphone jack not an external amp!
In summary, skip the most popular brands who emphasize extended battery life in their ads and check out the lowly Radioshack brand which might have the best sound.

Similar Products Used:

Sony

Very good sound quality, nice Bass Boost EXELlENT "G-protection" anti skip. lasts ABOUT 20 hours on the NI-MH rechargables, LOADED with features and is very well built (although it doesn't appear so)

Headphones are sub par.

VERY good for the price I got it.
Watch out for the headphones though. NOT very sturdy. (I suggest replacing them)
my player must have been dropped at least 100's of times. I also have 3 other freinds who use and love this portable.Good bargain.

Similar Products Used:

Various portables.

Nothing

Everything

This player is a piece of garbage. stay home with your children

Similar Products Used:

Sony D-25S

Great sound (with different headphones), shock resistant, nice look.

The reason I was motivated to review this: The buttons on this, and probably many more portable CD players, are ridiculous! The subtlety of the volume buttons is such that one must direct full attention to locate them. The same really applies to all buttons. This is annoying when you bike, run or whatever. The "hold" button concept reveals an inherently poor design: you either brush against buttons, or you hunt-n-peck. You shouldn't have to stop activity to make simple volume, track changes, etc.

Indented buttons that require a healthy "click" would be nice! Place them all in the same area (not randomly, all over the unit!) and one can "Braille" their way through functions. I would buy something like that in a heartbeat!

A remote switch would've been nice to include!!! THAT alone may be the answer. Are they that expensive to produce?