Panasonic SL-SX431C Portable CD Player with Car Kit
From Panasonic
PANASONIC SL-SX431C -- Enjoy your favorite CDs anywhere, anytime with this sophisticated, rugged portable player. Heat resistant polycarbonate body Flexible 4-way power supply Car power adapter included Dimensions - 31/32 Depth x 5-5/16 Diameter Weight - (w/out battery) - 6.4 ounces
- Amazon Sales Rank: #55803 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Panasonic
- Model: SL-SX431C
Enjoy your music with the freedom that comes from MP3 CD playback, extended battery life, and high-powered anti-skip technology. Panasonic's exclusive No-Skip technology helps prevent interruptions from jostling during active use. No Skip's unique construction uses rubber brushings to absorb shock, while an anti-skip mechanism and an anti-skip digital servo further prevent read errors. The SL-SX431C's heat-resistant, polycarbonate body makes it even better suited for outdoor use. Taking the player in the car? Use the supplied car kit to power the player and channel its audio through your vehicle's cassette deck.
Onboard D.sound technology comprises 4 components that work together to elevate your listening. A digital amplifier helps reduce distortion and produce crystal-clear sound, even at high listening levels. S-XBS and Digital Audio Gain Control help to improve bass response at high levels, while MP3 Re-master technology produces outstanding sound quality from compressed music files.
The player also offers HighMAT (High Performance Media Technology) level 1 compatibility. HighMAT standards provide a convenient way for you to create custom compilations of your digital music, and this player's compatibility will let you sort your HighMAT-generated audio files neatly into folders. This not only helps you keep your music files organized, it saves time when you're searching for a specific file.
Battery changes will be fewer and farther between thanks to Panasonic's PowerLast high-efficiency power system, which combines an efficient motor with low-load circuitry for playback time of up to 90 hours on 2 AA batteries (not included) during MP3 playback and up to 50 hours during standard CD play.
What's in the Box
CD player, a user's manual, a wired remote control, over-ear headphones, a cassette audio adapter, and a vehicle DC power adapter (standard AC/DC power adapter not included).
Very Good Product
Well Well Well. You knew it would come to this. You're in your car, making a long trip, and you can't find a decent station. You only have a cassette player and for whatever reason don't want to or cant upgrade to an in-dash CD Player. You're tired of listening to those same old tapes you managed to find and/or make (who buys tapes or makes mix tapes any more?). And you realise you're going to need an audio solution to enrich your driving experience.
Enter the discman car kit. An elegant solution to an age-old problem. It's portable and useful for more other stuff too, like using for jogging or on a bus or plane ride, so it's a multi tasker. And it solves your little car audio situation quite nicely doesnt it? And this panasonic model is an excelent choice.
I bought this because I use my mom's car and it only has a tape player, and I cant (and wouldnt anyway) put a deck in her car. Why I chose this model is simple, a great deal. This player is very reasonabley priced, and you get the whole shebang - power adapter and cassette adapter included. Now that I've gotten to use it for a while I can tell you Im quite happy. It has surprisingly good audio quality, even with the tape adapter (make sure to turn the vol on the player itself all the way up to minimise noise). The skip protection is EXCELLENT. I've not once had a single skip. The player is also fairly responsive, and has a nice look to it as well.
In adition to CDs this player plays MP3s! You can fit about 8-12 hours of music in MP3 form per CD. That's one heck of a road mix. And you can always burn more CDs so there's no limit to storage like on other mp3 solutions. DId I mention CDRs are dirt cheap? Compare the cost of buying a pack of CDRs to buying a new flash memory stick... you get the idea. The MP3 playback is nice, although navigation can be a bit clumbsy and ID3 Tag info is not displayed. Also I sometimes feel as if it's not playing some songs for reasons unkown.
Another small complant is that despite the claim that this unit is backlit, I've yet to figure out how to get the backlit display to turn on! The kit includes a corded remote, with a clip. This is VERY handy, but sometimes can as much of a pain to find the little remote as to fumble with the main controls. Thankfully the clip makes this easier as I can clip the remote to my seatbelt. However, the remote is poorly designed. The play/pause, fwd and prv buttons are all together and tiny, and it's easy to hit the wrong button! They should have made a more obvious bump on the middle button to make it easier to use when not looking. I find this to be a real pain in the... neck.
Any way you look at it though, this is a great value, and gives great performance! All in all Im happy. I'll give it 5 stars even though panasonic should really redisign the remote (seriously people, I've almost gone off the road trying to skip tracks, that's not right lol) and possibly work a bit on the nuances of the MP3 functionality. Whether the backlight even exists is yet to be seen :)
No Skip is No Lie!
Why I Recommend This MP3 CD player:
The No-Skip technology actually works! We drove through Louisiana on Interstate 10, one of the bumpiest, bounciest, rockiest patches of road. Our drinks spilled but the player stayed steady.
Nice price $$$. We bought this to save money. Why retrofit a base model SUV with a permanent CD player when you just use this?
The car kit was simple to install through our cassette deck.
The performance was up to par. On a marathon road trip with a back seat full of cranky kids, this machine was a lifesaver for both drivers and passengers.
Excellent hardware, literature could use some work
I owned a Panasonic CD player for many years before it was stolen from my car. I was happy with its quality and went with the company again. Today I received the SL-SX431C, and so far I'm happy with it. I'm so happy I can store about ten CDs worth of music on one disc (since it can play MP3s of course). The features are pretty basic, but you can't beat the price for a reliable MP3 player like this. Not only does it have a car kit and decent earphones, my old AC adapter (which wasn't stolen) works with it (4.5V, 600 mA). My biggest complaint is that the instructions are practically nil. You have to just push a bunch of buttons to figure out how it works. Also, the 85 hour play time assumes very specific conditions, but I imagine it will still last quite long between battery changes. One great feature (esp when you have tons of music on a disc) is random play, repeat track, and repeat all. All things considered, I'm happy.
