Portable Cassette Players - Product Reviews

Anonymous - (September 09, 2006) I have used and used my cassette player to play audio books. The player gets lots of miles from each battery and does a great job for entertainment. I love mine so much I am getting a second one for a spare.

ok3wire - (June 30, 2005) I was sure looking forward to this new S2 armband radio as I just recently had to retire a previous Sony iteration of their "sports" armband radio that I've used extensively the past three or four years. Basically, everything on the new is an improvement over the old. The new one is sleeker, more secure, more reflective, only needs one AAA battery, has more channel presets that are easier to access, and includes several new features such as the local VHF TV band, the weather radio band and a stopwatch function. The only fly in the ointment relates to the fact that this radio is essentially incapable of receiving a normal FM broadcast. I live in the middle of the greater Los Angeles area

camedley - (October 14, 2004) Originally I was using a small standard RF tuner, that consisntently lost reception, and quite honestly was of poor quality. I purchased this specific unit for use at Cleveland Browns games and thus far has been great! It's a nice option to either listen to the radio station coverage or TV coverage OR if the weather looks inclimate, with the push of a button I can check the weather...Great options each of them!

granny1942 - (07/09/2009) i would like it if it would pick up more stations and my tv stations i could listen to would come in more clearly. anyway i can get my stations to come in more clearly that would be a help. ive had mind for over a year wouldnt do without.

dekutree16 - (02/12/2009) This is the worst device I ever had. The radio reception is really bad. I am kind of disappointed because it is a SONY. I paid around 30 bucks for it, after a while I bought a very cheap brand (coby), I only paid 8 bucks for it and is definetly better.

sononkyo - (10/22/2008) "HD" radio, perhaps riding on the coattail of the DTV transition phase, has gotten few notices outside of the casual observers. The promise of "static-free" radio and "high-quality" free source as an alternative to subscription radio makes this a viable solution to replacing FM radio. Despite two annoying quirks, this Sony radio performs with such consistent quality that faults become merely perfunctory criticism in an otherwise splendid product. The first thing Sony did was to put the aesthetic appeal to a classic silhouette. The nice deep burgundy wood oozes quality even if the material is simply cheap plastic. It is a natural looker content in any corner of your house. The included cables that Sony gives you is also generous. A nice T-dipole antenna, equivalent to many third party solution that cose $40, is included here without the dubious charge. The LCD is very easy to read, helped by the always on backlight, with radio station information available in three display modes. Finally, the default sound is very neutral with some emphasis on the bass end. Again, this is set on the equalizer functions at "0". The radio reception peformance is stellar. Despite all the triumphant features of this Sony, the most damning criticism is the inability to turn off the backlight. There are three settings: Low, Med, High. Notice there isn't a "off" setting. At night, even at the lowest setting, the room is cast in a pale "indiglo-ish" light. I have to put a towel over the display to cut down on the LCD light just to sleep. Another petty complaint comes from the HD reception. It is so strong that sometimes weak broadcasting HD stations are picked up in a persistent blinking "HD" state (Sony's feature to indicate a weak station signal). This causes the sound to be uneven as it keeps switching from the weak HD signal to the more powerful backup FM broadcast. On music and NPR, the voices dim and then pick up again in a highly annoying, inconsistent manner. You wish there was a steady sound feature. If you live closer to the towers, this concern is non-existent for you. Rounding off the package is a input jack. A nice feature for me to put a Bluetooth receiver when I want to play back a podcast but I wouldn't want to put anything of musical quality to pipe through the speakers. Since I stick mostly to classical and NPR HD stations, the sound is fine for me. If you expect this radio to turn your room into a disco stage, prepare to be highly disappointed. Keep the radio strictly to modest ambitions, you will be pleasantly surprised.