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My Marriage Didn't Last As Long As My Walkman

Jan 05 '01 Write an essay on this topic.

After searching for a category for my faithful Walkman I found that none existed. I looked over at my trusted piece of my past and shook my head. Could portable cassette players really be that ‘out of style’? Now, just because there isn’t a category for it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist – just that good old Epinions doesn’t feel there is a need for it or they haven’t gotten around it adding it. When I searched for portable units all I got were CD players and mini discs. Go figure.

I have to admit this much – I have had this Walkman for more years than I care to remember. I know I had this before I got married, nine years ago. That is a long time for a cassette player to last. I mean, think about the hours and hours it has played New Kids On The Block, Rollins Band and Pearl Jam without fail.

To give you the total picture of how old I am talking about – this is one of the bigger and heavier cassette players – there’s no cool side flip lock nor digital tracking for the AM / FM radio. Nope, just good old knobs. This thing is heavy too – it weighs almost three pounds – who needs to carry weights when they walk if they’ve got this on them?

So, the Sony Sport Walkman I am talking about is Model # WM-AF58. It’s so old that I had to take tissue paper and a pencil and make a rubbing of the letters on the bottom of the unit to see the actual letters – the front of the player did have the stock number but that wore off about four years ago.

This is the bare bones Walkman, nothing fancy but extremely dependable. It has the normal function buttons – play, rewind, fast-forward and stop. Can someone please tell me what the deal is with portable cassette players that don’t have a rewind button? I see people at the gym popping out tape and fast-forwarding them and swearing up a storm… wouldn’t it be easier to spend the extra cash to avoid such a waste of time? This model does have a clock that is solar powered so it saves a lot of battery power in that aspect. You can even program in the day, date and three alarm times but if the unit remains out of the light for too long it erases them. I do have a newer all digital Walkman that does not have the solar power clock and I notice that I get a lot less battery life than this model . I often think of the two Walkman’s sizing each other up – having little audio battles when I am not home. See – I just have too much free time on my hands.

While there isn’t a power indicator or battery life level there is a little red power dot. When it starts looking dark it’s time to change the batteries. Like I said, this is a bare bones model.

I do remember paying $39.99 USD for this Walkman – at the time that was a big chunk of change so I considered that a ‘major purchase’. The headphones that came with it are long gone. I go through at least two pair a year since I usually play the music loud and for long periods of time. The nice thing about this unit is that it has two headphone ports – that way if the kids want to listen to something they don’t have to fight over who gets to use the Walkman. There were little rubber plugs that could cover the headphone ports they broke from over use.

This unit uses two AA batteries and I get about 8 hours of play from it – but you have to take into consideration the amount of wasted battery life for rewinding and the volume that I play it at.

One of the best things about any of the Sony Sport Walkman’s is the fact that they are waterproof. Most people think they can throw it in the tub or lake and test it out but that isn’t the real purpose of this function. It is designed to stand up to rain, sweat, humidity and dumping a soda on it. This is a great feature for anyone who exercises since most gyms are humid and a regular cassette player can’t handle that. You’ll find your tapes getting kinked and caught in the rollers. The Sport models are great for sporting events as well – if you are at a football game and it starts to rain – it’s one less thing you have to worry about keeping dry. All of the Sport models come with small rubber plugs that insert into the headphone ports to keep the terminals dry and clean. If they break off – like mine have – you can reorder them from Sony.

I have tried so many different cassette players – none of them are as dependable and sturdy as the Sony Sport series. I have dropped this one at least a hundred times and it still plays with clarity and perfection. Sure there are knock off’s of the Sport like by other manufacturers but none of them will hold up for years and years and years. Sony has a great customer service department – when I called to ask about the rubber plug replacements the rep told me she had trouble finding that model since it was so ‘outdated’. Nonetheless, within three weeks I had my replacement pieces and for a mere $2.99.

All in all – my Sony Sport Walkman has really given me my money’s worth. If you are in the market for a portable cassette player then I strongly recommend any of the Sony products but have to say that the Sport models are the best. They are stronger, can take more of a beating and simply last longer. I would rather pay about $10.00 more for a Sport Walkman than to have to replace a regular one every two to three years.

Looking back on all that me and my Walkman have been through it’s amazing it still works. Rainstorms, 90% humidity, sweat at the gym, being dropped a lot, thumping around in my backpack and of course my kids – all this abuse and it still plays as well as the first day I had it.

As always – thanks for the read … ^V^ Freak ^V^

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