The back to school frenzy has all but overtaken the house; with two leaving for school abroad before the month is over and the others pestering my for supplies, my head felt like it was going to shoot off my shoulders like a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot. The Sony D-EJ001 is still working great but that wasn't good enough for one of the brood; he wanted something new to take back to school with him and when it comes to portable CD players, hand-me-downs aren't an options [this is when I say, "get a job"]. Having owned an older model of this one I knew that it would be strong enough to keep up with his rugby practice as well as when he goes running but I killed two birds with one stone and picked up a few replacement sets of headphones for him. As nice as the headphones are, they don't last more than a few months when you use them on a daily basis. He's had this for about three weeks now and likes it but has had a few problems with it reading slightly scratched discs; if it is heavily scratched there doesn't seem to be a problem but the small tiny ones seem to mess with the laser.

Sony Walkman DNE005 Personal CD Player

Sony used to be the only name that I would trust when it came to buying portable audio pieces like the Sony Cassette Walkman and Sony Sport Walkman; over the past few years their selection has increased but their quality control, overall design and performance have decreased. The saying, "you get wheat you pay for" definitely rings true when it comes to these low and personal CD players so if you are looking for something that is going to blow you out of the water in regards to the sound, save your money and look elsewhere. For general listening this is a good pick but those who listen to music while running, at the gym or to relax, this won't be able to provide you with the sound that you will get from units in higher price ranges. Yes it does have extended bass and skip protection but that isn't enough to really impress me these days since those two features are pretty much standard. Throwing around the term "Skip-Free3 G-Protection Technology" doesn’t make it a better unit, it just bumps up the price tag a few dollars.

So what are some of the good points of this? It is light weight, comes with the previously mentioned anti shock feature and will stand up to a good bit of dropping before it starts to show any signs of wear. When it got knocked off the dining room table I was sure that it was dead but it powered up and played the CD perfectly. This is not waterproof but it will resist moisture and a light sprinkle, if you want something that is waterproof, the Sony Sport series is still the best way to go. The buttons are a little awkward to get used to at first but since I have an older version of this one, it didn’t take me long to flip through tracks and use the selection functions. This does have the sound limitation feature so you can program it to not go over a certain level, something that comes in real handy when teens and tweens use things like this so you can protect their ears from damage. The buttons perform several functions so it is in your best interest to read over the instruction booklet and become familiar with them before you start playing around. I neglected to do this and almost threw it across the room when it would shut off after about 45 seconds, that's what happens when you set it to preview songs instead of playing them in their entirety.

This comes with a pair of over the ear headphones that lack a band so those of you who are vain; you won't have to worry about something messing up your hair. Whether or not you will like the headphones is a moot point because they aren't going to last more than a few months, I can say this because they are the same exact ones that came with my DEJ001 and those didn't last nearly as long as I had hoped they would. You don't get an AC adapter so if you want to play this without battery power [this requires two AA sized batteries] you are going to have to buy one but please make sure that you write down the type of adapter that you need so you don't buy the wrong one and fry it out. This brings up the point about the warranty; you do get the usual Sony electronics warranty but it is useless if you don't send in the registration card to validate it. Your warranty covers you for a 90 day period from the time of purchase but in most cases if there is something wrong with it, you will know it within the first few days at which time you are better off taking it back where you purchased it for an exchange.

Overall the sound of this is average; I don’t want to say that it is above average because not everyone is going to like the way certain types of music sounds n this. For things like Necrophagia, Cradle of Filth and Type O Negative you aren’t going to get a lot of the real heavy beats and deep bass, even with the extended bass on. For audio books on CD and spoken word this works great but if you are into anything extreme, you might be disappointed with how this performs. So what does this cost? The average selling price is $42.00 but I am sure that if you shop around or look online you will be able to find it for a few dollars less. Is it worth it? That is a tough call; it is a sturdy piece but it isn't something that is going to give you crystal clear sound or be able to handle a lot of heavy bass. That is something that I still laugh about when I use this, it has extended bass as a feature but when it is off it sounds like it is on so when you do activate it, it tends to really overpower everything else that you are hearing.

This Does Not Record MP3's

When I set out to get him a new personal CD player I knew what he needed in the way of sound and performance; when I asked the salesman about this model he said that it was one of the best investments that he ever made. With this one little CD player he could record MP's, transfer them from his computer and play a variety of different types of discs on it. When I saw the price, $42.00 I thought that maybe it was on sale or part of a promotion; who ever saw something that could record MP's3 for that low a price? When I read the package I still wasn't convinced that this could record MP's or do any of the things that he said it could so I resisted the temptation to buy it and headed to the internet to do some research. It turns out that this does not have the capability to record MP's although if you burn CD's it will play them. When I went back to the store to ask the salesman about it he got more than a little upset and asked me if I was accusing him of lying about the product. Listen, either it can record MP3's or it cant … and this one doesn't. So what is the golden rule here? Never believe salesmen that are working on commission.

The Bottom Line

I have no idea how long this is going to last but I am hoping that it will see my son through this school year' he has several replacement pairs of headphones so that shouldn't be a problem but keeping him stocked with AA batteries might be. It doesn’t eat them as badly as the older version I own but even high grade batteries drain after about six to eight hours of use. It is a good pick for teens especially if you want to control the volume. With several different play back mode, an easy to read LCD screen and 'hold' feature, this is something that will let you take your music almost anywhere but I doubt that it will be able to satisfy true audiophiles. While it is easy to use, it does have some of the same problems that the DEJ001 has; poor battery compartment location, headphones that don't last very long and a "low battery" message that turns off the unit when the meter drops below two bars. Even so, for forty dollars it is something that thrifty minded people can work into budget.


As always, thanks for the visit…

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2006 Freak369


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Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 42.00