It seemed like a good present at the time ... really, it did. When I saw someone selling this at eBay for the ‘buy it now’ price of $15.00 I couldn’t resist getting this for my youngest. Of all the Star Wars characters, he thinks that Darth Maul is the best. Well, like I said, at the time it seemed like a great idea to order it for him and give it to him for his birthday. As soon as he ripped open the wrapping paper on it and I saw the look on his face I knew I crossed the boundary line of ‘proper gift giving etiquette’, He quickly shoved it under some other gifts and shot me a rather wide eyed look. Afterwards I asked him what the deal was with it and he said, “Mum, I’m not a kid anymore”. That didn’t stop him from using it but it’s not something that he uses outside the house or confines of his bedroom. This is the sort of CD player that gets dragged out when the others break or someone else is using them; there’s nothing wrong with the sound but come on, can you honestly say that you’d want to take a Darth Maul CD player with you to the gym or when you are going for a walk?

Star Wars Episode I Darth Maul Audio CD Player

If you are looking for a cool gift from someone that is into Star Wars, this Darth Maul CD player might make for a nice pick if you can find it for a good price. I found it for $15.00 plus shipping and thought that I found a great steal. Most of the other places that were selling this online had it starting at $30.00 because it is classified as a “collectors item”. I wasn’t expecting it to have the best sound around or a ton of features but I was really surprised at what it had when I borrowed it. This isn’t the easiest thing to program because it relies on a handful of buttons to do a ton of different things; take the repeat mode function for example. To access the different playback modes you have to press one button several times to scroll through the options. Instead of having different buttons you have to scroll through normal, repeat, repeat all, random and intro scan.

This has a ten second anti skip feature but if you use it, it will tax the battery life a little. To activate it just click the appropriate button and check the level meter on the LCD screen. The same thing goes for the bass boost or DBBS. The instructions that come with it don’t tell you that this too will drain the batteries a little, more so if you play it at higher volumes. There is no way to limit the sound or volume on this so if you are buying it for a younger child to use, make sure they don’t crank it up so loud that they can’t hear outside noise or that they are damaging their ear drums. When you insert a disc it will show you the total amount of play time and number of tracks on the disc. So far we haven’t had any problems with this playing burned discs but my son did say that stuff he recorded from his computer wouldn’t play on this unit.

One thing that you need to know about this is that there isn’t a power off button or switch. It will shut off after about five minutes of inactivity however if you are playing a disc it won’t shut off. It only powers down when you hit the stop button or take out the disc. At the end of a disc it will shut off after one minute, this helps to save the battery life. The one thing that this lacks is a hold button or switch; the hold feature locks the unit so if you are playing a disc and have the unit in your backpack it won’t shut off or go to the next track if a button is accidentally pressed. Likewise, it also keeps the unit from being powered on. Since this doesn’t have the lock feature you may want to remove the batteries if you are carrying it inside your backpack to help keep it from getting powered up accidentally if it bumps into something else.

Battery Power & Life

You will need to have AA sized batteries on hand for this portable CD player; you can use an AC adapter [6 volt] although one does not come with the unit. The batteries go in the bottom of the CD player and there is no safety screw to keep smaller children from getting into it so make sure that it is kept away from them. The batteries will last about five to six hours of constant play but if you are using higher quality batteries you maybe able to squeeze out a couple of extra hours. I like the idea of having the batteries on the bottom of the unit but not the fact that there is no safety feature / safety screw to keep the batteries safe from children. If you want to get an adapter to power this instead of batteries, check places like Radio Shack and Wal-Mart but make sure you are getting the correct adapter [input 120v / 60Hz - output 6V DC - 4mm]. On a side note, the specs on this say that you need one A sized battery for this, that isn’t correct, you need two of them to power up and operate the unit. There is a battery life indicator on the LCD screen that will let you know when the life is starting to drop and they need to be replaced.

Warranty

This unit comes with a 90 day warranty against manufacture defects but it doesn’t cover accidental breakage, misuse, opening the unit or negligence. If something happens to the unit after the 90 day warranty period you can contact Tiger Electronics within one year of the purchase date to have the unit repaired for a fee of $60.00. Yes, sixty dollars. Consider that I got this for $15.00 there is no way in hell that I would pay sixty dollars to get it fixed. I guess if you are a hard core Star Wars fans and need to have a working portable CD player to take to a convention you could suck it up and pay the money but wouldn’t it just be easier to go buy another one for fifteen to twenty dollars?

The Bottom Line

Overall this has a pretty good sound quality; you aren’t going to get anything close to Sony sound from it but for kids to listen to music, it’s sufficient. The headphones that come with it are pretty cheesy but they are the over the ear type with large foam covers; these do not go in the ear so there is less of a chance of them harming your hearing but if you play it loudly, it could cause problems. If you are going to use this outside the house make sure that you check the battery compartment to ensure that it is closed properly. The last thing you want to do it scramble for batteries if they fall out of it. For fifteen dollars I got a nifty looking Star Wars CD player that has better sound than I expected, more features that I thought it would have and great battery life. Even though my son wouldn’t be caught dead with this outside the house, he does use it when he wants to listen to something with his headphones on. Still, if I one of my CD players were broke I’d be hard pressed to take this with me to the gym ...


As always, thanks for the read!

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2005 Freak369


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Other Star Wars items ...

• Star Wars: The Power of Myth • Star Wars Episode I: The Visual Dictionary • Glow-in-the-Dark - Jedi vs. Sith • 3D Mini Puzzle - Gungan Sub • Glow In The Dark - Characters Gift Box • Hasbro Jedi Dex •

CommTech Reader and companion figures ... Watto, C-3PO, Queen Amadala, Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, R2-D2.





Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $15.00
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: Whole Family