uk_gizmo's Full Review: Sony Walkman® D-EJ100 Personal CD Player
The D-EJ1000 has been around for a while and is one of Sony's top-flight personal CD player models. The first thing that strikes you about this unit is its diminutive size. Being noticeably smaller than most other models it is a mere 14mm thick and slightly longer than it is wide at 136mm x 127mm, giving it a slightly oval rather than truly circular shape. Few compromises appear to have been made due to this size with the exception of the batteries which are the small, flat, gum-stick NiMH type and the absence of any display of the player itself, although there is a very good one on the remote control.
The player has magnesium alloy case that is finished in satin grey. No logos or buttons clutter the top plate of the player apart from a prism-cut embossed Sony logo and a recessed Walkman logo. The effect is very subtle. Around the edge of the player are three small thin and shiny silver transport control, a silver catch to open the spring-loaded CD lid and a variety of input, output and power sockets.
The transport controls on the player a very small and it would be a brave or very dextrous person that would use them every day. Track play, skip and search functions can be operated from here and you can also force the player to start charging by holding in the stop button. If you do this a little red LED comes on in the centre of the stop button while the unit charges the batteries.
Socketry is quite impressive and I get the impression that Sony's designers realise that anyone paying this much for a portable CD player might want to connect it to their hi-fi too. As well as the normal headphone/remote socket we're all familiar with on Sony portables there is also a 3.5mm analogue line-out connector with doubles as an optical digital output too. This means you can connect to amplifiers, computers or recording equipment through an analogue or digital feed. The player also has no less than three power sockets. There is a normal DC input socket for the supplied AC adaptor but also a second socket right next to it into which can be plugged an external battery battery pack if you get caught with no charge in the NiMD batteries.
This battery pack is a dark grey plastic tube with a screw cap that unlocks to allow you to insert two normal AA batteries. A small cable connects this tube to the player's power socket. While this is undoubtedly useful in some circumstances it is also very inconvenient if you need to carry the player around in your pocket. Perhaps it would have been better if Sony had found some way of screwing the extra battery pack on to the player itself.
The final power connectors are two subtle holes on the front-side of the player that mate with power/recharge pins when the player is placed into a rather neat docking cradle to charge. The cradle is a small black wedge that you just rest the player in and its little red LED lights to show you it is charging. The player has an almost Bang and Olufsen air about it when its resting vertically in the cradle. The player only takes a few hours to charge but be aware that Sony says in its manual that the player will only charge Sony batteries so you may have to pay a premium when the rechargeables eventually do give up.
The player comes with a very capable remote control which you will need due to the small size of the buttons on the player itself. The remote is cylindrical, silver and backlit. The green EL backlight stays on for 5 seconds after a key press or permanently if the AC adaptor is being used in play mode. The one-line alpha-numeric LCD display is sharp although the contrast could be better. It is rather dark if used without the backlight due to it being very recessed into the remote. The remote will display CD-Text tags if they're included on discs. With the CD-Text standard not really taking off for commercial discs the most likely use of this feature will probably be for CD-R or CD-RW discs burned by software that includes the tags. Luckily my player seems happy with both CD-R and CD-RW discs, even 80min discs. There is no support for MP3 CDs, however.
Sony includes one of it's well-researched multi-function controls at one end of the remote. It has the stop button on the end and a control that you twist up or down to change tracks. If you pull the control outward one click you can control the volume by twisting it. All-in-all the remote makes navigation very easy and you need never take the player out of your pocket (apart from to change discs). One minor niggle is that the player exhibits some motor noise when the laser head moving from one track to a non-adjacent (in shuffle mode for example) track but this is barely audible if you have your headphones on or its in your pocket.
The player supports music search as well as track switching and has a reliable resume function so you can pick up where you left off from when you turn it back on. There is a 64-step memory for program-play and a string of repeat options that I never seem to use. Shuffle mode seems truly random if you like surprises. There is also a hold feature that can be activated from the remote or the player. A switch under the lid of the player sets volume limiting if you require it and also lets you select the level shock protection you need to give optimum battery life. Sony rates the battery life at up to 115 hours with both battery packs and about 40 hours from the rechargeables. My experience seems to be that recharging is a much rarer thing than I'm used to with an MP3 player, for example.
The shock protection is very good, easily up to walking around. If you're a jogger Sony recommend setting the shock protection to the higher level but I haven't had to try this yet.
To my ears the sound quality of this player is nothing short of exceptional, although you could do with better phones to bring out the very best in it. Sound quality is a very subjective thing, but if you like a very neutral and transparent sound that give this unit an audition. The sound is dynamic with a very clear mid and high end resulting in a very listenable experience. The lack of distortion means its easy to turn the music up quite loud without really realising it. For a market perhaps much younger than myself Sony supply two bass boost settings which emphasise bass frequencies to a great degree if required. They seem to be able to do this without overt distortion. Personally I think this player is good enough without them but perhaps I'm a purist.
Sony has really succeeded with this design to create a very robust, pocketable CD player that sounds great and has a very long battery life. If you like your CD collection and want to hear it at its best then this could be the player for you.
Ultra-slim full-circle CD Walkman with clip-on remote control and h.ear clip-on headphones Skip-Free G-Protection ensures quick recovery from both hor...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.