Panasonic SL-SV550 CD/MP3 Player
By: Panasonic Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 61
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 On: 2006-03-22
Overall, I love the cd/mp3 player, it plays beautifully. The bass boost is nice and strong, but i just hate the quality. The opening slide thing fell off, not broke off, just fell off. (I used a paper clip, and later, plain wire to fashion a closing device which works better.) then some random part inside fell off and i had to retrieve it from the hole by the lens. It still plays, but..slightly awkward thing to have happen.
Its still a really good buy if you treat it really carefully.
and the headphones that come with it- JUNK! they hardly produce any sound, i got new ones, and it works beautifully, nice and loud.
On: 2005-05-29
I fixed the latch with a bent paper clip.
I was walking down 9th Ave., on my way to buy a portable CD player, and a guy was selling used stuff on a table. He had a used Panasonic SL-SV550, but the latch was broken and he held it closed with adhesive tape. After some haggling I bought it. When I got home and examined the latch, I decided that I could replace it by cutting and bending wire from a paper clip.
The latch assembly is made with a hook that comes down from the top part of the clamshell, and when the latch is missing you can see how it operates. The missing latch originally fit into 2 rectangular holes and slid back and forth. Using needle-nosed pliers and wire cutters, I straightened out the paper clip and bent a projection into the latch to hold the hook. Then I made L-shaped bends on each end of the wire to hold it in to those 2 rectangular holes. So the wire had enough room to move back and forth, and catch or release the hook. The bent paper clip looks sort of like this:
-|_||_|-
(this may not come out well on some browsers, but there are 2 L-shaped bends on either end to hold it into the rectangular holes, and a U-shaped or ^-shaped projection in the middle to engage the hook).
It took a couple of tries to bent it to fit, but it worked pretty well. I move my new latch back and forth with my thumbnail. Maybe it will break some day but I can always make a new one.
When you cut the paper clip with the wire cutters, be sure to wear glasses because the end can fly off and theres a small chance it will hit you in the eye. Superficial eye injuries actually heal surprisingly well (as I found out after a mishap in the chemistry lab) but its less trouble to wear glasses than to go to the emergency room.
You have to be (or want to be) a little bit of a geek to do this. Geeks use bent paper clips to fix their glasses when the screw falls out and the temple comes off, so if you see somebody whose glasses are held together by a paper clip, you know hes a geek. So when something breaks, think paper clips. Being a geek is empowering, since you can fix things when they break, and its fun to take stuff apart. OTOH, you can also break things (and sometimes things explode -- be careful in the chemistry lab), so maybe it evens out.
At any rate, Im ahead on the CD player.
 On: 2005-02-06
I got one from Target, and it broke after a few weeks. My sister later got the same one, and hers did the same.
The latch to open the cover broke both times, so the cover stayed open unless we held it down or used scotch tape. Mine made clacking noises when I tried to play CDs, because something was wrong with the moving laser. Hers doesnt even play CDs anymore.. only the radio works.
To be honest, we dont take the best care of our electronics. But weve always been able to use our old portable cd players after accidentally dropping them on all sorts of surfaces. I think my Panasonic sl-sv550 broke after dropping it once from a height of 3 feet onto carpet. My sister said she dropped hers too. This player falls way below the minimum level of durability required by portable devices.
 On: 2005-01-16
The goods about this player: Good priced. Play Audio CD in original disc, or CD-RW / CDR disc. Play MP3 files disc.
It allows users to listen to AM/FM radio and preset them.
LONG Long battery life, much better than sony or RCA models.
The unit was made in Japan. I suppose factories from Japan have higher quality control in general.
Conclusion: Very good player under $60.
Must buy for teenagers or college students.
On: 2004-07-06
I purchased this CD player several months ago and have had no complaints. It recieves the radio signal clear and strong. I shake it in my hand it wont skip a beat when playing a CD. I even dropped it on the floor several times and it still plays. The last time I dropped it on the floor the parts that keep it closed broke off. I have to keep it closed with tape. But guess what, it still plays like a dream.
On: 2004-05-21
The SL-SV550 has been replaced by the SL-SV570, now featuring Panasonics D.Sound for enriched clarity, as well as mp3 remastering.Pros: mp3 capability, excellent FM tuner, good S-XBS, 30 station presets. Great sound overall. Cons: doesnt read ID3 tags, subpar headphones, no line level out (like Sony). Some headphones that work very well with this unit are Kosss KSC55 or "The Plug", also by Koss.
 On: 2004-05-14
For the price, this is a good MP3/CD player. The AM/FM tuner is great and is hard to find in other models and the battery life is excellent. But clearly the max sound volume is extremely weak. I like to listen to music while mowing the lawn, but thats practically impossible with this unit. And another major drawback is the horrible "random" feature. I mustve listened to the same song 4 times in one three hour car ride out of a possible 150 songs! Still, good bang for the buck.PROs:
- AM/FM tuner
- Good battery life
- Decent sound quality
- Sleek, lightweight design
- Good price CONs:
- Very weak max volume
- Inability to FF/REW in MP3 tracks
- Random/Shuffle feature is horrible
On: 2004-04-13
Its really crappy stuff. The sound is not good, the earphone is cheap, and it died around a couple of weeks.
You will regret if you buy it.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-04-11
when i first bought the CD i left a review saying that the latch which keeps it closed breaks off very easily...
will guess what? a couple of month later, after i had gotten it fixed, the latch broke off AGAIN.
and then today... my CD player just stopped functioning. the buttons dont really do anything... and the the CD doesnt spin.
SAVE YOUR MONEY... DONT BUY THIS PIECE OF TRASH!
On: 2004-03-13
PROS: MP3 playback, unbeatable anti-skip system, FM/AM tuner, cool design, decent sound quality, slim, VERY lightweight.CONS(but not really cons): VERY lightweight, no ID tags, no remote, buttons are too shoved in the lid, not backlit. After 2 months searching for a good mp3 player, this was the one I picked. For 60 bucks, you cant find another player with these features, but they might not fit others as well as they fit me. I literally need a FM tuner, otherwise Ill get bored to deth listening to my mp3s only. The FM caption is nice, but because I live over an hour away from Boston, the radio stations from there (which are the best) wont tune in so well. Thats ok though, cuz the only "device" that tunes in to those stations is my moms car, lol. And even the car stereo fails sometimes, so I cant expect the SL-SV550 to perform miracles. (I think its cool that the antenna is in the headphone cord, so dont forget to strecth it a little, instead of leaving it coiled)
I never experienced it skipping any songs, especially when I play MP3s(100 sec anti-skip). When you play regular CDs the anti-skip is 45 sec, and thats pretty much enough, unless you want to use it as a yoyo, hehe.
The Panasonic SL-SV550 also works with rechargeable Nimh AA batteries, that is so cool. Though theyre not included, its worth buying them. I wonder if the 4 batteries I bought will last for at least one year, that would be so awesome. The player needs 2 batteries and is very economic, so maybe the batteries will work for about a year or so (they can be recharged over 50 times).
I like the "hold" function, which does the simple job of not allowing you to operate your player. It sounds strange, but it comes in handy when you dont anybody to keep messing with your music, or when you want to make sure that youre player doesnt turn on by accident. Dont forget to disable "hold" when you want to do change anything in your player. This player doesnt show ID tags. Id tags are cool, but if you think about it, theyre useless. If you record your own cds why would you want to know the artists and songs names? Well I dont mind it not having tags display, but if you do, then this might not be the right player for you.
If I could make some changes on this player I would put a remote with it. When Im wandering around town, I think its a little annoying trying to hit the right button on the player thats in my pocket, a remote would be handy, but lets not be too picky.I would also make the display backlit, then it would be an even finer player. One thing that I missed was that rubber thing on the bottom of the player, that makes it stick to surfaces. This player doesnt have that, but thats not that important anyways.
I think this player is very lighweight, this is a cool and a bad thing. It doesnt weighs too much so it doesnt annoy me, and it also fits pockets that its almost hard to believe they fitted. But on the other hand, it looks flimsy, so Ill have to watch it carefully, and not drop it. I dont know whether its solid or not, but Im not gonna try dropping it to see what happens.
It could also be louder. If youre walking on the street, the traffic noises might bother your listening. But when youre indoors then youll do just fine. Some people want to make known to the whole entire room, that theyre listening to music. If youre one of those annoying folks, too bad, you wont be able to do it with this one.
Im thinking about buying a new headphone set, one of those that fit on the back of your neck. First they look cool, second everybody is using them (and I have no opinion of my own hehehe), and third and most important: my friend has the Panasonic SL-SX420, which has the same exact headphones and I dont want to look like a jerk when Im around her.
Some people want their players to be miraculous, then they complain about them and want to return them only because it doesnt show ID tags, or doesnt have an arm-band, or doesnt have a car adapter, or it doesnt make you lunch neither does it clean your room, hehehe.
Well, in my opinion, this is probably the best mp3 player for less than 60 dollars. Id tell you to buy it, but if youre still insecure try checking these other players:
Audiophase CDT420M; RioVolt SP90; Panasonic SL-SX420; Sony DNE509 and Philips EXP320. All of them are good players, I considered all of them before buying Panasonic SL-SV550, they might be as good for you as this one is for me.
On: 2004-03-13
I have had this CD player for about a year, and have thoroughly enjoyed using it. I use it every day while commuting between home and work. I have never had any problems with CD skipping, radio reception, or battery life. In fact, I have only changed the batteries three times in the year that I have had it--and I use it five days a week!I, too, had the cd-tray latch pop off, but it only happened when I recently dropped the player on the ground. A quick call to Panasonic Parts got me a replacement latch--and it only cost me $5 (including shipping). The $5 I paid for the replacement part is a steal compared to what I would have paid for a new player of the same caliber.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-03-11
I had very little use, less than 2 hours before the latch broke off while keeping it in a bag. While it was in use, it seemed fairly good, but the volume is too lowIm questioning Panasonic as a company in general after this and getting a VCR that likes to spit out tapes
On: 2004-03-10
Ive had this product for about two weeks. I used it alot but while it my backpack, the cheap little latch snapped off and now I cant use the cd player anymore. Radio still works, but unless I want tape around my player its annoying to have the lid keep flopping up.
On: 2004-02-25
My parents bought this personal CD/MP3 player for Christmas. I was pleased with it in general. Earlier this week the switch that holds the lid down broke off. I took it to one their authorized repair places. They told me that they no longer fixed such things. I then called Panasonic customer support. Where I was told that I could send it in to Panasonic in Texas to have it replaced for $50. I for one may never buy a Panasionic product again. Due to horrible customer support and lack of quality in thier prouducts.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-02-24
I was very dissapointed when I tried to turn up the volume, it was not loud at all. Also the headphones were cheap and the buttons too small...I do have to admit that I dont have any problems with it skipping or functioning in general, but I am very unhappy with my purchase.
On: 2004-02-22
I cant recommend this player. It has one big flaw that I couldnt past. (I returned it the day after I bought it) The maximum volume is extremely low! Unless you are going to listen to CDs in a quiet area or need to hear surrounding sounds (such as a baby crying), dont buy this player. Even with seperately purchased high quality headphones, youll still hear almost everything going on around you.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-02-12
For the specs of the Panasonic SL-SV550 CD Player souned pretty good, well CD player, plays MP3 formated CDs & AM/FM radio, however it hasnt lived up to what I expected. First time I ever droped the CD player it snaped open breaking the front latch & the back sensor, taped the back sensor down so now it plays CDs but the lid doesnt close so I keep it in a case or put something ontop of it while playing. The sound quality on the headphones isnt good at all, sound doesnt go loud & you can hear everything going on around you. Also some people said the radio reception was great, well it isnt great but it isnt terrible, but Im leading more towards the bad reception side. One good thing about this CD player is all the features (CD, MP3, AM/FM Radio) and the somewhat long battery life. Also this CD player is very light. In the end, I wouldnt reccomend buying this CD player to anybody else, find something else.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-01-31
I wanted a CD player to listen to audio books, so when I saw the review above that said this CD player started again exactly where you had stopped, I thought it would work. Unfortunately, it only starts exactly where you stopped if you leave the power on. If you turn it off, it starts at the beginning of the track you were listening to - not exact enough for audio books!
On: 2004-01-28
This unit is loaded with cool features at a surprizingly low price. It is very well built - strong enclosure (I tested it:). Anti-Skip feature is excellent, and so is the sound quality. The tuner works well half the time for me, but I find it very picky sometimes. It all depends on your location. I believe the headphones cable serves as an antenna. Works well outside. MP3 discs have to be prepared according to instructions, but it is pretty simple and it works great. Battery life is impressive!PROS:
- Compact, Light, Strong
- Excellent Battery Life
- Battery Level Indicator
- Great Sound Quality
- Loads of features
- Unbeatable Price CONS:
- Buttons are poorly positioned - require looking at them to operate.
- No light on display
- No built in battery charger
- ID3 Tags Not Supported OVERALL I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT!!
by: Anonymous On: 2004-01-20
I bought this based on the reviews stating that for a low end CD/MP3/Radio, it was acceptable but not great, and a good value for the price. However, it has a completely unacceptable issue with playing MP3s: it has a low frequency buzz from the sampling. I returned the first unit, and the 2nd had the same problem. The same MP3 disc on 2 other portable players and 2 computers didnt have this problem. Plus as mentioned before, its a pain to rename the MP3 tracks for the player to recognize them correctly.
On: 2004-01-03
This unit is a solid performer. Very lightweight. Doesnt feel anymore flimsy than the other non-sports models on the market. Lots of "bang" for the buck.Highs -It has a fantastic tuner - that works even in my workplace (I had 3 other radios that didnt) and has AM.
-The skip resistance is amazing - it doesnt skip, period.
-VERY fast MP3 load time.
-Plays almost any media (even very scratched ones) - I have a high-end KENWOOD MP3 deck in my auto - this PANASONIC plays discs that unit wont touch.
-Battery life is excellent - I use NMHi rechargables when on the go...and a 4.5v power adapter at work. Lows -Random function - this isnt a random function - I have dubbed it quasi-random - in a hour of listening it will pick the same song about 3 times on a group of 100 MP3s...
-Headphones - not bad sound - but bulky and very quiet. I use a pair of SONY h.ear™ Stereo Headphones MDR-J10 and the sounds is really good and LOUD - at 6 MP3s are loud, at 3 the tuner is loud... With the factory set - you have to crank it up to about 20... Figure $ 8 extra when you buy this unit and get the Sony MDR-J10s.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-01-03
I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality. Earphones are for those with really large heads, but I bought another pair for ten dollars and its fine. Radio has great reception. You cant do better for the money. Highly recommend it.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-01-02
Everything fine, except for me, critical problem - cannot get enough volume when playing a CD. Great volume for the radio.
by: gadgester On: 2003-12-31
The SL-SV550 from Panasonic is a stylish, lightweight CD player that also works well with MP3 audio files and has a nice built-in radio with both AM and FM bands. This model is not the sporty, rugged type Panasonic also sells, but nonetheless exhibits the highest build quality. (Made in Japan.)Pros:
- Incredibly long battery life on two AA batteries. Takes both alkaline (1.5Vx2) and NiMH (1.2Vx2) types of batteries. The battery indicator has four levels: 1-3 bars, plus no bar to indicate low battery. Ive played a mixture of audio CDs, MP3 CD-Rs and radio for over a week on two fresh AA alkalines from Walgreens, and there are still 1-2 bars left. Just incredible. The use of standard AA batteries also means to need to buy expensive proprietary batteries or carry a charger. NOTE: if you use NiMH batteries, due to their low initial voltage, the indicator may exhibit only 1-2 bars from the start, but the NiMH batteries will actually last longer. This is speaking from my experience with other Panasonic CD/MP3 players (e.g., SX70/80). - Very clean sound. The bundled headphones are ok, but I use a set of noise-cancelling earbuds, and the sound from the Panasonic is very clean and pleasant. The bass, even when boosted, is not too strong, but thats fine with me as excessive bass gives me headaches. Theres plenty of volume from the radio and audio CD plays, but MP3 audio can be a bit too soft, so you may want to get a pair of volume-control headphones. - Compatible with audio CDs, CD-R and CD-RW burned with audio CD tracks, CD-R and CD-RW burned with MP3 or WAV files. Ive tried a good many number of MP3-filled CD-R discs, some even scratched, and the Panasonic has no trouble with any of them. Some notes here: 1. When creating an MP3 CD be sure to put files in different root-level folders, with no more than 12 in each folder. The Panasonic strives for simplest controls, at the expense of extensive file navigation. The use of folders simplifies skipping to the album (folder) and track (file) you want. The player does remember the last track/file played, unless you change discs. 2. This player does not display ID3 tags, only track number and elapsed time. This is more a CD player that can support MP3 files, rather than a dedicated MP3 player. For the latter, you might as well go for an iPod, Rio or RCA Lyra. - Great radio functions. Very good reception, better than my dedicated portable radio, and deafeningly loud at the max volume. Twenty FM presets and ten AM presets. Very easy to program. - Anti-skip that works flawlessly. You shouldnt drop this unit, though, as its not designed to be dropped. - Stylish and lightweight. Only 6 ounces with two AA batteries. Minor cons: - Cannot search within an MP3 track. You can search within audio CD tracks, but not within MP3. No big deal for music, but inconvenient for MP3 audio books. - Small buttons. Buttons are responsive but not laid out logically, and they are all too small. A few times I pressed the skip button instead of volume control which I meant to. - Battery compartment is under the CD. My old Panasonic discmen had external battery compartments, but the newer models all put them under the CD, inside. If the door is not closed in place it can pop up and scratch your CD. The engineer who made this switch should be shot. Also, when will Panasonic start using AAA batteries to make these even slimmer? In summary, a great portable CD/MP3 player for the buck. Highly recommended (unless you plan to listen to a lot of MP3s).
On: 2003-12-27
Ive been looking for a compact mp3 player w/ AM & FM tuner. This does the trick & I use it on my 1+ hour train commute every day. Overall, not bad, but the design is flawed and somewhat idiotic and unintuitive. Heres my summary:Good:
- MP3 Playback is good, no problem with any kind of MP3 encoding.
- Tuner pulls in Am & FM signals very well
- Battery life is excellent - I get about 20-35 hours on a single charge of 1800 Mah rechargeables AAs
- Fairly light and compact Bad:
- Button layout is hard to navigate without looking at it.
- No ID Tag display - 120+ songs and no idea whats playing
- No WMA or Ogg support - too bad, you could squeeze more on a disk (sometimes you have to think extra hard if you accidentally burned some other files other than mp3s)
- No normalization to even out the volume across tracks
- No remote I suggest looking at the iriver 550 for WMA support and ID tag display, but its more expensive has less battery life and does not have AM. So, if you want new or sports youre screwed. My ideal HD-based player doesnt exist yet (AM/FM tuner, 60GB Ipod-style player)! Anybody listening??? Let me know if you find it :-)
On: 2003-12-26
This is my first personal CD player, and after reading reviews of various brands and models and seeing what looked like only about 50% satisfaction I was apprehensive, but the player seems to be fine. Many reviews claimed that this and other similar models did not play loud enough and almost all reviews said the included headphones were bad. However, my experience is that the volume is plenty loud and the headphones are fine. Even my aged ears only require a volume of 14 out of 25 to fill my head with gentle guitar music. The headphones are comfortable enough. The radio sounds clear and is easily tuned by just pressing the button to go into tuning mode and pressing + or -. The unit is light (most of the weight is the two AA batteries) and the anit-skip works well. My gripes are that (1) you must remove the CD to replace the batteries; (2) play time is considerably reduced when using CD-RW, and is reduced when using rechargable batteries (they give play time of only 40% of time with alkaline batteries); (3) if I pause during playback and turn off power, when I turn power back on it only remembers the track, not the location on the track. The Hold switch is a mixed blessing. With Hold enabled no buttons work, which protects you from accidental presses, but you have to disable Hold to pause. Also the display only shows track number and time played in the track. It does not show a title. Most of these little problems have been mentioned by other reviewers. I give this unit 4 stars, because I think it is a good unit for the price.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-12-04
I recently bought a different package of this same CD player which I would recommened over this. It includes better headphones as well as a remote, making this intuitive player even more convenient to use.As for the CD player itself, I found that it pretty much only skips if the user intentionally tries to, and even at that, its pretty hard to make it skip. Since it uses the headphone cord as the radio antenna, with a little fiddling I was able to get good reception almost anywhere. The sound quality is good and the player seems to have better amplification compared to other players in this price range. One annoyance is the need to number tracks/albums on the MP3 CD if you want to have any chance of finding the songs you want. Either is not required, however. Also, the lack of a tag readout can create a guessing game of which song youre listening to, though for the price I cant expect a much better screen. Overall, a good, easy to use, and affordable product.
On: 2003-12-03
Its a good thing I have some very very efficient headphones (112db/1mwatt)as this unit need it very much. I still have to turn it up to 18 to 21 to be satisfactory. It has very good skip resistance to normal active activities, it faulters only under extreme abuse of tapping very rapidly for a long time. Attemps of getting it to skip by shaking it rapidly for a long period failed to make it skip. Very good sound for type of porduct. However it has very low sound output with the supplied headset and quite low volume with most other headsets. I have found only Koss Plug headsets had adaquate volume & those require a fair amount of care as they go into your ears instead of on or over them. I still Question the reliability due to its light weight & flimsy latch mechanism it is very light weight.
On: 2003-12-01
too bad it doesnt last. I bought this CD player because i trusted Panasonic, and liked the price tag. The headphones ok, but they always fell off my head. The radio reception is pretty nice and it doesnt skip when playing CDs. The only problem I had with it was the fact that the names didnt show when i played MP3s. However, the durability is by far the worst Ive ever seen. Within a month the part that held the cd player closed had broken off, and the motor that turns the CD was broken. My friend had the same one, and the laser broke as well. I would recommend this only to people who have only a month before they go deaf and want a cheap short-term CD player
by: Anonymous On: 2003-11-28
I badly needed a new a new MP3 player and it took me a long time to find a good one,but I chose this one.I had few problems with this system like programing the radio stations,but all in all I had great results with it.Its battery life is very extensive and the headphones are quite comfortable.
On: 2003-11-18
Hello,I purchased this product from Amazon (as always, the lowest priced!). Pros:
- Very easy to use, easy navigation buttons
- Nice bass boost system
- Plays CBR as well as VBR MP3 files great! (Tested with Lame 3.93, alt-preset-standard). Yeah I had to test it myself, no one ever wrote abt it!
- Plays CDR/CDRW - CDR/CDRW with CDFS tested, works very fine. CDRW with UDF not yet tested.
- Excellent digital AM/FM tuner Cons:
- The headfone wire sometimes comes out (kinda loose) - I had to order new $5 Sony headfones, the Panasonic ones that coem along arent that good - this is however a personal choice This may not be the best player in the market vis-a-vis sound quality, but is simply great for its $55 value. So if youre looking for a first time player with no frills - this is the perfect thing to go for. If you are an audiophile and want only the best, and want advanced features like ID3 tags etc, and dont mind a $100+ price tag, go for the IRiver series or SONY.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-11-12
Its not too bad, but its not loud enough. When youre in the train in NY you want to drown people out. Me personally I want to feel like Im right there listening to them play. Another thing, I had a cd player that when I pressed play after I stopped it, it would start exactly where it stopped...to the second, but this one starts at the beginning of the song which isnt too bad but i prefer to stop at the exact minute. If you dont care for it to be too loud, this isnt too bad. That was what really disappointed me about this product.
On: 2003-11-07
Its actually a great cd player, nice sound, easy to use, it has radio, long life battery, mp3 and all the basic functions you can find on a regular cd player, but the volume level is so low that you will need to buy some new headphones for sure, you can even hear the people around you when youre in the car or the bus, the headphones included has a nice design but are pretty cheap anyway.If you want a great sound, you should buy another model from Panasonic or buy a new potential headphones.
On: 2003-11-06
as you see I rated this player as 5 stars. In fact I am vary sceptic person and I thought 1-2 weeks before buying this product. Finally I read The reviews and Bought it. it is upper than my expectations and I am really happy with it. The radio,cost and also its sounds really great. only handicap is its headphones but it is worth buying despite that.
finally I am strongly offering this product if you expect buying a discman having low cost easy usage enaough features and more than exðpected quality for its cost.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-10-31
I thought the sound quality was fine. The battery life is great. But there are some little problems. For one thing, it doesnt let you skip forward within a track. Thats a problem if youre listening to a book that has hour long tracks, e.g., audible.com. More importantly, after a few months mine simply stopped being a CD player. Its still a fine radio, but it doesnt play CDs of any kind. So far as I know, it was never dropped or anything. Im hoping Panasonic will honor the warranty.
On: 2003-10-24
when i first bought this cd player, it was a good deal and it seemed to be very well made. but after a few months it started to break down. the cd payer first started to rattle, and then it finally broke. also, the latch broke off quite easily. as for the mp3 player, it is almost impossile to play them. it is to much of a hassle to load them on to the player and 99% of the time it dosnt work. also, it has a horrible volume range and the battery life was also very poor. the only good thing about this cd player was the radio, which was fairly decent and much louder then the cd player.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-10-20
Ive puttered around for years with an old Panasonic that was made before the anti-skip technology was common. I bought this one for that reason but, when jogging, it will skip. The controls were not great, it could use a remote (any sports model shouldnt require you to press buttons on the player to change a song or station), and an AC adapter.
On: 2003-09-29
I have two fundamental problems with this unit. The first is I cannot play MP3s on the unit. It scans the folders and files correctly then when you think its about to play it simply shuts off. Ive burned a small stack of CDs - using various settings - thinking there was something I was missing - but no - as that small stack plays on my friends Sony MP3 car stereo.It does play my CD-DA music CDs, but the volume has a low range. I expected more - I got less. Not sure if this unit is defective, but since I bought in the US and live in Costa Rica I appear to be SOL.
On: 2003-09-10
Well...a couple things bothered me about this product. At [another internet site], where I got the cd player from, the description of the unit said that an AC adapter is supposed to come with it. It actually doesnt. I only intended to use the thing when Im at the library to study mindlessly. They have outlets there and that saves lots of dough on batteries.The sound is also bad (and I know it aint my new Kinyo KY-90 pulsating headphones...they can handle ANYTHING - [[UPDATE ON 01/07/04: My Kino headphones are now falling apart. I baby all my listening equipment, so it isnt me. First, the extra headphone extension cord broke...fine, I threw it out. Now the main headphone cord is crackling when held at certain angles, and the right earpiece is distorting, even when I play quiet piano music! Maybe its time to splurge and buy some real equipment.]]). Anyway, back to the Panasonic: I really only listen to orchestral music and whenever there are any trumpets playing loudly or some other loud, high-pitched sound, theres this annoying distortion (even when the CD player is turned town to 15 or 18). This is very similar to what happens on old record players (inconsistent frequency response - especially the high frequencies). The limited volume is also annoying if you try to play orchestral music on it. Theres all these little quiet parts that youde like to be able to hear. To be fair, if I put in Plankton Man or some other electronic music, it sounds fine. Strangly, I never had the distortion problem with my old, CHEAP Koss CD player (even though all the buttons eventually broke - hey, I got a couple of years out of it!). So, if, like me, you happen to be into things like being able to hear music and FREQUENCY RESPONSE, look elsewhere! Im returning mine... ...
by: Anonymous On: 2003-08-12
This player is as fragile as an egg!!! I take it to the gym and there is always something happening to it. It came with a great holder. But if you touch the holder the unit comes on. So I am constantly changing batteries. Also the open and hold switches are made of cheap materials that break at the drop of a hat. In fact, Im in need of a repair now!!!! Also, whose bright idea was it to have the battery compartment inside the unit. What a pain. If I could get my money back I would.
On: 2003-08-06
This thing has MP3 playback WMA playback, an AM/FM radio, with 30 preset stations, and it plays CD-Rs, RWs, and normal CDs. There isnt really anything on this CD player that cant be put on it. It is shocking that Panasonic managed to put this one out for such a low price.Pros:
-Low price for many features
-Can play all kinds of CDs
-Nice volume control
-Bass boost
-Track repeat, album repeat, etc.
Cons:
-VERY confusing controls
-Comes with cheap headphones
-Bass boost isnt enough
-Can never really get it to be very loud, especially in a plane Overall, this is a great product for the price, but it really has some improvements that can be made. I like it, I recommend it, but if you are looking for better overall design, check out some iRiver CD players. If youre on a budget, however, it doesnt come any better than this one.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-07-29
For what it is and what it claims to do, this is a great little player. The no-skip feature works great- didnt skip once when I was working out, even when running at a decent clip. The MP3 function works as advertised, although the naming conventions are a bit funky. No ID tag support, but it doesnt claim any either (Panasonic does make one that does this). The AM/FM tuner is on par with other walkman-type devices. Sound quality is also as good as anything else out there- if you want audiophile level sound, you shouldnt be buying a portable device. The headphones are mediocre, but so are every other pair on products like this. For decent sound, get headphones with "Sennheiser" or "Grado" in the name. It will play at decent volume levels- some have complained about the volume, but it will go loud enough to damage hearing. If you are concerned about outside noise, get noise-cancelling or closed-ear headphones. As others have said, the construction is not particularly rugged- if you expect your player to take lots of abuse, you need to look elsewhere. On the other hand, it is very lightweight (a plus for you joggers).Bottom line: this unit does exactly what it claims. If you want a good CD/AM/FM/MP3 solution for while you are out and about or working out, this is what you are looking for.
On: 2003-07-27
The one feature that I really need in a portable CD player is that it resumes exactly where play left off when I pressed stop. The Panasonic SL-SV550 CD/MP3 player claims to do exactly that, but what it really does is start at the beginning of whichever track play was stopped at. So if youre 15 minutes into a 20 minute long song, press stop then press play a few seconds/minutes later, it starts over at the beginning of that 20 minute long song. I dont know what most peoples definition of "resumes exactly where it stopped" is, but that certainly isnt mine.Doesnt anyone make a portable CD player with a real resume feature any more?
On: 2003-07-03
This is my first cd player that can read mp3 cds.
The anti-skipping technology is very good, Ive tested it very well :).
The radio works great, no complains about that...
The only bad thing about this cd-layer is that it cannot read the ID3 tags, besides that, its a good and afordable cd player.
regards,
-eduardo s.m.
On: 2003-06-26
Overall, this is a good product if its what youre looking. Unfortunately for me, I didnt realize it wasnt until after I bought it. I have too many MP3s to divide them up and burn them all to numerous discs. Also, according to the players instructions, all the songs have to be numbered (ie 001SongName, 002SongName etc.) and then split into numbered albums, if you want to (although I havent tried not numbering them... if you dont have to do that, the instructions werent very clear about it). All of that is far too much work in my opinion. Im not sure if other MP3 players work the same way.If you can handle all that setup, they player works wonderfully. It loads a CD of 130 MP3s in seconds, and they sound great. The radio is pretty standard, I can get the stations I dont want, but not the ones I want (naturally), but thats probably not the fault of the player. It plays CDs well, and it hasnt ever skipped on CD tracks or MP3, even on a long distance car ride. The only other cons are the lack of ID3 tags, and the random feature doesnt seem to work to well, lots of repeats considering that I had 130 songs sorted into one album. So not bad overall, just not what I was looking for. Ill probably end up buying an Ipod or the Creative Labs Zen Jupebox players.
On: 2003-06-23
Great cd player. Simply does not skip. Great battery life. If your batteries get low and will no longer play a CD, switch over to FM and you can still have tunes! Gets radio reception inside the mall where other sets will not-great for mall walkers. Had trouble at first getting CDs out of player but that seems to have loosened up with use. Would purchase again-highly recommended!
On: 2003-06-04
I share many of the comments already stated in the other reviews. I bought this for the combination of tuner, CD, and MP3 all for a reasonable price. It delivers these functions at the level I need and use.My biggest gripes, and why I only rated it at 3 stars, is the durability of the player and the sound. Like one of the other reviewers, I dropped the player and the latch that keeps the unit closed popped off. This suggests that Panasonic skimped on the quality of the components. I, however, was able to fix the problem by opening up the back of the unit (unscrewed 4 small philips screws) and fished around to find the missing back side of the latch. It was plastic and is not held on to anything inside (it also serves as the spring that holds the latch in the closed position). I was able to put it back on and I was able close the unit. It plays fine now. Im sure I voided by warranty, but I didnt want to use the rubber band trick. I also agree that the sound is low. I have tried other headphones and through the car stero. Even set at 25 I have trouble hearing it over the train noises on the DC Metro. I was going to give another version to my teenage son for his birthday, but now Im thinking twice. I dont think it is durable enough.
On: 2003-05-23
I was so dissapointed when I finally tried this much awaited delivery. Finally I had a mp3-cdr-cdrw-am-fm-player narrowed down from a very few choices I must say. The feel was of cheap plastic. It started to skip after 5 minutes of testing. And I couldnt hear a thing through the [bad]headphones. I plugged it in the car, cranked both car, and player volume to the max, and I could get sound equivalent to what would sound as setting 3 on the volume dial in my car compared to setting 25. I sent it back. And so the quest goes on. Any suggestions? I am looking for mp3-cd-cdr/rw- with at least fm tuner, for hard core gym, and running workouts, with tons of volume. Oh and I did not take this player to the gym.
On: 2003-05-10
I love this player! Its simple to use and has some great features. It remembers your last song and radio station even when you turn it off. It has skip album and skip song. Its very compact and light. It seems the american model comes with over the head phones but the Candian model comes with bud earphones. You can also turn off the anti skip system which gives a lightly better sound quality (on cds only)
by: Anonymous On: 2003-05-06
First let me just say that i first purchased a Philips Exp212 mp3 cd player and it sucked. It played mp3 tracks but took too long to load each track and made way too much noise during mp3 playback. Then fortunately i found this product. It plays only mp3s but has every feature that an ordinary mp3 player has except the id tags. It doesnt make any noise during mp3 playback and is small enough that i can take it anywhere without hassle. Not to mention it is extremely light which is a definite benefit. For about 60 bucks this is has the best mp3 player out there as far as the price goes.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-04-30
I only have two complaints about this player, 1, the headphones are terrible, but i use my own stereohead phones, that that is a minor problem for me. But the biggest problem, the one that has me wanting to trade this in, is that ITS TOO QUIET!! I use STEREOHEADPHONES, put the volume on the HIGHEST LEVEL, and I can still hear sounds coming through. Apparently the MP3 is bad, but I use store bought cds, so that has never been a problem. Other than that, all the features are great.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-04-28
the sound is great. the price is great. mp3s and cds play. check.
but... i accidently dropped it and the latch/spring and slider to open the top popped out. now im walking around with a rubber band around it to keep it closed until i can get it fixed.
seems like another person had the same problem i did with the latch/spring and slider popping out. eh.
On: 2003-04-18
I tested this player (SL-SV550) with both a headphone and with external speakers (Cambridge Soundworks). And I picked three songs to play in both formats (mp3 and audio). They are "I believe (Brothers and Sisters)", "Hero (Enriques)", and "Another perfect day (American Hi-Fi)" So far, this unit has performed up to my expectation. MP3 playback: MP3 sound from this player is pretty good. In my opinion, it plays mp3 better than regular audio CD. Bass boot helps mp3 playback as well. The mp3 start up time is a little long (10-15 secs), because it scans all directories on the CD. Audio CD playback: Noise is noticable. Id recommend a noise cancelling headphone. Sound quality is very average (not good/not bad). Radio reception: Unlike most FM tuners, the SL-SV550 can do fine tunning. You can change FM/AM frequency step (0.20 , 0.10 , and 0.05 Mhz for FM and 10 , 9 kHz for AM). That means you can use it worldwide. In overall, radio sounds ok. Bass boost is not recommended in radio reception. With the price under [money], I am happy with my decision :)
by: Anonymous On: 2003-04-16
Pros: compact & light; radio has both FM and AM; digital tuner; lots of station presets; other models have only FM and cost more; reception is decent (about same as Sony armband portable); plays CD & MP3 CDRs no problem; SBX bass boost; good battery life.
Cons: mediocre headphones.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-04-15
I just purchased this player from a retail outlet last week. I couldnt get MP3 CDs to work at all, it just keeps searching tracks. Then I found out that it doesnt even play audio CDs (brand new, no scratches). Im walking around with a $... portable radio. Dont get me wrong, the sound is good, but based on other reviews, Im taking it back and getting a different brand. I like the ID3 tagging feature and dont mind paying a little bit more for that feature.
On: 2003-04-03
Pro:
Good design, appearance is very good. Very well built, made in Osaka, Japan.
Cons:
I am not using the stock headphone, the headphone used for this review is Sennheiser HD280 studio monitor.
The radio reception is kind of weak, noisy, I am close to the center of a big city.
I thought the CD/MP3 play back unit should be the same as other Panasonic SL models, such as SL-SX420 which I also have. But turn out they sounds different. For 550, the background noise is more audible, high is too crispy, and lack of bass and warmness. S-XBS cant solve the problem, it just make the sound too unbalanced.
The SL-SX410 (2 year old model, $100) is more profound and musical than all those newer models, soundstage is much better.
but SX420/SV550 seems to has more high frequency details.Well, I give 550 4 stars because of the low price, and build quality.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-04-03
Finally all you need in portable sound in one package:
* AM/FM radio with decent reception with easily accessible switching of the sound mode that include stereo/mono and DX/local. These features are important for listening to TV sound through FM channels at exercise facilities. The tuner quality is OK but not perfect.* The CD player is decent with good crisp sound with no audible distortion at any volume level with decent bass without using the bass boost. It has not skipped but I have not had the opportunity to fully test this. * The MP3 playback is also sounds good but the bass boost is more useful here. This unit put 150+ tracks into memory when starting it, fairly quicky. One quirp here with mp3: an occasional blurp of sound from the beginning of the previous track when moving to the next track. * The bass boost sounds good on some cases but overdone in others but does not crack and distort like the Sony bass boost does on their players. * Headphones are bad! This unit has all the essential for portable use w/o costly features such as ID tagging. ...
by: Anonymous On: 2003-04-03
~I bought this CD/MP3 player recently. Im very satisfied with all the functionalities its equipped with. In addition to CD/MP3, it also has digital FM/AM. What a good deal for such a price!
The sound quality is very good. So far I have no problem at all with this product. Some people complained about the LCD display that does not show MP3 title. However, you may arrange your hundreds of MP3 songs in different albums (or subdirectories) on a CD. Usually, its enough to have about 10 albums on a~~ CD with 10~~14 MP3 songs inside each album. The album number is selectable using this player. Therefore, as long as you know your favorite album number. Its pretty easy to find the right songs you want on a MP3 CD.
What amazed me most is the players super efficient power system. With just two AA batteries, it seems that the player can run forever. Unbelievable! I strongly recommend this product.~
by: Anonymous On: 2003-04-01
For this price, it is not a bad deal that also comes w/ FM/AM radio; however, the headphone is lousy! This is the worst headphone I ever used (I used to work for Panasonic, therefore, I know their quality is good, but this one....)!
On: 2003-03-30
Excellent product but totally useless for mp3s as it does not read playlists AND THE LCD DOES NOT READ FILE NAMES OR ID TAGS so you have no idea of what songs you are playing & cannot find the songs you want unless you have memorized the whole cd.
It only reads track #s- i.e. 23 of 174. Very foolish-like building a car with an opaque windshield. Radio tuner is excellent; headphones are decent. Too bad....They blew it by just a hair.
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