Panasonic SL-SX431C Portable CD Player with Car Kit
By: Panasonic Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 10
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 On: 2005-04-22
This is a nice cd player with good sound at a reasonable price, which you should consider if you only want to play regular cd disks. However, if you want to use this for MP3 format disks, forget about it.
I bought this for my mom and she told me that it would not play the tracks of MP3 cds I had made for her in the correct track order. She contacted Panasonic who could not figure out the problem and had her send it to them for repair. She got it back, and it still didnt play tracks in order. Then I discovered that for some odd reason, this player will only play MP3 tracks in the correct order if they are named properly, example, 001.mp3, 002.mp3, etc. Seems odd that Panasonic employees couldnt figure this out. I use Roxio to burn disks and I cannot name tracks in this way. I have owned a number of MP3 cd players and this is the only one I have owned which wont play tracks in order.
I have purchased my mom a Sony MP3 cd player and I suggest that you do the same.
 On: 2005-02-11
As a Panasonic fan for years, I had bought this portable CD player because I needed a CD player that could play MP3 discs in the car. Enter this model with the car kit. I still have another Panasonic portable CD player which I used in the car and on trips that Ive had for over five years.
The features on this are great. The resume feature finally works the way it should, not like on the older Panasonics. It picks up right where you stopped, remembering the track and the time position it was at before it was shut off. The remote control, mounted on the headphone cord is very useful and controls the Play/Stop, EQ, Volume, Advance/Fast Forward and Reverse/Rewind. The MP3 playback feature works without a hitch and this unit can play CD-R and CD-RW discs just fine. The Anti-Skip system is the best Ive seen so far.
The Sound on this unit is quite good, better than older Panasonic models. The XBS has two settings now, XBS and XBS Plus which finally competes with Sonys sound. There is also a Hall setting which reminds me of the old "Ambience" feature Panasonic used to have on some older products.
There are two things that I would change though. First of all, the headphones. While stylish, they produce mediocre sound quality. Youre much better off using your favorite pair rather than the ones that come with this unit which is what I will do when I take it out. The second thing is, while playing MP3 files, there is no search feature. You cannot rewind or fast-forward while playing MP3 discs.
But all in all, this is a great unit at a great price.
On: 2005-01-22
This is a great portable cd player if you are looking for a device to play MP3 but not spend upwards of $300+ to buy an ipod or the like (I already own a 512mb MP3 player). This player does not list the name of the song that is playing, but this was not a big deal to me. Also, to me it appears misleading on the back of this package that this might play WMA files, but as far as I can tell it only plays MP3s. However, this wasnt a big problem because most of my music is already in MP3 format. The headphones were good, but the length of the cord seemed pretty short, so I actually switched to a different pair of headphones. All in all, this was exactly what I was looking for.
On: 2005-01-07
I bought this product about 3 months ago. My goal was to find a good sounding, reliable, skip free, and inexpensive (<$50) MP3 player for my 03 Corolla. I desired to rid my car of all the CDs that were piling up. The "must features" was to start where I last left off and a random play function. My last unit, a Rio, would start from the beginning and that was annoying. Also, I wanted a remote so that I can hide the unit. This unit has all of these features. I have the unit hidden in my center compartment and the remote sticks out. Now I get into my car and hit the play button and it takes off where I last left it. If you cut off the ignition before you hit the stop button it will take you to the beginning of the last track. I listen to lectures and I needed a unit that would start exactly where it last left off. I only use for MP3s and dont use batteries. No problems playing any of my cd-rw mp3s with various bit rates 64-256kbs. The other benefits are as others have mentioned. Good basic unit.
 On: 2004-12-24
I liked this player when I first got it, especially that it continued the CD from the point I stopped it instead of starting over. This is a big help for audiobooks. And it doesnt skip even on bumpy roads.
However, about three or four months after I got it, it started giving an F 15 error message and the CDs wouldnt play. The manual does not mention this problem. Ive tried all kinds of different workarounds, which sometimes work and sometimes dont. Sometimes taking the batteries out and putting them back in helps. Sometimes switching from batteries to the adapter works. Sometimes switching CDs works. But often it just stops and wont play again no matter what I do. This happens so often now that I cant count on it during my long commute.
So Im giving up and getting an in-dash CD player, which will mean I have to give up my cassette player because of the way my dash is built.
 On: 2004-11-29
The Good: This unit will not skip! I had my grado headphones plugged in and accidently pulled the cd player off of the night stand. It fell to the tiled floor but never skipped a beat! amazing! Also the battery life in this unit is exceptional. I have been using it for about 40 minutes every day for a month and the battery power indicator has only dropped 1 notch. The Bad: The sound is not as clear as I would like. I used to have a Jensen cd player and the sound on that was much clearer using the same cds and same grado headphones ( which by the way are excellent). I turn off the graphic equallizer and the sound is a little better.I am not into a lot of bass drowning out the rest of the music. The tape that goes into the tape player to transfer the sound started making a lot of noises so I went to the Jensen tape and it played fine thru it. I never used the headphones that came with it so I cannot comment on them. However I found no use for the small remote, as it was easier to push the buttons on the player itself. Overall I am happy with this purchase however it could sound a lot clearer
On: 2004-11-28
The Good: This unit will not skip! I had my grado headphones plugged in and accidently pulled the cd player off of the night stand. It fell to the tiled floor but never skipped a beat! amazing! Also the battery life in this unit is exceptional. I have been using it for about 40 minutes every day for a month and the battery power indicator has only dropped 1 notch. The Bad: The sound is not as clear as I would like. I used to have a Jensen cd player and the sound on that was much clearer using the same cds and same grado headphones ( which by the way are excellent). I turn off the graphic equallizer and the sound is a little better.I am not into a lot of bass drowning out the rest of the music. The tape that goes into the tape player to transfer the sound started making a lot of noises so I went to the Jensen tape and it played fine thru it. I never used the headphones that came with it so I cannot comment on them. However I found no use for the small remote, as it was easier to push the buttons on the player itself. Overall I am happy with this purchase however it could sound a lot clearer
On: 2004-09-11
Why I Recommend This MP3 CD player:
The No-Skip technology actually works! We drove through Louisiana on Interstate 10, one of the bumpiest, bounciest, rockiest patches of road. Our drinks spilled but the player stayed steady.
Nice price $$$. We bought this to save money. Why retrofit a base model SUV with a permanent CD player when you just use this?
The car kit was simple to install through our cassette deck.
The performance was up to par. On a marathon road trip with a back seat full of cranky kids, this machine was a lifesaver for both drivers and passengers.
 On: 2004-08-06
Well Well Well. You knew it would come to this. Youre in your car, making a long trip, and you cant find a decent station. You only have a cassette player and for whatever reason dont want to or cant upgrade to an in-dash CD Player. Youre tired of listening to those same old tapes you managed to find and/or make (who buys tapes or makes mix tapes any more?). And you realise youre going to need an audio solution to enrich your driving experience.
Enter the discman car kit. An elegant solution to an age-old problem. Its portable and useful for more other stuff too, like using for jogging or on a bus or plane ride, so its a multi tasker. And it solves your little car audio situation quite nicely doesnt it? And this panasonic model is an excelent choice.
I bought this because I use my moms car and it only has a tape player, and I cant (and wouldnt anyway) put a deck in her car. Why I chose this model is simple, a great deal. This player is very reasonabley priced, and you get the whole shebang - power adapter and cassette adapter included. Now that Ive gotten to use it for a while I can tell you Im quite happy. It has surprisingly good audio quality, even with the tape adapter (make sure to turn the vol on the player itself all the way up to minimise noise). The skip protection is EXCELLENT. Ive not once had a single skip. The player is also fairly responsive, and has a nice look to it as well.
In adition to CDs this player plays MP3s! You can fit about 8-12 hours of music in MP3 form per CD. Thats one heck of a road mix. And you can always burn more CDs so theres no limit to storage like on other mp3 solutions. DId I mention CDRs are dirt cheap? Compare the cost of buying a pack of CDRs to buying a new flash memory stick... you get the idea. The MP3 playback is nice, although navigation can be a bit clumbsy and ID3 Tag info is not displayed. Also I sometimes feel as if its not playing some songs for reasons unkown.
Another small complant is that despite the claim that this unit is backlit, Ive yet to figure out how to get the backlit display to turn on! The kit includes a corded remote, with a clip. This is VERY handy, but sometimes can as much of a pain to find the little remote as to fumble with the main controls. Thankfully the clip makes this easier as I can clip the remote to my seatbelt. However, the remote is poorly designed. The play/pause, fwd and prv buttons are all together and tiny, and its easy to hit the wrong button! They should have made a more obvious bump on the middle button to make it easier to use when not looking. I find this to be a real pain in the... neck.
Any way you look at it though, this is a great value, and gives great performance! All in all Im happy. Ill give it 5 stars even though panasonic should really redisign the remote (seriously people, Ive almost gone off the road trying to skip tracks, thats not right lol) and possibly work a bit on the nuances of the MP3 functionality. Whether the backlight even exists is yet to be seen :)
by: Anonymous On: 2004-06-09
I owned a Panasonic CD player for many years before it was stolen from my car. I was happy with its quality and went with the company again. Today I received the SL-SX431C, and so far Im happy with it. Im so happy I can store about ten CDs worth of music on one disc (since it can play MP3s of course). The features are pretty basic, but you cant beat the price for a reliable MP3 player like this. Not only does it have a car kit and decent earphones, my old AC adapter (which wasnt stolen) works with it (4.5V, 600 mA). My biggest complaint is that the instructions are practically nil. You have to just push a bunch of buttons to figure out how it works. Also, the 85 hour play time assumes very specific conditions, but I imagine it will still last quite long between battery changes. One great feature (esp when you have tons of music on a disc) is random play, repeat track, and repeat all. All things considered, Im happy.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-06-02
I was in the market to get an mp3 player and really wanted to get one with a portable harddrive. But the prices are too high and based on the numerous reviews Id read, they still seem to be in the growing stage. So I opted for a CD player that can play MP3s. I took a chance on this player and must say I am very pleased. To test it out I created an Iron Maiden MP3 CD containing 98 songs at 192 kbps [with room for several more songs!!]. I listened to it during my commute this morning and it was great. I didnt use the headphones that were supplied with the player, not that mine are much better. Also, there is no belt clip, but I have a walkman case that I used and slung it over my shoulder. The remote was handy and the unit is easy to use. Neither the remote nor the main unit display the song titles, but I dont really mind that. However, it does display the current running time of the song. Unless you really need more hi-tech features, this is a great value for the price.
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