Panasonic SL-MP80 CD/MP3 Player

At first I had my doubts, but once I got past the WMA copy protection issue and the Variable-Bit-Rate problem, Voila!

Do NOT use Windows Media Variable-bit-rate recording option for the WMAs.

IMHO, this is a real sophisticated piece of electronics with such versatility and portability.

And, so far, it is quite easy on the standard alkaline off-the-shelf AA batteries, at least with MP3s and WMAs.

The three choices of Equalizer pre-sets include S-XBS (bass boost), LIVE, and blank/standard. The LIVE setting is HI-FI when used on a number recorded before a live audience and to me sounds like the listener is on the front row of a concert. 3D?

One word of caution, however: I am a mature adult and I treat this hardware with the somewhat delicate care such technology deserves. I'm afraid my young adult son would break it in a few days; don't skateboard with it in your pocket! ;-)

Also, read the user manual! The player does have other limitations, but they're stated in black-and-white.

And last but not least: I just burned ONE CD with 122 songs on it! That's really compact, to me. (In case you can't tell, this is my first experience with a portable MP3 player.)

Rating: 5 - Good Value for WMA Playback
This is one of a few CD players that support WMA. If this is important to you, then you should get it, otherwise there are cheaper CD players around.

I tested the player with a CD-R with WMA files encoded at 128 Kbps, and I was happy with the playback.

BTW, the claim that the players can do 48 hours of playback for a pair of AA batteries is true only for alkaline batteries and 128 Kbps MP3 playback under specific conditions. If you are playing something else and/or not using alkaline batteries, the claim probably does not apply.

For more details and to buy the Panasonic SL-MP80 CD/MP3 Player from Amazon, you might like to try:

Panasonic SL-MP80 CD/MP3 Player