Aiwa XP-V516C personal CD player
Written: Oct 28 '02 (Updated Oct 30 '02)
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Pros: Great sound, powerful bass, compact, many features, inexpensive, comes with nice car kit
Cons: I'll let you know if I ever think of any. :)
The Bottom Line: Wow, this CD player is great! You should buy one — it has great sound and anti-skip protection, and is compact, decked out with features, and efficient.
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| timwdegner's Full Review: Aiwa XP-V516C Personal CD Player |
I believe I can honestly say that I made a great choice on April 21, 2001 — I bought an Aiwa XP-V516C personal CD player at Target for $53.
A few days earlier I had gotten a new CD and decided I was sick of playing my CD's on my parents' CD player. I walked into Target and didn't even research the Aiwa model that I bought, but walked right out with it because it looked good and was on clearance.
The thing that amazes me most about it is how Aiwa managed to make such a great CD player and sell it with a car kit so cheap!
The bass is clear and deep, playing my music (a lot of rap and rock) exactly as I want to hear it. It's nice to be able to turn off the DSL bass system as well — just so I remember exactly how much better it sounds WITH it. :)
As for the midrange and treble frequencies, it plays smoothly. With all my messing around with graphic equalizers, I have to hand it to Aiwa; they really got it right, because I simply can't beat the sound I get with my Aiwa CD player.
So, let's put it this way: overall, the sound on this player will match or beat anything else you're going to find from Sony, Panasonic, and other high-level competitors, and you can get it a lot cheaper with more features.
For example, you have the Resume, Hold, and Random Play modes. When you're in resume mode, you can turn off the CD player, and when you turn it back on, it'll go right back to exactly where you left off. Hold mode allows you to prevent battery drainage when the CD player accidentally gets turned on (for example, when it's in a backpack and the power button gets pressed against). Random play plays the tracks on a CD in random order.
The anti-skip protection on this CD player has three settings: off, ten seconds, and forty seconds. I do a lot of heavy-duty BMX biking, which includes jumping around, moving a lot, but regardless of what I do and how long I do it, this CD player usually stays on track.
Physically, the thing is little over an inch in thickness! It's very lightweight and durable. After a year and a half of heavy use and abuse, mine still works without any problems. I've dropped it on concrete sidewalks and tar streets and highways, it has fallen from precarious perches on top of a ten-foot tall bookshelf on occasion. I must say that, hard as I have inadvertently tried, I CAN'T KILL IT.
One thing I have changed about it is the headphones. I now use earbuds, because it came with regular ones that go over your head, which I found to be bulky and obtrusive for what I do. However, I can't complain, because that's what most CD players come with.
I was shocked when I found out that car kits cost $20 . Since one is included in the $50 I payed for this CD player, that would put the CD player at $30, for a CD player that outperforms $100 — $200 models from Sony and Panasonic.
Somehow, when I walked into a Target one day without any research on the matter at all, I ended up with what I am sure was the best deal I could possibly get on any CD player. Now if only it played MP3's...
The overall verdict: it's truly an awesome piece of equipment! Small, lightweight, good battery life (average 18 hours), really awesome bass boost, never or rarely skips, obviously, from my treatment of it, it is very durable; I can't say enough good about this CD player. Thank you, Aiwa. I'll just leave it at this: wow.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 53.23
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Epinions.com ID:
timwdegner
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Member: Timothy Degner
Location: Hector, Minnesota, USA
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 2 members
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