The unit I now own, the Sony D-EJ756CK retails about $75 delivered (pricegrabber.com) with Sony's giving an MSRP of $79.95. I'd imagine the unit might even be cheaper off the shelves of your local electronics store. I got it mine off Ebay for $17 after delivery. You might be asking what's wrong with it. Well there isn't really anything wrong with it, but it is used and missing some accessories. There's really no point in reviewing the tape adapter and AC adapter. Oddly, as cheap as tape adapters may seem, they are way overpriced where ever you look. I know those things don't cost that much to make!

For some unknown reason, I've actually seen some online retailers say that the player does NOT include line out. Circuit City seems to be misinformed. Sony's site, of all places, does not state that it does. Being that the unit is theirs, it seems logical that they would include information about whether or not it has line out. The weird thing is that other players have line out jacks listed in their specifications. Sony... what in the world are you thinking? Another thing I don't like about Sony is the fact that it is impossible to little accessories like wired remotes. The retail version includes the RM-CDC2 remote. I think I prefer the normal tube-shaped remotes over the knob-shaped. Of course a wireless remote would be even better. I'm not sure why Sony doesn't use infrared anymore for their portable CD players.

If you are familiar with the Sony Discman/CD Walkman line, you probably already know how playback functionality works. There are two levels of bass. I usually keep mine on full (2 bars). Anything less would be uncivilized. On default, the music sounds tinny. Play Modes include shuffle, repeat, one track play, and track programming. As you can see the play and volume buttons are all part of one button. Sony likes to be different like that I guess. Just as you suspect, it's like a game pad. If you press up: volume up, down: volume down, left: previous track, right: next track, center: stop. If you hold the track skip/previous buttons, you can seek within the tracks themselves. The pause button is separate from all others, just below. The design seems neat at first but when you aren't looking at the unit, you have to have blind skills. You need to know the button impressions rather than layout to figure out if you are pressing the right one. I now wish the buttons were all separate. It's quite annoying skipping tracks when you really meant to increase the volume.

Construction is usually big factor when talking about durability. My old Discman died within less than 2 years. I think I have myself to blame though since I left it in my car during the hottest part of summer. This unit is not made from the same magnesium die casting body as that unit was though. This one is pure plastic, with the exception of the internal parts of course. As you can see, the scratches reveal a different color underneath and the other side of top is totally unfinished. I wish Sony would use black instead dark purple for the bottom half of their players. Oh well.

The sound that this baby pumps out is fine. I can't say much since I'm not an audiophile. I happen to listen to all types of genres and this thing sounds just fine. Anything less would be disappointing and sub par. One complaint I do have is that the line out is a bit louder than my last Discman. This is kind of a problem with crappy sound systems like my 1989 Acura Legend. The higher frequency sounds clip. When I hooked the player up to my computer speakers, they sound just fine. Digital volume include 0-9 with each having 3 bar levels (27 different levels). I usually never go past level 2 granted I only have to deal with some traffic and other noise when walking to class.