The best product of its type.

For two years I have put up with appalling sound quality whilst listening to my MP3 player in my car through a Belkin MP3 cassette adapter. My 4 year old Iriver IHP40 MP3 player is great (if now somewhat old fashioned by modern standards it still beats any Apple iPod hands down) and my Bose sound system in my Audi A3 is unbeatble but with no MP3 player socket (and no desire to try a notoriously unreliable FM receiver) I had to go and spoil the whole thing with a cheap Belkin device. The sound quality was just dreadful with a constant tape hum, variable volume, hiss and loss of bass.

But now all this has changed since I discovered the Sony cassette adapter. The quality is as excellent as it is ever possible to get for a tape device and definitely better than an original cassette tape. There is no discernible tape hum or noise and not only is my music so much clearer, sharper and with a full range of tones but I can also now listen to downloaded Podcasts of programmes predominatly in the spoken word - something that was close to unworkable with the Belkin. Previously, the best quality music on my car stereo was through CDs. Now the MP3 player through the Sony cassette adapter is as good. If you need a device like this buy the Sony. It is unbeatable and without question worth the extra money.

works sometimes

i might have a faulty one as it works ok until auto reverse comes in then it sticks and will not restart without ejecting and reloading many times.paid a little bit more and got one that worked ok.

Good value

Very noisy when used in the cassette slot but if you have relatively loud music it will easily cover up the clicking/running cassette noises, Especially in the car when wind noise covers it up anyway.

Good radio

This is a high quality product from Sony which, as you might expect, is sturdily built and extremely durable. It's quite bulky for a personal radio, and on removing the packaging you might be surprised by how thick it is. Also, it only sends sound to the one side of the headphones, so it's not ideal for listening to music. Otherwise it's fine and cheap at the price.

Gets the job done

It is well built, the controls (tune and volume) are solid and smooth, sound quality (I mostly listen to radio 3) is perfectly adequate, and it seems to last forever on a set of 4 AA batteries. I'm very happy with my purchase.

Phoney Sony

I purchased this walkman to listen to whilst walking to work and a radio was a prerequisite for me, hence why I chose not to go down the CD walkman route. But sadly now, I am trying to find a few tapes so I actually have something to listen to on it!

In short, the radio, despite claiming to be able to store 40 radio station presets, is really poor. I live near Reading and I can only pick up 2 or 3 crackly stations - 2 national and 1 local. The tape machine part is as you'd expect and does the job. However, in my opinion it's a pretty poor performance and even more disappointing because it is a Sony; frankly, buying a cheaper brand might have actually done a better job. So if you will listen more to the radio, unless you live under a radio mast I'd think twice before buying this model!

Th pinnacle of portable audio

HiMD is perfect for portable audio. The sound quality is excellent, with even the cheaper players beating any MP3 player produced to date. Less susceptible to shocks or drops than HD players & with removable batteries they last a LOT longer than your average iPod. The comparatively lower capacity can be a downside but what good is it to have all your music with you when it all sounds rubbish because it's being played on sub-standard equipment???

Get this

Absalouetly great,recording so clear its like talking to yourself,for 30 quid a throw its definitely worth it!Buy this product now!!!

Sony SRF-M97 Radio Walkman

Lovely quality ,very compact and reasonably easy to programme in fixed
channels.
Reception as good as expected,even 5 live is better than previous radios I've owned.
Earphones are average but good enough.
Good value for money.

For Small But Not Narrow Spaces

This player was bought for the kitchen, so sound quality - within reason - was not a priority. It is sold as a compact model, so as compactness was an issue it was chosen.

The build quality is perfectly good for the money and the range of features fit for purpose. The sound quality is reasonable, if a bit top-heavy and lacking in subtlety. Both CD and cassette playback are OK. The FM tuner is OK, but locally Radio Three is a little weak and it can't receive in stereo without high levels of background noise. It is nice to note that it retains Long Wave, something vanishing from cheaper models of this type.

So why only three stars? It does everything well enough except the one thing it is sold on - space. The player is certainly smaller than many other similar players. But the AC/Mains lead supplied sticks out of the back and is so large it needs an extra 8-10 cm of space on a shelf, thus ruining the units compactness. If the lead had come out of one end it would have been capable of going into narrower spaces.

So overall, for the money it is reasonable value and providing you don't listen too closely, it makes a happy sound. But allow some space wherever you put it.

Excellent kitchen / portable radio for a 'work' enviromnent

This is a really nice and 'simple' product to use.

Tuning is easy because it has the 'old fashioned' analogue dial. It makes finding a station simple.

The on-off switch is big and on the front of the set. The radio uses regular 'AA' batteries, which seem to last forever. I bought one of these radio's for my wife - she uses it in the kitchen every day, and to listen to when ironing. The on/off switch is really useful when the phone rings and you have 'kitchen' or 'garden' fingers - you don't get the radio all messy or wet!

My mother-in-law liked it so much that we got her the same model for her birthday, and it also lives in her kitchen most of the time.

The sound is good, and can be quite loud. The sound quality over headphones is really nice too, but you must provide your own headphones - or stereo 'pocket' loudspeakers.

I highly recommend this product for anyone who needs a reliable radio in a 'working' environment. Its a good size (small enough) to put in a drawer or other secure place too.

The A.C. adaptor from Sony might be a wasted investment for this set, because it really is good on battery life - for the same price you could get a set of NiMh batteries AND a charger!

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