A portable CD player (or any other portable media player) can be a great gift for that special teenager in your life. A little pre-shopping preparation can go a long way to getting the right player for their lifestyle (and in the process up your coolness quotient).


When our daughter's latest CD player died, we decided to go shopping for something better. Since she was eleven, Eva's had a succession of very inexpensive portable CD players. Not surprisingly, none of them lasted very long. Now almost through high school, Eva felt (and we agreed) that she was ready for something a little more substantial than yet another $20 "disposable" player.

Investing more money in a portable player meant investing more time in the selection process. Whatever we purchased would have to last Eva for a long time.

Even parents do homework
The first thing Eva and I had to do was talk money. Between what she'd saved from work, and what dear old Dad was willing to front, we determined we had about $90 to $140 to play with.

Once we'd established our budget, we were ready for the next step. Coming up with the short list players in our price range was a task that Eva was more than happy to let me take care of alone. It turned out to be a pretty simple process. Spending a little time at Crutchfield.com, I soon had a good idea of what players we needed to look at. The site allowed me to pull together the units available within our budget, and do various side-by-side comparisons.

As I looked over the products, some patterns began to emerge. Certain features, such as random play and track repeat, were listed again and again. This consistency helped me get a feel for what was standard for our price range. Some features, such as MP3 CD playback capability, were only available on the higher end models. I made a note to talk with Eva about some of these differences. As the list filled out, two basic questions emerged; why and what. Why a CD player instead of a MP3 player (or some other kind of portable unit), and what kind of player did Eva really want?

CDs and CD-Rs are still the format of choice for high schoolers.

Why a CD player?
This was an important question to ask. There's been a significant shift in the buying patterns among young consumers. MP3 portable players are growing in popularity, threatening to supplant CD players as the portable of choice. Looking at the trend a little more closely, though, the majority of these buyers are college students, 18 to 22 years old, who have ready access to fast Internet connections. Downloading MP3s onto their computers, these young adults prefer computer-based technology such as iPods and other MP3 portables to store and manage their music collections.

This change from audio CDs to MP3 files has only just started to move down to the high school level (14-18 age group), and seemingly not to any significant extent in our area. While a few of Eva's friends have the capability to create MP3-encoded CDs, most stick with either audio CDs they've purchased or recordable CDs (CD-Rs) they've burned. From a standpoint of formats, a CD player made the most sense for Eva.

What do they really want?
To answer the second question on my list, I took a look at how I use my portable CD player. I quickly listed what features I thought were important (and unimportant). From there it was pretty easy to go point by point and anticipate how Eva might respond to each one. I wanted to make sure we were really looking for something to suit her needs, rather than mine.

My player is something I take along on business trips, usually for use on the airplane or for relaxing while in hotel rooms. At home, I use it to listen to music without disturbing others — in short, for sedentary personal listening.

I already knew that Eva's usage would be much more social and decidedly more active! She and her friends all consider portable CD players standard equipment for school field trips; they pass time on the bus swapping CDs and CD-R mixes. Eva's on the local swim team and spends a lot of time at the pool. While waiting between events, she does a lot of listening, and trading discs with friends is an important part of that activity as well.

Eva and I tend to listen to different kinds of music (although sometimes not as different as you might think) that place different demands on the player. She prefers a lot of bass, and a LOT of volume! Normally I don't use the bass boost, and find too much distortion and aural discomfort when the volume's cranked to its maximum.

Clearly the right player for me might not be the right one for Eva — and we were shopping for her.

For a teen, this can be a significant expense.

Getting to know your outer child
We began our expedition with a nice long father/daughter lunch. It was the perfect opportunity to talk about features and it let Eva share with me what she was looking for in a player.

The discussion was well worth the time. Although I had been on the right track in my attempt to anticipate what Eva needed, she soon pointed out some things I had overlooked. Sure, bass boost was important, but there were other things she wanted.

Eva's previous disposable players did not operate very efficiently and tended to run through batteries at a good clip. Having to foot the bill for replacement batteries, Eva wanted her new player to either draw less power or have a rechargeable battery pack.

She reminded me that running was a key part of her exercise routine, and she needed something rugged to take on her early morning jogs. As it turned out, all of the players in our price range had good anti-skipping technology, but it was still something I hadn't considered beforehand.

Appearance was another major factor. The old disposable players looked, well, cheap and generic. Eva wanted her new portable to have a little personality. Yes, it was a CD player, but it was also a fashion accessory! As long as she was making the investment, she felt she deserved something that was seriously stylin'.

Into the fray
Although both Eva and I are comfortable buying online, we thought it would be fun to take the opportunity to look at the players close up and handle them. We decided to take a trip to one of the Crutchfield retail outlets. So with well-defined goals (and full tummies), we entered the store and began our search.

Shopping for any kind of home audio device can be overwhelming.

Shopping for any kind of home audio device can be overwhelming. Rows of components, players and accessories lined the shelves from floor to ceiling. Had we not planned our shopping strategy in advance, the large number of choices might have had us seriously reconsidering the whole thing. Keeping our goal firmly in mind, we marched past racks of portable MP3 players, MiniDisc players, cassette players and boom boxes and headed straight for the portable CD player displays.

Having a predetermined price range helped us sort through the array of players. There were some truly outstanding models in the $150 - $200 price range that, had we not established a budget, would have been given some serious consideration (and made our decision even more difficult).

Within a half hour we had narrowed our choices down to a final four. These four units were all priced within $40 of each other, the least expensive starting around $90. As it turned out, they were all from the same manufacturer, which made our comparison-shopping easier than it normally would have been.
The final four
Specifically, we looked at the following portable CD players:

• Sony D-FS601 S2 Sports Walkman with AM/FM/TV/Weather radio (around $100)
• Sony D-EJ885 Walkman (around $130)
• Sony D-NE710 Walkman CD/ATRAC3/MP3 player (around $100)
• Sony D-NF610 Walkman CD/ATRAC3/MP3 player (around $90)

First impressions
The features Eva considered most important were on all the models we looked at (even the least expensive ones). All had some form of bass boost, and all had fairly advanced anti-skipping technology. All got at least 50 hours or more of battery life, using two "AA" batteries.

Styling also turned out to not be much of an issue. By moving beyond the disposable players, we were in a price range where the quality of the players' components was reflected in the styling and materials of the casings.

Our selections sorted themselves into two basic groups of players. The regular portables were sleek in appearance, with metallic silver finishes and accents. As the price increased, sizes got smaller, packing more features into cases that were barely larger than the discs they played. Definitely cool.

The sports units were white; their durable, thick plastic casings simulated the feel and look of sports equipment. The cases were a little larger on a whole than those of the regular models, with rugged closures securing their lids.

The Sony D-EJ885 CD Walkman

First round elimination
The first player Eva cut from the Final Four was the most expensive model. Clocking in at $30 higher than the other three final choices, the D-EJ885 had a number of extra features that Eva didn't need (although she really liked them). This $130 unit was the only one of the four to have rechargeable batteries with a recharging stand.

Eva also liked the stick-style controller with the LCD display. Eva wanted easy control access during running. Reading info and changing tracks from the stick seemed to make more sense than holding the player in one hand, and trying to jab the buttons on it with the other while jogging.

The D-EJ885's other unique feature, a mini-jack audio output, wasn't something Eva was likely to use. This line output is most commonly used to send the player's signal to battery-powered personal speakers. It's also frequently used in conjunction with a CD adapter cassette to run the CD player's signal through a car's cassette deck. All of Eva's listening involved using the portable player as a self-contained unit with headphones. Further, for her birthday we replaced her vehicle's original cassette deck with a radio/CD player unit, rendering the CD adapter cassette she had been using unnecessary.

Although an excellent player overall, Eva decided to trade the option of rechargeable batteries for a smaller price tag.

The Sony D-NF610 CD Walkman

Second round elimination
Eva then narrowed the field to two by eliminating the D-NF610. This unit was the least expensive of the three remaining (but only by $10). Being so close in price, all three of the players had almost identical features. Minute details now loomed large.

The D-NF610's biggest difference was its lack of program play, which was something Eva considered a must for long bus rides. She then looked at the three units side by side.

Appearance now became a more critical aspect. Eva thought the D-NE710 looked a little cooler. That slight preference, plus the lack of program play on the '610, were what determined her final two selections.
The final round
Eva spent the most of our shopping time going back and forth between the final two candidates. The two units were so evenly matched that either would have been a good choice.

The Sony D-NE710 CD Walkman

Facing off was the D-FS601 and the D-NE710. Both played audio CDs, CD-Rs and CD-RWs. Both players were the same price (around $100). Both had the advanced skip protection Eva was looking for (as did all the units we looked at). Both had repeat, resume, and random play, and 64-track programming. Both had the level of bass boost she wanted. The D-NE710's LCD display was a little more extensive, handling three lines of information as opposed to the D-FS601's one-line display, but Eva didn't consider that a major distinction.

The differences between the two players boiled down to audio versus sport features. The D-NE710 handled MP3 CDs and other computer-based file formats and came with special software for Sony's ATRAC3 Plus formatting. Unlike the D-FS601, the '710 had a jog control dial. Being only 3/8" wider than the discs it played, the D-NE710 would certainly fit unobtrusively in a gym bag or backpack.

On the other hand, the D-FS601, designed for sports use, had a built-in radio, TV and weather band tuner. Eva liked this feature, because often when batteries are too drained to power the CD player's mechanism, they can still bring in broadcast signals.

The '601 came with a Velcro hand strap that secured the player to the palm, and placed the player's basic controls within reach of the thumb. The water-resistant D-FS601 had a rugged lid latch, and an ergonomic sports design; the D-NE710 a slimmer, more compact size, barely bigger than the CDs it played.

The winner!
It was a difficult decision, but for Eva, the winner was the D-FS601. The '601's water-resistant case made it perfect for swim meets. The hand strap and thumb controls made it a good choice for running. The MP3 capability of the D-NE710 wasn't important to her. All she needed was something to share audio CDs and CD-Rs with friends.

The Sony D-FS601 S2 Sports CD Walkman

Had I been making the final selection, I would have chosen the D-NE710. But we weren't buying a player for me; we were buying it for Eva. Which was really the point of our adventure. Our pre-shopping preparation helped us focus on what Eva (not Dad) really wanted — and it was a great excuse to do lunch! Instead of agonizing over the purchase, and possibly buying something that would have to be returned, Eva and I spent some time together, had some fun, and made what she felt was a major purchase with confidence.

...Happily ever after
Eva is very happy with her selection. The quality of the D-FS601 and its performance compared to her previous disposable units is something she's appreciating more and more with continued use. Several laps around the track and a few trips to the pool later, hers new player continues to meet her needs, and has gotten some accolades from her peers. As Eva likes to say, "Dad, it's all good."