Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic SL-PH270 Portable CD Player with 40-Second Anti-Shock and Built-In Speakers

First off, the nice/great things about this player: 1)...You'll buy this for the speakers, and rightly so..they're great. It has the standard sound dial from 0 to 10..and I play it around 5-6 in my place, 8-9 outside (and it works great even in a downtown enviro, too..you CAN easliy hear it.) They're only a bit 'tinny'..the cabinet speakers have no bass boost, but that's because they're so small. Really, you don't need it. (NOTE...when using headphones you CAN have a bass boost and a 'Train' setting..a more muted version of bass boost. Just not when using the built-ins.) 2)... The player size/design...very cool. I prefer the LCD display on top like this, for easier read of the track & sound features. Button layout is nice and easily memorizable. 3)...Has an energy saver feature where you can make the batteries last longer...very noticable! 4)...40 Sec reader/skip protection...this player WILL NOT SKIP. ------------BAD THINGS...------------------ 1). Even if you press the 'hold' switch, the player can still open. That's no good to me. Same with the speaker/headphone switch. Using this player with headphones in a public area, be acareful not to bump into that button and switch the speakers on..that's embarrassing. 2.) No 'Groove' sound equalizer like on most Sony machines. 'Groove' is by far the coolest sound system, next to the older Sony player, the turtle-esque D-844K.(It had SURROUND SOUND..on a Discman! ) 3.) Display DOES NOT LIGHT UP, even with ac pack used. That sucks frog butt. 4.) The worst thing about the player...in a quiet place, using either any headphones (I prefer Sony's 'street style' silver wraparounds), or the built in speakers, you can hear a VERY annoying whine, like from a TV set. (You can hear it when the player's set to a lower volume setting easier than a louder one.) Using this player to fall assleep with may be nervewracking because of this. You can clearly hear it with the built-ins. Outside, or in a more 'active' area other than a quiet room this 'whine' is next to non-existent, however.

my old portable cd player, a sony discman (D-E301) broke. the laser jammed at track 5 1/2, and i could never finish my cds, which made it useless. it's three years old, and i figured it was time for a new cd player.

when i found this panasonic on amazon, i knew i had to have it. my old wirey portable speakers take up more room than the player itself, and they're really quiet, kind of stupid. i found a picture of this cd player on panasonic's website... and it looked great. it's small and round, a tiny bit fat because of the speakers, but it's still smaller than my old discman. the speakers are on top, and so are the play/skip/stop buttons & LCD display. the top is silver, the bottom is black. at first it looked sort of flimsy, but after actually using it, i found the player to be very solid and sturdy.

it has all the normal features, including random/repeat play options. the skip protection is awesome, the player slid off my seat and started playing ping-pong around my mom's minivan without skipping a beat.

and, if you were wondering, there's a switch right on top to change from speaker to headphone mode, it's SUPER easy. the headphones are nice, too, even though i don't use them often.

it is really neat to hold this cd player in your hand, without wires or headphones or anything, and have beautiful sound. the speakers get pretty loud, usually i keep them at half volume. i don't really use my boombox anymore, because i never used the tapedeck or radio, and this has better sound.

with such nice skip protection, clear sound, size, long battery life (already, using speakers and everything, the batteries have lasted lots longer than they did with my quiet old broken cd player on headphones), and features, i would say this is an $80-$100 cd player by itself. the speakers are a bonus you won't find anywhere else, making this cd player so much more valuable to any music-lover, without affecting the price (and looking around at some online as well as physical electronics stores, amazon has a GREAT price).

even if you already have a portable cd player, you should seriously consider purchasing this. i'll set it on my dresser, and forget where the sound is coming from. i have music with me everywhere now. it's a wonderful thing.

I can not express how happy I am with the purchase of this CD player. I purchased it with much skepticism due to the fact that there was no picture or any reviews for it. I could not resist built in speakers. As I received it, the speakers are actually fairly high quality and the sound quality is great. The headphones are comfortable and they produce great sound as well. The bass boost has two levels, both are very high quality and do not cause distortion at any volume level, even when I plugged in my headphone amplifier. I definitely must say that this CD player is everything I could ask for until the next generation of MP3 CD players arrive.

I also bought this cd player for its speakers and based on the reviews that I read. First let me say that when one buys this product they must think what is the purpose for the speakers. I bought it thinking that it would be cool to have a little travel cd player that I could use and have one other listen to. I think it is great for having a cd player in a hotel room, or in other places that you usually would take a disc man but not take a portable cd player. Lets face it, everyone has a cd player at home and a disc man is for travel. The sound is perfect for one or two, or a small group. Obviously know one is going to have a party with the player, but if your purpose is to have a very small cd player that you can use for travel than this is perfect, becuase it can be used alone, or it can be used in a small group. I think the sound volume is just what I expected based on the product and its size.

The Panasonic SL-PH270 Portable CD Player is EXACTLY what I was looking for! I wanted a CD player that I could take on my frequent trips -- one that I could play in my hotel room without having to lug around external speakers. This little unit is only slightly (and I mean very slightly!) larger than a standard CD player, so it takes up very little room in my carry-on bag.

As for the sound quality, it is excellent -- for an incredibly small unit with very small speakers. What I mean is that the sound is pleasing, but of course does not have deep, rich bass, or ear-splitting volume. It does nicely fill a room with music, and if you want more volume or bass, you can always carry a set of powered speakers to plug into the headphone plug (which is what you'd have to do with any other portable CD player anyway!). I imagine if you are into hard rock or rap/urban music, you'd probably find the bass disappointing, but I play mostly classical and pop/light rock music, and I've been very happy with the sound quality and volume.

The unit has a good array of features (I particularly like the "hold" button, which keeps you from accidentally activating a button), and the anti-skip works very well. This CD player is easy to use and has a very simple, uncomplicated design.

If you are looking for a VERY compact, easily portable CD player with speakers, I don't think there is a better unit than the Panasonic SL-PH270 on the market today. I highly recommend it!