Home > Consumer Reviews > Memorex MPD8507CP Personal CD/MP3 Player with 120 Seconds of MP3 Anti-Skip Protection

I've had the MPD8507CP for several weeks now and like if very much. One of the best deals for an MP3 player even without the included car kit - you usually have to pay more for that.
I use it almost exculsively for playing MP3s on both CD-R and CD-RW disks. It takes about 10 to 20 seconds for it to start playing once you turn it on while it reads the directory structure and file names. Indexes songs by folders so you can group your tunes in different directories on your PC and copy them to a CD-R or CD-RW. Once in the player you can play them all or pick which folder to open. Songs are sorted by file name on the 4 line display. When the song begins playing it reads and displays ID3 Version 1.x tags( Album, Artist, Title only) and scrolls them across the screen.
If you put it in repeat mode you can play the whole CD or just a particular folder, song or random play. Some other modes: program play, intro play (first 10 sec of each song), song search by file name.

Down sides:
The interface is a bit clunky and not very well thought out:ie which button to push when is sometimes confusing but you get used to it. Also, the FF/skip and RR/Review buttons are oposite of what you might expect (FF on the left and RR on the right so the arrows point towards each other).
I''ve read some reviews of complaints about skipping. The ESP feature is quite good (45 sec on Audio CD and 120 on MP3). The ESP logo flashes when it's doing its thing (ie: buffering a skip) so you can tell how well the laser is doing even if you don't hear the skip. I never had any problems with it running out of buffer before an audible skip but I wouldn't recommend jogging with it. Even slight tapping on the unit while it's playing will start using up your ESP buffer.
Another weakness is that there are just 5 preset equalizations (NORMAL,ROCK,CLASSIC,JAZZ), there is no control over the bass and treble, pick one and that's it.

For the price, this unit has excellent specifications!
Handles multi-session CD's, CDRW filesystem etc. The spinup time was fast on an MP3 CD with 120 songs. ID3 tag support is good etc.

However, a standard audio CDR disk would not play properly in the car. Player was horizontal on the passenger seat under freeway driving conditions. When ESP was disabled, the player was clearly skipping all the time and could not buffer any data. Back at home, I had trouble with the same disk on a stationary desk! Other disks also gave trouble to (different CDR brands were tried)

Exchanged unit as I couldn't believe that it could be this bad. Same audio CDR disk played 100% in this replacement unit. I thought that the problem was solved until my wife took the unit walking in the park. The disk would simply not play after a few seconds!

Tried the disk at home and everything worked. With a bit of experimentation, the discovery was made that the disk would not play when the unit was vertical (turning ESP off is a great aid in seeing when the unit has trouble). Rotated the unit 180 degrees (still vertical) and the disk would play properly - essentially in the "upside" down position. Note that the unit was held stationary during this experiment.

My conclusion is that the memorex has quality issues with the drive mechanism itself. The ESP technology is not going to help unless there is some data to buffer in the first place. The orientation of the unit is important. I expect that some units are better than others (at least this was my experience with two units)

This unit gets an average rating due to the skip problems. For someone who listens to music at a desk, car and perhaps even a bus/train will find this player excellent value (make sure you can exchange the unit if you are unlucky with the first one).

For walking, cycling or other more demanding activities, save your money for a better unit (Both Philips and Sony appear to have good comments for anti-skip technology). Or choose a solid state MP3 player.

I'm returning the memorex for a Philips EXP30317 player. I've only seen good comments on it's anti-skip technology (no skipping when snowboarding - this I have to see!). A pity that I will have to loose the ID3 capabability - but reliability is more important to me for the extra dollars.

I bought this player after returning the 8505 model...it is a little better...bigger screen, better headphone etc.. but IT STILL SKIPS LIKE CRAZY.....save your money and buy a better one!

I bought this player because I wanted to be able to play all my MP3s instead of burning 15 or so onto a CD-R. I chose this one because of the price. I had no idea what to expect, but so far the player has performed fine. I haven't had any problems with skipping (as other reviewers have reported) but I have noticed a few other problems:

1. The "Random" function that I use in MP3 mode is not exactly random. The player seems to compile a "random" list of songs but the list does not change- so while the songs aren't in their original order, I keep getting the same patterns of songs over and over again. This is what bothers me the most about the player.

2. I don't know if it's even possible to normalize raw MP3 files, but the MP3s aren't normalized, so the volumes vary greatly from song to song (which can be annoying). This probably isn't a problem with the player itself.

3. The sound quality with MP3s leaves something to be desired, but it's acceptable.

All in all, the player is acceptable for its price, but if you're looking for perfection, look elsewhere.

I've been using the MPD8507 since Christmas, and I'm very pleased with it. I've had some skipping problems on occasion (two of which caused a very loud noise in the headphones), but so far never when using the ESP feature. The included car-kit is a great plus, and for regular, gentle playing, it works fine.
On the downside, the search & programming functions (as mentioned by others) aren't as intuitive as I'd like, but practicing a couple of times is all it takes. I wish the 120-volt transformer had been included, although batteries do last quite awhile, I've found.
This is my first MP3-player, and instead of 15 or 20 songs on a disk, there's 150 - 200... Searching for a song is difficult (or tedious) while driving. I'm not familiar with other players to know if there are easier search functions available.