Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic SL-SW950 Shockwave Portable CD Player (Blue and White)

I bought this Panasonic SL SW9-50 because I was looking for two things : good sound and above all NO SKIPPING. A previous older version Sony with none of the antiskipping features prevalent in the field today proved to be bothersome - and Sony sound is very thin and distorted even with the bass boost on.

This Panasonic fits well in the hand and has a provided rubber strap. The body is water resistant and this is a feature that could be handy in Canadian weather. The buttons are rubber cased on the top. I like the buttons instead of dials which you may find on the Sony - especially if by mistake or something rubs against the dial and brings the volume up to max by mistake. The volume on the Panasonic is a toggle with - and + - the typical volume setting will be around 10 or 11. There are different play modes including repeat or random. The buttons include a previous track, next track, a separate button for stop and play/pause. The play/pause button is a good touch because Sony does not have a similar button (what it has instead is a stop, play resume feature). The Panasonic has a memory recall.

The Panasonic headphones provided are plastic and painful in the ears after a while. The sound without any of the eq bass boost is rather ordinary, clear but not very exciting. There is a setting for train - which cuts out the high frequencies that may bother people on the train. The XBS boost is good - not amazing - but sufficient and definitely better than the Sony megabass. It is still a muddy bass and loses the treble. This unit definitely could use a treble boost.

As for no skip - I have done some walking and some shaking of the device and it's been solid so far. The life of batteries it claims is 18 hours with rechargeables which I use or 40 with AA. For the price I paid, it would have been nice to have had the AC recharger than Sony does provide for a similar priced unit (Sony DEJ751 which I do not recommend).

Canadian at Best Buy - is this worth it ? In the long run, yes. It would be nice if Panasonic had provided AC rechargers and batteries instead of charging extra for them. A serious jogger might want to have FM/AM digital tuner as well when the batteries run out for the cd player.

great cd player for active individuals. the hand grips are great and i have enjoyed skiped-free music throughout my rund and workout routine.

the quality of sound from the headphones could be a little bit better and it's not very comfortable.

Once again, we chose a cd player with a sports design, thinking that this would make the product more durable.

This unit is easy to hold, while on a workout or away from home. And the water resistance is a nice feature too.

But the unit stopped playing discs within a few months. It says "no disc" after a cd is inserted.

We can't agree with the other reviewers on this item. It lasted slightly longer than Coby products, but not much. In our view, the item was not worth the extra expense--indeed, not worth any price at all.