Home > Consumer Reviews > Memorex MPD8081 Portable Mini-CD/CD-R/MP3 Pocket Player

Let me first say I have one of each type of mp3 players, flash based, HD based, and CD based, and of course, one in my car. I have been a user of mp3 technology for a long time, and can say each formayt has its own strengths and weaknesses. I thought I would try mini cd just for fun and keep it hanging around, but after some use I have a respect for this format and it ultimately may be the best bang for the buck in a convenient size. Dollar for dollar, a regular size CD MP3 player, like a Rio SP100, is the most useful device, but its size is too big. Flash players are good, but expensive, limited in size, and a pain to load. HD based players are fantastic but bulky and need a lot of power, not to mention that they are not good for activities. If I have one gripe about the Memorex is that it is not firmware upgradeable. I don't know if any mini cd mp3 players are, but that would definitely be a deciding point. Otherwise, this is a very good player. It seems sturdy, battery life is good, sound quality is good, and it is easy to use. Get rid of the supplied headphones, try a pair of Koss Plugs to start. I have purchased 20 Memorex CD-RW discs (210 MB) and when I get tired of a disk I just erase and put something else on. This Memorex player (and most Mini CD MP3 players) is the best truly portable solution for those on a budget.

It does not say anywhere on this page that this is a pocket player. It only plays tiny cds and you can't play regular size cd's on it. So if you buy it you have to pay the shipping on it when you return it.

I ordered the Memorex Pocket CD player to carry while walking/jogging. I knew it only used the Pocket CD's. That is exactly what I wanted. I do not understand why the retailers do not carry this product in stores.

I convert my CD's to MP3 files on my computer and burn to Pocket CD on my ancient HP 7200 CD burner. No problems.

I assume the pause between tracks is the ESP working. It doesn't sound good for albums such as "Abbey Road" by The Beatles, which goes straight from one track to the other. Otherwise, who cares.
I just use this product when jogging/walking anyway.

Heck of a lot cheaper than iPod or similar products. I don't know why the pocket cd's are not more popular.

This is a pretty cool player -- as long as you know that you pretty much have to make your own CD-R mini cd's before you can use it as a player. If you don't have a CD burner or access to some other source of the 3" sized CD's then you're not going to have anything to play.
If you do have something to listen to, then you will be pleased. The sound is fine or even beyond fine and the anti-skip features work beautifully. The lower mass of the cd itself helps, but the large memory "skip buffers" really do the trick. I didn't try it running, but it should have no trouble there with MP3's. With regular CD audio the skip buffer doesn't cover as much ground, so to speak, so you should ask a runner about that if it's a concern for you.
In at least one version of the Amazon blurb for this player it says that the player comes with "ear bud" phones, but these are actually pretty decent phones of the type that go around the back of your head and sort of loop over your ears.
The "Pocket" in the name may be slightly misleadind if your pockets are tiny, but it does fit into the pocket of my jackets with no trouble at all. Overall this is a pretty fine player AS LONG AS YOU CAN BURN YOUR OWN CD'S and don't need to play any regular sized CD's with it. Mini CD's only in this player!

I got one, display didn't work right out of the box. Sent it back for another...display worked for about two weeks then went out. The idea behind this product is great, but without the display its just too hard to navigate the files. I'd reccomend buying a different brand because there is obviously a flaw in this one.