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Sony CFD-E100 Portable CD Radio Cassette Recorder
See it at Amazon.com for $179.99Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
NOT A BAD, LITTLE 'SOUND BOX'!
(5 out of 5) by Monica Snow on Jul 8, 2007 (Massachusetts)We brought this little guy home the day before the 4TH and have only good things to say about it!
True, we also had to consult the owners manual briefly....but our egos were not bruised in the process.
And you do have to shade the display to see it in sunlight, but as another reviewer recently stated....anything to save the batteries!
We are audiophiles and find the 'mega bass' button to be superfluous. Just leave it on and enjoy the big sound!
This little portable was purchased so we can enjoy favorite CDs and radio stations on our small sailboat (when not actually sailing). Since the boat has only 12 volt power, switch to the batteries, and it fits the purpose mightily!
PROS:
Sound
Size
Signal Strength
Steadying Rubber Foot Pads
Separate Power Cord
CONS: None
True, we also had to consult the owners manual briefly....but our egos were not bruised in the process.
And you do have to shade the display to see it in sunlight, but as another reviewer recently stated....anything to save the batteries!
We are audiophiles and find the 'mega bass' button to be superfluous. Just leave it on and enjoy the big sound!
This little portable was purchased so we can enjoy favorite CDs and radio stations on our small sailboat (when not actually sailing). Since the boat has only 12 volt power, switch to the batteries, and it fits the purpose mightily!
PROS:
Sound
Size
Signal Strength
Steadying Rubber Foot Pads
Separate Power Cord
CONS: None
85 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
Unique and Useable
(5 out of 5) by palealien on Apr 11, 2007 (Butte Creek Canyon, Ca United States)Sony CFD-E100
An extremely well designed, great sounding unit with features and a style you won't find anywhere else.
23 years ago I built a boom box using the first ever Sony D-5 CD player as the anchor. It measured 14" X 10" X 4/12", sounded amazing and was completely portable. I would still be using it today but the speakers finally failed. There was not then anything like it, and when I went shopping last week I was not surprised to see there still wasn't.
Until I found the CFD-E100. I was startled by the similar dimensions. It seems we have come to accept as the norm, as one reviewer called them, those "bulbous giant-fungus shapes" but I was persistent in looking for something a bit more portable and less statement. I needed something for home and at various job sites that would be sturdy and unobtrusive and easy to perch somewhere. Or even hang by the handle. In the relatively unsophisticated shopping area such as mine, it seemed there was not much to chose from so it was great to find the Sony.
It sounds great, and seems rugged. The white color may be an issue if I am painting, but then it will develop "character". All functions seem perfectly acceptable, but it is only Week One. I was hoping for something easy to operate with gloves, and with the remote this is barely possible, but the wide spaced large buttons on the top panel are easy to operate.
Interesting to note you cannot turn the unit on with the remote if the unit is running on batteries. I am hoping the "No CD" error I have read about has been eliminated by now. Does well with CD-R, but alas, no MP3. I was surprised there is no display backlight, but eliminating anything that shortens battery life could be considered acceptable.
The "Mega-Bass" button could just as well be labeled "Less Shrill, which is fairly typical.
The CD handling is cute, it has a double-fold door that hands you the disk, and a snap-over hub design, which slightly irritating but unavoidable.
The cassette controls are firm but sturdy. The buttons override each other, which is handy when you're trying to get a tape going quickly. The mechanism does not pop off at the end of a tape, which seems unkind to the tape. The tape viewing window is a tiny magnified plastic slit that may as well not even be there, but since it's upside down on the back of the machine I guess we're not supposed to care. Anyway, it's now almost a novelty to find a cassette mechanism at all, so these shortcomings should hardly be surprising. It does a fine job of recording whatever source is playing. I have always wished they'd build a cassette servo in so you could use the remote to operate, but like I just said...
Mechanically, it is not completely confidence-inspiring, but compared to some of the alternatives I was considering, it is bulletproof. I would think these would be all over by now, but the fad of those giant fungi seems to be more like a permanent statement by now. But can you put one on a windowsill?
An extremely well designed, great sounding unit with features and a style you won't find anywhere else.
23 years ago I built a boom box using the first ever Sony D-5 CD player as the anchor. It measured 14" X 10" X 4/12", sounded amazing and was completely portable. I would still be using it today but the speakers finally failed. There was not then anything like it, and when I went shopping last week I was not surprised to see there still wasn't.
Until I found the CFD-E100. I was startled by the similar dimensions. It seems we have come to accept as the norm, as one reviewer called them, those "bulbous giant-fungus shapes" but I was persistent in looking for something a bit more portable and less statement. I needed something for home and at various job sites that would be sturdy and unobtrusive and easy to perch somewhere. Or even hang by the handle. In the relatively unsophisticated shopping area such as mine, it seemed there was not much to chose from so it was great to find the Sony.
It sounds great, and seems rugged. The white color may be an issue if I am painting, but then it will develop "character". All functions seem perfectly acceptable, but it is only Week One. I was hoping for something easy to operate with gloves, and with the remote this is barely possible, but the wide spaced large buttons on the top panel are easy to operate.
Interesting to note you cannot turn the unit on with the remote if the unit is running on batteries. I am hoping the "No CD" error I have read about has been eliminated by now. Does well with CD-R, but alas, no MP3. I was surprised there is no display backlight, but eliminating anything that shortens battery life could be considered acceptable.
The "Mega-Bass" button could just as well be labeled "Less Shrill, which is fairly typical.
The CD handling is cute, it has a double-fold door that hands you the disk, and a snap-over hub design, which slightly irritating but unavoidable.
The cassette controls are firm but sturdy. The buttons override each other, which is handy when you're trying to get a tape going quickly. The mechanism does not pop off at the end of a tape, which seems unkind to the tape. The tape viewing window is a tiny magnified plastic slit that may as well not even be there, but since it's upside down on the back of the machine I guess we're not supposed to care. Anyway, it's now almost a novelty to find a cassette mechanism at all, so these shortcomings should hardly be surprising. It does a fine job of recording whatever source is playing. I have always wished they'd build a cassette servo in so you could use the remote to operate, but like I just said...
Mechanically, it is not completely confidence-inspiring, but compared to some of the alternatives I was considering, it is bulletproof. I would think these would be all over by now, but the fad of those giant fungi seems to be more like a permanent statement by now. But can you put one on a windowsill?
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
Nice Look-Okay Performer
(3 out of 5) by sg on Mar 20, 2007 (CA)Item is larger than it appears. Cassette player is difficult to get to in order to turn over the cassette and there is an annoying buzzing sound when the cassette is played.
Does take up less space in the nightstand which is a plus and looks nicer than the conventional player.
Does take up less space in the nightstand which is a plus and looks nicer than the conventional player.
////Sony CFD E100 Prtable CD Radio Cassette Recorder
(5 out of 5) by Lillian Golovin on Mar 8, 2007 (Burlington, VT USA)I was most impressed at the sound quality coming out of this radio. Wish that it might have been a little bit smaller in size, but it still does not interfere with the space I have it sitting in. And Amazon is to be congratulated for its promptness in forwarding the merchandise.
117 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
CD player went bad immediately...No Disk error
(3 out of 5) by Rahmboy on Jun 21, 2006 (Cleveland, OH)I loved this unit... the size, the sound, the footprint. And the name SONY. But just after a few times, the CD player went bad. Now, when I put in a disk, I simply get a "No Disk" error. It has become a Radio-Tape boombox, no CD. Very disappointed. Then I went on the web and found others have been having this kind of problem with other SONY units and bemoaning the loss of the once revered SONY quality.
I understand things can go wrong and I am left wondering whether this was a stray problem or due to poor manufacturing quality. In either case I am stuck!
I understand things can go wrong and I am left wondering whether this was a stray problem or due to poor manufacturing quality. In either case I am stuck!