| Product: XM-P55 MiniDisc Player |
Company: JVC |
| Web: www.jvc.com |
Phone: 800-882-2345 |
| Platform: MiniDisc |
SRP: US$250
Street Price: $100 |
Cred Rating: | Special Award: |
It all started 'cause I needed some new headphones. I had purchased, with a head full of fuzzy-fashion-logic, a pair of those silly Sony Style headphones that sounded terrible and hurt my ears. And while I was looking for new headphones, my Sharp 821 had to go to the shop for a little fix-up. The problem, of course, is that there was this super deal on the JVC XM-P55 minidisc player. It came with headphones, you see, and that is what I needed. I had to buy the JVC to get to the phones. Are you getting the picture?
The JVC XM-P55 is a minidisc player only -- it doesn't record like the Sharp 821 I reviewed over a year ago. The JVC doesn't have nearly as many fancy features either, but what it does have is a price advantage. Down to US$100 from initial prices around $250, the JVC is not much more expensive than many CD players, or even high-end tape players. The JVC has advantages over both though, and this price may well bring minidisc into widespread popularity.
Minidiscs are tiny, only about 2.75 inches square, and the JVC is not much bigger. It measures 3 3/8" x 11/16" x 3 3/16, so its about the size of two minidiscs in cases, stacked. It's super slim and super light (4.5 oz), even for an MD player. In the store, a side-by-side comparison showed that the JVC was smaller than Sony players priced 50% higher or more, that had fewer features.
The JVC has a lot of good stuff for the price. Its got 40-second anti-skip memory which works really well. I haven't gone jogging with it yet, but shaking it repeatedly failed to make it skip. It comes with a wired remote that displays album and track info, and can adjust the volume and play mode. It also has an extra-bass function that gives it superior low range sound. It's not as fancy as the three bass settings on the Sharp 821, but it's still pretty good.
The remote on the JVC is not a pretty thing. It's oddly shaped and feels cheap. The backlight (which goes on every time you press a button) washes out the LCD, making it more difficult to read in well-lit situations. The remote is necessary though, since the actual player has no LCD, and doesn't even have all the buttons that the remote has. For instance, the JVC remote has a pretty cool little feature called "fav," which allows tracks to be marked as favorites to return to later, but there is no button on the actual player, nor does the player have bass and play mode buttons. Even without the Fav function though, the JVC does return to the track (though not the exact spot) that you were last listening to if you turn off the music mid-stream.
Playback time on the JVC using the included rechargable battery is rated at 16 hours - fairly low for minidisc players these days. Top-end units claim 40 hours of use. The JVC does have an external battery pack that uses a single AA battery to increase play time.
The battery charger included only recharges externally. The battery must be removed and placed in the charger. The JVC can be hooked up to run on AC power, but the battery has to be removed and placed in the charger (at least that's what I understood from the directions). This is kind of a hassle and it would have been preferable to have a straight plug-in charging sysem, though that probably would have added to the weight.
Sound quality is good on the JVC -- I've got no complaints there. Of course, the headphones are not perfect. The included pair is a folding style with padded earpieces -- one of the nicest pairs of included phones I've seen, and defnitely better than those earbuds. But the volume is not that great -- it might be better to go with something that fits more snugly.
For the person who has a home minidisc or a portable recorder and is looking for a mobile player, this unit is a very solid choice. It has all the features of the latest models from Sony and others, and is the same size, if not smaller, than units costing twice as much. At $100 (which you can find at www.JandR.com), this is a great deal. And hey, if you were thinking that a pair of headphones might make a nice gift for someone, buy the JVC, give them the headphones, and treat yourself to a new MD player!
A Note About J&R: Some New York electronics stores have questionable reputations. If you don't live in New York, I recommend being very careful about shopping at electronic stores in New York, since some are rumored to sell used products as new, and other nasty things. J&R is an exception to this. They are a fine bricks and mortar store that has great selection and good prices on most things. They get the Street Tech seal of approval for online vendors (if there is such a thing). [They sure do. I've been ordering from J&R for years and never had a problem. -Ed.]
- Nate Heasely [10/30/00]
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