I've been working from home since March and for music I'll often just plug my headphones into my phone and listen to Pandora or YouTube or whatever I have in iTunes, but one of the (few) things I miss about my commute was playing CDs in my car and getting the "album experience".

Since it looks like I might be working at home for the rest of the year I wanted to get either a Discman type portable player, or a very small bookshelf. Space is limited so that's why I'm thinking portable, but I don't want to be dealing with batteries dying every other day so I'd need a plug-in type.

Is anybody else doing the same? What's a good brand for this type of electronics device these days?

thanks all

(On a slight tangent).

I usually listen to full albums, or lp sides back in the day.

For the past 20 years or so, I just ripped entire cd discs to the computer and listen to the giant wav/ogg/mp3 files while I'm on the computer. (I don't even bother with gaps between songs and/or cue sheets).

Oh! Yes, yes, I can help! I highly recommend the Sony ZSRS60BT CD Boombox with Bluetooth and AM/FM Radio.


I absolutely love this unit and use it nearly every day. I picked it up to for camping trips and its diverse ways of playing music ensures everyone gets a chance to play DJ in their own way. It's usually on my desk in the office at work with a small footprint but now that I'm working at home it's in the kitchen for while I'm cooking (my PC speakers in my home study are what I use during work). I take it to the backyard whenever I'm doing an "Outdoor Office Day" and again, it's great. I use it mostly for music off my phone, then CDs, then radio. I haven't really used the USB stuff on a regular basis, though, so I can't speak a tremendous amount to that.

It's quite compact and portable, able to run on batteries or plug it in. Up to 20 FM radio presets (plus 10, I think, for AM), plays CDs including your burned CD mixes. There's a USB slot for a thumb drive and while the menu is a little tedious, you can either play music from your jump drive or actually rip the CD in the player to it. Has both a headphones jack and an aux jack for great connectivity, and it can connect to your bluetooth and NFC devices like a phone for playlists. Batteries last a long time and the whole unit takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

If I had to give it a wishlist, I'd say it would be nice if the LED display had a backlight option, I've only had luck with CD clip spindles but you never know if it will get loose and not work down the road, and the sound could be better for overall capacity. Still, I really like it. Perfect for a shelf, desk, mantle, or patio table.

Now, I am no audiofile, and obviously you get what you pay for, so know that the speakers are only 2 watts each. But for what I've needed - to fill a room, the backyard, a cabin main room, or a campsite - it is perfect. Plus, it has that good old fashion Sony "Mega Bass!"

Good luck!

That little Sony number likes pretty nice. Didn't know any of the big names were even making things like this anymore.

It really makes me sad that our options for old-school stereoes are so limited these days. I'd like to be able to walk into a store and buy a nice bookshelf or rack system with a turntable, cassette deck, CD changer, and equalizer.

Or even a nice, big ghetto blaster.

That looks nice story, but maybe a bit too much.

Im kinda wondering if I could find a rack CD player and slide it under my desk and just plug in my headphones.

Gotcha, I have another recommendation, then. I also picked up an Ematic CD Boom Box with bluetooth for work, too. Brought it on several mission trips, retreats, etc. and it got banged around a bit and still hung in there. Display is limited, battery life is so-so, and sound is okay, but gets the job done. It has bluetooth, CD, dial FM radio, and also both a headphone and an aux jack in the back. Lift handle for portability, too, and a relatively small footprint, though it's round shape makes it feel more stout.

You need a Bose!

That looks very nice and small. And the Bluetooth is a nice option for camping (next year, maybe, after the Late Unpleasantness passes).

thanks

Theoretically that should work, and they do still make those types of players.

I'm happy that my boombox from 1997 is still working fine, plus it has the only working cassette player in the house. Retro, baby!

I guess this came out after I got this which has less features though it has a tape player

What about a clock radio with CD player? Amazon has a bunch of them listed.

If space is a premium you can get a USB DVD drive, plug it into the computer and use the computer headphone jack.