OKay, I am looking to buy a new CD player sometime in the near future.......what I am really looking for is a portable ("Walkman-style") CD player that not only handles regular audio CDs (Red-book format) but also MPEG-audio discs--MP2 & 3 like my current hardware. Specifically I want to try to find one that also runs MP2 & 3 audio files off DVD-ROM discs, i.e. DVD+ & -R as well.

Many of my audio projects are getting to the point now that in order to fit them on CD, I either have to compress the audio files so heavily that they all fit on one disc-a problem because audio quality is seriously degraded-or span the project across multiple discs. This enables the files to be recorded in their existing high bandwidth, but can be a problem because it requires me to carry around several discs to constitute an entire programme. And just recently (as in, like, early 2007--a testament to how truly behind the times I tend to be) I discovered both these problems can be solved by recording the files to DVD+R......but the real problem lies in the fact that my current portable hardware doesn't dupport MP3 from DVD, only CD!

So what I want to know is: where can I find a player of this type locally (brick & mortar stores in PDX & Coove, not on-line)?

Coupla restrictions: I *don't* want a full-blown portable DVD-Video player (those are way too hard to fit in my jeans pocket, especially when listening during a long bike ride) and it *must* use an industry-standard battery type, i.e. AA size--none of that proprietary form-factor rechargeable junk. And I really, *really* don't want a device like an Apple I-Pod or a Sandisk gizmo--I don't need yet another external hard drive I would have to manage. (And considering how hard I tend to ride, a micro-drive based device would probably be shot after a day's worth of riding......which is largely why I have avoided apple I-pod like devices since the beginning.)

I remember seeing in a newspaper ad (Sears, I think?) some time ago a player of the type I described (a Samsung, I think?)--it even had a little colour screen built into the lid, about the size of that on a modern Game Boy--that you could view DVD-Video on.....but I haven't seen that specific one in a while.

Oh yeah, last (but assuredly not least!) I *DON'T* want to buy any Coby equipment, as experience with the brand dictates Coby is about the cheapest junk equipment you could possibly buy! ;o)

Thanks for any help........

Well, I'm no help, as I've given up on portables with moving parts.

Like the players with flash memory in them. Small, durable --but must be managed.

Coby sucks! It's almost if it fails QA, slap COBY on it, and ship directly to WAL*MART!

DuraBrand is even worse!

Good: Now I have a "big 3" list of brands to avoid:
1 Coby
2 DuraBrand
3 GPX

Try going to http://www.outpost.com/ and type "portable cd player" into the search box. I think that the Panasonic SL-CT590A might be close to what you are looking for. The Wilsonville Fry's might also stock this item.

The little unit that you saw with the small display in the lid may have been one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Coby-TF-DVD560-Portable-Player-Sega/dp/B000EN43D8/ref=sr_1 _3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1199309492&sr=8-3

Two strikes, however... Coby brand and non-standard Lithium battery. Also, it does play mp3s and it does play DVDs, but does it play mp3s recorded on DVDs?

1 Coby
2 DuraBrand
3 GPX


Wasn't Panasonic a "cheap" brand back in the early '70's? It sure was Tom Peterson Approved for sure.

"The little unit that you saw with the small display in the lid may have been one of these: (link)"

No, it wasn't. The unit I saw was a grayish-coloured unit, about the same size and shape of a Sony CD Walkman, maybe slightly bigger because of the bigger screen than an average "normal" portable CD player would have.

A search on Better Buy's and Circuit City's web pages earlier today turned up nothing of the sort......guess I shall continue looking........

A thought~
What I would like to know is why more companies who make and sell MPEG-audio compatible portable CD players aren't equipping them with transports capable of playing MPEG audio off DVD-ROM discs as well as regular CD-ROM....Seems to me doing that would make perfect sense, especially since DVD recording nowdays is becoming so popular (and might even make regular CDs obsolete in the forseeable future, sorta like how 8-track tapes were pretty much made obsolete by compact cassettes years ago.)

Is it a cost issue? I mean, how much more (or less) does it cost to manufacture a DVD transport than a CD transport anyways?

It seems that portable DVD players took the path to larger (and wider 16:9) screen display, and that those with little or no display became a "dead end road" as iPod like devices dominated the market for portable audio.
A few years ago, Sony made a diskman sized mp3/DVD player:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MPD-AP20U-Portable-CD-RW-DVD-ROM/dp/B00007AKCU/ref=sr _1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1199331204&sr=8-1

You might find one of these used somewhere, but battery consumption was terrible! It had a built-in lithium battery, but also an external pack that would take 8 AA cells... pretty big pocketful!