Sony WM-FX290 Stereo, No penalties and a few nice..
| Overall Rating |    |
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No penalties and a few nice touches
The WM-FX290 plays tapes clearly without the warbly speed changes (known as “wow and flutter”) that render piano music unbearable. At this price point, competency is the key; anything better is icing on the cake.
These days, people shopping for a cassette Walkman probably listen to audiobooks or have a boxful of old tapes they think they’ll get around to playing. Neither customer likely expects Dolby noise reduction or the ability to play CrO2 or metal tapes. Also, in case you were planning to dictate notes to self, note now that this unit does NOT record.
The pleasant surprise is what you DON’T expect to find at this price: Attractive styling, digital tuning with presets, comfortable headphones, exceptional battery life (from one AA battery!), and a “hold” button that prevents unintended station changes when the unit is stuffed in a pocket.
What isn’t so hot? Well, weather band has weak reception even in areas with usable signal, the “bass boost” function produces a sonic mudslide that will alarm even “boom car” afficionados, and the nearly opaque clamshell makes you eject to read the tape label or see how much tape remains on a side (yikes).
At this humble price point, the presence of a few nice touches — and lack of jarring penalties — spells an easy five stars.
Update (2/6/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.
The featured review for this product, Sony WM-FX290 Stereo Cassette Player with FM/AM/TV/Weather Tuning Electronics, was written by Nathaniel C. Moffat.
The average rating for this item is out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.
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Tags: adequate, amfm cassette player, audiobook player, auto reverse, cassette player, cassette player portable, cassette player sony, cassette players, cassette voice recorder, cassette-player-no-auto-reverse, economical collection of modes, expensive good cassette, junk, lightweight sony cassette player and receiver, multiple tv stations, no-auto-reverse, portable cassette player, radio, sony, walkman
Posted on: March 16, 2010
Filed under: Reviews
Reviews (3)
Nathaniel C. Moffat
February 6th, 2010 at 2:08 am
No penalties and a few nice touches
Rated 5 stars.
Carolyn Young
February 7th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Poor Quality from Sony
I am disappointed in Sony with this product. Sony charges a premium for their Walkmans. And I really expected them to deliver.
In the last two years I have purchased three Sony Walkmans. They all broke within 4 months of the purchase. One ate every tape it touched, the other two stopped turning the reel.
I strictly listen to books on tape that I borrow from our local library, I don’t use the radio or other features, so cannot rate them.
This particular model is very sensitive to how the tapes line up. So if you get an older tape that is a little loose it cannot handle it. I had to rubber band the tapes to get them to fit tight enough to play.
Second, the lid on the battery slot stopped snapping shut. And the battery would just slip out! Again a good rubber band helped hold it closed.
Last, the player just stopped turning the tape reel! Sony does warranty their products but you have to pay to exchange it for a refurbished one. Ship the old product back etc. This is the same problem I had before.
For the price, this player is not worth the hassle. You are better off buying two of the cheaper brand, then you can just recycle it when it breaks and move on to the next one.
M. Rust
February 27th, 2010 at 12:32 am
Works fine
I haven’t owned a walkman in quite a few years. I bought this to listen to books-on-tape while I workout. It’s very compact and has worked well. There is sufficient volume for my needs and the sound quality seems just fine. The fabric/plastic cover has to be removed to change tapes (I usually just leave it off now … but you need it if you want to clip the unit to your waistband). Battery life seems good and it only requires one AA. Since I’ve only had it one month, I can’t really comment on durability.
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