Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

    I have been looking into purchasing a CD for almost a year now and
    was convinced that I was going to buy a Sony (CDP-302) once the
    price came down.  I figured that the features it had and the quality
    of the Sony name made this the best value I could find for the money.
    I found that Consumer Reports agreed with be if their opinion is
    of any value to you.  Also I own a Sony receiver, tape deck, and
    linear tracking turntable (and car stereo, for that matter) all
    of which have served me well.
    
    This summer I saw the prices begin to drop and literally on the
    day I was ready to buy the CDP302 I saw the SL-PJ33 on a shelf next
    to it advertising the same features but for $140 less money.  After
    several feverish days of research I went back and bought the Technics
    CD player for $229.  Boyam I glad I waited.
    
    Here are a few of the things I found while doing my research:
    
    o The Technics system withstood shock better than the Sony (ie.
      it didn't skip as much)
    
    o all of the features on the Sony were equaled or bettered by the
      Technics except one -- when pre-programming tracks, you could
      not skip backwards through the tracks you had programmed unless
      you had been in "repeat" mode.
    
    o the Technics had superior features than the Sony in 2 - 4 areas
      including the ability to program more tracks.
    
    Now the bad news, I believe that finding this unit now will be next
    to impossible because I'm almost positive that it is a discontinued
    model.  I bought mine on July 23 (or so) and after mine the store
    had only 2 more (one being the demo model).  I looked for it in
    about 12 - 15 other stores and only found it in one.  All they had
    left was the demo which they *were* selling (usually a bad sign)
    for $249.  
    
    However, now the good news, the SP-LJ33 is exactly the same as the
    SP-LJ300 except the latter is about 33% wider (normal stereo component
    sized).  I saw one of these just last week at the new mall in
    Nashua,NH. It wasnt $229, but I don't think it was above $279 and
    may have even been in the $249 range.
    
    I would highly recommend the unit (although I should be hesitant
    after all its *only* been 4 weeks).  If I had gotten the SP-LJ300,
    my only complaint would be satisfied -- my stereo shelves fit all
    my other components perfectly, but alas, the CD player leaves gaps
    on either side (and their not even big enough to fit any CD's!).
     However, this is a minor complaint that I'm sure I can live with.

    The is one thing I forgot to mention though.  The SP-LJ33 only uses
    one laser in the "cartridge" as opposed to the three laser tracking
    system used in Sony (and many others).  I read an article about
    a year ago that said the 3-laser tracking prevented skips much better
    than one and that most CD players used three lasers.  However, I
    think that this single laser system in the Technics is different
    than what was available a year ago (although my memory on where
    I saw/heard this is fuzzy).  Anyway, I found the Technics to be
    better at tracking (as mentioned in .1) and don't have elephants
    running through my apartment too often. :-)

    Nowadays, the three-laser systems are being phased out in favor
    of improved single-laser systems.  The new Technics use a single
    beam, and so do the Sonys.
    				Steve

    Those must be the new line of Sonys. The old CDP-302,102, etc. had
    3 lasers.  There is a new 302 available now (some places) cleverly
    named the CDP-302-II (as in Roman numeral 2). Guess Sony is running
    out of numbers.