Plays MP3s and Audio CDs. Thats it.

Plays MP3s and Audio CDs. Thats it. NO USEFUL FEATURES for MP3 that other simular priced players HAVE!

It plays MP3 CDs and Audio CDs. Thats all it does. Nothing else usefull. NO ID3 support or longer than 8 char. file name support. PIECE OF CRAP. Stuff like that is needed for MP3 playing. Screw Sony for thier 1/8th ass job making this P.O.S.

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Aiwa CDC-MP3: FAR BETTER THAN SONY''s PIECE OF CRAP.

- All the other strengths listed - Decent color scheme (especially w/ my Integra - black on red!) - Quick eject of CD''s - MP3''s baby! Make sure you encode with 192KBPS with the Lame or Blade Encoders for excellent reproduction (I did test this using audio reference equipment).

- Yes, the dreaded filename problem

4.5 out of 5, imo. Well, what can I say. I finally decided to hunker down and purchase one of these mp3 players that I''ve been waiting for. Forget the hard disk versions out there, or hooking up a portable. That''s just too much trouble for me. Whatever. Sony does what it says and I''m very happy about it. I did look into other receivers and looked in various forums, and it seems for this price this is the best buy in the market. Go buy it! Now I don''t have all of these ugly jewel cases in my car where pretty people can be sitting hearing my Techno!

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Great sound,no skipping when 4 wheeling,sturdy unit,and seems easier too use,not alot of buttons.Also comes with remote which is kinda silly since the unit is right there about a foot away (have we become that lazy}But might be good for tailgating or camping.

Flashy Looks,no ID3 tag reading,only 8 character folder/file naming

I just got the Sony mp3 player,after looking and trying out the Kenwood and Awia units.I was hoping Sony would make a mp3 player,the more choices the better.I have only had it in for a few days now but no problems so far,no skipping and I have a lifted blazer that has a rough ride.The Sony sounds better than the Awia and Kenwood and also seems to be a more sturdier unit.I liked the Kenwoods looks over the Sony and Awia,but I want performace over anything else and I think the Sony has one up on them.It is a pain that Sony didn't include ID3 tag reading or longer names,but I will live with it.And you can disable some of the flashing lights on it.Which is good cause it advertises itself for what I don't know I already bought it.Price didn't have that much to do with my purchase,though I didn't want to spend more than $400.I did get a deal on it since I work for Sony Music,but that didn't influence my decsion.I just felt that Sony's Mp3 player was the better unit.As far as sound and performance.

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Kenwood looks nicer,and adds ID3 tags but faceplate seemed flimsy,and too many buttons,sound not as good as Sony.Awia too many flashy lights and sound quaility not as good.

1. Has not skipped at all.
2. Does not take too long to read the cd.
3. Comes with a wireless remote. (not a big deal but I love it)

1. Of course does not support scrolling the filenames
2. And does not support ID3 tags.
3. One thing that I miss is a pause button, but I will get over it.

I have to say that I am definatley impressed. The simple fact of condensing my cd collection down to about 20-25 cd's is awesome. Evrybody is complaining about the fact that it doesn't scroll the filename and support ID3 tags, but come on, about this time last year I had 100 cd's all over my car.
I have to submit this because I don't think that it has received that many good reviews. Before I received mine I was worried that it would suck, but now that I have it I love it. If you really can't get past the scrolling and ID3 tags support then don't buy it. If you want a good in dash MP3 player for an excellent price(on Ebay you can find it "new" for arround $300-$350) then go for it!

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1.Plays mp3 as advertized on CDR 74 and CDR 80 min. I use store brand media and HP CD Writer Plus 9300 with Easy CD Creator 5.
2.Loads and starts playing 143 song mp3 in under 10 seconds.
3.Installation was done by professionals in a minimal amount of time and I am very pleased about the way it was installed.
4.I have not had any problems with skipping while driving.

1. The display, the display, the display. Its far too flashy; silver and red, with red background lighting (typical Xplod). Sony should use their black matrix display technology here.
2. Filename and folder name is limited to 8 characters. It does scroll, but only between folder, filename, and track number/elapsed time modes.
It would be a much better product if they switch to a dot matrix display and the ability to scroll the entire folder and file names.
3. If the filename or folder name is > 8 characters then characters #7 and #8 are '*1'. This leaves only six useable characters. Also many of these six are displayed as something else. For example numbers are substitited for letters and apostophes are displayed as '*'. This results in most displayed names being of limited usefulness.
4.No ID tags? This is an mp3 player afterall.
5.Sony should make displayed information to be same as the many jukeboxes available on PCs. Lets face it we don't want to rename and restructure CDRs just for the CDX-M450X.
6.Scrolling does not work for most files because of the filename length.

Overall a nice sounding unit.
It will be interesting to see what else appears on the market in the next few months.
I think that some other companies may have problems with properly playing mp3 so be aware. Sony has done the most important feature correctly.
I think Sony should offer some sort of upgrade policy for CDX-M450X owners to their next generation product.

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plays mp3's

skips periodically when trying to read mp3 tracks

i've been waiting for a mp3 car deck for some time and was delighted when i saw one in the local video store. I had it installed for about a month and have decided to bring it back. Why? Well for one there aren't many options on this thing - maybe not a major thing for some but very limited - not even a pause button - only the D-bass deal for surround options. The biggest downfalls come with what I bought it for - MP3's. For one it only displays 8 characters max on the display instead of the 27+3 format with ISO9660 - big no no in my mind. Also the deck had many problems reading off the cd and skipping - even when the vehicle was stationary. CD playback was fine it was just with the mp3's - in a couple instances it even skipped to the next track in the middle of the song - very annoying.

I have my sony MP450X in the box and am waiting for new decks by JVC, Clarion, Panasonic and Kenwood in the next month or two to be released. I would reccommend that you be patient and do the same

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Sony Brand name
MP3/CD/CDR/CDRW player
50W output (19W RMS)x4CH

Occasional skips with CD-RW on rough road.

I have been using the $323 (with a Sony rebate on Xplod decks at Best Buy) Sony CDX-MP450X for almost a month now. This was a self-installed unit, taking about 2 hours, not hard at all for a BS/MS degree electrical engineer, no complications. I replaced my 45W factory original Isuzu "premium-sound" cassette deck, wiring was easy if you buy the correct wiring harness for your car (or just pay $45-60 and have the professionals do it).

The benefits:

1. MP3 playback. It does what it says without much fanfare.
2. Works with CDR, CDRW (I only use good Sony, Verbatim, or Fuji discs).
3. Can work with multi-session discs
4. IMHO, when comparing the Sony to the Aiwa MP3 decks (in store), I thought Sony sounded better for only $23 more.
5. Wireless IR remote control, works all buttons.
6. Clock (important, since I'm a doctor, and always rushing around). However, although not visible when shut down, you can set the clock to appear in the upper corner of the display instead of the source name.
7. The Sony has an Attenuate ("ATT") button (and backside wiring for in-dash cell phone), which is similar to a mute button, and is very useful when using a car cell phone. I didn't think it was so important, till I began using it.


The Downsides:

1. No pause button
2. No MP3-ID tags. It shows either the folder or file name, or track/time.
3. Although the manual states 31 character long naming is available with ISO-9660 level 2 (or with Joliet or Romeo expansion), I have yet to make that work (using Sony CD-Writer on my PC with Sony Hotburn software). For now, I'm stuck with the 8+3 naming convention (all MP3's need the ".mp3" suffix). Although the unit will display the folder name.
4. MP3 discs take a long time to startup (same for all MP3 decks it seems).
5. MP3 multisession discs take longer to start (1-3 min for big discs).
6. No trunk changer/deck controller (not really needed for an 11 hour long MP3 disc), but most other Sony Xplod series support changer deck controls.
7. Do you really need a remote control inside of a car???
8. CDRW's were most likely to skip - it has skipped only 5 times on a CDRW, only over very rough road (bad pot holes or off-road in my SUV). Overall, it skips many times less than when my Sharp MiniDisc player through my old cassette deck. I am satisfied with it for normal driving.
9. Theft deterence is a minor pain - detachable faceplaces are always a nuisance until you get used to them, as with most other decks.
10. The clock does not display when the power is shut off.
11. All these new colorful car receivers are rather garishly overdone as far as light shows go - I'd opt for the simple, bland, "don't steal me I'm not worth much" look. Having had car phones, and stereos stolen in past.
12. No line in jack, as with the Aiwa. So I don't use my old Minidisc walkman as much.


Overall, I've been happy with the Sony. It has a few shortcomings ("pause" button, MP3 ID tags) to overcome, but it does well as advertised. I don't believe the other MP3 decks are any better in those regards. My best advice is to bring a disc, see and hear them inside a store, which is what changed my mind to the Sony from the Aiwa and Kenwood.

Good Luck!

-SY

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Aiwa CD-MP3

1. Doesn't skip at all.
2. Doesn't take too long to read the disc.
3. The player is nice and bright in the dark.
4. Great price for a player that will play over 150 songs on 1 disc!

1. Doesn't support ID3 tags although it claims to do so.

This is the best CD player that I have ever purchased from Sony. I have used 2 models prior to this one and they have really stepped up the quality.

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Kenwood and Aiwa both had mp3 players, but I had talked to a guy at Best Buy and he said that the Aiwa cd players get returned often and I have always been a Sony car stereo lover so I decided to fork out the extra bucks and go with it.

1.plays MP3s
2.comes with remote

1.sound quality
2.interface
3.no pause button
4.rotary volume control (skips when turned fast)
5.flashing lights can't be turned off
6.d-bass option, who listens to a song and suddenly thinks "this song needs more bass"? there is a bass and treble control, so what's with the d-bass
7.no cd-stacker controll

This deck is a piece of junk. Previous headunit was a Kenwood KDC-PS709. Sure the Sony plays MP3s but the sound is horrible. Is it just me or does most of Sonys audio players have a tinny sound to them? The interface I also found to be least impressive. I found myself scanning through a song when I wanted to skip a few songs (very annoying). I can't se this thing skipping on a highway but it sure did on the gravel roads where I live. Overall I'm not impressed! I find that sound quality is a little more important than what format you're listening in.

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Kenwood KDC-PS709 (non MP3)
If you played a store bought or burned CD in wave format on the same set of speakers with or without an amp. You would want the Kenwood. I'll soon be purchasing the Kenwood MP3 player(for car). I expect nothing less than what the Sony offered. Perhaps I should wait a while, and let the big guns iron out a few glitches before I but my next MP3 player for the car.