DMP-CD 100
by D-Link
When the GF! editors first passed me D-Link’s DMP-CD 100 for review, I thought it was surely a useless product. I mean, c’mon … a portable CD player that plays MP3s’ The MP3 junkies we’ve seen are tubby tech freaks whose idea of exercise is a rousing round of “Madden NFL 2001” and to whom crunches are sounds Cheetos make. Then it hit me—I’m THE natural reviewer of this bitchin’ new tune spider.
All in all, there’s not much to say about the DMP-CD 100. It’s a Walkman-type CD player that plays MP3s. And it works. Because its design is fairly standard—it looks like most portable CD players, but sports an attractive sea-blue case—it is easy to set up and use. Consumers can power it with off-the-rack batteries or rechargeable cells. It provides excellent sound quality, especially for MP3s.
In other words, there are no real drawbacks to the product. Other reviewers have complained of lagging load times for MP3 tracks and of difficulty skipping around on MP3s. I found, however, that whatever delays I experienced with the DMP-CD 100 weren’t significantly worse than the lagging signals or delayed folder searching that characterizes audio downloading in a typical online situation. In fact, I was impressed with how well the DMP-CD 100 performed compared to online downloading. So I have no idea what these other reviewers really expected. It’s portable, man! On top of that, audiophiles can make public their most private audio moments by means of the handy Line Out jack, which enables them to jack the DMP-CD 100 into external audio sources.
So there you have it. Believe D-Link’s hype regarding the DMP-CD 100. It’s a reliable product that offers the amenities of the finest portable CD players—phat bass boosters, anti-shock capabilities, a limited warranty—as well as the ability to play and program your own MP3s. With an estimated street price of $119, individual audio expression has never been so accessible or so satisfying.
Greg