cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
Yes i had similar when i was about 14-15 as a present loved it as i could listen on the school bus
Remember the Sony Walkman - a walk down memory lane.
- Thread starter Arrowfoot
- Start date
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Hacienda71
Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
- Location
- Wilmslow, Cheshire
I had an Aiwa which was tiny compared to most of the others on the market at the time, it had dolby, dynamic bass, auto reverse.
slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
I bought a Sony DC2 in about 1985. It was expensive but very, very good. A beautiful piece of engineering. You could slip it into an inside pocket of your ski jacket and head off downhill in a state of ecstasy
. Unfortunately the tape transport eventually ground to a halt and it got chucked. I wish I'd hung onto it.
. Unfortunately the tape transport eventually ground to a halt and it got chucked. I wish I'd hung onto it.
slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
Sad news. It must be wonderful to invent something in your life that gives pleasure to untold millions.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Press fast forward and fast reverse buttons at the same time.
Accy cyclist
Legendary Member
- Location
- The hills of Accrington
I never had a Walkman or similar as i've never been a fan of walking round listening to music. I've always preferred to have my wits about me. I do however have quite a lot of old cassette recordings of the top 20 on Sunday evenings in the 1970's,1970's football matches and family gatherings,like me,mum and dad and my grandma having Christmas dinner in 1985. I don't play them,but i won't throw them away.
Grant Fondo
Guru
- Location
- Cheshire
They sounded great! My boss let me have a top spec one that had been knocking around the hi fi shop I worked in ... Not much bigger than a tape really, used it for years
a.twiddler
Veteran
In 1978 I was looking for a decent small music player. When a local electronics shop owner told me to hold on to my money, Sony were going to bring out a mini stereo music player "soon" it is hard to believe now what a big deal it really was then. Although when the Sony Walkman came out it was way too expensive for me, eventually the then-new Mrs Twiddler bought me an Aiwa HS-G36 for Christmas 1987 with all the bells and whistles, auto reverse, auto stop, graphic equalizer, dolby, chrome/metal etc. It was not just a thing for portable music, the sound quality was good enough to just enjoy music on it. I used it for years, and the build quality is such that I still have it and it still works well now, though it has been superseded by later technology. The only drawback that I could see was the battery life of only about 4 hours unless you could plug it into a wall adaptor.
Some years later I bought a Philips Go Gear Vibe MP3/MP4 player which was also a good long lasting bit of kit. I was using Windows XP on a Samsung NC10 and at that time it was pretty amazing how much free music was available to download. I still have it and it works well but sadly I can't download new stuff because as far as I am aware the Philips Songbird programme can't be used on Windows 10. Windows XP no longer has support or updates from such as Firefox or Avast. A shame, as you can otherwise edit and delete stuff internally on this without needing to connect it to a computer. I was more or less compelled to update to a laptop with Windows 10. I tolerate it, but I really liked my old netbook with Windows XP for many reasons.
A few Christmases ago my daughter bought me an actual Sony Walkman MP3 player which is good in itself though a bit clunky when it comes to editing and downloading stuff via Windows 10. You can't edit internally as on the Go Gear Vibe. It is also hard to find free downloads any more without the programmes being full of potential bugs and viruses which takes away a lot of the pleasure. Perhaps I am a tightwad, but when you have been used to free stuff, it grates to have to pay for everything. I have at least managed to download all the stuff on the Philips to the Walkman. a far cry from the joyful innocence of making your own mix tapes from what we used to call a music centre with two tape decks, or from the radio (though in my folks' house we still used to call it the wireless).
It really does drive those enormous sound excluding headphones. Wired, not Bluetooth. I use smaller ones if I am carrying it somewhere.
Battery life for the Philips about 25 hours, the Walkman 20+.
Some years later I bought a Philips Go Gear Vibe MP3/MP4 player which was also a good long lasting bit of kit. I was using Windows XP on a Samsung NC10 and at that time it was pretty amazing how much free music was available to download. I still have it and it works well but sadly I can't download new stuff because as far as I am aware the Philips Songbird programme can't be used on Windows 10. Windows XP no longer has support or updates from such as Firefox or Avast. A shame, as you can otherwise edit and delete stuff internally on this without needing to connect it to a computer. I was more or less compelled to update to a laptop with Windows 10. I tolerate it, but I really liked my old netbook with Windows XP for many reasons.
A few Christmases ago my daughter bought me an actual Sony Walkman MP3 player which is good in itself though a bit clunky when it comes to editing and downloading stuff via Windows 10. You can't edit internally as on the Go Gear Vibe. It is also hard to find free downloads any more without the programmes being full of potential bugs and viruses which takes away a lot of the pleasure. Perhaps I am a tightwad, but when you have been used to free stuff, it grates to have to pay for everything. I have at least managed to download all the stuff on the Philips to the Walkman. a far cry from the joyful innocence of making your own mix tapes from what we used to call a music centre with two tape decks, or from the radio (though in my folks' house we still used to call it the wireless).
It really does drive those enormous sound excluding headphones. Wired, not Bluetooth. I use smaller ones if I am carrying it somewhere.
Battery life for the Philips about 25 hours, the Walkman 20+.
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Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
Never had a Sony. They felt like fashion accessories much like the ipod etc.
I was an Aiwa man. Loud as hell. Enough bass to shatter your skull. Bloody brilliant.
And what do we get now? I've yet to have an mp3 player that's louder than a fart (and thats after tweaking it to get around the EU sound limits) and bass? Do current manufacturers even know what that is?
I was an Aiwa man. Loud as hell. Enough bass to shatter your skull. Bloody brilliant.
And what do we get now? I've yet to have an mp3 player that's louder than a fart (and thats after tweaking it to get around the EU sound limits) and bass? Do current manufacturers even know what that is?
Grant Fondo
Guru
- Location
- Cheshire
The exact same one, an Aiwa G500 from 1986. Eventually the entire front part with EQ fell off but it trooped on with exposed cassettes!They sounded great! My boss let me have a top spec one that had been knocking around the hi fi shop I worked in ... Not much bigger than a tape really, used it for years
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
I couldn't have afforded a Sony I don't think.
Originally I had a basic bush version, then I bought an Aiwa which was much better and I still have it today although I don't use it. As the owner of a 1990s car I probably used cassettes and recorded mixed tapes to a more recent date than most but then I replaced my factory fit Blaupaunt car stereo with one which accepted an SD memory card full of MP3s, my use of tapes and CDs declined rapidly.
Originally I had a basic bush version, then I bought an Aiwa which was much better and I still have it today although I don't use it. As the owner of a 1990s car I probably used cassettes and recorded mixed tapes to a more recent date than most but then I replaced my factory fit Blaupaunt car stereo with one which accepted an SD memory card full of MP3s, my use of tapes and CDs declined rapidly.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
A funny tale. I fited a new car stereo for an old boy I know. He knew I was a Derek and Clive fan and told me he had the vinyl albums back in the day, so being the generous soul I am I loaded all the D&C albums onto an SD card and popped it into the stereo.
That night he was entertaining a lady friend of high born breeding, ie, she fancied herself as the next Hyacinth Bucket. She walked to my friends house whereupon he ushered her to his car to drive her to a posh restaurant to be wined and dined. Key in the ignition and out of the speakers comes, "...you ******* ****, caught having a ****, wifes hair matted full of *****."
My friend didn't realise there was a memory card and was unable to make it stop. In the end he had to kill the ignition and reach for handbook. I couldn't help but snigger when he phoned the next day to tell me that I'd torpedoed his date.
On the subject of car stereos, a work colleague bought a 2004 BMW 320i Coupe and it has a cassette player but no CD player. It's a nicely specced model with leather seats etc and the stereo and the speakers would have been a decent bit of kit so in it's time, it just seems odd that a reasonably upmarket car would have come as recently 2004 with what would have been an outdated sound system even then.
The first car CD player I remember seeing would have been in my uncle's 1991 Granada Ghia.
The first car CD player I remember seeing would have been in my uncle's 1991 Granada Ghia.
