Powerful + Portable Stereo Solution

[Shintaro]

I am considering buying a portable stereo system to play CD's & music from IPOD etc......

So far this is my number 1 choice as the sound quality is superior to all else I have heard;

ITEM: SONY CD RADIO CASSETTE RECORDER WITH REMOTE CFDG500

URL: http://www.sony.com.au/catalog/product.jsp?categoryId=23020#MID1.jsp?textview=fal se&productId=CFDG500&categoryId=23020,LHS1.jsp?textview=false&productId=CFDG500,MENUITEM9

I can buy it for $200, but it runs on 8 x D batteries, and chews thru power faster than is practical. (about 1hr for CD's or about 3hrs for radio); But it's like 200W and is a really good loud stereo, plus light weight and portable!!

So I looked on ebay and found some rechargeable batteries (D Cell NiMh Rechargeable 9000mAh Batteries x 2); 8 of them cost $120 (or half of that for less powerful batteries). A charger to recharge 8 at once will cost $50 (it is also compatible with recharging smaller sized batteries);

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3868028464


Does anyone know anything about the batteries I mentioned in comparision to normal ones?

I also think that Sony would have a better system than this for my needs (More along the lines of amp, speakers, tuner & input for IPOD or MP3 player).

All up it's about $300-$350, I still am unsure about battery life but would expect 8 or 9 hours of CD use at a guess!!!

The other thing worth mentioning is the fact that the line-in input is the same as a headphone jack. Would this effect sound quality from an IPOD or MP3 player?

[Rik]

How portable is it going to be? If you wanted to get serious, you could get some SLA battery action happening, many many many hours of playtime, abuse-friendly battery charging, and reasonably priced (relatively). The only downfall is the size/weight of SLA batteries, and you'd need to be a bit handy with electricals (or have a mate who is) to set it up initially. But once you had everything made, you could leave the SLA on charge constantly (they don't mind a constant trickle charge AFAIK), grab the battery when you need it, have a days worth of music on hand, then when you get home, leave the battery on charge to be used next time around.
Then again, 9aH is craziness, they might be the way to go, but you could probably get a 5aH D cell cheaper, it's still last a decent time, and if you're after a simple, lightweight solution, then NiMH D cells should be it...
If it were me, I'd be inclined to go for the SLA option, but if you're not willing to DIY a few things, the extra $$ is worth spending. There might even be a model on the market with an inbuilt battery? I'd be suprised if such a thing didn't exist, as it makes sense to me.

[Shintaro]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43447&item=3867486087&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

These ones were half the price of the "D Cell NiMh Rechargeable 9000mAh".

8 would cost $60.

[bazza]

listen to the music of nature dude.





orrr just get some headphones.

sorry not a practical reply but 1hr life is really really bad!

[Ell]

Shintaro,the sony seems like a good package, but you have to watch out about that speaker power rating they have given. They say its 200 watt PMPO, (PMPO being peak music power output), which is bassically saying that it could sound like that, but in real life it is nowhere near that power. What you really want to find out about the system if your wanting more power output would be the RMS power. (correct me if im wrong people, always a chance).
Also, its a bit of effort to take a stero somewhere to listen to the length of one cd?
A good option would be what rik said, and look into other more efficient means, like a kit or something, especially if your going to be using the source of sound from a mp3 player or diskman, which can usually last alot longer than your normal full powered system.


*breathes*

rant done, good luck