WALKMAN WM FX277 (Sony WM-EX162)

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Product:	Sony WM-EX162
Date:	23/06/01 (156 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value, Good sound, Stylish

Disadvantages: Bad design, No auto tape flip over

My beloved Panasonic personal hi-fi has just about given up so I have had to buy a new as the makers charge 50 notes for ALL repairs. The reason I wanted to keep it is because it has a graphic equalizer on it, which is vital for lovers of rock music.
Lovers of this genre will know that one has to record it off vinyl and CD to make up a collection on tape that will need constant attention of adjusting and volume control.

You can’t buy tapes for love and money in the high street these days, let alone decent rock on CD at a reasonable price. All the stuff I like comes from America and starts at 16 quid. A serious rip off.
And when you take your portable CD player out for a stroll it hops around all over the shot.
When are we going to get a fare deal from the music industry, those CDs cant be still that expensive considering you can get a free internet CD ROM for nothing!.

Anyhow, I digress wanted to buy one with a equalizer but everything was super bass buttons or super dooper bass buttons. They all seemed to be designed for dance music and hip-hop fans, well you know my views on that din. Yet again music minorities are not catered for.

After a long and annoying trawl through the cartel-controlled chain stores, I settled for the original main man on the block form day one. The Sony Walkman FX277.It does have the obligatory super bass button and no graphic equalizer (If you know of any that do, let me know).

It’s stylish to look at, but has a major design fault through its vanity that the radio can be activated by a light touch on the button. So when you put it in your bag or wherever, it seems to switch its self on and burn down the battery.
Theres a more solid hold switch that can stop this happening. But that also burns up the battery. It’s a case of vanity over practicality when the Japanese are in pursuit of futuristic style.
You load the tapes in from the bland side which you didn’t ex
pect and it takes to AA batteries with a LCD display showing how much of the power is left in the cells.
If doesn’t have an adapter pin to run it off the mains which is a little, if very tiny, dissapointing.

The radio is excellent though and the FM mono switch gives you a really good sound, especially with the super bass on. AM is MW and does the job. You also have 40 odd presets for stations even though we have no where near that in this radio backward country.
Digital tuning also adds to the radios performance and goes beep when you press it. Well you have to have a beep somewhere these days don’t you.

This one doesn’t have a flip over switch so you do have to stop what your doing and scramble through your pockets or bag, still trying to look cool with your shades on to change the tape side. By now your sunglasses are in the hedge and your mobile has just bounced off the concrete.
After been lost in your tunes and the impending recovery one has to recover their composure and find the B-side to the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

Even though it has a built in equalizer, the sound quality is excellent. Sadly the trend to have snug fit ear phones that supposedly nest in the inner ear is still running strong. Everyone knows that it just doesn’t work like that and you lose most of the bass and feel of the tone as they constantly crawl around your ear bits.
I have been scratching around electrical stores to find my beloved spongeis to make sure the phones fit snug in the lug.

Theres the switch that no one here on Earth or the Sony corporation knows what its for. C02 Metal or norm knob has no use except to get you annoyed because its set on the one where you cant hear anything much but a numb hiss.
AVLS limit switch looks more series and I intend to leave well alone in case it fires of a laser or triangulates George (completely mad) Bushes Star Wars program over Ipswich.

The volume is prett
y good for loud music lovers and the look is excellent along with the cool carry case that’s also thrown in. I also picked it for the anti-roll mechanism that’s essential for runners and strutters. Belt clip for the joggers and power walkers in Hyde Park.
At 29.999 with my dooyoo rewards it was well worth the money and I would recommend it to anyone who needs a stylish, not too flash portable tape player for a reasonable price. A classic name to.

Summary: