No more Sony cassette Walkmans....er Walkmen....players

Lexus had at least one model with a cassette deck through the 2009 model year.

 

I bought one maybe five or six years ago, to listen to books on tape. I haven't used it for awhile now.

Last time I was looking at cars, I expressed some amazement that some still had tape decks and the salesman told me they are really popular for books on tape.

 

Why doesn't he just buy a little AM/FM radio without the tape capability?

 

I've got a '98 pickup truck, and it has a tape deck.

It comes in handy, because I have one of those tape/CD player adapter things that I plug into my iPod.

Otherwise, I don't know how I'd listen to my iPod in my truck.

 

I have no idea how many Walkman-type things I went through back in the day. They either fell out of my pocket and smashed all over the place or mangled my tapes. Best one I ever owned was a Panasonic which was a real horse and easily the loudest one I ever had. Hated the shitty headphones too.

I had one of the first Discman's and it was complete shit. Same with every portable CD player I have owned.

 

Thanks for this. Made my day.

 

Go to Best Buy and get a radio transmitter that plugs into your cig liter on one end and plugs into your iPod on the other end. Works like a charm. I think it's like 20 bucks, tops.

 

Ha! I could have written every word of this post but especially the Discman part. "Complete shit" is not a strong enough term for how awful those things were. It scratched every disc I bought. Fortunately I wasn't that stupid and only bought a handful before I bought some sweet little CD-only player at a JC Penney's outlet for like $99. Hooked it up to my stereo and boom, I was set for the next six years. I thought it was the deal of a lifetime. I could probably buy it now for $.99.

I got a CD player boom box when I went away to college and it, too, was complete shit. Actually ATE batteries. As in, when I opened up the back, the batteries had begun to melt.

 

Oh, you people who always have to have to latest tech stuff as soon as it appears. Some of us stick with reliable classics.

 

I remember my first one -- a brand-new cassette/AM/FM job with the three-band EQ on the front.

The problem with *every* Sony Walkman I ever owned was that the headphone jacks would short out very rapidly. I later got an off-brand one (maybe not a cheaper Aiwa, but something like it) that lasted for *years,* despite several droppings and other problems.

 

I just bought a knockoff Walkmen today at Target. It works, kind of.

 

Ditto this. Stephen King has my eternal grattitude for finishing this series.

Anyway, I must have had 20 as a kid. The best was a Sony one that had a lock on it with a digital radio and preset stations. I think that one made it a full year. I even convinced my parents to buy a four-pack of rechargable batteries so I could just pop a new set in when the two died.
I made the best mix tapes out of anyone I knew. Rock, alternative, rap -- whatever. I'd stay up day and night taping off the radio. I also had a trick if the tape broke. Piece it back together with clear nail polish and dub it. Sure you'd have weak spot, but it was better than losing the whole thing.