Philips ACT7583 is very capable of quality in terms of sound. The headphones are not just good but nicely designed and are comfortable.
The battery compartment is located inside the player and it is for the specific reason, keep the compartment waterproof. Normally the players have the battery compartment at the bottom but since this player boasts about being splash proof Philips did a good job relocating the compartment. In my opinion a good idea, some have complained about awkward positioning, as you need to remove the CD to replace batteries.
The question is, how often? The batteries last a good ten to fifteen days if played for an average of couple of hours a day. Keep in mind the batteries tend to get exhausted quicker if the player is in use for longer periods of time in one go. The batteries in question were ?Duracell Alkaline?.
The player is capable of handling all types of media and does a very good job of it. The music obviously does not skip if ESP mode is engaged, however, in Power Saving mode I shook the player lightly and it did not skip, good mechanism and transport.
The player output is through the Line out/Headphone out so be careful when hooking it up to an amp, the volume must be about 80 % and no more otherwise distortion may set in which is not the player fault but a fault with all the players not having a dedicated line out. Quibbling aside, who would want to hook up a perfectly active looking player with home hifi anyway!
The front of the player boasts a clamp which when pulled opens the CD inserting compartment. This player does not have the usual button for pressing to get the top cover to open through spring mechanism, a very nice touch away from the ordinary. This I understand is also due to the fact that the player has a rubber lining on the sides to keep water or dirt from getting inside the compartment.
This player can also handle CD-RW (Compact Disk Rewritable Disks) which means you can burn them a few hundred times without any problem. Unlike CD-R’s which once burned are not usable or rewritable. Just one word here, ’’SAVINGS’’!
The player comes with a nice neoprene pouch, an AC/DC adaptor and of course the headphones.
I purchased it for my son who is thrilled with the looks and the performance.