I bought this, admittedly, mostly for the color--it was a gift for my daughter to keep in her room. It played fine for a couple of days, but now it skips all the time. The cds that it skips don't skip in any other player and have not a single blemish on them. This cd player may, in fact, lead you to damage your cds because you may repeatedly try to clean them and, if you're not careful, scratch them in the process.Even though the item was out of warranty because I purchased it at the end of October and it went out of warranty at the end of November, I explained to the Amazon rep after I called the customer service number that the item was given as a Christmas present and not even opened until December 25. He graciously offered to have UPS come and pick up the item and told me that a refund would post to my account within two days. This is great customer service. I also told him that Amazon shouldn't sell this item because, according to the reviews, this item is faulty and will cause customer service headaches for them for a while. He seemed receptive to that idea.I will update as to how easy it was to return this out-of-warranty, yet clearly faulty item.UPDATE: It was pretty easy to return it even out of warranty, once I told customer service that it hadn't actually been opened for a month. I just packed up the unit and put it on the porch. The UPS guy came and picked it up and left a receipt. I also had the option of dropping it off at the UPS Store.A couple days later, I got a notice in my email of the returned item received and then, later, an announcement that the purchase price had been refunded. However, I was surprised that I got charged a $6 "restocking" fee for an item that I'd returned as defective. Seems pretty cheap to me. The "restocking" is going to consist of Amazon throwing it into the defective dumpster. What a bunch of crap.Still got $22 back, so that's not too bad. I think they know I'm not going to call them to bother them about $6, but it just leaves me with the impression that Amazon is really pretty cheap and uses pointless policies to their advantage.UPDATE: Well, I was still angry that I had to pay $6 as a restocking fee, so I called the 1-800 customer service number and spoke to Monica. I asked her what the fee was for and she said that it was because I returned a defective item. I asked her why I had to pay a restocking fee when Amazon sold me a defective item. She backed off right away and asked me what the problem with the item was and I told her that it skipped, like everyone else's, as the reviews state. She then promptly credited me my $6 back. In light of this, I feel the restocking fee is just a gimmick Amazon uses to try to keep money from people.All in all, it only took about three minutes to get my last $6 back, but at first, she was only going to credit me back about $5.60 until I told her that the amount of the restock fee was $6. She said something about "Oh yeah, that's for tax." So, Amazon will try any little scam just to keep a little bit of your money and if you are involved with a refund YOU HAVE TO KEEP ON THEM AND WATCH YOUR PENNIES AND KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.It's illegal to charge a restocking fee on a defective item, first of all. Amazon knows this, so they don't fight you when you tell them to get rid of it. But they still try. What a turn off.I was very excited to find a pretty mint green CD player. I didn’t read the description. The picture is misleading, the lighting makes it look mint green. If I had read the description it’s actually black and silver. But it’s lightweight, sounds good, and sturdy.Purchased the NPB-251BU and NPB-251RD, which are the blue and red versions of the portable CD player with AM/FM stereo (one for son and one for daughter).Pros:1. Inexpensive2. Decent sound (for price)3. Stereo seems to work relatively wellCons:1. Has wheel-style control dial for changing radio stations and volume. This would normally be OK, but the radio station control dial is close to the sliding switch to change between AM radio/FM radio/CD player. These are also on the sides of the radios (volume on one side, mode change and radio station wheel on the other side), so it is easy to accidentally bump the radio station wheel when trying to change modes, which seems to ALWAYS change the station, which typically necessitates a couple of minutes of moving the wheel back and forth to get the wheel to just the right position (allows very little wiggle room) that plays the station you want.As of this writing, the blue CD player's mode change slider switch stopped working to start the CD player after only a few months (still works to change to AM/FM and to turn off the radio). I considered sending it off for warranty repair, but I have not due to:1. Apparently the labor for the warranty is only covered for 90 days (I had incorrectly assumed it would be part of the 1-year warranty), and I unfortunately procrastinated dealing with this and am outside the 90 days.2. The shipping is not included in warranty repair. For these radios, they apparently charge $20 for shipping for warranty repair, which is only ~$3 cheaper than buying their radio again outright (I'm not). In other words, after including whatever labor charges, it would actually be more expensive to have it repaired than buying a new radio.Regarding usage, both radios have just been sitting on my kids dressers where they can listen to the music when they want, so normal usage with us typically turning it on and off. However, since my son's radio stopped activating the CD player (and to avoid accidentally changing the radio stations), I have become more lazy about turning it on/off in hopes the parts will last a bit longer.At this point, I am probably going to use it as a learning tool and let my kids try to help me repair the radio. If we cannot repair it, then I will just look into getting something else that hopefully has more longevity.This had almost all the bells and whistles for the elderly with dementia. Significantly, there were written words near the buttons, rather than the today's typical international symbols, which baffle the elderly. Play and Stop buttons work better. So why is the volume on the side??GigtIt was a giftIt's OK for a bathroom radio. That's what I wanted it for. It doesn't get that loud.Wanted a cd player for a cd I just purchased. This player is impressive. I wanted one that was small as there wasn't a lot of room so I wasn't sure how the quality of a smaller player would be. The sound is great- very clear. You can fast forward, go back and repeat etc. They didn't skimp on anything.Perfect size, sound not bad ... especially for 50's cds, and worked right off the bat without any problems. I bought this to replace a larger more expensive one that just stopped working. The price was right and the reviews were good and I don't regret my purchase. Highly recommend this product for housekeepers who like to bop to music while working around the house.My mom wanted me to buy a CD player for my brother so he could read the kids books from the library with the CDs that came with them. I looked around here and found this. The price seemed a bit high but I was looking at walmart and it was roughly the same as well. I went ahead and ordered it.It arrived quickly and came in a smaller than expected box. I opened it up and inside was the CD player, the power cord and the manual. I picked up the CD player and it felt quite sturdy. I plugged in the cord and started to play around with the radio. Once you get the dial on the right station the music comes through the speakers quite crisp. I noticed the volume had a good range as well from low to high. My brother had a medium sized room and on high it was enough for his room and the hall way as well. The size of this CD player is just right and not too bulky. I have not played a CD on it yet but will update the review when I that happens.One thing that I disliked is the aesthetic of this CD player. It is not a huge issue but I felt like they could have gone with a more modern look as this CD player looks like something from the 00s . Other than that there are no issues and my mom was satisfied with this CD player. I will update the review if it breaks down or anything like that.I am very disappointed with this CD player. I bought it for my kids so I wouldn't have to turn on my computer to listen to music and it no longer works after 2 months. I take very good care of my electronics and it just stopped working. I didn't buy the protection plan because I assumed I would get a good year at least out of it especially because it wasn't the cheapest one out there. Anyway, do not buy this player because I now have to try to recycle a product that can't be composted or reused as it is. What a shame.My mom is 90. Loves her CDs but wanted a CD player that didn’t have black buttons. She loves the white buttons on this so she has no problem seeing the buttons !The timbre is tinny and the CD player stopped working within a month - only played for one to two hours a day.Instructions are only in English and Spanish with warranty service and replacement is available only available in the USA. The unit is in compliance with FCC requirements in the USA - I'm not sure that this item is intended for sale in Canada - BEWARE!