Jensen Portable Stereo Cassette Player with AM/FM Radio (SCR-68C)

This is one of the few current-model brand-new personal portable cassette players on the market. It's inexpensive and, at least when new, functions adequately as a cassette player. Although the supplied earbuds worked, I used a couple of Sony-brand headphones as well as connected to my home audio component system. The unit plays tapes in stereo, and depending on the specific tape may demonstrate some audible wow-and-flutter and in a few cases some speed fluctuation. The sound is a bit pale compared to 1980s-1990s vintage "walkman" units, but satisfactory. However, the motor noise from the Tanashin tape transport becomes audible and seems to get worse with more use. Also, there's no anti-rolling mechanism and no "mega bass". Having said that, three months after buying this at a local Target store, my Jensen player still plays, still fast forwards, still auto-stops, still tunes FM and AM, and still looks good. The Jensen did re-invigorate my interest in playing my old cassettes via headphones. I went to an online auction site and to a local thrift store to buy four different Sony-brand Walkman players, while keeping the Jensen since it still worked alright. IMHO the genuine Sony Walkman units provide a richer sound quality with more dynamics and better speed stability. The problem is that parts and electronics on 20-to-30-year-old players deteriorate over time. Parts and servicing are hard to obtain. On two of the units, the headphone jack doesn't work properly; on another unit the tape playback stopped working; on another unit the volume control pot is noisy; on another the "Mega Bass" button no longer works. So, if you want to put time and money into learning how to fix age-related gremlins on 3-decade old Sony, Aiwa or Panasonic players, it might be worth it but plan to spend time on the Tapeheads forum learning how to repair your unit. However, if you just want to play your tapes and want something new with a warranty, I think the Jensen SCR-68C is an acceptable unit. It played acceptably connected to my main hi-fi component system (Yamaha receiver and Dayton Audio speakers on stands). The Jensen's FM/AM radio is a pretty good tuner once you get used to the wonky DSP tuning. The unit looks good and is very easy to use, but with my doubts about durability, I definitely recommend that you buy the Square Trade protection.

NO REWIND CAPABILITY!?? This is a nice little unit, BUT why provide a product like this without a simple rewind function? Buyer beware! Read the fine print.

Was surprised to even find this item still available. I had my old one for years and it held up great. I feel that I am getting the amount of quality that one would expect for the cost of it. I have so many old cassettes that I can still enjoy as I walk.

Very good for the price. I listen to my tapes on a daily basis. I do not need to rewind. All I have to do is push fast forward.

I need this when I am outdoors walking in the trails. I only use the radio. Just wish it had more settings like my older one that I had like bass and stereo.

This item is terrible! It plays as if it has a fast forward button being held down while in play mode only.

I didn’t know that the item does not record. I assumed that was a basic included function. Will return.

Only got this so that I can convert cassettes to aac/mp3 on my computer and it works! Seems lightweight and cheap quality for its price but did what I needed it to do.