# Does Anyone Make a PORTABLE CD/Cassette Player? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 18, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384 "2002-11-18T21:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/1 "2002-11-18T21:18:51Z")
My little cassette player is just about dead, so I figured I should finally enter the late 20th century and get a CD player, too. I want one that plays both, as I have several dozen cassettes I play a lot. Does _anyone_ manufacture a good combination CD/cassette player smaller than a goddam _Volkswagen?_ I want something I can balance on the windowsill while I am showering, or carry from room to room. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/2 "2002-11-18T21:27:52Z")
Most of these boomboxes are quite big, aren’t they? How about a discman and a walkman? Both are small, and you can hook up a pair of small amplified speakers to them. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/3 "2002-11-18T21:28:54Z")
Do disc- and walkmen play regular-sized cassettes as well as CDs? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/4 "2002-11-18T21:29:02Z")
Portable being subjective, of course, your best bet is to get a small boom box type of thing. I’m not aware of a “walkman” type device, and there probably would be a very small market for it anyways. I would take a stroll down to the closest electronics store and check it out. I would say there are ones available that are about the size of a shoebox. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/5 "2002-11-18T21:30:49Z")
No, a discman would play the CD’s, and a walkman would play the cassettes. Regular sized, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/6 "2002-11-18T21:33:53Z")
Hmmm . . . I was hoping for one machine that could play both CDs and cassettes . . . Since I don’t actually own any CDs, it would seem kinda silly to buy a separate CD player. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/7 "2002-11-18T21:34:59Z")
P.S. Can you listen to a walkman w/o the headphones? Wearing headphones in the shower while washing my hair might not be a good plan. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/8 "2002-11-18T21:40:50Z")
Like **Coldy** said, you can buy a small yet acoustically sound set of speakers and hook 'em up to the Walkman. I’ve used this set-up on vacations, with decent results. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/9 "2002-11-18T21:42:46Z")
Hmmm . . . Guess I will mosey over to one of those evil “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!” electronics stores in midtown. Or The Wiz? Or Virgin? What’s the best place to buy one of these things? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/10 "2002-11-18T22:25:33Z")
**Eve** , if you don’t mind hot footing to J&R (by Brooklyn Bridge), try [this.](http://www.jandr.com/JRSectionView.process?RestartFlow=t&IWAction=Load&Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=970&pbegin=0&pdir=0&Sort=Mfr_Name,Current_Price,Product_Name) You can at least see some models, and find where to get them in midtown. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/11 "2002-11-18T22:44:42Z")
Um, so why do want to buy a CD player if you don’t have any CDs? “Just to join the 21st century” doesn’t seem like a compelling or practical reason. Unless you’re planning on buying CDs in the future. ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-make-a-portable-cd-cassette-player/137384/12 "2002-11-19T00:03:04Z")
You can get a fairly small sized combo. The problem with CD players is that most of them play the CDs horizontally, which ends up taking up more surface area. But you can get a CD player that loads vertically, and that will be skinnier, thereby allowing you to balence it on window sills galore. Just don’t shower with it plugged in, OK?