Price Paid:  $117.00 from house of fraser

Summary:
i went to the house of fraser in the metro centre, gateshead, because me and my stereo were both broke and i had a store card. i had in mind a budget of £200 to get something that wouldn't offend my ears, so i took a cd of dark side of the moon and listened to every system in the store at near maximum levels. the sa-pm01 blew my socks off. nothing for under £300 came close, AND this thing was priced at £129.99 AND 10% off in the sale. total £116.99. totally excellent sound, perhaps slightly thin in the midrange, but i find playing with the bass/treble can more or less compensate though it varies from cd to cd. Problems began when i moved house. suddenly cd's skipped like mad and it started to make a regular clonking sound. it was out of guarantee by this time so i ripped it apart. i don't know what caused the problem, but it seemes that the thingumajig in the lid that holds the cd onto the spindle was off-centre. i checked everything but there was nothing broken and nothing to adjust. in the end i enlarged the hole in the assembly that holds the thingumajig (after unscrewing and prising off the lid which is also glued on). this seemed to fix it. at the price i will probably buy another before they discontinue it. it is currently sold here as the SCPM03 priced at £148.99. still a bargain, highly recommended.

Strengths:
small, cheap, sounds great.

Weaknesses:
potential for mis-alignment

Similar Products Used:
sony

Price Paid:  $199.00 from Video Only

Summary:
This mini-malist system really puts it out! Originally my brother and I bought this for my dad to use in his office. My mom liked it so much, she got one for her bedroom. And needing something for my dorm room, I couldn't think if anything better. So now we own three amongst the four of us. My brother would probably get one too if he didn't have a house full of high-end audio equipment.
For under 200 bucks, I dare anyone to find a system that sounds better. Placement of the speakers has much to do with the bass due to the rear ports, but once they're set up right, I find it hard to justify the Bose 201's hooked up to my pioneer receiver at home. I was planning on eventually hauling that whole system from San Fran to Philly, but now I have no reason.
One reviewer found the highs "too grainy". I disagree. This may be a symptom of placing the speakers too high; the baffles on the tweeters are intended for the speakers to be placed at ear level. Bass is NOT lacking. I would expect much less from a system this small. I did buy an Acoustics Research 8" sub, but found that the audio outs on the system were not sufficient for this application. Such a shame!
The problem today with this type of "all included" system is that people look for the bigger and better, and overlook the system that does everything you need, and does it all WELL. Companies like Aiwa have filled this corner of the market with useless gizmos like digital equalizers, extremely over-rated power outputs, UltraGigaMega bass ports, and of ALL things, casino games on the displays!!! I tell the manufacturer to give it a rest, and remember to accomplish what the customer is shopping for: QUALITY MUSIC REPRODUCTION.
Anyway, I'm sure nobody has read this far, but if you have... buy this system. You won't regret it.

Strengths:
Great bang for the buck; R&D money went into doing a few things right, instead of adding thousands of useless features. Takes up very little shelf space.

Weaknesses:
Poor audio out connection... not good for adding a subwoofer

Similar Products Used:
Sony, JVC, Kenwood, Aiwa

Summary:
For it's size and price, this is a great little machine. I got it because it was small, inexpensive, had a CD and tuner, a clock, and an alarm. What more could you ask for? And as a bonus, it looks really nice, has excellent sound quality, is simple to use, and has nice features like being able to set the volume of the alarm independant of the last time it was on. Very nice.
My only complaint is the colours that Panasonic choose for the display. It is very hard to read, especially in the dark. It looses a star for that. Am I being picky, or what??

Summary:
I found this unit for a great price of 100 bucks plus shipping on Ebay, and I can't be happier. The unit sounds really good for it's size, and makes an excellent bedroom or office stereo. Aside from a few things, I am very happy with this unit.

Strengths:
Solid sound for it's size, great price

Weaknesses:
No optical out for digital recording, thin speaker wire

Similar Products Used:
JVC

Summary:
I was looking for a small CD player to replace an aging portable. I also wanted something WITHOUT a cassette and that was simple and straight forward to use.
This little unit met all of these criteria.

It is not fair to compare this to a full blown stereo system, however for what it is, the sound is very good.

It is perfect for a small room or "background" music system.

The design is simple and clean. No useless flashing lights or fancy features. Panasonic concentrated on quality not quantity of sound and features.

I remain very pleased with this little unit.

Strengths:
Sound, style, value

Weaknesses:
Limited volume control. Buttons on remote are small.