ReshowCassette Tape Player – Portable Tape Player Audio Cassette to Digital Converter, Compatible with Laptops and Personal Computers Convert Cassette Tape Recorder to iPod Format (Silver)

Bought this to transfer some old "greatest hits" cassette tapes to mp4 format. It worked great! I liked the simple setup of a single cable which both supplied power to the device and transferred sound to the computer. (no batteries required!) I also liked that it had a second cable with earpiece sound connection so you could monitor the process while transferring the music. The device did add some background "noise" due to it small simple size, but this was easily removed using Audacity, the free and easily downloadable digital audio editor application software. Overall this product provides great "bang for the buck!"

This is better than I expected for the price. When I first tried to play a tape it was a little slow and I could hear a squeaking noise. I decided to open this player up to see what the quality was like and if the gears could be greased/oiled.Three screws on the side hold the back on. I removed the screws and I then used a feeler gauge to separate the back from the player. On the inside I found a piece of insulating tape was leaning against the motor belt. I cut this tape and reapplied it to the circuit board. I also judiciously oiled the tape mechanism wheels and applied lithium grease to the stop/play,FF/RW gear contact points. I noted the motor was larger than I expected and the drive belt was thicker than I would have guessed. The player is designed to last for many hours of use.Update: I purchased a second one of these players and found after opening it up that the insulation tape on the circuit board has been replaced with shrink tubing on some units. This is obviously preferable. I have attached pictures of the two units; one with the the insulation tape loose and up against the motor/belt, and a picture of the second player with the shrink wrap on the same wiring harness.After this maintenance the tape player functions worked smoothly and quietly and the tape played well at the proper speed. I also found that the tiny hole in the back of the player is for a jewelers flat head screwdriver to adjust the tape speed if needed.For the price I knew I would void the warranty by opening it. I have been working on cassette decks for 40 years and figured it was worth a shot. I am glad I did as this is actually a decent player.Negatives: There is a very minor buzzing sound in the headphones when the tape is playing. It is only noticeable when the volume is all the way down. I did not test the USB audio function as I bought this to be used as a Walkman. The buzzing sound was there when I powered the player by the USB port or with batteries

I bought this product to convert some audio books on cassette tapes to digital mp3 files. I was unsure whether to get this model (which requires Audacity software or something similar) or the model that does the mp3 conversion internally automatically. In the end I was glad I got this model to use with Audacity.Audacity, which is freeware, came in the package on a small compact disk although I already had it on my Windows PC (and it can be downloaded as well). The cassettes were 20-30 years old and had some hiss when played. But I reviewed a few YouTube videos about using the 'Noise Reduction' feature of Audacity and that really helped remove the hiss. Also some tapes, even with the hiss reduced, still sounded muffled. To improve those, I used the equalizer function to bump up the higher frequencies before saving as mp3 files. If I had used the device that converted to mp3 automatically, I would not have been able to remove the hiss and muffle.Instructions were fine and the package included a cable to run between the device and USB port on the laptop. It also had an inexpensive pair of ear buds that I didn't use. Did not insert batteries since it is powered when cabled to the PC. Playback volume and controls were fine but didn't use the device to "listen" for pleasure - just to rip the audio books one time each. It was a solid, affordable solution for me and now I am on the lookout for more titles by the same narrator/author combo from the cassette tape era. I was pleased with how well this turned out.