The MZ-E33 comes in a pretty small box. It only comes with the typical Sony MD case/bag (yes, the oversized one), small ear pad headphones and remote control. (This equipment has been purchased in Spain)

Size is pretty small and thin as any other Sony MD player I guess. Solid construction and aluminium panels. Doesn't have any LCD display, well, the remote does so...

One of the reasons that decided me to buy this one, was its battery consume. (About 7/ 8 hrs play with a single AA 'cheap' alkaline battery) (The newer Sony MD players with this battery consume or better were around 50% more expensive than this one so...)

To be honest, I don't like gumpacks as my experience with these kind of batteries with former AIWA tape walkmans I had, wasn't very satisfactory.

Also don't like those battery packs, a small, thin MD player suddenly becomes too heavy and bulky with those battery packs.

I wasn't also too much interested in an AC adaptor. Hey!, this is portable, and for home/recording uses I already have the MZ-R3.

The MZ-E33 has the typical Sony controls including two level megabass and AVLS (sound limit control).

The stick remote, the RM-MZE33, is better than what I expected. I thought it would came with headphones with that 'special' remote jack just as my MZ-R3, but I was wrong. You can plug any headphone with mini stereo jack on this remote.

It is not backlit tho. It can control everything excepting megabass and AVLS. The LCD gives you all the info required, battery level, track number, play mode, etc... as usual on Sony MDs.

The first time I tried this MD, I was a bit deceived, the sound wasn't as good as I expected. As I suspected it was a fault of the headphones that comes with the MZ-E33. I just changed the original headphones with another I had around at home and the quality of sound was just what I was expecting. Pretty good, clean and loud. The megabass is pretty good. Does give a good bass sound. At maximum sound level ( I guess I won't need to put it at maximum sound level too often as it is pretty loud), it doesn't distort but you loose quite a good part of that bass sound richness.

Playback and search functions works a little slow, even slower than my MZ-R3, but that is also a factor not much important to me, as I don't use it too much. I purchased my MZ-E33 as a component of Sony's MD bundle 6 (which was actually tough to find - seems that most retail outlets are still stuck with a lot of bundle 4's that they can't seem to get rid of). My only previous exposure to MD was on a friend's portable player - the one that comes with the bundle 3 and 4 - which I found unnecessarily big, heavy, and battery-hungry. Sony's "upgrading" the bundle's portable was a smart move. The MZ-E33, so far, has been a delight, with a few gripes.

The 10-hour battery life claim (for a single AA) has proven a true, even conservative claim. I did also spend the extra dough ($20) on the rechargable gumpack battery - and although it supposedly provides a few hours less of use, I find its charge lifespan quite acceptable. (You also have to lay out about another $20 for an AC adapter)

The sound is great - absolutely no complaints from me there.

The player seems - as odd as this may sound - upside down. The headphone jack is on what you would call the "bottom" and the battery compartment is at what you would call the "top." You also insert the MD in what appears to be the bottom. This does not affect the function of the unit at all - it just seems that they printed the words on it, and placed the emblems, upside down.

To echo reviews of other sony MD players I've read - the headphone cord is too bloody short. If I don't have a place to clip the remote at chest level or above, it dangles and bounces, which I find quite irritating. WHY do they make that length of cord so short? The remote-to-unit cord is a great length, however. I would love to pop the player in a back pocket and clip the remote on my belt or waist (this would be great for walkabouts, for example). To accomplish this I'll have to get a different set of headphones. The remote is functional, if spartan. It could definitely use some illumination.

My biggest gripe about this unit - and the only area in which I've had actual problems - is the battery compartment. The battery compartment door feels flimsy - and I'm sure it will be the first thing to snap off or wear out on this unit. Also, the battery contacts deep inside the compartment, are prone to slipping out of their "spot." Dropping the unit with moderate force, in just the right direction, will cause either your AA or gumpack to smash down on the + contact and pop it out of place. This necessitates either a warranty repair (a huge pain depending on where you are), relegating it to AC adapter use forever, or being brave and removing the case screws in the battery compartment area. Once the screws are out, prying the two halves of the unit slightly apart, barely a millimeter or two, you'll hear a teeny "pop" and voila, the contact is back home where it belongs. Squeeze it shut and get it back together before you lose those microscopic screws! I'm a pro at this by now - I've already done it three times. Annoying problem, yes, but quick to fix.

Overall, however, I'm quite pleased with it. This is a really nice little player. It feels solid to hold and is built like a tank. ive dropped it onto tarmac, had it loose in my top pocket for days on end with no little bag and it still plays and looks well. However there are a few small things that really annoyed me about it, the remote is one. The remote has no backlight which is really irratating sometimes and the stop button on the end means that occasionally it gets pushed pushed accidentally, especially seeing as how its irritating putting it on hold if you want to scroll through songs.

The two other things that annoyed me were the the earphones and the battery life. The earphones were too big for my ears which meant that i had to go out and buy another set. The problem with the batteries is only minor but I found that i had to check that i had a spare one on me at all times. However, the fact is that this is a lovely looking player with good sound, well designed button layout on the player itself and if you want something that you can take anywhere without worrying about it getting damaged, then this is perfect. As soon as I got my new MZ-E33 home, I popped in a new battery and plugged in my own (decent) headphones. In went an MD, and... oh dear. Perhaps I was expecting too much, but the sound quality was not very good. No better than my old cassette walkman.

I tried another MD, but it was the same. A dull sound with a distant midrange, and a little hissy as well. Absolutely nowhere near as good as the sound from the headphone socket of my home MDSJE510.

So, straight back to the shop (Richer Sounds in Bristol) and they agreed to give me my money back, though they might have been less helpful if I had used the headphones and remote control!

I've just bought an MZ-R55 from the same shop. It cost £170, £50 more than the MZ-E33. However, I would say it was worth every penny extra. The sound quality is proper hi-fi and it records as well.

My advice, therefore, is try before you buy. I would like to point out that this portable is heaps better than my old Aiwa am-hx50 or my Kenwood gmc unit. It feels solid to hold and has excellent build quality.

The battery life is fairly poor, but i prefer AA batteries than the usual rechargable as you can get another battery should the current one go dead whilst out shopping, and not have to wait for the battery to be recharged. Some units have a battery case you can attach but this makes the unit look ugly and adds unneccesary weight to the unit.

The headphones are very flimsy and sound dreadful, but a trip to argos and the sound was a clear as a bell, with good solid bass. This is the best unit ive had.

It has good styling and excellent remote control. it is easily worth the £120.00 i paid at currys