'New' Portable Advice?

[LDJB]

My old Ion portbale died at Utrecht last year and was given a Viking burial in the main hall.

...so I need a new one - I've got by so far with my old Philips upright one but I'm not taking that to the Netherlands - I liked the Ion (which I think is a rebranded Numark) and I've experience with the Vestax one and it's OK. I've looked online and discounted the Crosely deck (they look utter shite and have V bad reviews) but does anyone have one of the Steepletone ones? They look cheap and are about half the price of an Ion / Numark.

Failing any of the above would you recommend any others?

[emperor tomato ketchup]

Crosley is adequate for digging and fairly small but is indeed a bit shit in terms of robustness and sound quality. I got it fairly cheap and don't regret it.

[Mondays Child]

Those sound burger things are good. I've got one but the tone arm is slightly bust and needs fixing.
I was about to suggest looking up one second hand 'till I saw the prices on greedbay.

[mr sayers]

I've looked online and discounted the Crosely deck

Wise move mate as they're utter sh*te. My mate bought their version of a soundburger recently it was cheap and crap, it even scratched one of his records!

[Milesago]

It depends on your needs. I have a Vestax Handytrax portable which is pretty good sound quality wise and is handy for taking on holiday (for playing the days finds in the evening, to the delight of my wife and children) but I found it too large and cumbersome for use at, say, the Jaarbeurs. I realised what I needed was something more like the soundburger only a hell of a lot cheaper. I only needed to be able to check what a record was (i.e. was it country or disco? metal or reggae?), or to see if something that looked thrashed still tracked and if so what the S/N ratio was like. It had to be robust, quick and easy to deploy, and it had to have a headphone socket. This last point is important. I did not care about the quality of the built-in speaker, as I would only be using it with headphones. I tried a couple of players - including a Crossley, which was diabolical - and in the end I settled on the Ion LP2GO. I have not regretted it. It's ultra cheap (29.99 euro mailorder including delivery!) and it's already saved me twice that in avoiding 'likely' looking LPs. Lots of mailorder sites selling computer accessories and office equipment seem to stock it for some reason, sometimes categorised as a USB player. But if you google LP2Go, you should find it. Theres another model with a built-in cassette player but that just adds weight IMO.

[The Divine One]

My old Ion portbale died at Utrecht last year and was given a Viking burial in the main hall.

I don't remember that - did you set fire to it with record cleaning fluid? Not sure how heavy they are, or reliable, but Format swears by the Fisher Price portables - I saw one a couple of weeks back in a junk place I go to. Can check if it's still there? Might be heavy but can have a look: TOY?

[Sie Vulture]

Crosley is adequate for digging and fairly small but is indeed a bit shit in terms of robustness and sound quality. I got it fairly cheap and don't regret it.

+1 for the Crossley.

If it gets dropped or broke, I would lose no sleep. Perfect for suitcases etc. Sound quality isn't an issue as it is used to quickly needle drop only...

[Campag Record]

I don't remember that - did you set fire to it with record cleaning fluid? Not sure how heavy they are, or reliable, but Format swears by the Fisher Price portables - I saw one a couple of weeks back in a junk place I go to. Can check if it's still there? Might be heavy but can have a look: TOY?

Lee placed it in one of the bins in the hall. He didn't set fire to it though due to H&S.

PS I would love to find a Fisher Price portable...they look cool.

[treeboy]

I'll be sporting the trusty Dual PRP5 as always, but I agree with Sie that it's always a bit of a worry when travelling with it. Mines got a custom (home) made squidgy cover to avoid such mishaps. One of the sellers I buy from at record fairs has one of those Ion square jobbies, and it's certainly more stable than the Dual, but probably weighs at least twice as much.
I'm pleased you raised this issue Lee, as I'd be interested in picking up something a bit cheaper that does the job too.

[LDJB]

I've ordered one of those Ion LP2GO as it worked out at just over £30! I'll report back on what it's like.

Thanks for your help chaps.

[mr sayers]

I've ordered one of those Ion LP2GO as it worked out at just over £30! I'll report back on what it's like.

I'm very tempted, Nige has also ordered one, I'll wait till I see his.

[bennyboy]

Yes, LP2GO actually looks ok for a mess about player.

Just as an aside, whats the general reaction when you whip out your player in a charity/2nd hand shop etc etc. Sellers happy for you to play through your pile? Or not?

[mr sayers]

Would never get my portable out in a charity, and most second hand shops have a turntable, use mine for the market and record fairs.

[candiman]

I've ordered one of those Ion LP2GO as it worked out at just over £30! I'll report back on what it's like.

Thanks for your help chaps.

Interested to know where you found one as I can't and it appears to be discontinued.

Re Crossley, I borrowed one last week (it was newish). Bad reviews had put me off previously but seemed ok for checking out 45s. Speed seemed stable (I had read there were speed issues) and sound was ok too, had to turn headphone volume up a bit to deal with some loud R&R being played over room speakers, but dealt with it ok. Did have trouble maneuvuring the extremely light tonearm with my wrong hand though.

[Campag Record]

Interested to know where you found one as I can't and it appears to be discontinued

http://www.conrad-electronic.co.uk/c...-USB-Turntable

This was the only place in the UK I could find but my Google skills aren't great. It can be purchased in Europe for not that much more.

I hope it does the job ok. Will be nice to not have to transport the Vestax to Utrecht and to lug it around the hall for 10 hrs each day.

I'll report back when it arrives.