I was looking for cheap yet branded basic walkman to try; from ebay I got this new old stock AIWA TA213 for 8 EUR: It is indeed new and unused as it is a leftover from the early 2000's from a toy shop; it even sports transparent earbuds ! the list of feature is quite short: - AM/FM radio - Mega-bass Forget about type II tapes, Dolby, auto-reverse or even basic auto-stop. The radio is too very basic with just a tuner wheel even though it has AM (hardly used these days) and stereo FM. It offers up to 18 hours of playback with 2x AA batteries, but there is no led to indicate if it is actually turned on. The first impression is quite depressing: the nicest thing is the box, the walkman is made almost entirely of cheap plastic, the lid is flimsy and it looks like it could break apart if managed in the wrong way (or even in the right way). Inserting a tape is quite complicated as the spring that hold the tape while playing prevents the cassette from latching inside the walkman, so you have to push the cassette against the spring and at the same time close the lid. Do it 10 times and something will break. With two batteries, the radio works (yup !) and the reel turns, but pressing play brings everything to a halt: worn belt ? both FF and REW do indeed work. I decide to open it up to see its interior; I have its service manual, but it is mostly a long list of components; besides some mechanical drawings, there are no instructions on how to disassemble the unit. There are just two screws and a lot of claws holding it, but it opens quite easily with minimal effort. In the process, a spring comes loose and two plastic chips fall from the walkman; the spring is holding the REW button in its position and after some trials and errors I am able to put it back in its place. The belt is indeed a bit loose but I do not have the correct one and I have to stretch a smaller spare belt. The interior is slightly less depressing than the output, but the build quality is rather low, there is plastic everywhere, the tape transport is terrible and even though there is a head azimuth adjustment, the head positioning is very inaccurate (it is directly attached to the play button togather with the pinch roller); the PCB is slightly bent and it all appears just as if it could break apart on its own. I'm able to re-assemble back the unit and I can try the tape; this time it plays for a few seconds at low speed but then it stops again. After further investigations I finally understand the problem: the tape-up reel clutch has stiffened and it does not slipper easily. According to the service manual there should be a felt disc, but the clutch assembly is impossible to disassemble to ease the friction. I give-up, the few seconds of tape play sounded quite terrible with muffled and dull sound; it is definitely not worth fixing it. On top of that, the motor is rather noisy even if it is "brand" new. bottom line - this Walkman is an insult to the history of both walkman's and AIWA. My main tape deck is an AIWA TOTL of 1991 and with proper servicing it sounds marvellous. The TA213 is a piece of junk which should have never carried the brand AIWA on it. bye Enrico
thanks for sharing your experience. I do have few cheap walkmans as well, some basic plastic walkmans made by sony. spending time on these walkmans including trying to repair them (mostly ruining them since iam not an expert) is a real fun thing to do. Once in awhile i am able to fix them and give to somebody (younger generation) with a recorded cassette to better understand little bit more about the history of music.
Don't like any cheap walkmans, had to many in my youth, all must have soft operation and dolby c these days or i pass
Well all the DD serie does not have soft operation.. I have nothing against mechanical walkman, some of them are really sturdy and the transport is very stable; soft operation walkman are nice and compact but sometimes they appear quite fragile and transport stability is not top. Anyway that AIWA is a very late model when walkman were in sharp decline; really terrible.
yea most of the dd have cracked gear ny friend and many lack dolby c here is my latest buy, now thats more like it http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142183178597?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT:wink:
