Title: Sharp QT-CD210
Classification: Communication (Heavily Used)
Date obtained: May 7th, 2024

Description: if no one's got me, i know my CD players always do. recently i got a new car that doesn't have bluetooth, or even AUX in, so i can only play CDs and cassette tapes in the built in stereo. as such, i've gotten more into collecting those types of physical media, since that's pretty much my only method of playing music in the car now. and honestly? i think i like it more than streaming now. i like being able to physically own my music, and there's something fun about getting a new CD and immediately ripping it to my harddrive. easily the best part about it, however, is the prices. people love their vinyl now, but CDs? most of em go for like, a couple of bucks, no one wants them anymore. which is great for me, because i get pretty much free picks on anything i want! (besides Plumtree, which, nevermind the price, i cant even find a LISTING for a single Plumtree CD)

but to actually listen to CDs, you need a player. i'm still trying to find a good deal for a Walkman, so for now i've only got stereos. as of right now i actually have three CD players, and all of them i've inherited from other people. the one we'll be talking about today is the one pictured about, the Sharp GT-CD210. this was a CD player my mom brought home one day, which was given to her by one of her teacher friends. she gave it to me because she figured i'd get more use out of it than her, and i was excited when i got this. i mean, i had a CD player, but... it is not a looker. this new one looked SUPER cool though, and i was all over it. i immediately plugged it in, put in a CD, and it SOUNDED great too. i then had to try out the built in tape player, and it sounded great. i finally had a stereo that both looked and sounded great, it was awesome. and then i tried playing another CD. no matter what i did, it would just click five times, and then give up. that's a surefire sign of a burned out laser.

so what's a Mot to do now? the tape drive works just fine, its just the CD reader that's busted. which would be fine, if it weren't for the fact that i just don't own nearly as many tapes as i do CDs. so after fiddling around with this guy a bit more, i found out that the laser isn't fully burned out. no, it's something much stranger than that. you see, after playing a CD, it won't read the next disc you put in. you have to take out a disc, wait around 30 minutes to an hour, and then it'll be ready to play again. my immediate thought was that it was overheating or something, but that can't be the case. it'll play whatever CD you put in for as long as you like, it's just as soon as you take a CD out it refuses to read anything. now, i'm not really that knowledgable on music hardware, so i have zero clue what causes this or how it works. if any of you fine readers out there have a hint as to what's going on with this guy, let me know.

this really is the monkey's paw of CD players. it looks the coolest, sounds phenomenal, but only works when it feels like it. hopefully one day i can figure out what's going on with that laser... but for now, i suppose it's gonna remain a mystery.