I am looking for a portable cassette player, stereo, with a COUNTER
and a handle.  I'd like a smallish  one, but not a Walkman.  I can pay
up to $150.  The only ones I can find to fit my description, with a
counter, are mono and are apparently usually used by students to tape
lectures.

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 17 Jan 2004 10:05 PST

Grandma --

Portable cassette players with tape counters do appear to be rare. 
Here's one, though, in the form of a small Aiwa "CD/radio/cassette"
boombox.  If this would suit you, please let me know, and I will post
the information as an answer.

markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by grandma3-ga on 17 Jan 2004 10:50 PST

Can I see what it looks like?

M.

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 17 Jan 2004 13:45 PST

grandma -- 

I'm very sorry about forgetting to post the link.  Here it is:
http://www.electronicsglobal.com/Aiwa_cd_boombox_36.html

The unit appears to be available from various online retailers.

markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by grandma3-ga on 17 Jan 2004 15:25 PST

Thanks.  Even though it's too modern looking for me I would buy it if
I could.  It is no longer available at the ABT link.  Is there another
link where I could find it?

M.

Grandma --

Here are links to the ordering pages of the Web sites of three vendors
who advertise that the Aiwa product that meets your specifications is
in stock and available for online purchase:

Bamoo.com
http://www.bamoo.com/str/ppf/id/170072/CSD-TD49+AIWA+++CD+BOOMBOX+(110Volt%2F60Hz)/shopexd.asp

Buzz Electronics.com
http://www.thebuzzelectronics.com/item.asp?item_id=101853&scid=137

Nowonsale.com
http://www.nowonsale.com/itempage.asp?item=CSDTD49

Note that the most complete of the online product descriptions -- the
one found at the Buzz Electronics site linked above -- clearly states
that the unit has a tape counter.  Since this feature is so important
to you, you may want to contact them before you purchase it to confirm
this information.  Complete contact information for Buzz Electronics
may be found at this linked page:
Buzz Electronics.com: Contact Us
http://www.thebuzzelectronics.com/contactus.asp

 
Two of the above vendors have products -- including this one -- listed
on the respected Web site Epinions.com and have earned very
respectable 4+ ratings from customers who have used Epinions.com as a
gateway to those vendors.  Here is a link to the Epinions.com Web page
that relates to this Aiwa boombox:
Epinions.com: Aiwa CSD-TD49WH
http://www.epinions.com/pr-Aiwa_CSD-TD49WH_Single_Disc_Single_Tape_Boombox



Search Strategy:

I began by using various combinations of search terms in Google
searches and, like you, initially got results that were dominated by
microcassette recorder/players. I refined my search further and hit
pay dirt with this one:

boombox OR "boom box" "tape counter"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=boombox+OR+%22boom+box%22+%22tape+counter%22

These search terms eliminated all of the microcassette recorders and
ultimately led me to the one unit that appears to meet your
specifications.

I then searched for vendors of the Aiwa unit, first by using this
simple Google search:
aiwa csd-td49
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=aiwa++csd-td49

Finally I searched for this product on the new Google shopping service
called Froogle, found here:
Froogle,com
http://froogle.google.com/


I am confident that this product will meet your needs as you described
them and that you will be able to purchase it from one of the vendors
provided.  If any of the above information is unclear, please ask for
clarification before rating this answer.


markj-ga

Thank you, markj. I ordered the boombox from Buzz Electronics.  I
appreciate your summary of how you found the one I wanted. I needed to
learn that. I liked your prompt responses and the info. on Froogle.com
and Epinions.com.

grandma --

Thanks much for the rating, the kind words and the nice tip.  

markj-ga