From my collection: The first ever portable CD player, the Sony D-5 ( or D50 outside the USA) circa 1984.
Shown here on my workbench:
-On the right, a working D5 attached to the the optional AC Power “Home Dock”, which proudly featured “RCA” jacks. This player player & dock are the exact units I purchased in 1985, and it still plays CD’s!
-On the left, a D-5 in the optional “rechargeable battery station”, which allowed it to go portable.
Six “C” batteries were needed for this feat, and it burned thru them rapidly!
A key design goal was to reduce the size of the first production CD player, the Sony CDP-101, down to the size of 4 stacked CD jewel cases, about 1/10 the size! They succeeded, just barely, by making the power supply external.
Last Updated on 2025-10-25 by Daev Roehr