Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Our daughter asked for a Karaoke system for her birthday and because we have never previously been exposed to Karaoke ourselves (true!) we did a bit of research prior to settling on this system. What we wanted was a portable stand-alone system, i.e. a system that: - accepts Karaoke CDs and DVDs; - allows for an MP3 player / iPod to be connected; - has internal speakers (rather than a system that needs to be connected to a stereo); and - features a screen for displaying the lyrics (rather than a system that needs to be connected to a TV or external monitor). This system was one of the few that met all of the above criteria plus it came with two microphones so two people can sing together (the microphones have 8' long cords and can be controlled individually for sensitivity which is great for reducing the impact of dad's droning voice). A feature we did not look for but our daughter loves was the adjustable echo function. It is correct that the system has a hum / buzzing noise when it is switched on but keep in mind that we are not talking about a professional piece of hifi equipment here - the system is intended for recreational use at home. The noise has never bothered our daughter or her friends. The microphones are of reasonable quality and the volume goes beyond what most people would consider adequate in a residential home. The system itself is relatively lightweight but appears to be robust. While dancing to a song, our daughter accidentally pulled the unit off the shelf with the microphone and it came crashing down from 3' onto a wooden floor with no damage whatsoever - I couldn't even find a scratch! So as long as you can accept the system's limitations - it is made for occasional recreational use at home (it won't work in a hall) and it does have a hum - it should work for you. The system we bought was an Amazon return for half price and well worth the investment - it certainly made a 9 year old girl very happy.