Electrohome Karaoke Machine Portable Speaker System CD+G/MP3+G Player with 3.5" Video Screen, 2 Microphone Connections, Singing Music, & AUX Input for Smartphones, Tablets, & MP3 Players (EAKAR535)

My husband and I have a much older model Karaoke Machine that we purchased for our children many years ago. Our grandchildren love to play with it, so when my eight (8) year old granddaughter asked if we would buy her a Karaoke Machine for Christmas so that she could have one at her house when they have friends sleep over, I was more than willing to grant her request! I cannot tell you how many Karaoke machines I looked at before purchasing this one! I like the fact that although the display screen is rather small at only 3-1/2 inches, this one comes with cables that allow you to hook it up to the television, VCR/DVD player, video device, or an external audio/sound system. You aren't limited to playing CD's with this unit. There is a USB port that is right in the front of the machine, so it's very easy & convenient to use. Although this unit is well built, it always concerns me when young children manipulate equipment because there is always a chance for them to break something. There is, also, a 3-1/2 mm "line in" jack on the back of the unit that the instruction manual says can be used to use the karaoke machine as a speaker for another audio device. This can be used to stream online karaoke a smart phone/tablet.I love the fact that this unit is much smaller and portable than the old one that we have so it stores much easier. It is much lighter, too. The unit itself, as weighed on my kitchen scale, is only a little over 2 lbs. I didn't weigh the microphone or wires with the unit. That would add just a bit more weight. The front of the unit is round and only about 10-1/2 inches in circumference.There are so many more features than our old one has. It has a microphone volume adjustment, master volume adjustment, speaker balance for left and right speakers, AVC volume control, and an echo control. I'm not accustomed to some of these terms, so I'm going to let you know what the awesome instruction manual says. The AVC control is "Auto Voice Control." You can "mute the vocals on a multiplex recording" so that when someone is singing in the microphone you can hear them louder and when they stop singing "the recorded vocals will start playing again." I wasn't sure what "Multiplex" meant either, so I checked the instruction manual which has a glossary of karaoke terms (for old geezers like me!!) It says that "some multiplex CD+Gs have two versions of a song." One would be recorded where there isn't a "lead singer" and the other would have on one channel, the lead singer singing and on the other channel the music & background singers. The Balance knob controls the volume of the lead singer so that you can sing a duet with the lead singer or you can just "use the lead singer as a guide while you learn the song, gradually fading out the lead singer voice until you can sing the song alone." CD+G is "Compact Disc Plus Graphics" which just basically means that it shows the lyrics and highlights/change color when they should be sung. I hope that if you are unfamiliar with some of the terminology, this will help a bit.We gave my granddaughter her Karaoke Machine for Christmas. She absolutely LOVED it. Not surprisingly she adapted to it much quicker than I did! I didn't realize this machine came with a speaker, I missed that when I read it, so I purchased two extra speakers which came in handy. We still have an extra one because the machine will accommodate only two, but that is no problem. Within minutes she had the machine set up and was using it. She is really enjoying her gift and I'm very happy with my purchase. After playing with it, I noticed there were a lot of handprints on the front of the machine. It was very easy to clean with just a microfiber cloth and absolutely nothing else. I would definitely recommend this machine.

Ordering Experience: ( - negative + positive parts of the overall experience)- This was second choice, first choice was a higher level model of product from same provider, (The 770, which has been discontinued.)+Ordering was straightforward and easyOut Of Box Experience+ Arrived perhaps a day earlier than originally scheduled.+ Box undamaged; tight fit with external packaging, easy to open+ Product package provided clear visuals and text indicating the contents of the package+ User guide easily found and instructions were for the most part clear and simple+ setup of wires and connections straightforwardUser Experience- unclear exactly how the Automatic Voice Coach works or if it works as designed (Will have to fool around with it to figure it out)- Not quite sure whether external speakers were receiving the audio, sounded like the karaoke machine speakers were louder (could have been other system. Again, will have to fool around with it to figure it out)+ Included microphone not bad. Will probably use better microphone with wind shields and possibly Y-splitters to add more mics.+ Echo effect worked well, impressed with the body it added to vocals.+ Screen display of CD+G lyrics visible and legible from several feet away. Display on external monitor/TV screen adequate size and legibility.+ Controls simple and easy to learn how to use them- Design lacks insufficient contrast to make control texts readable in poor light, rotary dials might not have been best for functions. For instance, Balance is clearly left and right, but other are clockwise to increase, counterclockwise to decrease. This is not a deal killer, just makes using the machine a little harder to learn. About average. Still, simple controls, not difficult to learn to use them.+ Built in handle makes it easy to move, Back panel inputs and outputs are easy to access. Fits easily into a backpack for portability. Takes only a few minutes to set up.Bottom line: Not as fully featured and robust as I would have liked, but pluses far outweigh the minuses - Quality and Price/Value are the main attractors. Should meet my needs quite well. Have not had to use the pitch adjustment except by accident (should be separate from the other controls and not dependent on mode).

This product description is deceiving because the machine doesn't actually work with a smartphone. It will only work as a speaker when connected to a smartphone. Also, it says you can connect a flash drive with MP3 files and play music through the USB port. That is true however it only plays the music and does not display the lyrics on the monitor even if the MP3 file is a karaoke compatible file. Our assumption was that we could download a karaoke song and play it either via a smartphone or USB Flash drive. You cannot. The only way for the machine to function with both lyrics displayed in the monitor and music through the speakers is to use a Karaoke CD.

This system is what to be expected for the price range. The portability is nice. The sound is better than expected. The screen is really too small to be used and when the unit is connected to the TV, it doesn't sound as good--I don't know why. In spite of these few flaws, the features are nice and it works well for parties with families and friends.

We really like this compact size karaoke machine. We bought it for our grandchildren to use, but mainly for our three year old granddaughter who is in a group music class. The teacher has many movement activities during the one-hour class and in one of the lessons the teacher sings into the microphone and asks each child what his or her name is. All of the children (except our granddaughter) sing back, 'my name is _______'. We are hoping our granddaughter will get comfortable with the mic when she sees her older sibling and cousins playing, talking and singing into the mic.We also hooked the karaoke up to a TV and it works fine. The price makes this machine affordable and is nice for the whole family to use, including the adults.