I have been looking for cassette tape players in the thrift stores and the two that I found were very basic and the tape player did not work. They were very basic. Just radio and tape player. They required earphones. This GPX has it all from a built in speaker, a DC power input, a mic so that you can record and a removable belt clip. Of course you can also use earphones. It also can run off two AA batteries. I didn't think that anyone even made these anymore, especially with all the features you find on a big boom box. I truly love this unit to handle all my old school cassette tape needs. Truly portable with all the bigger boom box features.