Feature:
The gig bag is astoundingly beautiful and well made!

Quality:
Yes, its high pressure laminate, not real wood, and yes, it was made in Mexico, not Nazareth, but for well under $300. the quality, workmanship and finish are very, very Martin-like.

Value:
Do you want a sweet sounding little practice guitar that you can grab and play any time the spirit moves you? This has to be the best value around.

Desirability:
This rating is a little low only because the small size does look like a student guitar, and may be a tad wimpish for public performance, but that's not why you buy it, is it?

Sound:
Although the sound is not quite as full as a full size Martin, it is certainly on a par with many other full size accoustics, and it is "Martin sweet".

Support:
I have never had to avail myself of Martin support, but I will take the word of friends who have and rate it highly, as they do.

Overall:
I think I will probably purchase a full size Martin as soon as I can afford it, but for the immediate purpose of playing myself back into shape, I think the Little Martin will do just fine.

Feature:
Great Gig Bag!! Plus, although there's no pick guard, the HPL/all plastic made real sense for me because I'll have this thing on a boat, and near water all the time. Humidity would kill any other guitar. The size is great for taking on trips.

Quality:
so far, so good. People knock this because it's plastic and made in Mexico. I've never seen inferior work from Mexico, and this product, while light, is beatiful and feels solid. The tone, while not loud, is beautiful and rich for a baby axe.

Value:
Besides the neat "pick up and go" compact features, it's going to be better for my kids to learn on than my full-size Sigma d-3.

Desirability:
Can't beat it as a small, travel guitar that will take the humidity, temperature changes and won't cause people to laugh at you.

Sound:
I agree with the prior reviews on the mellow, rich sound compared to Martin's backpacker and the Baby Taylor. Also a better bass sound than the Ibanez Daytripper. The difference in tone was immediately apparent in the store. My model is all plastic HPL, and while my Sigma d-3 sounds much fuller, I don't believe one can get a better travel axe than this one -- period. I wish I could have heard the sound difference (if any) of the LX model.

Ease of Use:
Excellent tone (and holds tune) all up the fret, with no distortion anywhere. Really easy action if used with the recommended strings.

Support:
Not needed yet.

Overall:
I'd give it a 10, but I would trade it in for the model with the electric pick-up. Otherwise, I'd make the same choice all over again.

Feature:
the gig bag is perfect for going on trips and protects the guitar well

Quality:
great quality instrument from a good brand. does not disappoint in any way

Value:
great value for an even better guitar. well worth the money!

Sound:
it has a bright sound, but is still very full in its tone

Overall:
had it for 2 years and brought it along on many road trips. it has played well and held together well all the while

Feature:
The best accessory here was the gig bag, which is outstanding. One whould think for the price Martin could have included fret markers considering they call it a "perfect student" guitar. I found my daughter trying to count the frets as she tried to play. Come on Martin they can't cost that much to include.

Quality:
Here's where it gets ugly... HPL means plastic. Any mention of wood in the discription is rather deceptive on Martins part. This is hard plastic plain and simple. There is no workmanship or craftmanship here that one thinks of when you here the name Martin. It's either injection mold or stamped out people. What even worse is Martin went so far as to put serial numbers on these plastic guitars. It is what it says ...a travel guitar. It would be hard to dent it. Great for camp outs and such... no worry about humidity or such. It'll last that's for sure... Martin needs to replace HPL with what it really is in it description and be honest about it...

Value:
I thought it was way over priced for what you get. You're paying mainly for the Martin name here. I guess it all depends on how you look at it. Looking at what it's made of... it's way over priced. How it really sounds... not worth the money. Buy a wood guitar...you'll be able to buy one and then replace it again for the same price as the LXM Martin.

Desirability:
I gave the LXM a higher rating here only because of the Martin name. I bought it because of the Martin name and being such expected craftsmanship and workmanship related to the Martin name.... neither which I got with the LXM because there's no need for either in the LXM.

Sound:
I bought this because of it's size and the Martin name. Let's face the facts: wood sounds like wood and plactic sounds like plastic. This guitar sounds like a plastic quitar because it is plactic. The sound seems tinny to me, but depends alot on the room you're in. You seem to lose alot of sound on the low end if you go to lighter strings. The highs are there, but one would expect that with plastic. Stick to medium strings for the overall sound. And I USE to own it..it's history...

Support:
Had to give this a mid point because I've never delt with them.

Overall:
Uverall if you're looking for an over priced childs guitar then this is it. If you're looking for something that you'll really be satisfied with as far as the quality of the sound that you get then don't waste your money. I replaced this soon after I recieved it. The cost was way too much for what I got. But then again I expected a product that was made in the USA not Mexico. Had I known that it was made in Mexico I wouldn't have bought it... Sorry but it just seems like Martin looked for , and found, a use for it's scrap wood that it use to throw out... Will replace it with a wood guitar.