Price Paid:  $180.00 from Easter 2001

Summary:
I bought the 702 in Easter 2002, on holiday to Florida. A mear $180 dollars it cost me. Living in Britain I had to buy an adapter to make it work. Fair enough I thought. Took it home used it for a month and then the adapter broke. Took me ages to find an adapter in Britain that would have worked in America. Once i had found one, went to use my $180+ MD player and it wouldn''t even work. Not value for money, $180 for 1 month. I am sending for it to be repaired however my warranty m,ight have a chance of running out by then. Dont buy this product, Sharp are a scam.

Strengths:
Good IF IT WORKS

Weaknesses:
RELIABILITY sometimes takes more than once to acctally read the disk

Summary:
I have had mine since the minute it hit the market about three years ago. I have constantly used it very heavily indeed and it has done a blinding job in very respect. If you can pick one up cheap now I would strongly recommend it. Sound is good, recording fuctions are versatile and well thought out, the remote is intuitive etc etc.
Now, after 3 years, it is getting rather quirky and giving me serious UTOC errors but I'm delighted with the service it has given me and I will now buy an ultra slim player only as I have a deck at home now to do my recording on.
One other thing, if you feel that the output is low from this or any other walkman, don't crank up your recording level (that will wreck your sound quality) just buy decent headphones. I used to use the OEM headphones at top volume and still not be happy. Then I bought Bang and Olufsen headphone and it's like a new world of music, even at 23 or 24 out of 30

Strengths:
Lasted 3 years. I like the remote, eject mechanism, manual during-rec level control. Bass adj. is nice

Weaknesses:
Size and battery life when compared to new models

Similar Products Used:
I have a Technics 150 deck which is great

Summary:
I got my 702 two years ago, and have been using it ever since. Luckily I've never experienced the UTOC error. It has worked for airplanes, walks to class, and general usage. Titling is a little slow, but once you get the hang of it it can be relatively quick. The sound quality is great, and skips _were_ low. The battery usage is pretty bad, about 3.5 full-length md's per charge (this isn't hours :)).

However, after two years the player is unusable as a general portable player. As long as it doesn't move anywhere the unit is fine, but after two years things have aged to the point that I can't use it when I'm walking, as it skips constantly. I might get a lens cleaner, but at this point I've put in an order for the sharp st55, so the 702 is going to go into record-only retirement. Recording still works fine, with both analog and digital.

Another component showing its age is the remote. The buttons always felt a little cheap, and now it takes some working to get the buttons to push. The buttons on the unit itself are fine.

Overall the 702 is probably the best investment I have made in portable equipment. It lasted a substantial amount of time before starting to wear down, and has never given me any other problems. Sure, it would be nice if it worked forever, but miniature electronics are not known for their longevity.

Strengths:
Tough, stands up to a lot of wear

Weaknesses:
shows its age after two years :)

Similar Products Used:
none

Summary:
I like the Sharp units better than Sony units. I like the Sharp record feature of always creating a new track when the record button is first pressed. On a Sony unit you need to push "end of disc" before recording or you will RECORD OVER any material. Stupidity!

You should be able to find this now discontinued model for under $200. DO NOT PAY MORE! You can buy the newer 722 model for about $200 with the $50 rebate Sharp is offering until early 2000.

Strengths:
Great style & features, price. MUCH BETTER headphones than Sony units.

Weaknesses:
a little bulky to some people (doesn't bother me)

Similar Products Used:
Sony MZ-R30

Summary:
I've owned two of these units, returned the first to Sears (on a product replacement warranty)when it wouldn't eject a minidisc, then purchased a second through ubid when the rebate program was in place. I have liked everything about the Sharp while it worked and prefer its loading mechanism to the flimsy Sony flip-top doors (I returned a Sony portable after one week because it didn't trust it to hold up.) I would echo the glowing reports by previous satisfied reviewers EXCEPT for the limited Warranty available from Sharp (90 days labor, 1 year parts) and the fact that two weeks ago the second unit developed a permanent UTOC error such that it won't recognize a good minidisc for either recording OR playback. Prior to this I used it daily....one correction from a previous review, this unit has a 10 sec buffer, the 40 sec buffer comes on the Sharp 722. This only matters if you're doing something really bouncy like trying to play the unit from a bicycle front bag - the unit works fine on a bicycle on the road if it's strapped to your body. RECOMMENDATIONS: (1) whatever you buy, first check the archives at www.minidisc.org, if I'd done this I might have seen the UTOC error coming. (2) don't buy a 702 (and think twice about buying any minidisc portable) unless you can buy it with an extended warranty. Unfortunately, this probably means buying it at a higher price from a retailer who offers such warranties. And, (3) go for durability and reliability rather than minimal weight.

Strengths:
Excellent sound & value when it works

Weaknesses:
Both my 702s have bitten the dust

Similar Products Used:
Sony minidisc deck, Sony minidisc portable