Price Paid:  $250.00 from Some small online Ya

Summary:
Nice idea, poor implementation. MDLP/ATRAC, like other music compression, is lossy so you lose noticeable sound quality which is to be expected. I liked having an integrated tuner but recording music was too much of a chore. High speed drag and drop or CD ripping would be preferable. I like the newer Sony NetMD walkman with 32X recording but they still have integrated a tuner into this yet. Ended up selling the product on eBay and going back to my older Sonyy MD player

Strengths:
Extended listening with MDLP is pretty good and the integrated stereo tuner is very nice.

Weaknesses:
PC-Link. You may be able to record up to 5 hrs of music on one disk but it takes you 5 hours to do it. The 32x NetMD recorders have improved upon this but the software still leaves a bit to be desired.

Similar Products Used:
Previous version MD walkman (don't have model designation handy) with PC link.

Price Paid:  $175.00 from shopathills.co.uk

Summary:
I was cautious about delving into MD's but I'm very pleased with this unit. The AM/FM is a great feature and I wouldn't want to be without it.

Strengths:
Easy to use from the get go, great sound and the little earphones are surprisingly clear.

Weaknesses:
would have liked to access the radio from the unit rather than earphones only. Display could be bigger.

Similar Products Used:
First MD player!

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This md player gave me all the perks that you would want in a small hand held md player/recorder. I am only amazed that more MD players don't come out with radio tuners.

Strengths:
Radio Tuner, small remote to control most funtions, size.

Weaknesses:
Unable to press start on MD via cable remote, unable to control radio via MD only remote. PC Link should only by USB, not USB/Optical to make it easier to use. Needs an analog input.

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Amsterdam International Airport

Summary:
Great unit, I have the older 750 that does not include a PC link. No problem though, I connect my PC (using SPDIF) to my amp, which in turn has the optical connection for digital recording.

Have recorded about 30 discs (which are kinda rare here in South Africa) without any problems, unit has been dragged overseas a few times and is still working perfectly.

Hmmm, mini discs would be perfect if only I could access the data on a disc directly from my PC. Would be nice if Sony came out with a drive (similar to a CD-RW) that accepted mini discs, wrote at speeds higher than 1x and allowed me to edit my track names easily ... sighs, but it would probably end up costing a fortune. Mini disc still has great potential, but the prices Sony et al are charging are still way overpriced, when compared to conventional CD.

Strengths:
Small, easy to use, battery life

Weaknesses:
1 x record speed

Price Paid:  $220.00 from 800.com

Summary:
I decided to buy an MD player for one reason: size. I always end up carrying my cd player somewhere in my bookbag, so i thought an md would be perfect. I didnt want to buy an mp3cd player because those things are heavy (rio volt SP250) and the solid state mp3 players only hold so much music. The MD is perfect as a portable player because you can always bring along some discs with whichever music you want instead of listening to the same thing all day long.

MDLP recording lets you record at twice (LP2) or 4x (LP4) the original capacity of the disc (74 or 80min). I ended up recording all my discs at LP2 becuase i hear no difference between that and standard recording. Also, i can fit 3 albums onto one disc at LP2. (I have not tried LP4, but i've read that its noticeably worse, but for speech, its perfect).

I use my own headphones, but the included headphones are ok, but i really hate the miniscule length of the cable thats included on the headphones, while the remote cable is fairly long.

The battery life is pretty good. I can listen to the md the whole day on a fully charged battery. I recharge the battery about once every 3 days, with regular use.

Recording with the battery is ridiculous. I highly doubt that the battery will have enough juice to record one full disc (LP2), thats why they inculude the AC Adapter. Recording audio is still 1x. That means if you have 2hrs of music to record, you will have to record it for that long. I guess thats the main downside of the MD technology.

Audio quality is great. The bass is really good. I was under the impression that all the bass settings were pretty much the same, but the sony's bass system is really good, and on decent headphones, eveything sounds REALLY REALLY GOOD. The Optical line in is great too. No need to adjust the recording level because its all digital. Connect one end to the md (optical) and the other end to the USB port on the computer (via a small digital PC Link box, which is included). I noticed that the sound quality increses if you tweak with the bass/treble settings (in windows) of the pclink box. If they are recorded on default settings, then the recorded audio might have too much highs (had to re-record my Megadeth for that reason). BTW, recording directly from the cd is not a good idea because it might not put the track marks when the track actually ends (most live or continuous playing albums, such as Pink Floyd). I use WinAMP with WinCUE (http://www.minidisc.org is a good site to look at), which adds a pause (of length you specify) so the MD unit puts a track mark at that exact spot. I also read that some recorded songs might get cut off at the end. Using my method of recording, i have not encountered such a problem. The unit also gives you an option to record via a mic, but i have not tried it yet.

The remote is good. it only took me 3 days to finally memorize all the button positions. It's a bit bulky though. Its NOT backlit, so you might have some trouble at night, but i dont really care for that. It shows exactly what you need, Track #, Bass setting, battery life & track time left. Radio reception is ok. Its as good as any other portable unit. I want to point out that the remote works separately from the main unit. The radio volume is different from the MD volume (which is sort of an advantage). Radio cant be recorded (but who would want to do that anyway) and it works only when the MD is off (power is supplied from the MD unit). Track names are not shown on the remote, and speaking of which, i found it a bit cumbersome to input the track names. You have to enter one letter at a time via the controls on the MD unit. You save some time by pressing the Pause button to choose a different character set (#, Caps, or Small), but it would take you about 15min to type out the track names for 3 albums, but when you're done, the name scrolls, so theres no cut-off of the title.

Since i covered the track naming, another weakness is the shape. I dont know who designed this unit, but i really hate the way they designed the case. Instead of being rectangular, theres a fairly large protrusion on the back to accomodate the battery. It protrudes about 1/2 of 1/3 of the battery's width and might not be very comfortable in the pocket (pants or jacket). The player also seems a bit heavy. I weighed it, and its 5.5oz with the disc inside (no remote). My CD Player (Panasonic SL-SX469V) weighs 10.5oz with 4 batteries (2 in the battery pack), but seems just as heavy. Maybe its just my perception of weight.

After buying this player, i found out (most likely from groups.google.com) that the radio remote can be used with the slightly more advanced & more expensive MZR-900DPC. BTW, the MZG-750DPC is exactly the same as the MZR-700DPC, except for the remote.

Anyway, i'm really happy that i bought this thing because it does exactly what i wanted (except for the slow recording speed).

Strengths:
Size, Optical LineIn, Remote, AM/FM Radio, MDLP Recording

Weaknesses:
Shape, Track Naming, Weight

Similar Products Used:
Panasonic SL-SX469V CD Player w/ AM/FM Radio