Sony MZ-R55 Review

Good Points
Very small and compact. Stylish looking.

Bad Points
Unable to use mains adapter to play or record, while in recharging mode. No belt clip or suitable case for wearing on belt. Original Sony headphones have a very short lead which is only really designed for use with the remote control. The LCD on the unit is not backlit. Replacement accessories are very expensive.

General Comments
This little minidisc recorder is so small it fits on the palm of your hand or neatly in your shirt pocket. The functioning of the Sony MD Walkman MZ-R55 is fairly straightforward for normal operation, but some of the more advanced features are somewhat confusing at first and take some getting used to. The unit runs of a single 'chewing gum' sized rechargeable battery call which gives about 3 hours of playing time on average, although there is an external battery holder which takes two standard AA batteries and gives up to an additional 6 hours playing time. Battery life is clearly shown on the LCD and alarm warnings given when the battery is close to failure. The recording operation is fairly straight forward, and you can record from any audio source with a standard 2.5mm jack plug line out, or from a digital source with the optical digital cable. There is also a USB PC adapter available which lets you record MP3's and other audio files which is very useful. The sound quality is as you would expect from a Sony CD product, very high quality. I have found the sound quality is at its best when using the novel Sony colapsable 'in ear' headphones, which are supplied only with units sold in US I believe. Although this model is rather old and no longer being made, they are still sought after. All in all a worthwhile buy if you happen to find one for forsale which is fully complete with its accessories.