Sony MZ-N10

Can't buy a replacement battery. Now junk.

This md player has a very bad battery and does not charge correctly trough the included usb charger. Battery life is very short like 10 years to go .When you recording and battery goes nicely slowly empty and empty you can not connect usb cable to charge it because it does not effect to deliver power. Other problem is it is impossible to access to all menu function like sound pre set self on walkman you must using this remote control to access to some menu function of the player. This is most badly built md unit what i see in my life sound quality is medium average (playback time 8 hours) Sony does it wrong.

If it was still out there then I'd say by a Sony MZ-N10 but if you can then get one off Ebay or something like that because it's a piece of Sonys history!

Also if you want a stylish minidisk player than here's the one!

I have had many minidsc players in the past but this was my first foray into the Sony market, and I have been massively impressed. The software provided is very simple to use (Sonic Stage) and the extras provided with the player were top quality. The provided Sony leather case wa a nice touch and also an additional AA battery addon pack boosts your battery time by 100%. The Li-ION battery also provides a stand alone playback time of around 40-50 hours. I am averaging 5-6 albums per mini disc with this baby and is definitely a fantastic alternative to an MP3 player (until their prices drop). You can pick this player up for around £120 these days at your local electrical retailers.

Sony's 10th aniversary of the MD has brought upon us a new top line MD. The Net MD MZ-N10 isn't just a MZ-N1 with better looks, (which I originally thought it was) but adds really some really cool features. Listing them is the easiest way to present it so: ~Body asthetics~

the unit is made of magnesium and is very sturdy. The solid feel to it makes up for the small size in terms of solidness. (remember the some of the nokia phones? they got so small that they felt like they were falling apart, some not all) The LCD display displays more infomation and a scroll dial on the side of the unit makes it easy to select songs and menu options. The remote, unfortunately made of plastic, looks great it has a sharper LCD display to the MZ-N1 and also feels solid. The clip on the back is reversable so it clips on to your clothing with less cable mess. ~Net Features~

Check-in/Check-out is still here, no matter how many petitions were made to improve it, but still it isn't that big of a deal. It just means that you can only check-out, transfer music from computer to MD, three times and if you want to put the song onto another disk you must check-in first. A little confusing but once you've done it once you understand. Another annoying quirk is you cannot transfer songs from MD to Computer through the Net-MD program, known as SonicStage. SonicStage is a huge improvement to OpenMG, still it contains a few bugs but alot less than OpenMG. The transfer speed is quicker thanks to USB 2.0, but still is compatible with USB 1.1. The cradle is a quick snap, just put your MD on top and off you go. ~Sound~

This is where, in my opinion, the MD really shines. LP4 on older MD players really sounded, in bitter terms, crud. but the MZ-N10 improves this by introducing a 6-band equilizer. This feature was much needed and I for one am glad they included it. Now songs don't have too much bass or too much treble but also enabling you to edit mid range improves listening quality. There is another sound engine called vpf acustics engine. It is suppose to give a good virtual surround sound to your headphones but sounds really bad. It loses bass and treble sounds a little like you were in a fish tank. ~Battery~

The battery is a little of a short coming, excuse the pun but it is. This is because the Li-ion battery is now an internal unit. This though makes for a lighter unit, which is great because I don't feel it in my pockets at all, but a shorter battery life means more frequent rechargings and a shorter (long term) battery life. Of course the unit comes with an external battery case, you should see it it is huge!! its about two thirds the size of my phone. This is because this is where you can also plug in an external power supply as well as a AA battery. ~overall~

Though the MD has a few quirks they are easily overlooked. Why? cos I said so! just kidding, just getting a little annoying to write such a long review, because you don't have to have vpf engine on, the external battery isn't needed, the internal battery can last about 25 hours playing LP4 and check-in/check-out its not a very big deal. Checking-out three times is more than enough. It all comes down to the price though. Since this is a top of the range unit, and also good bargining skills can get you 10% off(in australian terms) or 4% (in pounds) it makes it a pretty good priced unit considering the sound quality the MD produces. If your like me save for this unit but the units down from this one are perfectly fine... just not as fine as this one!

Sony's 10th aniversary of the MD has brought upon us a new top line MD. The Net MD MZ-N10 isn't just a MZ-N1 with better looks, (which I originally thought it was) but adds really some really cool features. Listing them is the easiest way to present it so: ~Body asthetics~

the unit is made of magnesium and is very sturdy. The solid feel to it makes up for the small size in terms of solidness. (remember the some of the nokia phones? they got so small that they felt like they were falling apart, some not all) The LCD display displays more infomation and a scroll dial on the side of the unit makes it easy to select songs and menu options. The remote, unfortunately made of plastic, looks great it has a sharper LCD display to the MZ-N1 and also feels solid. The clip on the back is reversable so it clips on to your clothing with less cable mess. ~Net Features~

Check-in/Check-out is still here, no matter how many petitions were made to improve it, but still it isn't that big of a deal. It just means that you can only check-out, transfer music from computer to MD, three times and if you want to put the song onto another disk you must check-in first. A little confusing but once you've done it once you understand. Another annoying quirk is you cannot transfer songs from MD to Computer through the Net-MD program, known as SonicStage. SonicStage is a huge improvement to OpenMG, still it contains a few bugs but alot less than OpenMG. The transfer speed is quicker thanks to USB 2.0, but still is compatible with USB 1.1. The cradle is a quick snap, just put your MD on top and off you go. ~Sound~

This is where, in my opinion, the MD really shines. LP4 on older MD players really sounded, in bitter terms, crud. but the MZ-N10 improves this by introducing a 6-band equilizer. This feature was much needed and I for one am glad they included it. Now songs don't have too much bass or too much treble but also enabling you to edit mid range improves listening quality. There is another sound engine called vpf acustics engine. It is suppose to give a good virtual surround sound to your headphones but sounds really bad. It loses bass and treble sounds a little like you were in a fish tank. ~Battery~

The battery is a little of a short coming, excuse the pun but it is. This is because the Li-ion battery is now an internal unit. This though makes for a lighter unit, which is great because I don't feel it in my pockets at all, but a shorter battery life means more frequent rechargings and a shorter (long term) battery life. Of course the unit comes with an external battery case, you should see it it is huge!! its about two thirds the size of my phone. This is because this is where you can also plug in an external power supply as well as a AA battery. ~overall~

Though the MD has a few quirks they are easily overlooked. Why? cos I said so! just kidding, just getting a little annoying to write such a long review, because you don't have to have vpf engine on, the external battery isn't needed, the internal battery can last about 25 hours playing LP4 and check-in/check-out its not a very big deal. Checking-out three times is more than enough. It all comes down to the price though. Since this is a top of the range unit, and also good bargining skills can get you 10% off(in australian terms) or 4% (in pounds) it makes it a pretty good priced unit considering the sound quality the MD produces. If your like me save for this unit but the units down from this one are perfectly fine... just not as fine as this one!