Superb player let down by lousy software
Written: Apr 10 '03
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Pros: Tiny size, impressive build quality, LP2 recording mode
Cons: OpenMG SUCKS!!! LCD screen not backlit.
The Bottom Line: Despite the shortcomings of the OpenMG software, the MD itself is just superb. I would highly recommend using the workaround to upload MP3s onto the MD player, though.
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| berkdude's Full Review: Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-N1 Personal MiniDisc Player |
I have owned minidisc players since 1995, and I have to say that I'm a huge fan. I've never been interested in MP3 players because the ones that are small enough to interest me generally can't store enough music and the ones that can store substantial amounts of music are too big for me. I want something I can jog with, or put in my pocket and forget it's there.
The MZ-N1 is my most recent MD and I have to say that as a player, it is absolutely phenomenal.
PROs:
- LP2 (the best way to store music on an MD) extends the capacity of each minidisc to 160 minutes.
- Incredibly small, very light. Not quite as small as the niftiest MP3 players, but most of those store about 64 MB (or if you're lucky, 128 MB). I can't remember the stats, but something around 120 grams.
- Minidiscs are better for storing music than small MP3 players - every time you want to change music, you don't have to erase the songs and upload them again. Of course, hard-disk/CD based MP3 players have the edge here, because you can just put a huge amount of music on a hard disk - but again, if you're happy with something of that size, you're probably not in the market for an MD player.
- The remote control is much sturdier than the other Sony remotes I've owned. Actually, the construction of the entire MD player is very impressive.
- Battery life is amazing. A charged battery by itself lasts about a week, from memory. When I added an AA battery through the snap on battery pack, the MD player lasted me for over two weeks of travelling (which obviously involved a lot of usage of my MD whilst in transit).
CONS:
- The player: no backlit LCD screen on the MD. So you can't see the screen in the dark. You can use the remote control screen which IS backlit (it's so bright i use it as a makeshift torch sometimes!), but can't see the menu options etc. on the remote control.
- The OpenMG software TOTALLY sucks. It's horrible. You have to convert every MP3 into ATRAC3, which takes up disk space, and you can only have the one song on three MDs at one time. A real hassle. Fortunately, there's a very effective work-around - http://www.minidisc.org/NetMD_faq.html#_q83. Also, someone has developed independent software to automate this process: http://www.minidisc.org/clint_mers/
POSTSCRIPT:
Note that MP3 and MD players store music differently. MD store music in terms of time - not disk space. So if you have encoded MP3s at extremely high quality (e.g. 320 kbps) versus low quality MP3s, an MD will treat them equally - i.e. a 3 minute file takes up 3 minutes, whether it's 1 meg or 8 megs (point of comparison - 160 minutes encoded at 192 kbps is equivalent to about 230 MB). Essentially, NetMD can hold 80, 160 or 320 minutes on SP, LP2 and LP4 modes respectively. LP2 is essentially indistinguishable from SP, but I would only use LP4 for spoken word recordings or recording lectures etc.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 255
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Epinions.com ID:
berkdude
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Reviews written: 3
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