Sony has a hit as far as I'm concerned
Written: Jun 10 '05
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Pros: Price, live recordings can be imported, decent battery, plays MP3s natively, fast transfer from PC.
Cons: No backlight on the display!! SonicStage is a resource hog.
The Bottom Line: I recommend for those who can't justify spending $$$ for more capacity than you'll ever need. Hi-MD wins on price and versatility.
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| kwbarrett's Full Review: Sony MZ-RH910 Personal MiniDisc Player |
I have been a longtime MD user with 2 previous models. Recently I've been toying with the idea of an mp3 player. My NetMD was great, but I got tired of lugging MDs with me or docking to my PC to get more tunes when my musical mood changed. I considered the NW-HD3 since it would hold my entire mp3 collection (~1000 mp3s/CD) several times over. The best price I could find was $250+. I then looked at the RH10 & RH910. A 1GB could still hold most of my collection (i.e. my favorite music) and I wouldn't be tied to my PC all the time. Both the hard disk player and the MD allow for on the fly playlists, handle mp3 natively, include preset and custom EQ settings, and sound is comparable. The MD allows for live recording which comes in handy during jazz fest season and now I can import live recordings to my PC. The price of the MD also figured in to my decision. The RH910 came in at ~1/2 that of the HD3. So I went with the RH910 and have not been disappointed. People complain about the SonicStage software, but it is vastly improved since the days of the OMG Jukebox. One annoying thing is that while genre information is available in SonicStage, it is not in the player; only artist and album. Then albums are groups when transferred to the player so groups become obsolte on the player. My workaround is to create groups on the player for each genre and then transfer tracks into each group accordingly. Now on the player I can search/play by genre, artist, and album. The bookmark feature works well too, although, it seems to lose memory after either stopping or ejecting the disc. It would be nice since there is disc memory, if it would remember bookmarked tracks. The supplied headphones leave something to be desired, but I never planned to use them anyway.
I'll admit, I was slightly disappointed to find that the RH910 was entirely plastic. Both my old MZ-R37 and MZ-N505 were metal and could take a beating. The 910 also has a plastic mirrored face that probably scratches easily. This was taken care of by using a screen protector for PDAs and cutting it down to size. Button layout might be a problem for people with big hands. The buttons are small and are pretty much flush with the player. For me though, I have no problem operating the unit with one hand. The scrollwheel seems to be responsive, but sometimes with slippery hands can be a little tough to move. The biggest thing missing on this unit is a backlight. The screen, while easy to read in normal light is useless in low or no light situations. Big oversight on Sony's part. For another $100 I could have bought the RH10, but the only difference between the 910 and the RH10 that I can see is the backlit display. That's not worth $100 to me.
So now I have ~500 tracks to choose from, with room to spare. Another note, the Sony Connect music store seems vastly improved since the first time I looked at it also. Radio stations, music mood mixes, Connect Sets for unique live recordings, and less restrictions on burning purchased tracks (now unlimited burns to CD). Still a work in progress, but much improved.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $165
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Epinions.com ID:
kwbarrett
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Reviews written: 7
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