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Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-S1 Personal MiniDisc Player

Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-S1 Personal MiniDisc Player
Overall Rating: Product Rating: 4.0
Sound:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Portability:
Battery Life:

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(the unit it self) Delivers on all the promises it makes.

Written: Aug 06 '03 (Updated Jan 06 '04)

Product Rating: Product Rating: 5.0
Sound:  
Ease of Use:  
Durability:  
Portability:  
Battery Life:  
Pros: Ruggedness Almost 5 CDs of music available Cheap medium Cool Factor (HUMMER tough!)

Cons: Software needs work. Heavy metal clasp/shield. Bulky. No belt clip. (HUMMER bulk and weight)

The Bottom Line: The best value for your dollar This thing will last forever as long as MDs are marketed as effectively as CDs...runs for a month on one battery! REALLY!

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cupofjava's Full Review: Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-S1 Personal MiniDisc Player
Its not hard to see that alot of people have a great opinion on this product. I've had mine for over a year and a half now and have not had any bad surprises since I first unwrapped it from its package.

Since there are alot of rave reviews on this product I will write a review specificly on its unit/housing.

The Unit

Size:
Though the unit itself has become somewhat bulky compared to todays personal music player standards, its ruggedness more than makes up for this drawback. Its great in my jacket pocket but is still quite awkward because of its shape. (Not to mention that the cord is quite short and always tugs on the head phones when I stick the player in my pocket.)

Ergonomics:
Its quite ergonomic; it allows you to easily access its thumb controls while comfortably holding it in your hand. Curiously it looks like it was designed to be used and held in your left hand becuase you can only view the screen and access the controlls from this hand. (???) Isn't most of the worlds population right handed?

Weight:
This unit is heavier than it looks. This doesnt exaclty make a good combination with its awkward shape. The weight is mostly on the hinged clasp. When dropped the unit is designed to fall on this metal plate to absorb and effectively distribute the weight through the unit. Couldn't this be achieved by having a giant piece of rubber instead of steel?

The Screen:
The unit has a cool little screen that glows orange when you use any of the functions. They should defenitely highlight this on the box. Not alot of players have this feature...except for the really expensive ones. It displays song title along with the usual information.

Toughness:
Unbreakable...this unit sometime sits at the bottom of my backpack and takes the abuse of huge books, drafting supplies and whatever else thats in there. (Like dust, food bits, loose tobacco and whatever else...waterproof nothing...this thing is dust and dirt proof as well.)


Changes I would make:
-A hand strap that secures the unit to your hand and not just dangling on your wrist.
-An optional belt clip.
-Replace the steel clasp for a lighter weight one...Rubber? Carbon fiber?
-A larger screen...with screen saver or some sort of downloadable animation.
-An available sport remote control. I know they are trying to keep the unit price down...but an available remote would be great.
-A built in mike...or at least a place where you can plug one in.
-A longer cord. (So it can stop tugging on my ears.)
-Make the unit capable of serving as a removable drive...I mean it is a recorder as well why not use it to its full advantage!

Don't get me wrong as is and compared to everything else out there this is the best value for a personal music player.

**UPDATE:
Several years old and sony still can't make a replacement for this HUMMER of minidisk recorder/player.

-The earphone has died on me...so purchased those huge studio headphones from Walmart for $20 and a smaller and more expensive fontopia earphones for an arm and a leg at the SonyStore. Good combo...the bigger and cheap head phones are used mainly on those cold days to block out the wind while the smaller ones are for added portability. The ear phones were an excelent investment but thats a whole different review.

-Case has withstood more than it's share of bumps and scrapes. Has developed small hairline fractures along the lenght of each hinge. (Don't forget that I do put this thing to the test...in the past no single cassette tape (yeah, I said cassette tape) or CD player I owned made it past 12 months.) Called place of purchase and sony store...this is not covered in repair/replacement plan because it is attributed to wear and tear as opposed to factory deffect...which was fair. Has not been a problem and I'm sure that when it comes to get it repaired it will be worth it to replace or time to move on to the next player...I think it will be at least another year before I start concidering that.

-The HUMMER analogy is truer than you think...its monster sive compared to everyone else's newer MP3 players tiny size and weight is quite apparent. But there are no other players that have the durability and music capacity (with the help of those wonderfully cheap minidisks) that this Minidisk player/recorder has. Smaller weather proof MP3 players are limited by memory and expensive cards while hard disk players such as iPOD(though incredibly cool) are not as tough.



Recommended:
Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 180
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cupofjava
Reviews written: 5
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