Sony MZ-R900S Recordable MiniDisc Walkman - Silver
Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(4 out of 5)Fantastic but Fiddly
With exceptional sound quality (5 stars) and typical Sony workmanship and style (5 stars), I am however baffled at the controls (1 star) and the need for a separate, screw-on case for the 'dry' battery(-1 star). [This is used in conjunction with the rechargeable for 'long battery life'. If it had been just a little bit bigger it could have taken the battery internally.]
Despite my ego, I have to admit that I am not a bright young thing any more (I'm a tad over 21 for the 20+ish time) but I do want quality items of the latest technology. It came as a nasty shock when, having bought it based on the sound played to me by an assistant, I tried to use the machine on my own.
It is not intuitive; the buttons are small; the contols on the remote are inconveniently placed, pointless and gimmicky and could have been used for standard controls; the backlight on the remote's display doesn't last long enough and is virtually impossible to read without. The asymetrical headphones are also a nightmare as the connecting cable is too short unless you use them with the remote which is cylindrical, bulky, catches on things and was dispensed with on the second day! If Sony saw the need for a small, flat player, then why not a small, flat rectangular remote with 1 or 2 rows of controls instead of the cylindrical lump?
These are not the ramblings of a misery-guts, but a serious critique of the machine. It is a superb piece of engineering and a delight to listen to - and to have the capability to have a whole audio book on one disk is just brilliant.
Despite having to consult the manual to find out which of the plethora of functions are of any real use, given the time taken to operate, I am really pleased to have bought it. I'd recommend it for the non-teenage/Yuppy market - but try operating it in a shop before you buy.
(5 out of 5)Musician's Dream
I love the flexibility and quality this little mini-disk gives me! I have used it to record live gigs taking direct feed from the sound desk, and acheived wonderful results. The digital out makes it easy for me to transfer recordings to PC for mastering before burning to CD. If I could add anything, it would be a digital in, so that I could transfer music from my PC to the MD to test on other systems. All in all this has changed the way I work. It is the Only MD in Sonys range that had all the features I required to work in this way. Fantastic stuff. Thanks Sony.
(1 out of 5)Dissappointing minidisc recorder
This system is highly overated due to flashy looks and a small size. It seems that all the effort has been put in to reducing the size rarther than increasing the functionality and usability of the product. The system has similer specifications to others in the range which I have purchased at considerably lower prices and I fellt were of a better standard than this which is supposed to be the top of the range model. The MZG750 is one of the best MD players about with the same spec and size of the MZR900 but with better usablility and a tuner which works well as long as there is a reasonable signal. All in all the MZR900 is not worth the extra cash.
(5 out of 5)Sony MZ-R900 - A Mobile Music Masterpiece!
Plus Points: Aesthetically designed slim profile in ice blue metal casing. Intuitive interface both on player body and via cabled remote controller. Cleverly designed rotary volume controller on remote controller. Excellent 4CD-1LPMD functionality. Minus Points: Cheap vinyl case supplied as standard, for such a classy device I would expect the case should be leather. MiniDisk is losing ground to MP3 players, Sony should have made the licensing as available as for their CD technology. Still, this is a cool highly mobile MD player!
(5 out of 5)Star Performer
I have had the fortune to own a few of Sony's wonderful MD players and this is with out doubt the best I have ever had. There is nothing I can fault with this machine, the clarity of sound, features and functionality of this machine are all faultless. This is the first machine that I have had with the long play functionality and I love it. Yes, there is a slight decrease in audio level but this is far offset with the ability to hold typically 5 albums of music on 1 80 minute disc. Love this, well done Sony.