Sony MZ-E510 MiniDisc Walkman

Amazon Customer Reviews

(4 out of 5)

Needs Coffee

Having bought this after my older MZ-E501 model got stolen, I was surprised to find that this was everything [almost] that I ever wanted in a portable md player. It has the backlit remote [always useful after a night out], MDLP group playing functions because now one md can hold many albums and a fun 6 band equaliser which lets you change the sound of the music how you like it.

The main complaint is the fact that the remote control is slightly complicated and fidgety to use but the manual is clear. Be warned: do not lose the remote without it you can't see what songs are playing and you lose most of the functions of the player. The other is that the charging cradle looks childish. But otherwise it's a great product!

(4 out of 5)

Damn good with advantages over MZ-E10

Having finally broken my E500 player - bought donkey's years ago and put through hell without giving up - I decided it was time for a new player. First up as far as I'm concerned with Minidisc players aesthetically Sony has ALWAYS stood out from the rest for smooth styling and subtle buttons as opposed to the brash industrial looks of say Sharp or Panasonic, so my choice was from the Sony Range.

I own an MDS-NT1 deck - it's a Net minidisc deck for my computer which I record with so I don't need a portable recorder, I'd never use the recording functions so might as well get a Player as they're that much smaller.

Now the decision dropped to the MZ-E10 or this E510. THe looks of the E10 are stunning, it's tiny and all metallic no plastic coloured bits. That said the E510 has a certain charm and style with the blue parts (unlike the picture above mine is metallic with a subtle blue plastic part around the logo).

The clinche for me was the AA battery pack - if you're going travelling access to suitable plug socket may be limited and the charging cradle is a bit of a faff to carry around so the use of AA batteries was essential and sadly the E10 doesn't have this accessory only it's onboard (non-removable) battery whereas the E510 can use the extra black battery pack - this was the main reason I bought the E510 over the E10 then to top it off I noticed the price difference with the E510 65-70% of the E10's price wow!

Sound qualities superb as you'd expect MDLP lets you squeeze A LOT of music on one disc so the Group functions are superb - no longer do you have to scroll through all of your 100+ tracks to get to the one you want!

Will echo what was said with the remote - compared to the E500 one it's ridiculous - that was brilliant because the end which rocked around controlled the volume when pulled out and play/next track and previous track when depressed finally the stop button was on the end of the remote and unmissable - the new remote is a bit fiddly BUT it does have a backlight which is worth it's weight in gold!

(5 out of 5)

great bit of kit

i have had one of these for over a year now and never go to work or longJourneys with out it, the sound is amazing and it has all the greatfunctions that u would expect for an md player from sony, the quilty ofthe case is brilliant this thing lives in my back pocket and dosent have adent on it. the battary life is something else i have managed to go without charging it for almost a month (just using it to get to work andback).
overall a great product from sony thanks.

(5 out of 5)

A great bargain for MD enthusiasts

I have used MiniDisc for digitizing a large vinyl collection. MD offers much better sound quality than MP3, and a computer is not needed, though if need be the data can be accessed and burnt to CD using Sony's new MZ-RH1. However, the MD format seems to be losing ground, in the UK at least, and players and recorders are becoming harder to find. I already have three MD recorders, but one, a Sharp MT-161 I've owned since 1999, is on the blink and I thought it a good idea to grab one of these Sony MZ-E510s while they were still available.

It offers playback only. The unit is the size of a disc case, and a mere 18.3 mm deep. The case is made of brushed metal. Power comes from a Sony Ni-MH "gumstick" battery, which is recharged when the player is set in a little purple stand. The player can be run on mains power alone, using the stand, and there is also (a big plus for me) a screw-on case which takes a single AA cell. If the gumstick fails and can't be replaced, it's no big deal.

Also supplied is a full-function remote with an optionally backlit display. There is no display on the player itself, though the main controls (volume, start/pause, stop, forward, back, and hold) are duplicated on the back of the case. Thus you can operate quite happily without the remote if you just want to play a disc with which you're familiar.

The button headphones are surprisingly good, but plug in a set of Grados and the sound is wonderful. For those who like such things, there's even a six-band graphic equalizer (four presets, two user-definable) allowing adjustment in the following frequencies: 100 Hz, 250 Hz, 630 Hz, 1.6 kHz, 4 kHz, 10 kHz.

The machine features anti-skip protection and AVLS (to protect your hearing), and has power-saving options to prolong battery life. Sony claim that, playing SP stereo, the Ni-MH battery lasts for 26 hours. The additional AA battery gives 57 hours of play, and if you use both together you can run for 85 hours -- 107 hours in LP2 mode, and 130 in LP4!

All in all, it's a delightful little player which any MiniDisc user would be glad to own, if only as insurance against an uncertain future for the format.