Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony MZ-NH900 Silver Hi-MiniDisc Walkman

After months of indecision as whether a minidisc or mp3 player was the best route I finally decided on the sony MZ-NH900 - I am still thoroughly happy with my choice and use it on a daily basis.

One factor which put me off a little were reports that sony's software is disappointing. I can report that I have had no problems with running or using the software (I currently run MS windows 98SE). Transfering music is, relatively, quick and very easy. Music can be compressed to varying degrees which allows several albums to be burnt onto a single minidisc without any perceptable loss of quality. Menus on the unit can be a little confusing but after sitting down and having a play they quickly become more accessable. Battery life is adequate (a rechargable battery is provided which can be backed up by detachable AA battery case). A lot of the new generation sony minidiscs are Hi-MD, meaning they can play 1GB minidiscs compared to regular 700MB(ish) minidiscs. However, this is one of the few minidiscs sold that includes a 1GB minidisc in the welcome pack. Currently these discs are not for sale in the UK, which is worth bearing in mind. Minidiscs are, however, re-recordable and editing discs is easy using the software provided. That said, if you record data to your minidisc, such as powerpoint presentations etc, (effectively using your minidisc as a removable disc drive) this burns permanently to the minidisc.

A couple of niggles are (i) the awful earphones that are provided (ii) the tacky velour carry case - not expected on a near top of the range model so be prepared to replace both these items! and (iii) the lack of a backlight on the main unit screen.

Even with the niggles, I am pleased with my initial decision (infinate storage space and no loss of quality) and would recommend this minidisc player/recorder.

Just recieved my 3 blank Hi-MDs which aren't very availible.. but are slowly becoming, and now i feel is the time to write a review. If you're thinking What? 3 blank hi-mds.. thats like nothing..... oh how wrong you are. To store the max amount of music on one disk requires a 48k/sec Quality rate.. which for such a low rate is amazing quality... but in my opinion will detract from the experience. The best option is the 64k/sec which is EXACTLY enough... I have a few 128k/sec mp3s and when even these are converted to ATRAC3plus 64k they sound exactly the same.. NO DIFFERENCE. This means i can store TWICE AS MUCH in the same amount of space then an IpoD could! Which is actually 34HOURS!

My only quibble dibble is that if for some reason you lost everything on your computer (like i did), and only had your music on your Hi-MD... and you reinstalled Windows everything.. the clever SonicStage thinks you are on a different computer! and because of copyright will not let you upload your files from the Hi-MD back to the computer.

Also the SonicStage program is very resource intensive and you would want a good/ up to date compie to get it to work fast and efficient.

BUT

Sony have also just released a 20GB HD based player which is tinier than anything i have ever seen and it is so pretty..just so pretty. The NWHD1 supports ATRAC/3Plus and so you can actually store about 10,000 songs! And who in the world has that many songs. ALSO it has an amazing battery life of 30hrs.. which is just as much as what this hi-md offers.

Hi-MD is better for those who like to record things and share things with their friends (and they must have a hi-md player) .. but in the long run I regret a tincywincy bit that i didn't buy this harddrive player because well in simple terms it is better.

Just as a final note.. whatever you do ... DO NOT buy an iPod. They are so unreliable... all 3 of my friends had bought one and in the end had some kind of massive problem. And if you drop.. you've got to reshop (poor rhyme i know). Getting it fixed costs tonnes... the battery life is about 10hrs (POOR) and when it finally runs out fully you have to get it replaced for A HUGE SUM. Sony's player stores twice as many songs, more durable, reliable, AND 3x the battery life.

Conclusion: Go around everywhere seraching for people's reviews, opinions and then decide what to buy.. do not rush into like i did. :(

Love love love this little wonder. My only quibble is that is doesnt have a random mode, still nothing is perfect! great sound, easy as pie software, cheaper, smaller and lighter than an ipod and once the new 1Gb discs are freely avaliable, unlimited! I'm so glad i bought this, no worries about battery life either!

i got my Hi MD around 9 months ago and in that time there has not been one problem. Ive dropped it once knocked it around a few times
but nothing happened so its pretty durable.

i have got around 700 songs on one 1gb disc compared to the i pod mini which gets 1000 songs in 4 gb.

the remote is extremely useful you can keep the MD in your pocket and still control everything.

The battery life is quality up to 30 hours on one AA battery.

the only problem is the head phones but you can always buy new ones

the best walkman i have owned im sure you will feel the same.

Due to this product's massive price reduction, the HI-MD is well worth it. Take advantage over HDD mp3 players by having a shock-resistant shell and an unlimited amount of music storage.

For most people on the move, 1GB is more than enough music!