Sony MZ-NH700/LM Blue Hi-MiniDisc Walkman
See it at Amazon.co.uk for £147.00Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First
(5 out of 5)Excellent package, better flexibility than HD/memory players
OK, so I've been using MiniDiscs for a while: I have a "stationary" one for my HiFi and I have an old(er) MZ-R700PC - both of which are MD-LP compatible.
So I can take the same MD compilation and play it mobile or through the full loudspeaker experience - with greater ease (and a remote) than connecting an iPod or MP3 player to a standard amp. Good for when friends are around and you want to share the experience...
My old MZ-R700 had a USB PC link, but there was no speed acceleration for transfers. That's changed with the MZ-NH700 - and then some... Transfering a whole CD takes a couple of minutes (it can be even faster in some modes). That's true for any Net-MD model (which this is).
The SonicStage 2 software is slick (with a couple of quirks) and lets you rip into a number of formats (as you'd expect). One great advantage over (free versions) of RealPlayer is that it doesn't insert huge pauses between tracks. So if you've got a non-stop mix CD, it stays non-stop!
About the player:
- I haven't bothered with the standard 'phones - I use Sony MDR-EX71's -- they're truly excellent and comfortable
- the standard "case" is just a drawstring pouch - luckily I can still use the (far superior) one from the MZ-R700
- what isn't necessarily clear from the description is that you can use a standard AA battery in place of the rechargeable. So if you're on the move and the battery runs out (which it doesn't do very quickly at all!), you can pop into a local shop and get a new battery.
- I can still record/transfer in standard MD-LP format and play it on my HiFi (if being sociable)
- I can store a stupid amount of stuff on the 1GB disk, but that's not compatible with my older players: luckily all the "commodity" 74- and 80-min MDs are compatible with both.
- the 1GB disks are scarce at the moment (Nov 2004)
If you're already an MD (non Net-MD) user, this range (and this one particularly) is a great upgrade.
If you're thinking about an HD player consider:
- battery life (30 hours for MD vs 14 for some HD...)
- flexibility of choice of music (no endless scrolling, no ultimate upper size limit, just group your moods on different MD disks)
But do get the MDR-EX71 headphones and a decent carry case.
And the Amazon price is superb.
(5 out of 5)Amazing
I wanted to know a few answers about this minidisc which i didn't find out, so i will tell you.
1) It looks different from the picture given (better)
2) You are supplied with a 1Gb minidisc
3) You can scroll through songs when playing another (like on an iPod)
4) There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with Sonic Stage, it's far better than the previous ones.
Hope that helps! Buy this minidisc. It's very good!
(5 out of 5)An Excellant Device. Light, Compact, feature packed.
The 700blue fits in the palm of your hand. It is so light, you wonder if they forgot to put the circuitry inside. Unlike the cassette walkman, the minidisk walkman really does fit neatly into your shirt pocket.
It comes with one hi-md 1gig disk, 1 rechargeable AA battery, mains power lead. optical cable, USB Cable, headphones and remote, a library of documents and the latest version of Sony's Sonic Stage (Version 2.0).
Sonic stage works wonderfully. It is simple and reliable to use. An icon in the system tray allows you to copy instantly the contents of a Music CD to the MiniDisk. Sonicstage itself allows you to copy audio files BETWEEN (both ways) the PC and the minidisk. You can also order the tracks on your computer screen and the minidisk will be reordered automatically; this saves you moving tracks around directly on the minidisk with the small controls.
The power adaptor which comes with can be plugged in allowing the rechargeable battery to then charged up in two hours flat! The menu system is straight-forward to use (the trick is to hold down the menu button for 3 seconds - read the manual!).
Tracks are organised in a similar fashion to computer files, i.e. in files (or tracks) inside folders. Indeed, your folders on your computers, e.g. Jazz, Pop, my collection 1, etc, will be literally copied over, word for word. You can copy tracks by themselves or create a new folder for them. You can organise the order of the tracks or folders on your minidisk or your computer (as mentioned above).
This 700 model does everything you want. It comes with line in for optical and other sources AND a microphone for analogue recording from TV, Radio, Hi-Fi, or, indeed, microphone. Finally, you can store non-audio pc files, such as word, picture, excel, etc, etc.
...Let's see an ipod do all that!
A superb product and worth every penny. Don't you just love Sony?
Michael
(4 out of 5)A few minus points to consider!
The other reviews of this HiMD tell you all the good things about it - and I'm not going to disagree with them. I have been relatively happy with my purchase - made so that I can take a huge collection of classical & Jazz music with me to Iraq for 4 months. I now have hundreds of CDs in one small case with a dozen discs in it. Excellent.
The few problems you need to consider before deciding that MD is for you:
1. Sound levels of recorded classical music vary greatly. Compression is often low to give the best sound quality and this means that when transferred to a digital file like Atrac you may find it hard to get high enough volumes from in-ear phones (unless you get the very expensive sound isolating type which I have decided to buy!). Pop and rock you can listen to quite happily at level 20/30 - you may stuggle to hear some classical music at 30/30.
2. If you have poor or (over 40!) failing eyesight you will struggle to read the display on this MD. The display is small with no backlight and the font size is miniscule and not very clear (compared to an iPod).
3. The battery compartment cover has an annoying tendancy to pop open when you are changing the disc.
4. SoundStage is not great and messed my PC up quite badly on the first few attempts to load it. The QuickBurner is quite slick though. Biggest problem here is that MD still doesn't do MP3 - but I suspect that Sony will have to change this on newer models - you might prefer to wait for that if you like the MP3 format in preferrence to ATRAC.
Conclusion - a good product and one that I don't regret buying (particularly for my specific purpose and with my concern about the reliability mini-HDs in a difficult environment) - however, it could be even better with a bigger backlit screen and a volume boost for classical fans!
(4 out of 5)Nice machine - shame about the software
I like this machine a lot. I use it with the ECM-DS70P condenser mic to record my musical ramblings, interviews with clients, and when I'm not doing that I use it as a personal stereo.
It is well built, sounds great, the batteries last ages, and the HiMD discs are just HUGE! You can get hours of music on one disc, and on random play you are constantly surprised by what pops up.
The only reservation I have is the software interface. Sony's SonicStage software is the only way to connect to the machine, and Sony are a record company. Their priority seems to be to stop you breaching their recordings' copyright, even at the expense of the usefulness of the machine.
I can't use it to transfer music from one computer to another, I can't transfer older conventional MiniDiscs of my own music to the computer, and there are a limited number of transfers allowed for each track you own.
The sooner someone writes a HiMD plugin for WinAmp or Windows Media Player the better.