Get up to speed with Sony's MZ-NE410 High Speed Net MD Walkman Recorder. This product enables you to record your MP3s or CDs at up to 32x Speed, Play Back ATRAC3 Audio, MP3, WMA, and WAV, enjoy up to 56 hours continuous playback using 1 "AA" Battery (LP4 Mode), and play more than 5 hours of Music on one 80-minute disc. Take advantage of the supplied Music Management Software including SonicStage Software and the Net MD Simple Burner Application. Skip-Free G-Protection Technology enables a smooth listening experience, and "Easy Skip" Group/Folder function allows for easy navigation between multiple file folders. The NetMD Recorder is the best digital choice for you with the MZ-NE410.
The MZ-NE410 Net MD Walkman recorder has everything needed to create great-sounding music mixes. In addition to transferring music at up to 32x speed (using its LP4 mode), the unit's SonicStage Jukebox software stores and manages digital music files, custom playlists, and music transfers, making it a cinch to transfer music to the device. The MZ-NE410 offers high-speed transfer from a PC via a direct USB connection, and it can record more than five hours of music on one 80-minute minidisc (using LP4 mode). It also uses Sony's skip-free G-Protection technology, which eliminates or reduces skipping during many active uses. The MZ-NE410 is compatible with the RealOne music player and the pressplay.com online music subscription service. It plays back ATRAC3 files and supports multiple Internet audio formats, including MP3, WMA, and WAV. The unit provides up to 56 hours of continuous playback on one AA battery.
The Easy Skip group-folder function helps organize songs into albums or groups. Once the music is transferred to the MZ-NE410, you can easily skip from group to group. Besides the bundled SonicStage software and SonicStage simple burner application, the MZ-NE410 includes software for creatively organizing music. MoodLogic software goes beyond typical jukebox applications, letting you compile music by mood or tempo rather than simply by artists and song titles.
MoodLogic corrects file information by identifying and retitling mislabeled tracks during ID3 tag cleaning. It also has a feature called Music Marker, which lets you "tag" music during playback. Once the device is reconnected to a PC, MoodLogic retrieves the marks, connects to the Musiclub Web site, and provides information about the song and artist and links to download new tracks, purchase CDs, or discover similar artists.
Note: The MZ-NE410's recording features and bundled software are not compatible with the MacOS operating system
Here's how you can use the included Sonic Stage Software to manage your music files:
1 easy to use
i have had this mini disc for a year and i like it. i dont have major problems with the software that comes with it, but sometimes it gets confusing. i use it like a low memory mp3 player. i like how you can fit it in your pocket. it is a great product for the price.
2 Great hardware tech, LOUSY software and DCM
I bought my NE410 about a year ago. This is my third MD device, and after the success of the first two I was looking forward to a PC-compatible device.
Unfortunately, Sony REALLY fails to deliver on this one. The hardware is excellent in itself, and the MD platform is reliable and stable. Unfortunately, there's no input besides the USB, so connecting to traditional audio (analog or digital) is impossible. All advanced device settings are controlled by the PC software, which severely limits any ability to make adjustments on the fly. USB recording, while straightforward, is VERY slow, and the embedded DCM in the organizer only allows 3 copies of a track to be attempted to be written to MD, and logs a "checkout" whether the write was successful or not. UNLESS you get the very best quality media, that means in reasonably short order you are prevented from exporting tracks to the device.
I can understand why Sony is applying DCM, but in the MP3 sphere (particularly when CD burning software has no such limitation), restrictions like these for comparatively disposable media don't make sense. Sony seems determined to engineer themselves out of the MP3 market with this device.
3 Looks pretty, but software is HELL
I saw this and said to myself "wow, a Sony MD MP3 Player! Sweet!" After loading up the software I hooked up the player to my PC. At first glance I could tell this was not going to be user friendly, and the more I delved into the process the worse it got. Once I figured out the process the program errored out and closed. It did this several times with the same result. After a couple wasted hours of disapointment, I bagged this hunk of junk and promptly returned it. I love Sony, but not when it comes to MP3.
4 Great for the Average Joe
I bought my MD a few years ago and have used it while on long motorcycle trips. It will blank out for a bit on rough roads but then it picks up where it left off and continues to fill long boring hours in the saddle. I also took it with me to Iraq last year. I never had to worry about having to charge the battery, the size was great for the travel and the 15 disks I took with me gave me a great variety of music for the 6 months I was there. I have to disagree with some of the bad reviews; for the average Joe out there it's a great music player to have due to it's size, ease of use, versatility the disks provide and the price.
5 Sony, I love you
I disagree with Harry's previous post, I have owned two md players, one exactly like this, and I love both the sound quality and software. Simple Burn is my preferred choice, and I use this software to make backups of my entire cd collection. Sonic Stage is easy to use also, and a must if you want to transfer your mp3s. After compression, I notice almost no difference in the sound quality of the mp3s. I purchased a better md player for added editing and recording control (of course, it was also a Sony), but for a beginner or someone who is simply using this to play their mp3s on the go, this is a fabulous buy!
6 Close, but no cigar
Sony has a good idea, poorly executed in this player. First, the sound files are stored in a proprietary format, so that you end up using more space, not less, on your hard drive. Second, the computer interface is glitchy and poorly designed (e.g., why can't you resize the panes?, why must it try to connect with the web after *every* CD?). Those minor problems could be forgiven, however, if the NetMD played songs well. Unfortunately, it doesn't. At the highest fidelity, you can't get but one CD onto each mini-disk - so why bother? At the compressions needed to get the "five hours of music" that they promise, the dynamic range is so severly reduced that most songs sounds as if they are coming through the AM radio of a 1955 BelAire. (Cool car. Lousy radio.) Worse still, when the dynamic range is particularly high (e.g., in opera or really good rock songs), the minidisc "chatters" to itself, so that it sounds as if a thousand crickets have taken residence in your earphones. When all is said and done, including the costs of the minidisks and the player, this is just as expensive as an iPod, which has a superior interface and better sound reproduction. I'd always bought Sony before, but "I won't get fooled again."
7 The Best Ever
In December 2001 I purchased Sony's ZS-M35 - the personal minidisc system. CD player on top, mini disc recorder on bottom. This was my introduction into the world of mini discs. This was purchased after my Sony CD player - cassette recorder died. I really abused the heads. It lasted 6 years of heavy use at the office. It still plays cd's and radio but draggggssss on the tapes.
My next in February 2003 was the MZ-E300 minidisc player - you know, the little blue player. Since I am recording in the office, I might as well take some to listen outside the office. It lasted until 2004 when the "hold" button gave out completely. The only thing to do was to throw it out. It did play Normal and LP2.
Getting fancy in February 2004, I ordered the MZ-NE410. This is a very good machine except that it didn't have a line in and I don't download from the internet so the software is useless for me.
In March 2004, I ordered the MZ-N510CK and IT IS A FANTASTIC MACHINE. It has a line in which I use to record in the office.
The 410 is my "player". The 510 is line in/line out from my Dell in my office. I use Real Player. I am a hog for old time radio shows and they come in MP3 format on CDs holding as much as 100 half-hour shows. I plug this cd into my dell, bring up Real Player, press start on Dell - hit record on 510 and let it rip. I record in LP4 so I get 10 half-hour show or 5 hours of whatever using MD80.
I still don't use the software, just MP3 cds and regular music cds to download. I have all the functions sans the software. This is a fantastic machine.
I am thinking of going MZ-NHF800 Hi-MD later on but have to read a lot more about it.
I only buy Sony for music. Not DVD, not television. I have not been disapointed yet.
8 BEST INEXPESIVE MEDIA PLAYER OUT THERE
Upon turning 15 last summer i decided to upgrade from cd players and bought myself a Minidisk player. i decided not to blow $300+ on an ipod because, well why bother. I mean i figured the iPod would blow over in a couple weeks. I recieved the Net MD Walkman and took it straight to the computer to get my files off it. The sound from the Minidisc Player is EXQUISITE. i heard little things i had never noticed on the computer before. When I dropped it for the first time it did not skip but kept playing through the song. I was amazed to find that i could run and shake the player without ONE SKIP!! I took it to gym class with me and it accompanied me on the mile run. THIS THING IS AWESOME AND I CAN PROMISE YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED WITH IT!! The sonicstage software is excellent but the whole check in check out thing got a little ANNOYING. Upon recieving an apple powermac for christmas I discovered that the SONICSTAGE software will not work with apple computers. I decided to sing the Minidisc's praises before i head over to the Apple website to order My iPod. THIS WOULD BE A GREAT CHOICE FOR WINDOWS USERS WHO WANT A GOOD INEXPENSIVE MEDIA PLAYER WITH FAST TRANSFER SPEEDS AND EXQUISITE SOUND. 5*****OUT OF 5 STARS I GIVE THIS AN A+
9 Why Bother? Don't!
Who makes a mini-disc recorder without a mic port?????? And calling it a recorder? Like I don't have 5 million other things I can download music to, I needed a mic port. It looks like it was designed in 1984. Proof you get what you pay for.
10 Good hardware, But bad software
I bougth this one and had very hard time for a week. But once I started finding right things, now it is cool. Follow these if you already bought it,
DON'Ts
1. DO NOT use the software that comes with the hardware.
2. DO NOT try to connect to computer before you install the driver.
3. DO NOT use it in other than Windows XP system.
DOs
1. Download the latest sonystage software from sony and use it.
2. Always clean up (initialize) the disk before start using it. There is a option in latest software.
3. Buy new pack of MDs and use it. (You can find it wallmart, you can use hi-md compatible.) I had problem writing the songs in cd which came with box.
Pros,
1. Really good battery life.
2. Light weight. You can carry easily.
3. Low price compare with iPad.
4. You can store around 60 songs (LP4) in a disk.
Cons,
1. Bad Software.
2. Low Battery sign in half of the battery life while recording. I used to take out and insert, it will go fine.
Over all it is good for $60 compare to iPad $160. You can store 300+ songs in a 5 pack cd(iPad holds only 200). Also it has grouping option, different sound settings.
11 Great Product for Awesome Price
This is my second Sony MD Walkman. I bought the first one, an newer model, a few months ago. I loved it. I recently went to the Sony Outlet store and got the NE410 for about $35.00. I just can't pass up a great deal! I had purchased an MP3 player a while back. I have not used the MP3 player since I purchased my first Sony MD Walkman.
Granted, the software is not the best out there, but it's definitly not the worst. If you want an affordable music player with an amazing battery life, this is for you. If you want something that has a million bells and whistles, go look for something that will cost you in the range of a few hundred dollars. Most MP3-CD players, like digital cameras, suck up the battery life. So for those that insist this is too bulky or don't like MiniDiscs--- well, with other MP3 players, you have to always carry around extra batteries or a charger! I travel extensively and use this device on airplanes. It's small, convenient, and I rarely change the battery. Keep in mind too, that one mini-disc holds about 305mb/or about 13.5 hours worth of music. The sound is pretty good. The headset it comes with is fine. It does not deliver amamzing sound- but then again, at an average price of around $60.00 some odd dollars-- what do you expect? Want Bose quality, spend Bose-type money. Want iPod versatility with 40GB, spend $300.00. Want an inexpensive portable music device that delivers nice sound, battey life and has some of the nicer qualities of the more expensive players such as a small, skip protection pocket device? Then this is the product for you.
12 Aweful software and "un-hip" design
I received this item as a gift and my first impression was that the design was cheesy. It has the look of a walkman for sure. After seeing the cool mp3 players that are out there, I was fairly disappointed in the bulk and am not real pleased with having to use a disk for storage. Although it can hold more songs than a CD player, I wanted to get away from having to keep up with additional pieces of hardware.
The second problem I have with this devise is the aweful software. Lots of problems occured with getting songs recorded onto the disk - too many to mention - because of conflicts with my computer's operating system. A chat with a live help customer service representative gave me a solution for one problem, but it only gave way to new problems.
I am returning this minidisk player as soon as the holiday return lines dwindle and have already purchased an actual mp3 player that I have read wonderful reviews about time and time again.
13 Great Product, Software very bad (Spanish)
Well, I live in Mexico City and I recently bought one of this Net MD. So, I want to write my review, but in Spanish, for people who can't read very well the English. And you can practice your Spanish:
Compre este Net MD la semana pasada, eran traidos de EU, asi que no ten’an garant’a en MŽxico. Abr’ el empaque muy feliz, tratŽ lo m‡s que pude de entender el instructivo (no me fuŽ muy bien) y me dispuse a instalar el software. FUE UN VERDADERO INFIERNO. Pase d’as tratando de hacer que las canciones pasaran al MD pero simplemente cuando lo hac’a, Windows XP me dec’a que hab’a pasado un problema, y que ten’a que cerrarse. Ya estaba contemplando la posibilidad de venderlo y comprarme un MP3, hasta que finalmente bajŽ un parche del sitio de Microsoft, instale el SonicStage 2.3 y todo resuelto. La interfaz la encuentro muy comprensible, pero se necesita un poco de experiencia. La œnica critica que encuentro es que cuando quemas los discos de MD, el reproductor devora baterias. Fuera de ahi, todo es perfecto: el sonido (te aconsejo que cambies los audifonos incluidos por unos mejores), la vida de la bateria cuando s—lo reproduce, el agarre de los botones es muy bueno, es muuuuy ligero, le caben cerca de 5 horas de mœsica en un disco, se pueden acomodar las canciones del disco en carpetas. Lo recomiendo si tienes paciencia con el software. Adem‡s es el m‡s barato de los Net MD.
ÀComments? Write me: covalto@msn.com
14 Really Good
I have owned a refurbed unit for almost a year now, and used it almost every day. It fits in a pocket-T perfectly, only uses one AA battery, and a rechargable Ni-Mh battery lasts a long time. The Sony Software takes a little getting used to, but to be honest I use the CD recorder software the most. I will convert mp3s to an audio Cd and use them. I did have a problem with the volume down button not working too well. The funny thing is I had what should have been a horrible accident fix it about 5 months ago.
I had my player in a cargo pants pocket, and put it in a washing machine while I was doing laundry (which I discovered after the load was done). I took out the battery, and opened everything up, stuck it in a brown paper bag in the sun for an hour to dry out. An hour later I put in a new battery, and she fired right up, and the volume controls work fine again.
I might also mention Sony put a great set of headphones in the unit as well. A tough unit which I highly recommend.
15 GOOD... BUT a few problems sink its ship....
BACKGROUND: I bought my MZ-NE410 approximately 1.5 years ago and use it quite regularly (2-3 times/week).
PROs:
- excellent playback battery life (50+ hrs)
- good volume of storage (i.e. # of songs per disc)
- good sound quality
CONs:
- transferring songs EATS up batteries
- main play control button breaks/malfunctions after ~6 months of use
- having to convert all of your mp3s to another file format via the supplied software
From my experience, transferring a full minidisc uses up 75% of the life of a good battery. There should be a way around this problem. After all, who wants to waste expensive batteries when you're sitting three feet away from a wall socket? Make no sense!
Also, the forward/back selectors on the main control button began to malfunction after 6 months. For example, pressing the 'forward' button to select the next song will often select the previous song instead (i.e. I am on track #10 and want to advance to track #11, so I press the 'forward' button. Instead of advancing to track #11, the player begins to play track #9.). If you're lucky, you can get the player to play the NEXT song by pressing the 'forward' button very hard. However, this seems to work only half of the time. This is a MAJOR INCONVENIENCE. I do now know if this problem is widespread or not. All I do know is that it is a problem for me.
The third problem with this player is that you have to convert all of your song files to another file format in order transfer them to the device. This will probably be a nuisance for those with older computers as it requires extra disk space and processing power. The slower your computer is, the more time it will take you to convert your songs. I have a 500MHz cpu and the process takes me about 30-60 minutes per disc. I expect that this will be less of a problem for those with newer computers.
OVERALL:
- DON'T buy it
From my experience, I would say that this player would be a great buy if it weren't for the defective buttons. However, this problem is apparent every time I attempt to change songs. As a result, I don't recommend the MZ-NE410.
16 What might be wrong with tranfering files back to your comp.
After reading some reviews about this product some people were dissapointed because you couldnt transfer files back to a DIFFERENT Pc. This is because, when you copy mp3, wma, wav, lame, rp...etc Windows Media Player "protects" the music, meaning that you cannot play the music files anywhere but YOUR SPECIFIC PC. So, theoreticly, If you would burn Music FILES,(not recording as an audio cd), Format your hard-drive reinstal your operating system, then try to play them..., you would not be able to play that music EVER AGAIN!!!!! And that, my friend, would,(saying it plainly),suck. But Microsoft thought this would happen. (...)
Now about the player itself.
(I don't actually own the player)
Would I buy it?- yes, But i'm going to get the MZ-SI S2 Sports Net Md MiniDisk Player, because of the backlight, duribility, and water resistance, plus the backlight only takes two hours out of the total battery life. But if you dont really need the backlight, or duribility or water resistance, than this player is perfect.
17 BUY IT
This is a great player for endless reasons. The battery life is amazing, it feels like more than 50 hrs. It is so lightweight even with the 1AA battery inside. The design is very sleek and cool looking with the matte black finish. It's easy to use, the buttons are very clear and just impossible to screw up. You can group your songs on the disc too so you don't have to scroll through all of the songs.
Please don't be frightened by some previous reviews by other buyers about the Software. I downloaded SonicStage 2.2 (most updated as of 10/16/04) from the Sony site www.connect.com, and it is very easy to use and dummy proof. All you do is drag and drop your songs to a box, how hard is that? Atrac conversion is very fast and on the 74 minute disc that came with the player I've been able to fit about 75 songs so far in LP4.
It comes with a free Sony carrycase/wristband which I'm sure will come in handy too. The only complaint I have is I wish I bought this player sooner.
I'm glad I didn't give into the Ipod craze and waste hundreds of dollars on that, I hear it also freezes. This player will never freeze and is a fraction of the price. The interchangeable + rerecordable MD media is great too!
18 Great for about 6 months to a year, then garbage
Before you buy one of these, I strongly recommend you do some research into the problems people have with these. I recieved one as a christmas present last year and I loved it, until it hit about 6 months old, when the buttons only occaisonally worked properly. A little research showed that this was a common fault in the NetMD series, and the other main problem with these things is that the tension on the optical reading system is held by a cheap piece of plastic (unlike metal which almost any other electronics maker would use). This means that in less than a year, chances are you're going to have to start holding the thing upside down to get it to play at all.
Sony really cheaped out when they made these things, but then they only cost like $50, so maybe you can buy a new one once or twice a year.
19 some people buy into the wrong hype
to the DJ in vegas...must not be an audiophile, or at least not one into doing the legwork.
why? because this is a low-end sony device. and for what it is marketed to do, it performs flawlessly. if you want upload from MD, it is available, either by way of a "hack", a cable available online at a minidisc site or by using a higher end, professional deck.
software, to be expected, not worldbeating---the first round of Open MG stuff I think was better, and while iPods suck, the iTunes software rocks.
yes, you read right. Compared to a MD player, I believe iPods suck. they freeze too often, battery life is a joke, and for a product that has been out 3 years, there are still too many bugs in it. for under 100 bucks, i get a minidisc player with 5 times the battery life, plus removable media that makes up the difference. this is the player for active folks
plus, every audiophile i know, has and loves the higher end sony stuff. cant be beat.
20 Why would you bother? MD = Betamax
BOTTOM LINE: YOU CAN'T UPLOAD FILES FROM YOUR MD PLAYER. INSANE!!
I'm a radio DJ in Las Vegas, and my station airchecks on Mini-Disc. At first, I was thinking, "Cool, another opportunity to purchase consumer electronics!" I recently purchased the Sony MZ-NE410. Boy, was I annoyed. Welcome to the Betamax of recordable audio.
The unit feels great in your hand. It's easy to play tracks you have on disc. The pleasantries end there.
I installed the Music Nightmare software on my XP laptop. Could it be any more confusing? After a bit of wrangling, I got it to burn audio files onto a disc. The headphones are frightening, but I didn't expect much.
Why the heck would anyone buy this thing to playback files if the files only go one way? Ridiculous. You can't put files back on your computer unless they originated from your computer, or some such voodoo. Unless there's some way to do this and I haven't figured it out. I'm surrounded by recording equipment every day. Sony, I'm disappointed.
21 love it!
I love this player also. After doing my research and reading countless reviews, I finally got this player and am happy with the sound quality! Yes, throw away the headphones that come with it. They are crap. Sonic Stage is okay. Sony Connect for buying music online is pure crap. I have a free coupon for 5 downloads but the Connect site is so cryptic one cannot figure out where to go and what to do. Awful. I buy music from Musicmatch and love it. Yes, this player does not support WMA's. So beware. I buy music online from, say, Musicmatch and import to Sonicstage. SStage does not play it and will not download on to MD player as it is an WMA. I circumvented the problem by burning my newly bought online music onto a blank cd through musicmatch and then transferred that disc I made onto the MD player using MD burner and it works just fine! Also, it is a pain that SonicStage does not rip from cds. But using MD burner is nice as it allows you to transfer directly to MD player. Another caution. Always use a fresh, new battery for downloading onto MD player. It will come up with "cannot write...." "cannot authenticate...." blah, blah. Pop fresh battery in and it is fine. Was skeptical of sound quality but is is great! But then again I use headphones that are 8-20khtz range. I like the fact that I can pop in a minidisk with songs of another genre and I can rewrite, add, etc. Great value!
22 love this player
My husband bought this for my birthday, when I asked for a MP3 player...and I love it. Although I was skeptical about the disks at first, I now enjoy being able to record my music according to artist, genre, or whatever, onto seperate disks. This player is durable, compact, and, with my own car adaptor, I can play it while driving. There is alot of things I am still learning to do, and the software is, as mentioned elsewhere, horrid. None of the directions that came with the software made sense when I looked at the computer screen! I have since decided that the instructions must have been for an older version of the software. I just had to play around and figure things out for myself. I don't like that it only allows me to record MY OWN PROPERTY 3 times, but I will try to find a way around that.
23 ??????The IPOD Killer???????
Well nowadays there is a huge commotion about mp3 players,and to tell you the truth they are overpriced have no durability,and is made without quality.In the previous year Sony introduced us to a whole nwe way of listening,and they call it a mini-disc player.The model you are looking at now is one of the first products of the Sony line.The MDP(mini disc player) has a numerous amount of benefits over regular mp3's such as the nomad or ipods.First off the MDP has a great battery life which they claimed over hundred hours(it seems alot more),while on the other hand the ipod drains the battery pretty quick because of its functions such as backlight etc...Both the ipod and the mdp are small so i have to give both of these companies an applause for not producing one of those big square nomads.Many people claim that the sonicstage software is extremely difficult to handly.THAT IS A HUGE LIE this is so easy to convert music(and im not a genius).I mean come on if my 7 year old cousin can easily transport music y can't you!!Have pity on you adults who find this difficult!The software is much easier than the ipod's just to tell you.Ipod's have an upperhand on the mdp's though they do not run on a mini disc(which costs 2 dollars each) and can store 1-35 thousand songs and you never would have to carry any mini discs.The mdp also has an upperhand which is durability and shock protection ,mp3's are notorious for beaking down or skipping when feeling dramatic shock mean while if you do many activities such as biking or working out (like i do)u might wanna take the mdp because it has g-protection and has never skipped once on me.In addition the mdp is alot more durable ,because once you drop an ipod its over(but depends wat model you get) on the other hand mdp's are pretty durable i have dropped mine many times on tile floor and still never has broken and never had a scratch on it.The mdp has no clip or belt unlike the ipod.Both the ipod and the mdp have unsurpassed sound quality so you can bleed your ears out.Last but not least the mdp kills a mp3 because of its price even if your budget conscious or just filthy stinken rich you should be smart and think which is worth it?Believe me you will be the winner with the sony mdp...got questions email me at heavyarms524@hotmail.com
24 I suggest that you reconsider buying this product
I have used Sony Minidisc recorders for many years and have found them practical and useful. My reason for purchasing the MZ-NE410 and application was to transfer and convert wave files and their file names from my computer to Minidiscs. This was usefull as a back up for my musical act in the event my portable computer failed during a gig. ABSOLUTLY do not use the Sonicstage 1.5 program that comes with this unit. It is flawed even according to Sony's tech support. Instead, trash the installation CD ROM and download sonicstage 2.0 from Sony's web site (connect.com). This version will allow you to download a file more than 3 times. Even so, this version of Sonicstage crashes during the process of file transfer and conversion, especially if you are using the non compressed file trasfer method which is required for older Minidisc decks. You will have to Control alt delete and restart you computer inorder to resume your Minidisk trasfer. You can't just merely control alt delete and restart sonic stage. You have to restart your computer. I have spent over 10 hours on the phone with Sony's tech support. Most of that time was spent talking to a nice Japanese lady whose main concern was trying to get demographic and personel data about my computer and me personally. If you find it necessary to utilize Sony's tech support for this product make sure that you ask for the nice woman's superviser. This is how I found out about the softwares shortcommings. You want to make sure that you're Minidisk unit is not connect to the USB jack after downloading and installing the software. If you did install Sonicstage 1.5 and wish to upgrade to Sonic Stage 2.0, you must use the Add/Remove application in the Windows control panel to remove all programs associated with this product. That includes any sonicstage and Open MG programs. There are four of these and they must be uninstalled seperatly. After uninstallation you must remove the SONY folder which is in the program files folder and all of it's contents to the recycle bin. Acording to Sony, all files pertaining to this device are with in the SONY folder. The folder must be deleated after the uninstall process to make sure that any and all of the Sonic Stage 1.5 files are removed. Another shorcoming of this unit is that there is no DC adaptor plug. This is a problem when attempting to trasfer files in the non compressed format. The trasfer takes a long time to accomplish and you will use allot of battery powere with the record function. Make sure you have allot of batteries or a battery recharger. The bottom line is that I need a backup player that has play/pause and file naming in a large florescent display. The Mindisc table top units accomplish this need for me. If all YOU want to do is play back Mp3 audio files in a portable unit, DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT OR ANY MINIDISC PORTABLE. You would be much better off with a portable MP3 cd player. Your computer will accomplish the goal of file transfer to a CDR or CDRW much quicker and reliably than Sony's Sonicstage 2.0. IF ANY ONE OUT THERE knows of a table top CD or DVD player that supports CD text, displays CD text on a florescent screen, plays back MP3's, and most importantly, has a play pause (one track at a time function) please let me know. I would be very greatful to you. I do not recommend this Sony product or any other portable Sony Minidisk product if all you want to do is play back music. You can email me at drcasebolt@inter-linc.net if you know of a product that would suit my application. I would greatly appreciate the information.
Thank You
25 Good Mindisc Player...Good Price!
I love this minidisc player. It is so easy to use and it was modestly priced. It it small so it fits in my pant pocket. I love how you can get 5.5 hours of music on one minidisc. It also lasts quiet a while on 1 battery. It has saved me lots of money. I love this minidisc player!
26 Fun gadget. Better than MP3 players
I have been eyeing on portable music players these days. Upon finding and getting this MD player, I'm quite sure I made a very good decision. These MDPs are just sold for very low price these days--happy price, happy quality.
So what's a good reason for my 4-star rating? First, I really can't trust HDD-based MP3 players. To my knowledge, HDDs are not made to endure severe shakings and bangings, which means they are not ideal storage device for portable use. On the other hand, the prices of HDD-based MP3-Ps run obscenely high.
Secondly, I love those small MDs, which are based on "magneto-optical" technology. For nuts, this technology is really the one made for long-term storage and multiple re-writing. Here, multiple doesn't mean clunky several hundred times like those of CD-RWs. MO technology used by minidiscs are meant for 1 million re-writes. Also, the chemical stability of MDs are far longer than CD-Rs or RWs, and with their hard-shell jackets built in, the physical strength of MDs can't just be compared with those of CD-variants.
Finally, because of the stability and strength of the MDs, I can burn them to build my own music collection. Thankfully, all Japanese-made MDs are colorful and just joyous to watch. Although they run upto $2.00 per pop, because you can erase and rewrite any compilation you don't like, you don't waste a cent from it.
Now, some worry that MDs use "lossy" compression format called ATRAC, but my ears, like many other sound-specialists' are, couldn't catch any difference. Just try them your self. You'll thank me for my advice.
Last words: This model doesn't have line-in or line-out. This one is pretty much a dumb box that can only receive data from a host computer. If you want to record without messing around with the computer, just get a better model.
27 A Gadget Lover's and Music Lover's Dream!!! Best Value MD.
There are so many great reviews for this product. I don't want to be repetitive but this unit ROCKS!
PROS:
First of all, the price can't be beat. Compared with other Minidisk players, it performs fabulously and is easily the best value around.
Second of all, everything you've heard about battery life is TRUE! I've gone over 150 hours at a time without changing the battery. I'm talking about playing it every day at work for 3 weeks, not to mention when I get home at night. This alone makes this MD player head and shoulders above the more advanced models. Invest in some rechargeable batteries for digital electronics and you won't be disappointed.
Disk storage is good at the highest quality. You can still get several hours on a disk and the sound is awesome.
CONS:
I really want to give this unit a 5, but a lot of the criticism can't be dismissed. TRUE: The software is bad. Sony's proprietary ATRAC3 music format ads an extra annoying step. There are limits to how many times you can record music on a disc. The display really does not give you any useful info. The panel controls are pretty bare (notice, no "Record" button) and you cannot record voice directly with this unit as with other MD players. Also note, this unit does not have the car-kit or wireless car radio play options of other Music players. Some MD players come packaged with these things, or other MP3 players like the Ipod have these features. Not to mention the Ipod will store Gigs of music; it will just set you back 3 times as much money. These cons all need to be factored in to your comparison with other units.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Some have noted performace loss over time. Simple: get a MD cleaning disk to clean your lense. This unit is very durable and has a long play life. Software updates can also solve a lot of recording problems.
The cons pale in comparison with the pros. The sound quality is great. The unit is THE BEST VALUE in digital music. The battery life is UNBELIEVABLE. The MDs are getting CHEAPER BY THE DAY. An added bonus: Now that the new HD standard is out, you can buy these at deep discounts. Take advantage.
BUY THIS UNIT NOW!
28 wicked player, software sucks
i bought this little toy at radioshack a couple months ago because a whole bunch of kids who ride my school bus have them too. I have always dreamed of getting an ipod but i have a low budget, being 12. sound quality on this splayer is great, and the disks hold a ton of music. i can cram atleast 3 albums onto one disk with the lowest compression. I haven't tried LP4 compression yet. Another huge bonus is that it is tiny. i really like how the batteries are AAs. They are really easy to replace and they last a long long time. In fact, you can use batteries that are too dead to be used for other purposes, such a flashlight. these almost dead batteries still work for over a week.
The problems started when I installed the sonicstage software on my 2.4 GHz computer with lots of ram and everything. the setup was really SLOW. I rebooted and found that in order to actually transfer songs onto the player you had to import them from you hard drive to you "music drive." This is really anoyying. It gives you the option of manually selecting your files or searching your whole computer. I searched the first time and found tons of sound from the program files in with my music. I deleted all of the stuff i had imported and tried to manually do it. This time it put all the wrong music in the wrong folder. I had led zeppelin songs in with the beatle's Abbey Road and everything was all screwed up. so a searched again and had to manually delete all of the program sounds. That was really hard considering that i have about a thousand audio tracks on my computer. also, it reset all of my files to play in sonicstage. this sucks. I would click on a song and sonicstage would start up. i had to reset all of the program options in both sonicstage and windows media player. SonicStage is horrible. Well then sonicstage got all messed up so i reinstalled everything. There is a feature that only lets you use a disk on one computer, apparently one instance of sonicstage, i guess, because sonicstage wouldn't interact with my player anymore. i had to reformat the mini disk to get the sonicstage signature off it. All the songs on my disk were erased too, so i couldnt check them in. eventually it got back to normal though. now it works fine except for the fact that everytime you import a new CD onto you computer you have to import it into sonicstage. Also, burning onto a disk is sort of slow, but not bad really unless you are in a huge hurry. buy some headphones to go with it, the ones that come with it are aweful. What i did was i took one of those ear muffler protector things that you use for using a chainsaw or lawnmower, snapped the earpieces off the headphones that came with it, and shoved them inside the ear protector. Those babys cancel out some noise!!!
29 One month later
This is an update to an earlier review. After owning the minidisc player for some time, taking it on a road trip to Mexico, camping with it, flying with....almost dying with it, and finally getting home to ride the train with it...I gave it to a friend (not a good friend) and bought an ipod. The concept is fine: the media is cheaper than an hd player, ideally you can convert mp3's, and the battery life is FANTASTIC.
Unfortunately the player was produced by Sony, which instead of being one company is several companies (sony electronics, sony music, etc.) The problem is that Sony Music has gotten Sony Electronics to cripple any music hardware it produces with copyright protection. Ok, no problem...I respect the law. Unfortunately Sony brought back the betamax designers from retirement and headed up the team with a trained monkey with a nasty crack habit. The software makes it impossible to realistically copy, change, and re-copy your mp3 collection to disks. I'm not exagerating when I say that the Sonic Stage/Simple Burner/Real Player Plug-In suite is hands down the worst combination of software I have ever used...and I've been a PC user since early DOS days. It's retarded software that appears to only function acceptably for a user who is only burning their CD collection directly to the minidisc player. If you have any mp3's that you want to use the software forces you to make copies of all of them (means get a bigger hard drive) and convert them all to atrac format. Then, just to be silly the software check the music out of your hard drive (meaning hides the file from you) when you burn it and then makes you check it back in when you want to use the file again. if you don't follow this procedure, or if the retarded software crashes your system and forces a reboot (about 2x weekly) then it will not let you use the song file again unless you uninstall everything and then re-install it. Sorry Sony...until someone elects you to some office, I think I'll NOT LET YOU F*CK AROUND WITH MY HARD DRIVE ANYMORE YOU IGNORANT MEDDLING BAST*RDS! I prefer to deal with companies that sell me a product I can use, not one that takes my money and gives a product that was designed under the assumption that I am a thief. Cheers and enjoy your high quality Sony purchase.
30 Great!
I go snowboarding a lot and needed some music while I did. People may say that they won't bring this cause its flimsy and what not. Let me tell you I'm not that great a boarder and I fall. A lot. And this thign holds up to the cold and damp just great.
Also much much cheaper than all those hard disk players.
31 The Value Leader
I recently purchased one of these units. Being a minidisc fan and having many of the higher end recorders, I prefer to pack this one around with me to listen to discs with.
First of all it is cheap. You can purchase one for under $75.00 at most places, even pawnshops have it for around $50.00. If you drop it as I have many times, it usually just bounces and still runs, and if it quits, you can once again purchase another for dirt cheap, rather than risk trashing out a $300.00 machine by daily use.
Second, it has a lot more user-settable features than meets the casual eye. You can set preset equalizer positions the way you like your music, rather than what the factory thinks you may like.
I have no complaints about cheap button feel, they work fine and dandy to me. Although this unit comes with no remote, that means one less thing to either lose or trash. It has no provisions for an AC adaptor power, but with a quality NiMh rechargeable battery of at least 1600 mAh, you can get several days of play and several discs of recording done.
The software is buggy and funky and has a long learning curve to it, but once learnt, it is fairly easy to use. The quick burn feature is super fast, and directly burns from CD to minidisc without the hassle of transferring the music first to yout computer hard drive. It's disadvantage is that you cannot use it to burn in Standard Play mode.
The Sonic Stage software is fairly straightforward, although it keeps track of how many times you transfer a song and limits you to only three transfers for each song. You "check in" and "check out" music like you are borrowing from Sony's personal library! Leave it to Sony to attempt to preserve their music empire! Leave it to me to devise a way to get around that little annoyance! A major thing I dont like about the Sonic Stage software is that you cannot directly burn from CD to Minidisc as you can with the quick launch program. the Sonic Stage automatically creates an album file on the "music drive" of your hard drive no matter what you do. Just delete it afterwards, and that fixes prob. Re Record to "music drive" to restore, and also restore the count and how many times you can "check out" a song:) One advantage of the Sonic Stage software over the Real Player software is that Sony will not clog your emails with spam like Real.com does, also the Sonic Stage does not go "obsolete" every six months like the Real Player does, demanding you to buy the "improved" version:)
As for the quantity of data that can be put on one minidisc, it is incredible. I recently transferred all seven of the early Moody Blues albums on one 80 minute minidisc, with room left over!
The machine fits in your shirt pocket, you can sit on it and it still works. It is miserly with battery power and you dont have to have a custom battery. Dollar for dollar it will spoil you, and it will wean you from the plethora of mp3 players out there.
32 Great player
This player sounds great and holds a lot of songs. I compressed the files that I put on the minidisc to LP4. I thought I would loose quality in the music...was I wrong. The songs still sound great even though they are now at LP4. And best of all, I can fit nearly 75 songs (most of them 4 minutes or longer) on an 80-minute disc. Easy to use. However, the headphones that come with the player are horrible. They sound horrible and fall off to easily. I would highly recomend buying different headphones like Sennheiser PX 100. This thing also doesn't waste batteries, I have listened to this player for 50 hours at least and the battery meter is still at 1/4!
33 I love it!!!
I bought this the other day. Had been wanting a mp3 player but figured that this was really what I what I was wanting. I have put on and taken off quite a bit of music on this device and the battery consumption has not even moved a bit. I am using Realplayer to move files to and from device due to ease. I found that the software bundled was ripping music from cd's too fast which created interference in the music so I just used another ripper and imported to device format with no problems. The sound is great although I have replaced the headphones for better quality. I love the idea that I can put a heck of alot of music of one variety on one disk and if I want to listen to another kind of music, I just put another disk of a ton of music of another kind in. Would have liked it to have come with some kind of belt clip or something of that nature but I will adjust. I know that there are armbands out there that will work. I know that these kind of players are not as popular as mp3 players with a hard drive but I love this device.
34 I love this unit
Pay no attention to the naysayers. A little research will do wonders to alleviate the mentioned problems. This is a great beginners MiniDisc unit. It's small, the battery life is outstanding, and the format just cannot be beat. If you're curious about Minidisc, then this is an excellent way to try it out. It's not packed with features, hence the 4 stars, but there are no major complaints.
35 Very good unit
I am new to the whole internet download thing, but once I got into it I wanted a way to transport my music to the office with me. I tried a couple bottom-feeder MP3 players, not ready to step up to the cost of an iPod yet, before I settled on this player. I have been very pleasantly surprised! Although I have not had problems with the software that came with it, as some others have, I am using it with RealPlayer 10 and it works flawlessly. Even on the lowest quality setting (LP4) there is hardly any difference between MD and CD quality. You can fit over 5 hours of music on each disc in this mode. The discs are cheap and are REUSABLE. Battery life is outstanding. Sony says 56 hours, but I'm still on my first battery and I'm sure I've used it more than that. If you are looking for an inexpensive alternative to iPod, this is a very good one. It is far superior to MP3 players in its price range. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a belt clip and as far as I can tell no one makes one for this player. I found a cover for a personal "walkie-talkie" that works ok, and there are a couple PDA covers that might work as well.
36 Love the player
This is a great player. The changing of disc I see as sort of a nice feature, I think some others might disagree. Great sound solid overall only problems are digital rights management and proprietary software(not bad software but still proprietary). I would still recommend it very highly and you can't beat the price.
37 so cool, we bought two!
When my fragile Rio 800 finally passed away this past winter, I thought I'd die too. Once you've experienced the freedom of a small portable player for all your music and audiobooks, it's pretty hard to go back to lugging a regular CD player around with you. My husband tried to console me with a new blue Sony Psyc with an intriguing belt-pack rig for sort of wearing it around--nice for the gym and walking and all--but it still seemed kind of cumbersome. It didn't seem possible that this minidisc thing could possibly do all it says it does for the price, but my son wanted one so I bought it for him; in less than five minutes we'd installed the software and recorded a couple of cd's onto it. This was yesterday early afternoon; the sound was so fantastic that we immediately ordered a package of minidiscs from Amazon so we could, like, theoretically, SHARE the player, you know? Note that the minidiscs are RE-recordable; you can use them over and over, but of course it would be nice to have several. Incredibly, the discs arrived this afternoon, not twenty-four hours after I'd ordered them, and I did not even pay any extra shipping. Amazon, your service is incredible. In the meantime, I went out and bought another player for myself to use, since my son seems to be permanently attached to his, and at this price, we can each afford to have our own.
If you are on the fence about ordering this item, our advice is for you to go for it--you will be very happy with the sound quality (depending on your headphones of course). The headphones that come with it are not the greatest, but we didn't expect them to be; the NetMD easy burn software is indeed amazingly easy to use. We haven't fooled with the other software because we don't seem to need it. Chances are you already have software that will work fine. All we've done so far is copy onto the minidiscs CD's we've made from iTunes etc. and it all works great. Note each minidisc holds a lot more music than a regular CD. The player uses only one plain ol' double AA battery, which will last a long time. None of this ridiculous rechargeable battery-only setup like my poor Rio (snifff) which I suspect was the source of its trouble. That also means you can use the player right out of the package because you don't have to charge it up in advance.
There's only one thing missing, and that's the availability of a case with a belt clip. There isn't one available. But the player is so small you can easily fit it in your shirt pocket or somewhere. I'm knitting a little case with a strap for mine, but I'll be on the lookout for something with a belt clip, because I know I'm going to want to use it when I'm out in the garden this summer...if summer ever comes, that is.
Treat yourself to this player. If you have been through MP3 player heck, you deserve it.
38 Not bad
It's a really good MP3 player. It's a lot easier than walking around with a porable CD player cuz it's really small. The batteries last a long time on playback. The only thing i don't like is when your putting songs on the mini disc it eats up a brand new battery in like 5 minutes so you have to keep replacing the batteries just to put songs onto the mini disc. Other than that i don't have any other problems with it. It's a good buy if you like music and don't wanna keep changing CDs, cuz a lot of songs can fit onto a one mini disc.
39 Great product but it's not what you might think
This net md player is not a bad little unit, but there are some misconceptions that need to be cleared up (based on some of the reviews). First, this unit in fact does NOT play any other file format other than ATRAC3 (uncompressed, LP2, or LP4). The packaging, advertisements, etc, all claim that it supports mp3, wma, wave, etc. This is NOT really the case. Basically, the SOFTWARE will let you use any of those file types as SOURCE files, but when you 'burn' them to MD, it will convert everything to ATRAC3 (using the compression format you specify, one of three options: miminal, medium lp2, or high lp4 compression).
Second, it's unfortunate that Sony has to install so many different software components on your computer in order for this thing to work. I do not like to have my add/remove programs cluttered with extra junk, and this will do it. There is no real custom install, it's all or nothing. When it's done you'll have about 5 extra software pieces in your 'add/remove' programs list. Grrr. How annoying. Also, do yourself a favor and download the free realplayer program (and sony devices plugin). I've never been a fan of real player, but after you experience the included SonicStage software, you will think that RealPlayer is code Nirvana :)
All in all, a very good deal. It's a high quality piece and the highest ATRAC3 compression (LP4) sounds as good if not better than 128kbps mp3. But make no mistake, this is NOT a device that can play mp3s (or wave files, or wma files for that matter), it can only play ATRAC3, a proprietary alternative. Prepare to sit through some re-encoding periods (about 30 minutes to "burn" 50 tracks from mp3 format because of the re-encoding to ATRAC3). Would I recommend? Definitely, but only to someone who wants a personal music player for themselves. You can't really use this unit to transport files back and forth between PCs, or share mp3s with friends, you'll need a 'real' mp3 player to do that. . .
40 This player is GREAT -- the only choice for trance/DJ music
For those of you who enjoy split songs and recordings (i.e., one recording or song that has been split up into several tracks -- DJ sets and classical pieces come to mind), this player KICKS THE CRAP out of the competition!!!
This is the only one I've tried that doesn't have that annoying pause in between the tracks (files), so it's great for long classical pieces (i.e., The Rite of Spring, Firebird, Also Sprach Zarathustra, etc.) and DJ set recordings (i.e., Dimitri From Paris "Night at the Playboy Mansion" and "Disco Forever", Marquez Wyatt stuff, etc.). To the best of my knowledge, not even the IPOD can compete with that.
As far as everything else goes (sound quality, ease of use, portability, etc.), this thing is awesome!!!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
41 Dropped on concrete floor and it WORKS!!!
Prior to buying my MD at BestBuy, I tired the IRIVER MP3 PLAYER and the newest RCA LYRA 128MB PLAYER...the IRIVER is operated by a JOYSTICK (so hard to navigate) and it is cheaply made! Software is horrible. With the RCA the USB PORT on my comp could not detect the player..and you had to upload some software on the RCA WEBSITE (and they neglected to include this info. in the phamplets that came with the player). It took a million yrs for RCA technical help to get back to me..and NO SOLUTION! so HERE COMES THE SONY MD! in silver......MY REVIEWS
DESIGN >>> NO JOY STICK! so it makes it very EASY to navigate around (using the easy to punch buttons), and with a joy stick (how players are made these days) you worry about it breaking off. You can blindly reach into your bag, or while running on the treadmilll and easily navigate.
DURABILITY >>> I dropped this thing on CONCRETE FLOOER and it worked right after..NO PROBLEMS! Shoved into small pockets, threw it into a napsack etc... This thing is DURABLE!
TRANSFER OF MUSIC >>> It can basically transfer ANYTHING, I have no problems thus far. You have to buy discs to transfer you music, but it only cost about $2/each for a disc and they sell them in a pack. Approx. 50-60 song per disc...at HIGH QUALITY. The AA battery lasted me A LONG TIME (3 weeks, with at least 1HR use everyday)..and you only need one battery.
SOFTWARE >>> Very easy to navigate around, as long as you use the instruction booklet..its a go. And I am comp. illterate.
ACCESSORIES >>> It would be awesome if it came with a carrying case to clip on the waist,or a wrist band holder...it makes it easier to run with it. Comes with headphones..but, you need to buy the DISCS.
overall >>> sure its not as SNAZY AS THE MP3..but you have the luxury of saving your songs on hard disc...like a cd..and on top of that GOOD QUALITY SOUND, NO PROBLEMS WITH TRANSFER OF TRACKS..and pretty good SOFTWARE!
42 Great hardware -- pitiful software
My high hopes and expectations for this music player were dashed as soon as I plugged it into my PC. If you love Winamp or Media Player and are looking for an intuitive interface, you'll hate the software that comes with this fine piece of hardware. Its contrived "copy protection" is a joke and a nuisance. If I could find a third-party interface package, I'd be happy again with my Net MD.
43 Sony is a screwed up!
Sony is so paranoid of people stealing music that they've made their minidisk player worthless! I have downloaded sermons that I tried to put on a minidisk to no avail, the mp3's just won't convert or something. Other music I have will download fine. Check out Sony's ATRAC system before you buy this, it is a nightmare transferring content to the MD. The sound however is really good, Sony knows how to split the stereo up to very good effect, but overall I sold this because I couldn't listen to what I wanted to. Check out eBay too, they're going for $50! That tells you something right there when you pay $100 and sell it the next day for $50 on eBay!
44 Don't buy this item if you want traditional recording
I bought this unit hoping that I can do the audio recording the traditional way(in the sense that the audio is picked up by a microphone which hooked up with the unit. And sony calls this 'Walkman RECORDER') Amazon also lists(at least as of until today 02/04/2004) Sony ECMDS70P Digital Recording Microphones(miniDisc) as the accessory of this unit. So I thought I got a great deal and I anxiously waited for the package to arrive.
When I open the box I finally received, I did not find any jack that I can plug a microphone in. So I read the manual and only find something talking about recording with a computer. After several more hours of finding and reading manual/spec on the sony site, I realize that most other Sony minidisc walkman/recorder has optical input(which happened to be able to be used for analog line level input also) and some high end unit has mic input also.
And right now I have hard time to get a full refund which I believe that I am entitled to due to Amazon and Sony's 'false advertisement'. Amazon said that they will at most refund me 50% to 80% if I return. I am even willing to buy another sony model from them!.
I will let you know how it goes. But at least the future buyers won't fall into the same 'traps' as me.(Of course, you will still be in the same situation if Amazon somehow block this review from showing up)
45 An adequate Mini Disc recorder
The Sony MZ-NE 410 is a fair to good replacement for my older
Sony Minidisc player-recorder. Yes it has its drawbacks, such as
no imput jack, and no microphone imput jack, and there is no
way to power it with an A.C.adaptor. All recordings must
be done on a computer. This is not really as bad as it sounds.
The Net MD Simple Burner does a fine job of quickly recording
from CD to MD in a very short time. The only problem is that you
can only select LP2 or LP4 to record in, you have to use the
Sonic Stage software to record a disc without resorting to the
long play modes, or use a different MD recorder. The only real
reason I bought this MD recorder was as a second player, as on
the first one I own, the headphone jack had worn out from long
use and it would have cost too much to have it repaired. It was
cheaper to buy this low end model. I intend to use it mainly for
playback unless I decide to make some long MD recordings. I am
also planning to try and keep it working until the new HI-MD
units from Sony arrive on the market. Hopefully Sony will have
learned from their mistakes on this model. Just because it is
under $200.00 in price it should have a few more practical
features on it. Still as a player it sounds quite good.
46 huh.....Help me :( aaaaaaaaah
It's sound like this mp3 Player is really good ! o.O
Here are just some question that i just want to make sure.
I just want to know if it going to work with song that i shared with people over the NET (sharedware progame like Kazaa, napster...etc) ? Note: All the song i shared are lable type MP3.
What are your recomendation to keep the Player working perfectly overtime ?
Is it possible that you can store more than 100 song on 1 Minidisc ?
And if it is possible then can you Please please tell me how ?
And when you upload the song from the Comp to the Player do you need to have the Minidisc inside the Player to do that ? (Might sound like an idiot but just to be safe :)
If you can, then PLease please please tell me in detail how to upload a song from a Comp to the Player from start to end ? (Require the Plug and Play Connection Thingy)
If you have anything else you want to put out then please do :o
Please please answer all the question ! Thank you VERY much o.O
I'll be checking this back soon
47 Wait til' Hi-MD
This product is probably the best product i have ever purchased, but i urge you to wait until Hi-MD comes out in April-June. This new format will allow for 40 hours of music on one Hi-MD (this one allows 5). It will also be a portable harddrive making it possible to upload files from your home computer, on to your minidisc player, and then upload those files on to your office computer. And these files could be anything from video to documents. The new Hi-MDs will be 7 bucks each and hold a whopping 1 GB. Go to www.minidisc.org for more info. If i havent steered you away from waiting for Hi-MD the MZ-NE410 is a great portable audio device. You can hold a whopping 5 hours of music on just one dollar fifty minidisc. Another great thing is the extremely fast load times, (you can upload an entire cd in around 5 min or less). The MD player is very small so it can fit in almost any pocket, and cannot, i repeat cannot skip, unless you physically break (I MEAN BEAT THE S**T OUT OF) the minidisc player. You could literally drop the minidisc player, kick it against the wall (not extremely hard... obviously), and it would still play. This is becayse of how the minidisc works. It buffers the music for about ten seconds; so it has all the music on memory, then plays it. For all you wannabe coolio's the player looks slick and cool. If you really want to be cool buy a nicer player, or wait til the Hi-MD players come out. This sure wont put a dent on your wallet, for it is only 99 dollars for the player, and 1.50 for each additional minidisc.
It is definately a sure buy.
48 You will have problems
The reviews should be divided into those who are recent owners, and those who have owned their Sony's for over a year. You will hear glowing reviews from the recent purchasers, because these units are great for the first few months. Unfortunately these players and their accompanying software are full of glitches and bugs that become increasingly apparent with time, ultimately rendering a large number of them completely useless within a year's time. First off, the biggest problems appear to be in the units themselves have a notorious problem with suddenly being unable to write tracks to the disc, essentially "burning" blanks. A quick check to Sony's MD forums will tell you how widespread this problem is. The other major problem is the OpenMG (aka Sonicstage) software that is bundled with the players. This software is by far the buggiest software I've ever used and you would be hard-pressed to find an OpenMG user that has not had a problem with this application. There are several common fatal errors that are experienced by many OpenMG users, and Sony's attempts at rectifying these glitches (ie. patches, updates etc..) have been ineffective.
If you decide to purchase a Sony NetMD, remember a few things:
1. Sony is good with warranties, so get the extended one because you'll probably need it.
2. Bundled software appears to most glitchy when installed on XP
3. You won't be able to upload FROM you NetMD...AT ALL. The software makes it appear as though you can upload tracks that were downloaded from the same PC, but in fact, it just keeps hidden copies of the PC to MD files on the hard drive, then reveals these files again to the user once they appear to be "uploaded".
Also, Sony has announced the release of Hi-MD which looks far better and will outdate NetMD. Curiously though, they're sticking with the OpenMG software.
49 Better than MP3, and great battery life!
The best thing about this player is pretty simple: 1 AA Batter = 56 hours of playing time! I dont' care how much MP3 players can hold. It doesn't make a difference if you have to stop every 10 hours to change the batteries.
You may be turned off by the little MiniDisc's you have to use, but in all truth, it's not really a problem. First, they are cheap, and well protected. And they are very simple to store.
The software that comes with is really easy to use. Select the songs you want, and click on the Record button, and it puts it on the machine. I like the fact that it also makes sharing really easy. My GF has had one of these for 6 months, and loves it.
We originally wanted to get her an MP3 player, and did a LOT of research. Asked a lot of people, and time and time again, people recommended this player.
Wonderful player, wonderful price, lots of storage (and the storage is much cheaper than your average MP3 player). Simply a great buy.
50 Great little device
LOVE IT. I have just about every portable music device out there and this is by far the best. Rio player does not have the quality sound and my portable CD player is to big for the gym. I record at the least quality level and it kicks butt over the highest bit rate on any of my other devices. BUY ONE!
51 Ipod's are a rip off
I talked to a guy at radio shack and he told me you can store over 200 songs on one minidisc with the proper format,
well he was almost right, the highest i got was 109 songs on one 74 min premium md, it was about 3 hours of music,
it's way better than an ipod because the disc come in 5 packs for $9.95 thats 2 bucks a disc, you can put about 3-5 hours of music on one 2 dollar disc vs. 4 hours of music on a 200 dollar ipod, and those other mp3 players that use sd cards are an even bigger rip because if you wanna upgrade you gotta fork over a ton of money on a stupid sd card, so this is way better because you can store the same ammount for less,
it also runs off of one aa batterie and last for about 80 hours,
this IS the best md player when it comes to cost and quallity,
the other ones that cost more might have a radio tuner and a car adapter but this one is the highest quallity player of the m all, oh yeah remember to record in Atracc3 mode on lp4 stereo,
52 MZ-NE410: not much product
Received for Christmas, Software does not work with Win 98 FE and Sony does not appear to have any other software options. The Sony forum has lots of dissatisfied customers, kind of a junky little thing and does not seem to sturdy. Music appears to have to have (c) encoding so not sure if it will work for non-major lable or non-encoded mp3's or from non-pay-for mp3 sites. Seems to allow you to burn your own cd's to mp3 but so does a cheap cd-r. Plays MD's recorded from a real md player fine although the headphone signal is weak when plugged into another stereo's aux channel.
53 Junky Software, Junky buttons
Ive had this player for quite awhile, and i have to say, im dissapointed. the software is frustrating (you have to import music to a seperate "drive"). Some of my MP3's wont transfer which is slow anyway (no USB 2.0). The menu button is hard to navigate through and the bass is not strong enough. When you skip to the next track, it waits awhile and goes back one? i notice this happens quite often. But my biggest complaint is i can only fit roughly 35 songs on. My cousin can fit 60. Thats not enough for me. the display is too small, and it doesnt show much. But there are some pros about it. It is small and very light weight. The minidiscs are protected well though i have some that have been thrown around that are bent. Get this player if you like carrying around minidiscs and trying to figure out what music is on each. Oh by the way, the software only lets you transfer a song 3 times to seperate discs which sucks because you cant lend your friends songs, AND they have to go back to the same computor which you got it from.
I recomend stepping up to an inexpensive Jukebox like an RCA Lyra with 40 Gig storage priced around $300 (much cheaper than that iPod crap and has more storage for less)
Avoid this player
54 The best
This is the coolest gadget ever. I bought it for myself just last week and have burned 7 mds. I don't suggest buying the carry case. I do suggest buying 80 min mds so you can fit more music on each disc.
55 Excellent!
This product is a charm. I use Sony 80-minute MDs in LP4 mode to get maximum time out of the discs. LP4 mode sounds great, not at all like a friend warned me. It sounds exactly like a 128kbpS mp3, which that same friend also warned me against. As for SonicStage... I don't know what world you people who wrote reviews against this product live in. It works great. The only con to the program is its interface- it's extremely hard to navigate. But, it does transfer really fast in Normal mode. I transfer my Mp3s to ATRAC3 in LP4 mode, reducing their file size. Then you can record in normal mode.
Great product overall.
56 Je l'aime
I love it, I love it, I love it. :) (as I lift my legs up in the air)
57 Great
I got this player about a month ago and I love it. It does everything you would want any player to do. unless you need to record something then I wouldn't suggest the next model up because they are the same otherwise, the concept of mds are great. in Lp4 mode, I can record over five hours of music of a single inexpensive md disk. The other alternative (mp3 players) are fine, but most hold about as much as a single md and expandable memory is usually...dollars while each md totals to be about...dollars. The only downside is that the buttons feel cheep but work fine. I've heard people complain about the software, but I find it very easy to use, to only downside to it is that if you want to get an mp3 file or something, then you have to put it on a separate drive which takes a little longer
58 RAD TO THE MAX
I only have two things to say about this item easy to use and great holding capacity.
59 Doesn't work with Windows 98 OS
It would be real nice if the Target or Sony websites even gave you a CLUE that this product does not work with Windows 98, you have to at least have Windows 98 Second Edition. This information should be listed under "Technical Specifications". I purchased this product on-line from Target, and NOWHERE does it mention this fact. I now have a product that I bought for my son for Christmas that he can't use, not to mention the fact that I just threw $100.00 away on something that doesn't work with my operating system.
60 Great player for a comparable price
This MiniDisc player is a very good alternative to regular mp3 player for several reasons. I'll save the best for last. First of all, it is very compact, stylish, and user friendly.
1- MiniDisc media is very afordable, and holds the same amount of information as an 80 minute cd-r due to high compression. Plus, it is rewritable.
2- The software is easy to use and the transfer of data to the player is very quick.
3- This guy plays many formats: wav, mp3, wmv, and Sony's new high compression format, Atrac.
4- Atrac is a new compression algorithm which can allow you to fit over 5 hours of music on a single MiniDisc. Although this is "lossy" compression (same as mp3) it is very hard to notice any difference between CD and the highest compression available with Atrac (LP4 mode, 66kbps). Let me say that again. I can fit six entire albums on a MiniDisc in LP4 mode and the quality is near CD quality...trust me, this is what I was most skeptical about, but Atrac is amazing.
5- OK, here is the interesting one. This player buffers the entire song that you are listening to into its memory. When you select a song, the disc spins for 5-10 seconds. When the entire song is loaded, the disc stops spinning, and since the song is playing from the memory, and not the disc itself, there is no chance of the song skipping. The only time it is even possible for the player to skip is when it is buffering the song, and that does not happen due to Sony's G-shock protection. You would have to be literally beating the crap out of it during the 5 seconds out of the entire song that it is actually reading from the MiniDisc. It doesn't skip.
If you want something really nice that works well and aren't looking to spend too much money, this is the way to go. It doesn't have some of the options that some of the more expensive players do, but for someone who simply wants to fit a lot of music in a small space and retain sound quality, buy this.
61 I bought is for only 45 bucks
I bought one at Sony Retailer Outlets in San Marcos, Texas. It was refurbished by Sony. I could not tell the difference in terms of sound between this and one that I bought earlier for my friend in Wal-Mart for $98.
62 incompatible with certain types of files
I bought his machine hopping it'll be able to load any type of MP3 files. The files I wanted to download where incompatible with the software.
I couldn't get any technical help so I had to return the item !
Pay another $20,get the MZ510 and save the agony.
63 great alternative to flash mp3
im not a rich man so when i found out about md players i knew i had to get one. and i sure am glad i did. the player functions exactly as told, delivers almost cd quality sound even though it is much less space, delivers no less than about 65 songs per md, the battery lasts a century (50 HOURS!), and fits in a small pocket. the only problems i had were with the headphones (100% total crap), and with the software. both were solve when i bought better headphones, and downloaded real player. great alt. for flash players.
64 deep sound, not price
WOW! thats all i can say is WOW!
This thing is like a blessing! You can have massive amounts of music stored on a single 2 buck disc.
This has great bass (and treble) in a tiny packedge. The size of the disc is about the size of the player (but not the thickness) and can have up to 5 hours on it. The Sonic Stage isn't as bad as some people think. I just burn a mix onto a CD-RW, go to sonic stage, and copy the disc. The nice thing about the music mangement is that you can erase and copy songs at any time like it was a flash MP3 player. I just love this thing and the price is not to shabby either! Don't spend a fortion on an iPod when you can get this for $100.
65 i'm so confused
i've been researching mp3 and minidisc players for several months. i came across this one. it seems like a great buy but i'm a little confused. do you have to pay, like some players, to download music onto the player? can i use my own programs to download or do i have to use the software included? my big thing, once again, is do i have to pay to download. and one more thing. maybe i'm just missing this info somewhere but does the lcd screen light up? does it display song titles? please help anyone. display the answers in your review. thanks
66 Why buy an MP3 player!?!?! BUY THIS!
great value player, stores huge amount of music on each disc, which is fairly cheap.
Install all software on the Sony CD, but use the FREE RealOne's player to record music... fast and easy to use. RealOne is much much easier to use... just drag and drop them.
I would recommend this over any mp3 player out there.
67 Totally Awesome Player!
Ever since my cd player had broken, I had been quite distraught and had asked my mother continuously for an mp3 player. Naturally, at first she refused to get me one. However, after weeks of pestering, she finally realized I was serious. She showed me a few mp3/cd players which interested me, but just didn't strike that interest cord hard enough. Then my mom showed me this Sony mp3/mini-disc player. I was ecstatic when she said she'd buy it for me. When I got home with it, I hooked up the program and was completely amazed!!! The mini-discs burn faster and better than cds (not to mention you can rerecord and erase any songs you don't want). The player itself is small and easy to carry. It's absolutely wonderful!!! This is possibly one of the greatest things I have ever received, and it seems sturdy enough to last quite a long time. Just buy and enjoy!!!!
68 MiniDisc vs. Mp3 Players
After browsing hours and hours for a cheap alternative to buying an mp3 player and something I could run with I spent about 2 hours in Best Buy and reading reviews on Amazon.com to find what I wanted. I paced back and forth through the aisles constantly going back to the mp3 area only to find myself so close to buying this open item iPod... it was 269 for a 10 GB old style iPod, however it was kind of beat up.
I realized its really not practical to buy that thing or any other flash mp3 player for that matter... if you ever wanted to change songs you'd have to head back to your computer to add or remove songs on to your flash mp3 player. I knew about the Sony MZ-NE410 and it was on sale for 99 dollars. I use to own a MiniDisc player and hi-fidelity is a plus for a minidisc player vs. an mp3 player. Ignore those SNR (Signal2Noise Ratio) numbers on mp3 players nothing compares to a minidisc player.
Last but not least LP4... I was afraid it was going to sound horrible like a 64 kbps mp3 or even worse... LP4 is freaking amazing let me tell you. There is a quality difference but the difference is hardly noticable to the average ear. I can hear flaws but there's no distortion and its very clear. Amazing product! 99 Dollars and CHEAP MEDIA! Each minidisc holds about 320 minutes (LP4 Mode), 160 (Lp2), and 80 min (SP NEAR CD QUALITY). It is about 1 ounce lighter then an iPod and MUCH MORE PRACTICAL. Stop throwing away your money... the iPod's Hard Drive is more likely to fail since there are moving parts in a Hard Drive. I listen to about 5 or more CD's on one minidisc. I am still using the one that came with mine. Its not as thin or as small as those keychain mp3 players but its great for jogging and small enough.
The minidisc player also plays just like Sony's recent mp3 products. It buffers music into its memory while it's playing and stops spinning the minidisc after gaining filling up its buffer space. This increases battery life (about 56 hours with E2 Energizer Batteries) and the actual players life and of course for movement protection (G-Protection). Most mp3 players only play for about 10 hours. Technically an mp3 player is suppose to last longer then something with moving parts but many forget that an mp3 needs to decode the music which is like processor power in your computer and translate it to a sound unit in your player just like sound cards in your computer. YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH THIS! There's no pretty LCD but you're listening to music not watching equalizer bars go up and down and see the lapse time of the song, screw the LCD.
69 Great Device
I choose this product mainly to use on long motorcycle trips. My music tastes are varied and I wanted the ability to be able to take lots of tunes in a small amount of space. The minidisc player fit that criteria and my budget. I usually record discs on high compression mode (LP4) and don't really loose anything, at least not in the application that I use it for. I also bought it because Uncle Sam may soon be sending me on an extended overseas vacation and I wanted to be able to take most of my CD library with me and I just couldn't do that with a flash player.
I've had the player for about two weeks now. I've found it easy to use. The Sonic Stage software is a bit of a pain but not as terrible as some folks seem to say. I mostly use the Simple Burner program to send whole CDs to the player and it lives up to its name. For sending MP3s to the player I've been using Real Player.
The unit seems to be well contructed and I've yet been able to get it to skip. The battery life if great.
70 A very cool thing to have...
A little bit of a story here. Several months ago I went to RadioShack and bought an MP3 CD Player. About two months ago, it stopped working right. If I kept it paused for too long it would lose its place in the current song. Sometimes it would freeze up while trying to load a CD. And once, when I skipped to another track, it continued to play the track I was previously listening to. So, I decided to buy something new with the $200 I had after my birthday. Instead of waiting like an intelligent person for the Archos 20GB MP3 Jukebox to go down in price like it did, I went to a local Media Play store and bought this. But, this was still a wise investment....
The only real gripe I have about this thing is the software. While the Simple Burner runs fast enough for me, the Sonic Stage software is annoying. It took me forever just to get two Ill Ni–o MP3s onto the disc due to the fact that they just can't let you add them directly to the disc.
Other than the software problems, a MD Player is a wonderful thing to have. While it doesn't hold as much music as an MP3 player like the Archos Jukebox my friend has, the minidiscs cost about $2 for 5 hours of music, which is all I need. If you don't want or need a huge MP3 player, but want something better than a CD player? Put down the money for one of these and you'll be happy...
71 Great Buy
As a long-time minidisc user, I can say that this unit is easily one of the best MD units for such a low price. If you can do without a microphone input, the unit should readily handle all your recording/playback needs. The unit is extremely easy to use, has a relatively good battery life, and - for whatever its worth - is styled with a classy black and silver case. LP4 allows some 5 hours of recording on a single disc, LP2 about 2 and 1/2 hours (with better quality), and standard speed (near CD-quality) up to 80 minutes. Don't get too flustered about the software ... if you are a typical user, it works just fine, and if you want extra functionality because you are a recording enthusiast, you can use other free software. A bargain.
72 This thing is great
My god! this thing is 10 times better than what you can imagine.
Writing, deleting, and rewritting is so easy with this product.
One mini disc can hold up to 81 songs with a greater quality sound than a C.D would. If you are thinking about buying a C.D player...STOP! A minidisc will serve soo much better. YOU WILL LOVE IT!
73 Great Music Player
I just bought this product a little while ago with a few worries, but now I see it is a great addition to my collection of gizmos, gadgets and doo-dads. It requires only 1 AA-battery, you can store up to 5 hours of great quality music on each disc(each the fraction of the size of a cd, which could only store 80 min. at most), is smaller than a cd player, allows you to control the bass and treble, and much more. The only problem I found is that you have to buy the mini discs in order to play them, and even then, you can store several cds worth of music on 1 mini disc, so you don't have to keep switching back and forth between cds. Plus, unlike cds, which once burned cannot be changed, the mini discs are like casset tapes which can be recorded and re-recorded over and over. In other words, I give it a 6 out of 5, but the system only goes up to 5, go figure...
74 Skip button functionally funky, extremely frustrating, :-(
I've had the MZ-NE410 for about 2 months now and have now started to have problems with it. When I try to skip to the next song the player either goes to the previous song or not at all. For example, if I'm on song 5 and want to skip to song 6, the display will flicker to 6 for one second, but then jump back to 5. Most times instead of skipping forward it will jump back to the previous song. Sometimes it will skip ahead or back 2 or 3 songs. I spent a good 5 minutes trying this yesterday until I finally gave up and shut the freaking thing off. This got so annoying and frustrating I was tempted to throw it at the wall. I'm very good with electronics and this drove me crazy. This is why I decided to come on Amazon and write this review. Even in group mode this happened. I've only had this problem with the skip ahead button. I also own an older model Sony MD player and I have similar problems while using a remote control. The buttons would get all mixed up. When I pressed the volume increase or decrease the MD would instead skip ahead or back, or vice versa. I've owned several MD players and recorders, but have only had this problem with Sony units. Before all this the unit functioned perfectly, although the software can be somewhat frustrating to use. Before you can record an MP3 you have to first import it, unless you're recording a whole CD using the Net MD Simple Burner software, which makes it a two step process, but then the imported music stays and takes up space on your hard drive until you remove it. Also, when recording you can't just click and drag where you want to add the song onto the MD. You have to record and then wait for the list to refresh itself, and then you can move the song to where you want it, then wait for the list to refresh again. This can get pretty tedious and adds to record time. Before I got this unit, I was using an MP3 CD player and I'm tempted to go back to it. Although it isn't as small, I've never had problems with it. It goes forward when I want it to and sits when I tell it to. The MZ-NE410 is like a dog that pees all over the carpet.
About a month later and the skip buttons now also control the volume and the problem is pretty persistent now. I'd say 4 out of 5 times the buttons don't work. As I said before, I don't know if this is a common problem with Sony products, but this is the second MD player that I've owned that has had this problem. It is extremely frustrating and my next MD player will definitely not be a Sony one.
75 Nice as 2nd player or for language lessons
I bought the MZ-NE410 as a secondary player since I already own an Archos Jukebox. The NE410 is small, light and has great sound w/ ATRAC3-132kbps. The minor inconveniences are that the display is tiny (you won't see a multi-line display of track name, lapsed time, and/or total length) and it's not backlit, which renders it nearly useless in low light conditions.
The MAJOR drawback with the player, however, as other reviewers have pointed out, is that you have to use either the bundled software (SonicStage 1.5, Simple Burner, OpenMG), download Real Audio Player, or use some homegrown, freeware apps to upload/download music to the NE410. You are thus restricted from using multiple PCs to transfer/share music and God help you if a Windows XP system restore hoses your audio files - you'll most likely have to start rebuilding the music library from scratch, unless you regularly do backups. As compared to a non-proprietary, drag-and-drop player like an Archos, these limited use restrictions are very, very chafing.
On a positive note, the player is great for audiobooks or language tapes/cds. You can upload about 5 hours to the player at 66kps and with a generic car kit adaptor, use it in the car. The automatic resume function lets you stop the player, pop into a store, then resume your place in the file when you get back in the car, SO LONG AS you don't eject the disc (which will reset playback from the beginning).
The NE410 can't compete with the storage capabilities of jukebox MP3 players (Megabytes vs. Gigabytes) and the software restrictions required by Sony Music (vs. Sony Electronics) certainly turn off potential buyers. But if you want a second player for your morning commute or you don't want to transfer all your music to one device, I'd recommend you pick up this player.
76 Good player
I am very satisfied with this player. I use it to jog/workout and it fits in my hand, is very light and doesn't skip. The "hold" option is great because it doesn't let you accidentally press any buttons when enabled. The discs hold tons of music under LP4 compression with very little quality loss. If I had negatives they would be the software because it makes you manage song licenses and doesn't recognize music without them. The digital screen is small and not backlit, but that keeps the player [inexpensive] and makes for longer battery life (I bought rechargable AA's and they work great). A final negative (in comparison to mp3 players) would be the time it takes the software to burn the music onto the disc. They aren't just files you can drag and drop onto a drive, so it takes some time to make a full disc of music. Overall it's a great player though.
77 Not bad...
...but why not just buy an iPod? What benfeits does the Sony have that the iPod doesn't? I'd love to hear your comments, because I'm thinking that I need a recording device, and that's the one thing theiPod won't do....yet.
78 Stop Carrying All Those Cd's!
I've had this player for about 2 weeks now and in that time frame I've given away my portable cd player as well as my MP3 player. This little guy is the best! As with everything it could be better...but not much. It is the entry level product offered by Sony so you don't get some of the bells and whistles that you will with other players. Remember bells and whistles = $$. The portability factor alone makes it worth the price. I no longer have to carry books of cd's everywhere I go. I just pull the tracks off and make my own custom minicd's. I haven't had any problems with the software and I'm running XP (Professional). It could also be that I am using my 600 disc cd collection to make my minidiscs and not downloading files off the net. Incidentally, I use LP4 when recording and have come up with over 5 hours of music on one minidisc without the reported differences in sound quality... great for the road, the gym and the office. Battery consumption is awesome except when recording but then again, its only one battery. It would be nice if it had an AC Adapter and better headphones but for the price you're getting quite a bit already. Since it doesn't come with a carrying case you can purchase the armband case like I have and take your show on the road, blades, bike...just about everywhere. So Cool!! Get one you won't regret it.
79 Great Product. Use a different Software though
Sony's MiniDisc players are good alternatives to other MP3 players. You can fit more music on cheap MD's, and have multiple MD's for the moods you are in.
As for the software, Sony finally got wise and formed an agreement with realOne player to use it to download music to the player. Once you've loaded the netMD drivers, download the realOne player, and the plug in for Sony devices. You will be much happier in the long run.
80 Don't believe the naysayers!
What an awesome product! I absolutley love it! After having read the reviews I was hesitant to use the software provided with the player and I downloaded RealPlayer first... not necessary I use the software provided and it works just great! This product, hands down, beats the MP3 player solely because it can store much more music. I purchased one after having limited success with another mini disc player, big mistake. I wish I had purchased this one first. The only downside is the headphones but if you are lucky like I was you'll get some free discs and that will be equivalent to the good earphones you need to buy. What else can I say? Great price, great sound and just in time for the change of season when you spend lots of time outdoors. Stop reading and GET IT!
81 Good hardware
The hardware is solid, the max volume is very loud but not deafening, which is sometimes needed in crowded places where you need to zone out.
The sonicstage software feels clumsy and is not very intuitive. I reccomend this product but using a different software studio.
82 great cheap minidisc player
In the land of musical choices, Sony's MZ-NE410 rates among the best.
Pros: cheap, fast, long battery life, easy to use
Cons: no microphone option, buttons feel cheap, max volume may not be loud enough for some individuals
system review
Speed: The mini disc player has easy to use software that worked flawlessly with Windows ME. This mini disc player is only compatable with a computer and transfers at the rate of 32X. It is a NetMD so it is capable of handling many musical formats including MP3, WAV, and WMA.
Use: This player lacks a microphone and can only be used to play and record music. It has G-protection so it will never skip. G-protection is an anti skip device invented by Sony. Instead of saving music onto the devices in system memory the laser inside the player moves while you move, preventing skips from occuring. The player is light and easy to carry around. It fits in a pocket snuggly unless you enjoy wearing tight jeans. According to the box, this mini disc player has a battery life of 54 hour. It runs on one AA battery... not included in the package. The headphones given are good but they don't look cool. I wish Sony would have included a pair of their stylish street headphones. Other than that I have noticed that the control buttons on this player feel cheap. I wish Sony would have made this player with sturdier buttons but you get what you pay for.
mini disc vs mp3: This player is the same price as an mp3 player but it holds more music. One mini disc holds up to five hours of music. Mini discs cost $ whereas memory for mp3 players cost large amounts of money ranging from $ to $. An mp3 player with 128 MB can hold about 2 1/2 hours of music. The advantages of MP3 players is the removeable memory used in mp3 players can be used for other devices such as digital cameras.
Conclusion: This mini disc player is well worth the money I paid for it. Go get one unless you need microphone capabilities. Microphone capabilities can be used to create bootleg music at concerts, and record personal voice memos. If you can forego those options you can save yourself $50.
83 Great Hardware, Worthless Software.
After quite a while of wanting an MD player, I bought my MZ-NE410 at the local electronics superstore yesterday. I'll start with the bad. The included software is almost totally useless. I have never encountered such a buggy program past its alpha stage. It crashed four times trying to catalouge my media. After I got about 20 MP3s in my list, it alerted me to the fact that all but 6 were unsupported, and couldn't be converted!. That was enough, so I went online, and downloaded Real One player. It works like a charm. I've been using Musicmatch to make playlists, then importing em in Real One.
As for the good, this player is tiny, light, and has a cool matte black finish much like that on a B-2 or F-117. The amazing sound quality lets me hear things I never heard when listening to music through my computer, and I have a high quality home theater system connected to my comp. The player seems to excel with classical and soundtrack background scores, but everything else sounds incredible too. One unusual thing is that the included headphones actually sound great too. The display is tiny, but easy to read. It does only show track name at the beginning of a song, but you can switch to a mode that always shows the title quickly, with only a few clicks, so you can just switch back and forth if you really want to.
In closing, if you're in the market for an MD player, go with this unit, just make sure to download RealOne. I'm sure the newest high end models are great too, but they cost twice as much, and still have the same enraging SonicStage software.
