I've had this minidisc recorder for about 1.5 months. I wanted to review features/shortcomings that I didn't notice other reviewers comment on for those that want to get a MD for live recording, not for recording gobs and gobs of material onto one disc. (For recording from the computer to the mini disc, I already have a digital out on my computer so I have never tried using the Net MD software.)

First of all, my experience with the mini discs in general has been very positive. I have been a huge supporter of mini disc ever since I got my first player in Japan in 1997. Due to their ability to easily re-record, edit, move around tracks, title tracks, on the spot excellent sounding recordings (no tape hiss), etc. I have gone through two portable recorders and two deck units. These are the older mini disc systems, before Net MD. My portable died so I wanted to get a replacement. I did not want Net MD as high-speed or long play discs are not compatible with the old system. There are work arounds of course or I ...

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The MD player works great, the software is a little unstable, but still usable With a couple more updates It might be comparable to Itunes. From reading older reviews, I guess it's already been vastly improved. Don't let the software deter you from buying it though. The sound quality is OUTSTANDING. Converting the music to a Mini disc takes away virtually no sound quality. If you appreciate good sound quality then buy this.

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I have used this item for a few years now. The switches/buttons are very durable. I think as portable's go-this will last longer than most.

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Seller never sent the product. He said because of the Huracane and I placed the order two weeks before of the tragedy.

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Contrary to popular myth, this is NOT an MP3 player. It only plays a proprietary format. The PC desktop software will convert MP3 music to the proprietary format - and it will rip CDs to the proprietary format - but it's still a proprietary format.

Additionally, after you have gone through the trouble and effort of making one of the mini-CDs it is only usable on Sony products. If your next MP3 player is an MP3 player versus a Sony lock-in, your mini-disks and the data they contain are useless. You'll have to go through and reconvert all of your songs.

Even more irritating is that the software can only be run if you are logged in to the administrator account. Given Sony's root-kit fiascoes, do you trust them? Since the unit was purchased for my daughter, she has to ask permission to be logged into the computer each time she wants to make a new disk.

My daughter finally decided that she really didn't like the mini-disk format and wanted a flash memory based MP3 player. ...

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I was looking for a nice alternative to the ubiquitous iPod. My objective was simple: no moving parts. After scouring the web for alternatives I set my sight upon MiniDiscs. MD's are the type of technology that is often overlooked. This unit is great. You can't beat its battery life (close to two weeks or more with regular use). There are no moving parts, so if the unit falls (has done it twice) the music and the media is safe. Carrying MD's is a hassle in today's age of tiny Hard Drives and Flash memory, but the media's versatility offsets this. For example, I've three HI-MD discs (3Gb's worth of data). A disc for Podcasts, a disc for music and a disc for data. I've had at any given time close to 10 Podcasts of different sizes on the disc. I guess I can probably squeeze a month's worth of 'casts here.

Now for the negatives: Sony's SonicStage software is plain bad. Is manageable, but bad. Don't expect iTunes like funcionallity. Having to convert to ATRAC format (which is not nece...

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I am going away this summer and I bought this product as a way to take pics when I need to and listen to music when I got bored...Plus I hate Ipods. I recently bought another one for someone else (yeah they're that good and worth it)

-I owned another Sony MP3 which came w/the dreaded Sonic stage. This comes with a Sonic stage program (to transfer your music files from your comp to the device). However, this Sonic Stage program is so simple, easy, and efficient it's ridiculous.

-The player is nicely sized (light-weight) and the camera takes EXCELLENT pictures for something so small. I print my pics out at stores and they come out great to, not grainy and blurry like other digital cameras.

-As always, the sound from the player is immensly good (sounds just as good if not better than on a cd).

-There is a wonderful little remote on the headphones that makes it easier to control what you're listening to.

-The Hi-MD's are a great thing as well. It makes this...

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The Pros: It's a thing of beauty. Some people say it's made of cheap plastic. Well may be true priced at $100.00+, but that aside I would have to disagree. Runs on a single AA battery for days. Sound quality is excellent for compress music. The bad . . . It uses the obsolete USB 1.0 so it take 45 min to 1 hr to transfer 1gb music or data. Sonicstage isn't music-sharing friendly.

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Basically, I think its a good MD recorder. But, I'd advise
all musicians to NOT assume (like I did) that recording
LIVE music (via mic) to a 1 gig disc was going to give you
seemingly an endless amount of recording time on this MD
recorder. You can only record about 1hr + 34min of LIVE
music(via mic) to a 1 gig disc. etc...

*****Correction****************

4-Stars!!!
The manual says that it can only record in HD mode (which would be 1 1/2hr on a 1 gig MD disc), but for some reason I could change it to SLP/LP which lets you record many hours of recording on each disc. Its great...now!!!

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The SonicStage is really a disaster. I have been using MZ-RH910 for a year, and I use it for recording music lessons. When I upload my files to computer to back them up, I alway have some recordings (about 15%)unreadable by SonicStage, even though I can listen to them with the MiniDV. What can I do with those recordings? I can only leave them in the MD walkman. If my MZ-RH910 is broken, I have to buy another one in order to listen to those recordings. Obviously I will never buy Sony's recorder again.

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