Sony MZ-N1 Blue Net MiniDisc Walkman

The unit is physically very small in size and it comfortably fits inside a shirt pocket. The remote control is very easy to use and makes changing volume, skipping tracks etc very easy especially as you can leave the device in your pocket. The player also comes with a leather belt clip, at first I didn't like the look of it but I have however changed my mind and I do use it as it will prevent the player from getting damaged and I can strap the player to my belt if I am not wearing a jacket or a shirt with a pocket.

I personally found the PC software very easy to use. I didn't like the installation as it took ages and seemed to consist of lots of seperate installations instead of one large one. The installation did however complete without any problems.

To put music on a MD is easy. Simply insert a CD into the CD-rom drive, enter the track name and artist and then click a button that will convert it into a format that can be copied to your MD. Once the music is in MD format you simply drag it to the MD player window and the files are quickly copied to the MD. Putting MP3's onto the player is a bit more complex because it automatically orders the files in name order and it is annoying putting them into the correct order. As however I use the original CD to convert the music I am completely happy.

I occasionally cram 4 CDs onto an MD, but usually I put 2 onto a single MD. I personally can not tell any difference in the music quality between the different bit rates.

My advise it to definately buy one. As mentioned you can fit 4 albums on a single MD and if you use the leather case you can put another MD in the case along with the player, this therefore means that you can have 8 albums at hand.

I used to have a MZE-90 (smallest MD player in the world 2000) and the MZ-N1 is pretty much the same size, and weight with better battery life, but it also records and even transfers MP3, WMA, and WAV from the PC.

It looks very sexy on my desk next to the cable modem, with it's docking station, and the main power light on, and the recording light blinking like a CD-R drive. It takes minutes to transfer 5 hours of MP3 to the Net MD, along with all the names. But I was very surprised when I pressed the menu button and was given a long list of menus and options, including sound settings where you can change the bass and treble settings and then save them to one of the two presets. It also has pointless features like speed control, although when you're bored it's quite amusing to listen to Eminem at 3 times the normal speed.

One of my concerns about the ability to store 5 hours of music was that I thought I wouldn't be able to find tracks easily and that if I recorded 5 albums on the one disc they would all be mixed with each other . But the N1 has a group function where you can put a group of tracks into a group folder and then you can change tracks within that folder, but to listen to a different album you have to open one of the other folders.

The only thing I don't like about the N1 is the remote! It is big, ugly, and not user friendly in my opinion. Sony have really taken a step backwards with this one, my old remote was slim line with a clicking head rather than a jog dial, and had separate volume controls. On the N1 you have to pull the jog dial out to adjust the volume. I suppose I might get used to it but I prefer the old one!