Sony MZ-NH700/LM Blue Hi-MiniDisc Walkman

It comes with one hi-md 1gig disk, 1 rechargeable AA battery, mains power lead. optical cable, USB Cable, headphones and remote, a library of documents and the latest version of Sony's Sonic Stage (Version 2.0).

Sonic stage works wonderfully. It is simple and reliable to use. An icon in the system tray allows you to copy instantly the contents of a Music CD to the MiniDisk. Sonicstage itself allows you to copy audio files BETWEEN (both ways) the PC and the minidisk. You can also order the tracks on your computer screen and the minidisk will be reordered automatically; this saves you moving tracks around directly on the minidisk with the small controls.

The power adaptor which comes with can be plugged in allowing the rechargeable battery to then charged up in two hours flat! The menu system is straight-forward to use (the trick is to hold down the menu button for 3 seconds - read the manual!).

Tracks are organised in a similar fashion to computer files, i.e. in files (or tracks) inside folders. Indeed, your folders on your computers, e.g. Jazz, Pop, my collection 1, etc, will be literally copied over, word for word. You can copy tracks by themselves or create a new folder for them. You can organise the order of the tracks or folders on your minidisk or your computer (as mentioned above).

This 700 model does everything you want. It comes with line in for optical and other sources AND a microphone for analogue recording from TV, Radio, Hi-Fi, or, indeed, microphone. Finally, you can store non-audio pc files, such as word, picture, excel, etc, etc.

...Let's see an ipod do all that!

A superb product and worth every penny. Don't you just love Sony?

Michael

So I can take the same MD compilation and play it mobile or through the full loudspeaker experience - with greater ease (and a remote) than connecting an iPod or MP3 player to a standard amp. Good for when friends are around and you want to share the experience...

My old MZ-R700 had a USB PC link, but there was no speed acceleration for transfers. That's changed with the MZ-NH700 - and then some... Transfering a whole CD takes a couple of minutes (it can be even faster in some modes). That's true for any Net-MD model (which this is).

The SonicStage 2 software is slick (with a couple of quirks) and lets you rip into a number of formats (as you'd expect). One great advantage over (free versions) of RealPlayer is that it doesn't insert huge pauses between tracks. So if you've got a non-stop mix CD, it stays non-stop!

About the player:
- I haven't bothered with the standard 'phones - I use Sony MDR-EX71's -- they're truly excellent and comfortable
- the standard "case" is just a drawstring pouch - luckily I can still use the (far superior) one from the MZ-R700
- what isn't necessarily clear from the description is that you can use a standard AA battery in place of the rechargeable. So if you're on the move and the battery runs out (which it doesn't do very quickly at all!), you can pop into a local shop and get a new battery.
- I can still record/transfer in standard MD-LP format and play it on my HiFi (if being sociable)
- I can store a stupid amount of stuff on the 1GB disk, but that's not compatible with my older players: luckily all the "commodity" 74- and 80-min MDs are compatible with both.
- the 1GB disks are scarce at the moment (Nov 2004)

If you're already an MD (non Net-MD) user, this range (and this one particularly) is a great upgrade.

If you're thinking about an HD player consider:
- battery life (30 hours for MD vs 14 for some HD...)
- flexibility of choice of music (no endless scrolling, no ultimate upper size limit, just group your moods on different MD disks)

But do get the MDR-EX71 headphones and a decent carry case.

And the Amazon price is superb.