Sony S2 MZ-S1 Net MiniDisc Walkman with 5 Free Blank MiniDiscs

The MZ-S1 Net MiniDisc Walkman is a larger, chunkier and heavier MD player than most on the market, because it's a rugged sports model, complete with a large latch that clips securely over the rubber-sealed disc slot, rubber covers for all the ports and socket and a tough, wipe-clean case that won't scratch. The in-ear bud headphones are light and unobtrusive too, but the strap only stops you dropping it rather than letting you carry it easily.

You can run, jog and shake or drop the case without interrupting the music and all the playing controls are on the side, falling naturally under your thumb when you hold the player one-handed. Play, stop, fast forward, rewind and volume are all combined in one five-way control; only pause is separate. Although the edges are a little sharp for comfort, the control makes it easy to get the track you want without looking at the player and it's almost impossible to change the volume by accident; if you do there's an automatic volume control to stop it getting too loud too suddenly.

You do need to look at the player to record or edit track names, but as you can only record from an external source like a CD player you're not likely to be on the move at the time: there's an optical cable in the box for digital connections but you'll need a second cable to analogue sources. Alternatively, you can plug the USB cable into your PC and transfer tracks you have stored as MP3 or WMA. You get the same choice of single, double or quadruple-length recording, which puts over five hours of music on one MiniDisc, and you get about 50 hours playing time from a single AA battery. The OpenMG JukeBox software is a little complicated because you have to check tracks in and out of your library to transfer them but you can create multiple playlists and convert CD tracks directly. You can't transfer tracks from MiniDisc to MP3 though.

You're paying a slight premium for the rugged go-anywhere portability of the Net MiniDisc Walkman, but the controls are simple and the sound quality is excellent. --Mary Branscombe

The MZ-S1 features Sony’s new MiniDisc technology called NetMD. NetMD allows the user to download music files from a PC to MiniDisc at incredibly fast speeds. For example, an 80-minute CD can be downloaded in just 2.5 minutes. In addition to this great feature, the MZ-S1 also boasts G Protection Jog Proof technology, MDLP and a five-way thumb control key for ease of use.