Sony MZ-N505 Net MD Walkman Player/Recorder (Gold)

Rating:
Summary: Take great care otherwise endure its flaws
Review: I've had this net md for a little over a year, and had had no problems what so ever with it (the software on the other hand is a whole different story, useless/buggy is an understatement). The unit had never been dropped, however on one occasion it was moved a little roughly (however not enough in my opinion to warrant its failure) and the sound produced has since been crackly and distorted, often not working at all. We invested in another player, only to have the same issue (an internal circuit board becomes easily dislodged and must be repaired with ultrafine soldering equipment). To have this happen with 2 players in one household is appauling on Sony's behalf, and I can only imagine others have suffered too.
Transfer speeds are average, usb2 stated compliance is a myth, and help from Sony is almost nonexistant.
If you are looking for portable audio, look elsewhere, as netMD simply never took off, for a very good reason. USB players with no moving parts would be the next best option unless you want to find yourself with $100 repair bills for a $150 player...

Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Review: I've been using Sony MiniDisc players/recorders since 1997. It's an awesome technology, so I've never understood why it never really caught on. I bought this model a year ago and have been very happy with it. I walk a lot and carry it with me everywhere I go. I've dropped it and jostled it many times and still it endures. In the years that I've been using portable MD players(including this one), I've never, ever heard a skip. One AA battery lasts a long time. It's easy to create playlists/groups, etc. and the song names scroll across the player screen for easy recognition. I've never had any problems with the software as some reviewers mentioned. Originally I was annoyed at the fact that you could only use a song three times, but it has never been a problem for me. I record a lot of mixes and don't have more than one or two copies of each song checked out at once. I recently researched MP3 players to see if they offered any features that the MD player doesn't. I wasn't convinced to buy anything else; five hours of music is enough for me.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best buys you will ever make
Review: When looking into MP3 players trying to decide what to get, I came across minidisc players. There are many advantages of minidisc players over MP3. Battery life with minidiscs are amazing!! You get over 40+ hours of playing time on ONE AA battery. I think the manual says up to 53 hours. Second, it is easy and cheap to buy and load songs onto minidiscs. $2 each beats paying for CF or SD/MMC at much greater prices. You can get five CD worth of music on one minidisc. Plus there is a new technology mindisc on the horizon that holds even more! Third, they sound great and really hold up well. I have taken mine to Afghanistan, and Iraq, and have dropped it several times in the gym, and have even parachuted with it. This is a great system and I cannot recommend them highly enough. I recommend good earbuds for the system. Sony makes some good ones, I'm looking into the Shure 3C model. I just bought some cheap Koss earbuds and they suck. The only drawback is the software that comes with the minidisc. I use the simple burner program mostly or Realplayer for MP3 format music I have downloaded. You won't go wrong getting one of these!

Rating:
Summary: Great Little Guy
Review: I bought this minidisc player about one year ago and have liked it very much. I would have rated it 5 stars until about a month ago when the head phone jack began to make a poor connection. Now it is almost impossible to get clean sound from the unit. Now it is useless. I would not give it even one star now. I checked with Sony's website and they will only replace with a refurb for $80!!! A brand new unit is only $100 and I only need the headphone jack replaced or fixed. I can't believe that Sony would include this junk into such an otherwise fine product. I'm not the only person in this section that has had this problem with a Sony Minidisc player so WAKE UP SONY and offer a cheaper fix!
I mostly used the Simple Burner which worked fine for me. The Open MG software is a nightmare requiring a real computer geek to figure out. Most people consider me a computer geek but frankly, this piece of software seems to have been written by a team from Microsoft that didn't speak to each other.