Pros: Easy to use, unlimited storage, never-ending power supply!
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: If you find an MP3 player with all the features of this little guy you live in the future, otherwise this is the recorder to own. Enjoy!
lindaja's Full Review: Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-N510 Personal MiniDisc Play...
Sony MZ-N510CK
First I spent months of research trying to find the MP3 player of my dreams. I had specific requirements for that perfect portable music storage device. In addition to never-ending storage ability and easy downloads or copying I also wanted to be able to copy from my home audio cassette tape deck since I had such a fantastic collection of jazz cassettes from a long lost radio station. Last but not least I did not want to rely on a rechargeable battery for power. I wanted to always have a ready supply of AA batteries to keep me listening where-ever, when-ever and forever. I had heard too many horror stories about the ever popular iPod and other mega storage brands. I even questioned people on the streets of NYC who were listening to iPods just to see if the horror stories were true. More than one person told me they had to have their iPod replaced because of some defect or another. While recently watching the no longer available TechTV cable channel the show host was raving about the great sound of his new "mini-iPod" when it suddenly died right there on camera. Not only did it die in front of the entire viewing world but the show host was horrified to see that his entire play list was gone as well. Now that would really tick me off.
About 3 months ago I was about to give up on my dream machine when my husband suggested I consider the Sony MZ-N510CK mini disk recorder/player. I had pooh poohed it years ago when it first came on the scene but I took another look at the recent models and I'm glad I did. I installed the software "Sonicstage" and "Net MD Simple Burner". The latter was really all I needed. I plugged in the provided USB cable to my computer and the recorder which I also plugged in the provided power cord. I popped a CD into my laptop drive and it was so simple to copy the entire CD (or selected songs) to the mini disk player. I didn't bother to name all the songs, only the album title for each of the 6 or 7 CD's that fit on one mini-disk (305 to 320 minutes per disk at LP4). There are 3 recording speeds and I chose the longest LP4 which sounds fantastic to me. I doubt if I would notice the differences between the speeds. Each CD took about 10 minutes to copy (about 70 or 80 minutes copy time per mini disk). I haven't tried to record from my stereo tape deck yet since I am still copying CDs. As far as the single AA battery, it takes me about 2 weeks to use it up and I average about 30 hours a week. I should mention that I am using partially used batteries that I saved from my previous portable CD Player (single CD that is). I have a bucket full of these batteries and it should take me a year to use these up. The unit also has a locking switch so you don't accidentally skip a song, etc. There is a small viewing screen so you can see the status and album or song title if you bothered to put in titles. You can skip songs (or albums) forward or backwards and there is plenty of volume which you control with buttons up or down. There are also other modes like random play, etc. but I've never bothered with them. Using my Sidekick program I created a simple database of all the CD titles that I copied and which disk the CDs are on (I numbered each mini disk). It basically only contains the disk number and the CD title. I can sort the list by disk number or alphabetically by CD title so I don't keep copying the same CDs when my collection starts getting huge (I have several hundred CDs and who knows how many cassette tapes).
The unit is a real cutie and I wear it in a mini fanny pack (with one extra AA battery for back-up) or keep it in my shirt pocket. If I travel around the city all day one disk is all I need. If I go away for a weekend I will stash 3 or 4 more disks in a little wallet that I keep in my backpack. I am so happy that I bypassed the MP3 mega-storage devices for the MD Recorder. It has everything I want and for the 3 months I've had it, it's a dream. It is slightly larger than an iPod but worth every millimeter of extra size. I paid around $109 for the recorder which also came with a car kit, and about $12 for 10 mini-disks from Circuit City. If you've got tons of music and want never-ending storage and power this is for you. BTW, it stopped playing on me once or twice and I realized it was because I put on the "lock" too soon. Now I wait until the first song gets going for about 10 seconds and then flip the switch to lock. I haven't had a problem since. Another tip: when you start to copy a CD make sure you select the recording speed before you start. LP4 is not the default speed.
Update: In case you intend to create a database to keep track of your copied CDs I entered the data as follows:
(Field #1=)Disk# 001A
(Field #2=) First Album Title.
(Field #1=)Disk# 001B
(Field #2=) 2nd Album Title.
The A or B etc. following the disk # represents the order in which each album title was recorded onto the disk. When I finished the albums list for disk# 001 I began disk# 002A (B, or C etc.) until all the albums were listed.
Stores more than five hours of music on an 80-minute minidisc; speedy USB connection minimizes recording time Compatible with MP3, WMA, and WAV music ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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