emedendorp's Full Review: Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-NE410 Personal MiniDisc Pla...
Well, I should first start out by telling you that I am a Sony fan, and that is what influenced me into buying this in the first place. After having this device for about a week and using it at work, I have found this to be a great purchase. I know there are a lot of reviews on this product, but the more you get, the easier it is to make your decision so I figured another one couldn't hurt.
The Sony NetMD MZ-NE410 is a very small device and is really light. This is one of the things that caught my attention when I saw it in the store. I have had a MiniDisc Recorder with my home stereo so I knew all about MiniDisc's and how they worked. I was always pondering about getting a portable device, but couldn't really justify it before as the job that I had wouldn't have done me any good because they didn't let you have headphones. While looking at them I noticed that they could record, but found that they could only record using their built in mic. This didn't make much sense to me because who would want to record this way as you would get all sorts of background noise in your recording. When I was at the store and saw this device, I turned the package over right away and started reading what it could do. I saw that you could connect it to your computer to get your music on it and it would record your MP3's and other music on your computer to the MiniDisc. To this I really couldn't say no, I just had to have it. However, before I went ahead with the purchase I had to find out if it could play regular MiniDisc's from a Home Unit like I have on my home stereo. I asked the clerk at the store and they said that they would assume it did, but couldn't be sure (They would say that), which is exactly what I was thinking. I then made sure that if it didn't I could take it back if it didn't work.
After finding out I could take it back, I decided to try it out. After all, I figured if I didn't like it, it could be returned and I would get my money back and I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. I'm not sorry one bit that I chose to get it. I am a Satellite Tech and when I install Satellites all day long, I need something to keep my mind off what I'm doing to make things go a little smoother. Well, with the small size and ease of use of this product it is no problem. No matter how hard you shake this device, IT DOES NOT SKIP. I have tried and tried (Short of throwing it to the ground) and have never had it skip. It stays in my pocket while I'm working (I have the Wristband case for it, but it doesn't fit over my jacket) and it gets banged against the ladder and things that my jacket rubs up against and it has never skipped.
The device itself is very easy to use, the controls are self explanitory. If you know how to use a tape player or CD player, you should have no problems at all playing a MiniDisc on this device without even picking up the instructions. There are a few other features (Like Groups, and the Menu) that you may have to read the directions to figure out, but they are also pretty simple once you figure out how they work. All the controls are right on the front of the unit including the volume buttons. Yes, it does only have buttons for volume, no rotary dials for volume controls. When you adjust the volume, the information panel shows you what level the volume is currently set at. There is a round button that rotates in the direction that you need it for the Stop, FF, Rev, and Play/Pause controls. There is a group button on it that will allow you to control the way the songs play back if groups are set up when the MiniDisc is recorded. The menu button lets you make all the other adjustments like how the music is going to play back (Random, Repeat and stuff like that), the volume limiter control is also in there, power settings, and even the equalizer controls are in this area.
Now the software is a totally different story. It gets easier to use as you get more used to it, when you first start out, it is very confusing and really doesn't make much sense. You can go to Sony's website and get the information on how to do things with the software there, I just wanted to figure it out as I really hate reading on things like that because it makes for very boring reading. Once you get used to it, you really don't have problems with it as much. The software is very buggy however straight from the box, but you can update it and it isn't so bad. One problem that I was having was when I would check something out, it would mess up and then the MiniDisc would keep saying error everytime it was inserted into the recorder. I would just put it in my home stereo one and remove the song that caused the problem and everything would return, but in doing that I didn't check that song in and I then only had two more times I could check it out. With the update however, I also solved a lot of that. So basically don't use the software straight from the box, go to Sony's site and look to see if there are any updates, and get them right away. Pay attention to how they have it though as you have to do it in the order that they say or you will have some serious problems!
When I bought this device I was looking for something portable that I could take with me to work that was going to cause little problems. I didn't want a CD Player as I knew they skipped a lot and an MP3 player was so expensive. This was a pretty nice medium in that it works like a CD Player (except it records again and again) and it doesn't skip all the time. It's actually pretty durable like a tape, but the MiniDiscs are even smaller. It's very portable and not very expensive. I haven't bought and MiniDiscs in a long time. I basically have been using the ones that I got when I first got into MiniDiscs so I can't tell the exact price of them right now. I just know that with the MDLP Format (MiniDisc Long Play) it works in a way a VCR would. It writes more data to a MiniDisc then Standard Play does. However, since my home unit doesn't support MDLP, I have to write them in Standard Format for it to play the discs. I can read the titles of the songs and everything else, but it can't read the MiniDisc itself unless it is in the SP format. The display on this unit is very small, but it does get the information accross. It will tell you the name of the song, and then switch to the time, and it will tell you the name of the Disc when you first insert it. It will also tell you the track number that is playing right above the time. It will tell you other things like the Disc activity and the battery level. I only wish that it was backlit as sometimes I have to work in the dark and it is impossible to read. If I shine my flashlite at it, I still can hardly see it as the flashlite glares off the cover. It's not bad though, the Pros outdo the Cons in just about every area so it really isn't all that bad. I just really wish they would make the software a little more user friendly.
The battery life on this thing is amazing. I put one battery in it (AA) and have not had to change it all week. I use this thing all day long while I'm at work too, and I am usually working over 10 hours a day so it gets a work out. It never blips out either, and the battery bar has only gone down one block, so I'm really amazed. When they say 52 hours to one battery, they aren't kidding, it really does go that long. However, if you do a lot of writing to the MiniDiscs you will notice that it goes a lot faster, but it takes more power to record then to read.
Basically if you are looking for a way to carry your MP3's around and don't want to have a lot of money put into it. This device is a perfect choice for you. Normally I would give something like this a full score and it being Sony, I really hate not giving it a full score, but it is impossible to get it a full five when the software is as bad as it is. However, once you get used to it, it isn't so bad and you learn how to keep it from messing up so bad.
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