Rating: 
Summary: Consider This Before You Buy
Review: I like my Sony MZ-N707 and have always been very pleased with Sony products. I purchased my player a month ago and have enjoyed using it...that is, except for the OpenMG jukebox software. The software is complicated, crashes frequently, and really limits what you can burn. Two hundred and thirty dollars is a lot to pay for a player with beta version software. The player after all is only as good as the software it comes with. I am also dissapointed because Sony hasn't developed any upgrades for the software nor posted any truly helpful information on their website. I have contacted Sony about other jukebox compatibility (such as Musicmatch) and am waiting for a reply...we'll see. To sum my complaint up, if you want a good player then you've found one in the MZ-707 but be prepared for the headache of the OpenMG jukebox.
Rating: 
Summary: My new best friend!
Review: I never thought that I could become good friends with a piece of electronic equipment, but it has now happened. This little minidisc player is great and definitely worth the price. Even though the software was a little annoying at first, it ended up being really great. The minidiscs don't ever skip, and the sound quality is amazing! I've heard parts of songs that I never could before, even on a really good CD player. I recommend this product to anyone in the market. Plus, it's super cute! The only bad thing I will say is that it doesn't come with a clip, so you can't clip it to a belt or pocket. Oh well!
Rating:
Summary: Kiss MP3 players goodbye
Review: I originally was just looking around for a small, compact MP3 player to take with me on the road. After looking at several different models I was discouraged by the price of blank media(anywhere from $30-$100 for a 128MB stick of memory) and the high price of these proprietary playback devices.Remembering a friend who had an MD a year back, I looked at a few minidisc players. What impressed me immediately was the low cost of blank media(two dollars per minidisc). I didn't want to have to constantly download different music to an MP3 player. With the MD player I have transferred my entire CD collection to just a few dozen minidiscs, most written in LP4 mode. I haven't found any serious sound quality degradation in LP4 mode, especially with background noise of the city and traffic. And the 5 1/2 hours of recording time per disc beats a thirty dollar memory stick any day. I also enjoy the recording capabilities of the MD player. Not only can I record lectures and conferences, but I am also an aspiring musician. For rehersals and small gigs where loads of microphones and recording equipment are impractical, the recording quality of such a small minidisc player are fantastic. It's small. You can carry it in your front jeans pocket and not notice it. It never skips. I recharge the battery normally every 3 weeks. These 3 weeks see usually 20-25 hours playback time and 5-8 hours recording time. No complaints with the Open MG software. It has certain restrictions on the number of times you can record a track on to the MD, but unless you're running a music distribution company that shouldn't be a problem. Seems like a fast computer is advantageous, I've got a 2.5 GHZ under the hood with 1024 MB ram. Record speeds are quick. A CD can typically be ripped onto MD in 4-5 minutes. If you're looking for a portable, well made, versatile digital recording/playback device, this is it. Don't waste your money on a bulky CD/MP3 player.
Rating: 
Summary: Downloading Songs from Computer Onto MD...
Review: I purchased this cool MD Recorder about a month and a half ago, and it served my inital purpose of making recordings of my own voice outstandingly (I just had to buy a STEREO microphone and then attach it to the recorders MIC jack). But then I decided to try and use it for a more difficult purpose: to download songs from my computer onto it. This was kind of frustrating because I think it only works with Open MG Jukebox. So what I had to do was Import songs from my LimeWire playlist onto a playlist for MG Jukebox. But this didn't go over to well... 99% of the time, MG would not accept the files I was trying to transfer. I deduced that it does not accept MP3 files, but I'm not sure if that's completely true. The odd time, it did work, but then the computer kept saying it could not detect my external device. I gave up with that; I think I'll just use a regular CD burner to burn songs.
But for anyone who is good at working around that kind of thing, or has a different main purpose like I do, this recorder's GREAT! It is so compact and durable, the disks are really neat, and the sound quality far, far surpasses any cassette recorder! So that's why I gave this machine 4/5.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I really don't see the big deal with with the limit to "check out" a particular track from your computer 3 times maximum. OK, so,... I can have one particular "burn" of a song come off my computer onto minidisc three times,. why would I want anymore than 3?
This recorder/player is awesome!,. The transfer of computer to minidisc could not be much easier. Very impressive battery life.
The most important and impressive feature of this unit is the G shock protection. I RUN with it,. and I mean run,. not light jogging. I use a small waistpack with the player inside,. strapped realtively tight around my waist so it won't bounce. I have been on the local trails,. up and down hills,. which can be jolting (downhill),. I have run pickup sprints,.. NOT ONE SKIP,.. NOT ONCE!! I was so happy with this, I got one for my wife.
I don't see how someone could give this unit a bad rating,. it does everything it says.
Rating:
Summary: Despite other thoughts, I think the Sony NetMD kicks !...
Review: I recently purchased the Sony MZ-N707. I must admit I was a little worried with the way the software was going to hold up. I had read many complaints about the Open MG.
To my surprize, the software works great. The second I got it, I transferred all my mp3s directly onto it through LP2 and then I ripped my entire CD collection through the NetMD Simple Burner. I used the LP4 so to provide with about 5 hours worth of music. I am into mostly hip hop and a little punk and I could not tell the difference between LP2, LP4 compared to a CD.
I love my new unit. It has many awesome features and a cool little remote. The headphones [stink], but you can always go purchase others. I would say the only two disadvantages I ran into while playing with my unit would be 1. Converting the mp3's to ATRAC3 (which can take a little while) and 2. Some songs which you already have downloaded are copyrighted against importing to Open MG. I have not ran into many songs which have been blocked.
All in all, I would highly recomend this unit to all who enjoy countless hours on extremely [inexpensive] discs. Plus the ... thing just looks ...cool. ...
Rating:
Summary: AWSOME
Review: I THINK this new gadget is GREAT! It really works try it OUT ITS GREAT
Rating:
Summary: Great for voice
Review: I use the MZ N707 on the job, recording meetings, speeches, etc. This is a great tool, vastly superior to any tape recorder. The sound quality, using Sony mic ms907, is just amazing. It's relatively easy to quickly move through a recording for key points and to transcribe notes. The only real con, and it's a minor one, are the control buttons. They aren't as responsive as I would like. The remote is cheap, and somewhat disappointing considering the quality of the product, but functional. If I could upgrade the remote, I would. One change Sony could make: please include the means to attach a carrying strap to unit.
Rating:
Summary: Great Product, but Software BLOWS!
Review: I'll start with the good points:
1. Lightweight and totally portable
2. I personally think the LP4 mode sounds fine. I constantly use it while on the subway going places. 5 hours per disc kicks any portable mp3 player in the pants.
3. Battery life is great! Even the rechargable is impressive.
4. BEST PART. I use the mic in with the sony MS-907 microphone and the results are superb. I have simple recordings of myself playing guitar and the recordings sound like I am in the room. I haven't tried dumping any recordings back onto the computer yet, but supposedly I have to do that through the analog jack. Bad points
1. The headphones that come with it [are bad], but this is no news to anyone.
2. The remote takes some getting used to and it could be a little better designed.
3. 32X is a crock. I'd say realistically I transfer tunes about 10x speed and I have a 800mh PIII. Still not bad. You can go from there.
4. The Software. Let me repeat. The software is hands down the worst part of this package. As you have probably read, tracks must be 'checked in' or 'out' using the Open MG Jukebox software. You can only check out 3 at a time. Honestly, this is NO BIG DEAL because you can always re-import the file to the playlist and you get 3 fresh 'credits'. So don't let that bother you. I do have errors frequently not letting me check in a file that I checked out. I just delete it off the player and re-import the file if I need more credits. That's the way around Sony's attempt to police what I do with MY music. The problem for me is that when you import a file the ID2 & ID3 tags must be in place. It doesn't just list each mp3 as whatever it is named. Let me explain. Open any song on your Winamp. Right click on the song and check out File Info. If these aren't filled in (which most of the time they aren't) then the artist is recognized as UNKNOWN on the MD Jukebox. I have about 5,000 mp3s on my computer, so I literally spent hours upon hours editing these tags JUST so I could find mp3s in the Jukebox that I was looking for. Once I did that, everything was smooth and was alphabetical. If you only have a couple of hundreds mp3s, then it probably won't bother you until you have thousands. All in all, the player is excellent quality, so far. Recording with a mic is most impressive and I look forward to using it at my gigs, rehearsals, etc. The only hinderance is the software, but there are ways around some of the 'rules'.
Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: I've had my eye on this particular product for over a year, and I finally got it. Glad to say, it hasn't been disappointing, considering all of the other new mp3 players coming out now. Okay, so the headphones are very very short (try wearing them and put the md player in your pocket - it won't reach!), but the sound is still great. In the given mini disk, I was able to put in about 40 files. The package comes with pretty much everything, and more. The software isn't horrible, you just have to read the short manual to get the hang of it. And 32x isn't true, but it's MUCH faster than waiting for my slow 4x burner to finish. Using MD is better than buying those big CD-R's because you can delete, move, add, and rename tracks over and over. All in all, get this product if you want efficient quality, storage, and maitenence.
|
