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Review: I bought my Sony MZ-N510 S Net MiniDisc Walkman to replace an old MP3 player. I installed the SonicStage software which I found quite complex, even though I work with and develop software for a living. I then loaded my first CD of music onto a disc. This also included a one-time registration with CDDB which thereafter fills in the blanks as regards Artist, Title, Song and Genre. Saves LOTS of typing.. SonicStage also ensures that you can't check out a track more 3 times. I was impressed by the speed at which the transfer took place - previous MD reviews I had read mentioned recording at the same speed as the CD played: Sony have done well here and it's almost as convenient as my old MP3 player. The battery life is fantastic - nearly a month on average with a Duracell, easily over 2 weeks with the supplied rechargeable battery. Once you get used to the complexities of the menu system it's a very slick device. The quality of the sound is very high indeed and there is no discernable noise. I have also found it to be largely immune from skips and dropouts when I walk around: can't comment on running though :-) Once thing I take issue with though is the heavily publicised Electronic Music Distribution (EMD). If you're in the UK, you're going to be disappointed when you go the OpenMG web site and find that they only have the facility in Japan. They have been promising a European service sinc at least October 2003 and nothing has appeared. If Sony intend to attract consumers by using EMD then they are wasting their time. My advice would be to buy the device for it's CD-handling capabilities and wait until Sony and other distributors realise that other countries other than the USA listen to music. |
Audio HiFi
