Sony MZ-N520 Minidisc £39.99.

Sultan3 · 13 April 2005 at 8:53AM

Got this from another forum.
Amazon are selling the Sony MZ-N520 minidisc player for £39.99 including VAT and shipping. This is a very good price on this MD player with the closest price on Kelkoo and Pricerunner coming in at just under £100.
Features:
Product Description: Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-N520S - MiniDisc recorder
Product Type: MiniDisc recorder
Enclosure Colour: Silver
Dimensions (WxDxH): 8.1 cm x 7.4 cm x 2.8 cm
Weight: 103 g
Sound Output Mode: Stereo
Sound Effects: Digital Mega Bass
MD System: MiniDisc recorder - slot-load
Headphones: Headphones - binaural - stereo
Remote Control: Player remote control - cable
Battery: 1 x battery - rechargeable

*** referral link removed by Board Guide ***

NellyLock · 13 April 2005 at 9:34AM

heres a non-referal url for it

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001ZN8AI/qid%3D1113381239/026-2882817-5418828

BFG_2 · 13 April 2005 at 9:50AM

I thought mini-discs were heading the way of betamax video players??

Never had one, so not sure whaT'S good about them. Anyone got a view?

Odd_Fellow · 13 April 2005 at 9:54AM

I like to use ebay as a guide for commonly accptable prices for consumer electronics and there isn't one of these models on Ebay right now that's even got bids at anywhere near that money.

MP3 Players are taking over in the walkman stakes and prices like this are testimony to that. I find a reason to buy a minidisc over an MP3 player.

lellie · 13 April 2005 at 11:46AM

I wouldn't mind a mini disc but I don't want a Net MD one.. I want to use it as a dictaphone..

Press/dictaphone use and bootlegging concerts/live recordings are the only reason the mini disc won't die anytime soon..

lipidicman · 13 April 2005 at 11:49AM

Does this use the new high capacity discs?

bcl999 · 13 April 2005 at 12:29PM

https://www.unbeatable.co.uk have the Hi-MD 600W (white) at £49.98 but postage is an extra £8. The same model in silver finish is in Argos at £129.99.

I bought one last week and was very pleased when it arrived next day. I got a single 1gb MD for £5.02 including postage from a seller on the Amazon site.

I am a bit deaf and I like the facility to change the recording level manually on the MD walkmen. I've tried 2 diffferent MP3 players but can't get enough volume.

tin · 13 April 2005 at 1:06PM

Got this same player at argos for £69 probably 6-8 months ago, so the 'saving' is a bit misleading. This player doesn't do Hi-MD, but does do the longplay modes. I think lp2 is perfectly acceptable, yeilding 160 mins of recording time on a 80 min disc (common).

NetMD doesn't really pose a problem if you don't want/like it (just don't use it) although this model doesn't have a MIC input - but it does take optical direct from e.g. a CD player (how many MP3 players do that?). User interface is horrible IMHO. In fact I bought this player to replace an older model that had broken, and somehow they'd managed to make the user interface worse.

Bonus point for me, it takes an AA battery in the back - comes with a chargeable one and a charger. In addition it's designed to be used while running around, hard disk based players i've seen specificially exclude this?

As to MP3/Minidisc arguments - I've got both and still I am undecided. It's basically works out to sort of between a 128-256mb MP3 player, in terms of quantity of tunes you can put on it if using LP2, but you can change the tunes on it at a stroke, and while on the move, just by having more discs on you. It also plays for a lot longer on one battery than a MP3 player. However mini-disc's days do seem to be numbered as the new hi-MDs have not taken off (check out the deep discounting and rarity of the discs) and when considering the core features, the spec is pale against even the cheapest of mp3 players which is worrying at least.

All that said, if you need cheap reliable mobile music, getting a sony device for that price can't be at all bad. Battery life wont do your head in, and optical input might be a selling point for some. Maybe it'll be broken within a year if you're the sort of person who uses and abuses these things, so who cares if the format's on the way out?