daisuke69's Full Review: Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-N505 Personal MiniDisc Play...
I bought this unit after my old r700 finally kicked the bucket (a used/new ebay deal I somewhat regret)... and Iīve never been happier.
This unit is, in my oppinion, the perfect mid-point between regular MD player/recorders and MP3 players, and that at an affordable price.
I initially shopped around for NetMD walkmans and was thinking about the N707 for a while, but the non-backlit LCD display on the remote and the mic-in didnīt justify the extra $100 of the pricetag since I never used the mic input on my old r700 and donīt even have a mic for it in the first place. I decided finally on this particular unit because of the convenient price and the good reviews I read here... what a buy!
The looks are good, not as sleek as the N707 but enough to make me happy, it hasnīt ever skipped on me so far and it reads the tracks much faster than my old unit ever did. I donīt know who said this thing is too quiet but whoever it is has hearing impairments because this thing is LOUD with the earbud phones mine included (itīs the european version), that means loud enough that I canīt listen to it at max volume without pain. construction is good quality as well. Mine came with a very decent belt clip-on carrying case, very good touch on sonyīs behalf for once.
The NetMD functions are very good, the transfer speeds even on an old computer are good and I just love the fact that I can copy whole CDs to it in just a matter of minutes compared to the time I used to have to waste before, plus... you can now control the MD completely from the computer and even edit track names and the like with your keyboard, so no more tedious naming from the unit itself. The OpenMG software itself isnīt as bad as it was made out to be, I have the 2.2 version and itīs quite functional as long as you read the operating manual once, itīs got a steep learning curve and you canīt expect to do much right away unless you read the manual. The version of the software I have at least asked me if I wanted to make it the default CD player unlike other reviews Iīve seen here. The copyright issues involved with the software are stupid and should be removed, they make the product less than perfect. there is a way around everything sony, donīt be fools and get with the program.
I do have a few gripes about the unit itself, one is the stone age remote that is the same one carried over from my old R700, and that one died on me well before the unit itself did so I donīt know about itīs quality. for the price I canīt ask for something with an LCD but they could have at least thrown in a button for the group mode. The LCD display on the unit is also somewhat small resulting in a cluttered display and with little space for the more important track info stuff, another carryover from the R500 that this thing is based on. Finally, the battery compartment door is too easy to open and looks quite fragile, a feature it now has in common with the N707, step back in that direction.
All in all this unit has me very pleased and I would recommend it to anyone looking either for an MP3 player or an MD or NetMD unit (and who doesnīt want to go for the NZ-1 with all itīs cool but expensive goodies).
Record MP3s or CDs at up to 32x speed on affordable MD media for over 5 hours of music per standard 80-minute disc Easy Skip group/folder navigation i...More at Amazon Marketplace
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