Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-S1 Personal MiniDisc Player

Pros: water resistant, shock resistant, minidisc versatility and sound quality, PC interface, battery life
Cons: PC interface, no built-in mic, no built-in AM/FM radio

I'm a minidisc noob and chose the S1 for my first player/recorder. I've always liked Sony's sports Walkmans, having owned both cassette and CD walkmans, and the MZ-S1 is no exception. It's smaller than any Sony sports Walkman yet, although slightly...

Pros: Rugged compact design, holds lots of music, unbelievable battery life, fast transfers, great value!
Cons: Headphones could be better, OpenMG software is silly

Years ago when I first saw MiniDisc, I kind of laughed at it. "Who would want that," I thought. Today I'm the proud owner of one of Sony's latest generation MiniDisc players.

After spending a few weeks with the Sony MZ-S1, I can't help...

Pros: Rugged, superior to MP3 players, cheap media, compact, convenient thumb-stick, great for outdoor use...
Cons: OpenMG software, copyright restrictions on music downloads, on-par earphones, no remote.

I was considering buying an MP3 player a year ago, caught by the advertising hype that 64mb or 128mb of memory is enough to put all my MP3 collection into one mini piece of audio circuitry. When my friend bought a Sony MDLP player (a MZ-G750 actually)I...

Pros: Great compact design, back-lit (fluorescent orange) display, scratchproof-rugged-waterproof exterior, fast netMD transfers, battery life.
Cons: flimsy headphones, no integrated mic or mic input, rechargeable batteries not included, openMG software.

I am still amazed at how Sony manages to go cheap in some aspect or the other, with every product they release. At first sight, the MZ-S1 is flawless. I was amazed at how easy it was to transfer music to the player thru NetMD. Certainly easier than the...

Pros: Ruggedness Almost 5 CDs of music available Cheap medium Cool Factor (HUMMER tough!)
Cons: Software needs work. Heavy metal clasp/shield. Bulky. No belt clip. (HUMMER bulk and weight)

Its not hard to see that alot of people have a great opinion on this product. I've had mine for over a year and a half now and have not had any bad surprises since I first unwrapped it from its package. Since there are alot of rave reviews on this ...

Pros: Another fine addition to the Sony product line.
Cons: The free software accompanying the MD player has glitches.

Functionality Possibly the best all around performance for years to come available for under $150 online and offline currently available for anyone willing to take the next step forward in advancing technology in the audio entertainment ...

Pros: 'Sport' design / water resistant. Sound quality. PC Connectivity.
Cons: No remote.

I had been thinking about getting a new portable audio device for some time now - never went for it until now. The last unit I owned was the Sony Sport Walkman back in the 80's (not the yellow one, the black one). I loved that Sony Walkman damn it (no...

Pros: battery life, good sound volume, shape, easy of use, fast download, back light, doesn't skip!
Cons: Sony software, use real one player..

I've had this player for almost 3 weeks now, great quality, great looks, very useful hard case, not as heavy as i've read on other reviews, the headphones are not that clumsy, in fact they are great for exercising since the stay in their place and don't ...

Pros: 5 hours of music in one casing, and even the lowest quality sounds great
Cons: The software can be a little slow learning for non computer users

Audio has come a long way from 8 track to LPs to tape to cd, and now the MiniDisc. The Sony S2 is a round, hard-bodied player that poses the ability to utilize the MiniDisc for all to enjoy. Keeping up with the times you now have about 5 hours of audio...

Pros: excellent battery life, inexpensive reusable media and great storage capacity.
Cons: joystick initially hard to get used to, no belt clip option.

Sony MZS1 is Music to Your Ears!


I have always enjoyed portable music for things like working out, washing the car, having lunch at a fast food place, well, the list goes on and on! I have always liked nice small portable units. The...

Pros: Size, Battery Life, Portability
Cons: Volume (not loud enough), touchy joystick

I bought the MZ-S1 after doing some serious research. I had narrowed it down to the Rio S50, S35S and the S1. I ruled out the S35S because it only took AAA batteries and didn't have a built-in NiMh charger like the S50 did. The S50 uses AA batteries...

Pros: NET MD and MDLP capable, virtually unshockable design, backlit display, long battery life
Cons: no Mic input, cumbersome joystick operation.

I wanted to get a new MD player/recorder since my MZ-R37 didn't have MDLP capabilities and used up batteries like crazy. My first choice was the MZ-N505 but wanted a player best suited for running and exercising. I also wanted something I could ...

Pros: LCD readout lights up, great sound, tough as a rock, great battery life.
Cons: The joystick.

I was looking for a minidisc player to replace my old tape player. So then I came across this model I'm pretty active and my house gets pretty rough, so I thought this must be the one for me. I've had it for 3 months now and I have not had a problem ...

Pros: Durable, nice controls, very good battery life
Cons: The supplied headphones are not the best

So far I love this purchase. The unit has been dropped off my desk at work a few times and has not had any problems relating to this. It has a very solid construction, with the outer casing being a metal alloy of some sort, rubber plugs in all the ports...

Pros: able to fit more on a non-scarthable disk than a CD. Great battery life.
Cons: buttons get hard to press the right one

I got the sony mini disk after my last cd player broke. It was a bit pricey compared to the average ...

Pros: Solid build and good sound quality
Cons: Software and size

This is really a nice MD Player. Build is very solid. and sound quality is very good. Compared with some MP3 player, I think this unit has a big advantage on the sound quality. Since it is using an AA battery, it can keep playing music for a long ...

Pros: Great look and features, good sound, cheap media
Cons: conversion software, slightly big and heavy for a MD

I love the look and feel of this MD and was really torn between this and a hard drive MP3 player. I wanted to get the iPOD, but turned away when I was told you can't jog with it - some people told me you could, but for $400 I didn't want to risk it....

Pros: Great battery life, outstanding durability and excellent resistance to water and shock
Cons: The finger-controlled "joystick" is cumbersome and difficult to use.

It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. As (self) promoted, the product is designed to endure energetic life style activities. Go run, jog, ski, snowboard, skateboard or play football (IN THE RAIN OR SNOW) while jamming to the Sony MZ-S1; you will not...

Pros: Sturdy construction, battery life, and the ability to record from a variety of sources
Cons: No EQ, SonicStage, poor navigation system

After reading all of the other reviews here, I decided to take a chance on the MZ-S1. I also read almost 200 other reviews on the net. In case you're curious, the split was about 75% positive, 25% negative toward this product. I bought this MD ...

Pros: USB Connectivity, 32X transfer, rugged, lightweight, excellent storage, LONG battery life
Cons: OpenMG software, Digital Rights Management support

For those that have followed my reviews over the years, you'll recall that I wrote a review of the Aiwa MiniDisc player (model AM-F70)in July of 2001 (http://www.epinions.com/content_28337409668). Well, I did some...

Pros: Good sound quality, reasonable headphones
Cons: Heavy, software, earphone jack gave out in +/- one year

I did read reviews on this product and they were indeed raving. So I decided to give it a try. I was quite happy with this player in the beginning. However, one thing that worried me was the joystick control that "overextended" after about half a year. I ...

Pros: Inexpensive media.
Cons: Quit working after 3 1/2 months.

Product worked well for just over 3 months. Good for running and listening to tunes. One day the product started behaving funny. The next it seemed to be draining all the batteries within minutes. Within a week, it could no longer read the discs. It was...

Pros: Great sound quality, durability
Cons: Software included

Perfect product, great sound quality, fast music upload, original software sucks big time. this machine is great for all kinds of users. Great if you like sound quality, great if you like durability and good materials, great for running or similar sports. GREAT battery life.

Pros: Sturdy. I use it for jogging and it's held up.
Cons: The OpenMG software is difficult and non-intuitive.

I've used the MZ-S1 for about six months. I originally consulted this board for advice about the product and initial reviews were favorable, and I have to agree. I use this player for jogging and take it along for travel, hooking it up to some portable speakers. It gets a fair amount of abuse. I've run in the rain and have dropped it a couple of times. No problems. It feels solid and it is solid. The only downside is I've never been able to get the OpenMG software to work. It's a strange program, that is frankly a pain to use and figure out. I make my recordings analog by plugging line from PC into the device, or recording off a radio. Sound quality is super, at least for my uses.

Pros: water resistant, super strong, cool colours, backlit screen, small, fast downloads And many more.
Cons: OpenMG, headphones, not really any thing else just the headphones suck @$$.

Sony did a super job making this minidisc. I've dropped it on the ground tons of time and it did nothing to it, it didn’t even skip. I sometimes think its bullet proof, and I love the water-resistant feature you can listen to music in rain or snow nothing can stop you from listening to your music with this AMAZING minidisc recorder/player.

GREAT JOB SONY!

Pros: Good battery life, Great sound, Nice looking body
Cons: Poor software, dated format

The next revision of the mini-disc format has long been in the pipe and we can expect to see the new units available within the next couple of months. That said, this is a good quality mini-disc player but it's age is rapidly coming to a close.

This unit has a very sturdy feel to it, has a great looking clam shell body, decent quality headphones, a nice bright back-lit LCD, smooth rubber buttons and a satisfying gulp when a mini-disc is inserted. :)

Overall, this is a nice unit at a great price but buyer should beware, this series of mini-disc format is about to expire! The next mini-disc revision offers a tremendous amount of additional capacity, better overall performance, higher grade portable units and a bevy of other features. For around $80 you can't really lose with the MZ-S1, just don't kid yourself and think you are investing in cutting edge technology.

Pros: The headphones; never skips; good sound quality.
Cons: A little bulky; the play/pause button pops out.

I got this player around Christmas. For around a $100, its a good deal. It comes with all the needed programs and cords for the computer. I would suggest using this if you have a music library on the computer and want to put a couple songs on a few MDs. Its not worth it to buy a bunch of MDs and put all your songs on them. If you want to do that, I'd get a ipod or something. The headphones that come with it are good. I havn't had any problems with it, except that the program can slow your comp. down especially if its an older one(mines from 98). Also, the joystick/ (pause, play) button popped out once, but I just popped back in. I'm not a great fan of that joystick play/stop button. If you're looking for something to use, while exercising, this is a pretty good product.

Recommended for people with active styles, or those to walk around alot. Easy to carry, comes with strap for jogging, and can be easy held in hand. Case looks as if it protects better than other mini disk players. I just got it so I am still working on figuring out some out some of the editing and group figures that enable one to move files around once they are downloaded. But otherwise the product has all the directions needed to comprehend the product.

Pros: Works great when it is brand new.
Cons: Stopped recording after a year (and warranty)

Before you buy one of these you should visit the discussion boards at the sony website for this product.

I bought mine just over a year ago and it worked great until now. Now it will not record. Instead, it leaves me with a "blank disc". Everything seems to work correctly during the recording process (the MD is recognized by Open MG software, the record display appears, the song appears to be transferred completelelt, etc.) but then when you go to play the disc it is blank. This is not a software/OS issue, it is hardwre related.

There are dozens of complaints on the discussion boards that have been posted in the past 2 months (the problem surfaces almost exactly after a year) and Sony has not addressed it. Most people are paying over 100 bucks to repair it.

I loved this thing until it crapped out on me, and now i can't record new discs. Please go read the discussion panels under the Sony website, I am far from alone.

Right now I can only listen to old MD's not new ones.

Pros: Package showed up on time - was impressed.
Cons: Factory Package opened can't tell if it was a rebuilt.

Fedex delievered a Son MZ-S1 player from PCRush. Upon opening box I discovered the hard clear plastic package from the factory had been crudely cut open in two spots and someone had deliberately and awkwardly cut out the inside UPC code and another back panel from the inside card board packaging (essentially inside display that tells you of all the feature of the machine.. PC Rush had slapped a sticker over the larger hole to hide it and left the missing UPC section for all to see. This was to be a gift. Also had a price of $74.99 written on it from possibly a prior store. Question I can't get an answer to from them is why was the package cut open - was it stolen property or possibly a rebuilt machine without the UPC and other information I can't tell. Can't seem to get through to their "customer service line" - funny how that works.