Entered CNET Catalog: 07/08/2004
SKU: MZNH1
Manufacturer: Sony Electronics, Inc.
Manufacturer description
Sony MZ-NH1 is a flagship model, super slim, lightweight Hi-MD Walkman with full metal (Magnesium) body.User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2
User Rating: 
9/10
Best incarnation of MiniDisc yet!
Pros: Sleek design (magnesium!), simple interface, Hi-Md compatibility, rechargeable battery
Cons: Sonicstage is slow to transfer music, battery life is erratic
Review:
The MZ-NH1 is the best MiniDisc yet. Previously, I used a MZ-N505, but I recently upgraded to the new Hi-MD format (which holds ONLY 8 hrs @ 256kb!).
At first glance, the design of the unit is very sleek and modern with magnesium casing and slim profile. The unit comes with a slick docking cradle (which, oddly enough, you cannot upload to the unit while docked?!), and operates on a lithium-ion rechargeable battery.
Asthetics aside, the interface is both good and bad. The interface for the unit, using the in-line remote to control your musical selection, is easy and simplistic to operate. On the other hand, the SonicStage software for managing the files on your computer is cleverly laid out, but slow to operate, even for small file sizes.
The unit produces excellent sound thanks to a built in digital HD Amp, and sounds great at 256kb/s. Invest in a nice pair of headphones (Sony MDR-V700DJ recommended) to make this unit put out sound like it was made to.
The first drawback i have is the battery life. The unit promises up to 18 hours of battery life, but i just havent seen it. It seems that i get no more than 5-8 hours out of the battery before it dies. The remote, which can be used to display battery life, has given me erratic reports of battery life (one minute it has a full charge, the next its half full?).
The second thing to keep in mind if you use a Windows computer, is that SonicStage is disabled by a Windows XP security hotfix. It took me hours to figure out why it would not initialize, but Sony provides a patch online to fix the problem. Just be aware of it.
Overall, the NH1 is an excellent purchase....just make sure that if you want the most out of the unit, invest in a quality pair of stereo headphones.
You won't regret it!
At first glance, the design of the unit is very sleek and modern with magnesium casing and slim profile. The unit comes with a slick docking cradle (which, oddly enough, you cannot upload to the unit while docked?!), and operates on a lithium-ion rechargeable battery.
Asthetics aside, the interface is both good and bad. The interface for the unit, using the in-line remote to control your musical selection, is easy and simplistic to operate. On the other hand, the SonicStage software for managing the files on your computer is cleverly laid out, but slow to operate, even for small file sizes.
The unit produces excellent sound thanks to a built in digital HD Amp, and sounds great at 256kb/s. Invest in a nice pair of headphones (Sony MDR-V700DJ recommended) to make this unit put out sound like it was made to.
The first drawback i have is the battery life. The unit promises up to 18 hours of battery life, but i just havent seen it. It seems that i get no more than 5-8 hours out of the battery before it dies. The remote, which can be used to display battery life, has given me erratic reports of battery life (one minute it has a full charge, the next its half full?).
The second thing to keep in mind if you use a Windows computer, is that SonicStage is disabled by a Windows XP security hotfix. It took me hours to figure out why it would not initialize, but Sony provides a patch online to fix the problem. Just be aware of it.
Overall, the NH1 is an excellent purchase....just make sure that if you want the most out of the unit, invest in a quality pair of stereo headphones.
You won't regret it!
User Rating: 9/10
An amazing piece of audio hardware!!!
Pros: uploading and downloading from the player, speed, edit and playlist options, battery life, remote, size, design, and multiple source recording.
Cons: software stinks, attrac coding is slow.
Review:
People tend to get down on md's because they don't understand what they truly do. let's get this out of the way: MD's are not mp3 players(they're mp3 converters), they're much more than that. you can record on the fly from any possible source you can imagine (tv, computer, stereo, live concert, another ipod at a cafe), upload and download anything you record, the battery life is insane (it tells you exactly how many hours you have left *ex: 15 hours left*, and the quality of the hardware itself is amazing. as for the capacity, people are also pretty ignorant of that too and sony somehow does nothing to promote it in the right light. the new hi-md discs say 1gig but it compresses to almost 4. i can get 750 songs on each disc. ALl in all, this latest entry of md is absolutely amazing. i use it and wonder why so many people settle for ipods. i have a ipod mini and i love it too. but for a real piece of audio hardware that does more than play a song from a computer, you have to try this new hi-md out. I can't tell you how many times i've just pulled a song from a line in stream of a comp, some cat at a library, or recorded a live concert from my md in my pocket then uploaded it as an .wav file. the only player out where you're not reliant on your computer to get music but when you need to you can. give it a chance.
