[MichaelN]

Hello headphone people,

I'm new to this forum, but wanted some suggestions on what MD player I should look into purchasing. I own a MD component deck already (Teac MD-5, pretty old) that I don't find I use that much. Anyway, I just moved to a new apartment that's a good 20-30 minute walk to campus everyday, so I'm looking into getting a portable MD player for the daily walks.

Any suggestions? Most of the stuff I see on eBay also records, which I don't really need I suppose...

 

[Steril]

I can't give you any advice for a portable MD player.
But think a bit before buying a portable player:

- The difference in price between players and recorders is quite little.

-A portable MD recorder can be interesting (you can tape concerts if you buy a mic, you can bring your recorder with you when you visit a friend and copy his discs...)

+ if your home deck ever breaks down, then you will have a temporary solution...


I never really understood why people buy MD players.

 

[MacDEF]

I'm assuming you actually mean "player" in that you want a dedicated player?

Steril, there are *lots* of reasons to have a dedicated player:
1) Size: players are smaller -- the difference between an MZ-R900 and an MZ-E900 is significant in terms of the space it takes in a pocket.
2) Battery life: players get *much* better battery life. If all you're using it for is playing, this is important.
3) Reliability: players have far fewer parts and functions, so they tend to last longer and have fewer problems. Since a portable will get banged around quite a bit more than a home unit, this is a big advantage for a player-only unit.

MichaeN, there are lots of good players out there; you may want to check the MiniDisc Community at http://minidisc.org -- the "Equipment Browser" lists every player you could hope to find.

However, how much do you plan to spend? If cost isn't an object, by all means get the Sony MZ-E900. There are a couple other models that are smaller (by a millimeter or so), but the E900 is built like a tank. It's the first unit since the famous MZ-R50 that I feel comfortable throwing in a bag or my back pocket. But it's about $180 on sale.

If that's too much for you, there are tons of cheaper players now (E700, E500, E300, and those are just the Sony models. Sharp makes some great players, too.) If you don't need MDLP, you can often find the E75 for under $100, which is probably the best "deal" ever in players.