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Sony MZ-DH710 Hi-MD Walkman Digital Music Player
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List Price: 0
Our Price: Too low to display
Availability:
Manufacturer: Sony
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Electronics
Brand: Sony
EAN: 0027242664234
Feature: Skip-Free G-Protection technology for uninterrupted playback
Label: Sony
Manufacturer: Sony
Model: MZDH710
Publisher: Sony
Studio: Sony
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Features
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Skip-Free G-Protection technology for uninterrupted playback
Three-line LCD screen for data display
Huge song and data storage capacity with one GB Hi-MD disc
USB connectivity for 100x, high speed file copying
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Editorial Reviews:
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Sony's MZDH710 Hi-MD Walkman(R) Digital Music Player delivers massive amounts of storage in a very portable format. Each Hi-MD MiniDisc can store up to 1GB of file and music. Carry around massive amount of audio or datawith you -- and enjoy listening to it anywhere, with the longer battery life. Compatible with the Connect Music Store ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding), ATRAC3, ATRAC3plus data compression Sampling Frequency - 44.1 kHz Frequency Response - 20Hz-20KHz, +/-3dB Input - USB Battery Life - Approx. 20 hours continuous playback (in ATRAC3plus @ 66Kbps) with 1 AA battery Dimensions - 3 3/8 x 1 3/16 x 3 1/8 (83.6 x 29.5 x 77.0mm) Weight - 3.6 oz (107g) without battery Accessories Included - Walkman(R) Earbuds, USB cable, SonicStage Software CD-ROM
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Beats the heck out of an iPod
Comment: I bought this player last year. Not only is the sound far, far superior to that of an iPod, the Atrac 3+/Open MG file format is superior. It's like a half-bitrate MP3 with greater sound quality! At 48kbps with Open MG/Atrac 3+, the sound quality is only slightly below that of a CD. With a file 1/4 to 1/3 the size of an 192 or 128 kbps MP3 respectively, the 1GB disk suddenly gets a whole lot bigger. I was able to fit every Metallica, Pantera, Offspring, and Black Sabbath album I own (just about every one) on to one disk.
Did I mention this thing is durable? After owning it for one year, it's been through a deployment to Egypt, constant Army training in the sandy, windy, hellish Southern New Mexico desert, and it still works like the day I got it. I've dropped it so many times that I've lost count, but it still ticks like a timex. I just laugh every time I hear a buddy cry about a broken iPod screen, battery, charger, or something else. They pay more than this costs just to fix it. Lack of a charger is a great thing here. I get over 20 hours of playtime from one AA. Factor in a costly iPod battery replacement 2-3 years down the road and you'll still probably save money by going with a regular alkaline.
One of the greatest things about Hi-MD players is that you don't need the rights to every song you load. Just upload your collection directly on to the device, no hassle. Why Sony hasn't trown in an ad campaign for this is far beyond me, but they're definately getting noticed by word of mouth. I'll take a superior $200 player to an inferior $400 player and pay $4.50 for disks any day.
The only thing I didn't like about this device was the load time of the songs. Considering the fact that I spend long periods of time on the PC anyway, I just set it up when I hop on and it's still done before I know it. The once problematic Sonic Stage software now works just fine after a couple updates last year, and I haven't had any recurring problems with it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice!
Comment: I already had a few old minidiscs lying around so this was a good idea as I didn't want to spend a lot of time re-transferring my music library onto a new mp3 player.
Bad:
- converting files into atrac3 format takes rather long.
- Sonic Stage is confusing and sticks often.
- no handstrap loop. Dangerous when combined with the Queen of Klutzes.
- You can't listen to the player when connected to the computer. Minor thing I guess, but I prefer being able to listen to and delete the files I mistakenly transfered. (especially in the night when I can't have speakers on)
- if most of the disc is in mp3 format the battery drains in a matter of hours. Some of my rechargeables don't work on the player. The player stops the song, and tells me the fully charged battery is dead. But, that might be a problem with the battery itself as other rechargeables of the same brand and make last for about a day at least.
Good:
- mp3 support. (faster transfer with them, too)
- old std 80/74 min discs are supported. No need to reload your entire music collection/remake those playlists that took months to perfect ;)
- The difference between mp3 at 128 kbps and atrac3plus at 64 kbps is not very noticeable. And if you plan on using the player outdoors a lot you won't hear the difference at all.
- playback features (shuffle, equalizer, etc) are fun and useful. The fact that you can adjust yourself (e.g. make the 100 hz louder and juggle the rest similarly) is awe
- storage size, especially when all the files are in atrac3 format.
- the buttons are simple enough and the wheel is fun, cool looking and much easier than searching by pressing the >> or << buttons. but that should be standard in all high capacity players.
- it needs one AA battery which I can easily steal from the t.v. remote.
- the 1G hi-md disk was included.
- I'm able to non-audio files on the player.
Sonic stage needs to be improved. It's slow and bogs down other programs I have running. The older version was oddly less problematic. MD players deserve better!
The player itself, I guess, makes up for the program's faults. With smaller formats the battery (rechargeable) lasts the ten hours I need it. I really like the buttons and wheel, but then again I've got tiny fingers.
Both the simple and advanced menus are simple enough for me and I figured out most of the features I never used before without reading the manual.
I really find the lack of handstrap loop disctoncerting. Or is the loop supposed to go into that weird rectangle notch above the headphone jack? Someone please answer.
Overall I really like this player.
Oh, and make sure you either buy it on sale or buy it from here. In-store it came up to $200 cdn before taxes while online it cost me $150 cdn, including taxes, s&h etc.
I totally recommend it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Improved Software and updated (solid) Hardware
Comment: The MZ-DH710 is the 2nd generation entry level HiMD, successor to the MZ-NH600D, much praised for the audio quality but bashed for the software. I got mine for under a hundred shipped at amazon.com.
Hardware-wise, MP3 playback is native, so it's only transferred to the unit rather than being recompressed with ATRAC - much faster. Sharing the technologies with step ups RH10/RH910 and predecessor NH600D, I suspect that Sony uses the same high standard LSI circuits rather than redesigning an inferior chip especially for this price range. The main difference between the step up models would be mic and optical/line inputs - they can all write on the MD (MO-technology) and are USB Storge Class devices. The Walkman runs fine on NiMH batteries, although the specs imply that only Alkalines work. The included MDR-E808LP earphones are poor and "muddy", though, and no way reflect the potential quality with better headphones.
Software-wise, Sonicstage 3.2 is the latest version, and addresses many of the past criticisms. DRM on home-ripped CD is optional, that means you can include as many copies of a song that you own in multiple mix discs (I just think of each $6 disc as 1GB, physically swappable and portable folders). It even handles Asian characters (Traditional Chinese) properly in "My Library", although you'll need the step up model RH910 to view them on unit.
Customer Rating:
Summary: i like my hi-md but...
Comment: the player is way cool, the software that comes with it is not. sonic stage sucks. for the first week it wouldn't take any of the my mp3. it just crashed. i spend the whole week trying to find out what was wrong with it. it turned out that it didn't like the tags on the mp3s. the other uncool thing is that if for some reason you loose your music in your computer, the software won't allow you do download it from the player. its either loose it or leave it. i don't know if i would recomend it. it is a pain. sony really screwed it up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great unit.
Comment: I was looking for a nice alternative to the ubiquitous iPod. My objective was simple: no moving parts. After scouring the web for alternatives I set my sight upon MiniDiscs. MD's are the type of technology that is often overlooked. This unit is great. You can't beat its battery life (close to two weeks or more with regular use). There are no moving parts, so if the unit falls (has done it twice) the music and the media is safe. Carrying MD's is a hassle in today's age of tiny Hard Drives and Flash memory, but the media's versatility offsets this. For example, I've three HI-MD discs (3Gb's worth of data). A disc for Podcasts, a disc for music and a disc for data. I've had at any given time close to 10 Podcasts of different sizes on the disc. I guess I can probably squeeze a month's worth of 'casts here.
Now for the negatives: Sony's SonicStage software is plain bad. Is manageable, but bad. Don't expect iTunes like funcionallity. Having to convert to ATRAC format (which is not necessary since MP3 is supported natively by the unit) is a double edged sword. ATRAC wraps Sony's DRM around the data and adds an extra step to the synchronization process. However, it takes MP3's and cuts them to size. The unit's tiny screen is troublesome to read for lenghty titles. Although it scrolls at a good rate, and it's not lighted. USB data transfers from the PC are molasses slow. But the unit can double as a backp device in a pinch.
I would recommend this unit if you're after a nice, cheap alternative to other players, check this unit out. I'm happy with this puppy.
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