Mini disc walkman

[julieann]

I am thinking of purchasing a mini disc recorder/player. I mainly want to be able to transfer music from CD to mini disc via my hi-fi. Can anyone tell me exactly how they work and suggest a good buy?

[bobbobley]

all you need to do is buy a connecting lead (which you can pick up at most electrical shops like Curry's for about a fiver) which has two connectors that plug into the back of your amplifier (like the tape deck recording leads do) and one connector that plugs into the MD player (if a portable) or two connectors if its a hifi sized MD player. You then just record onto the blank discs as you would onto blank tapes. If you have an old-style all-in-one hifi rather than separates then you probably won't have the sockets required to record on an external machine - check the instructions.

You can also get optical connectors for digital quality recording but that depends on the state of your current amplifier and CD player as to whether that would be an option or not.

Have a hunt on ebay for one if you're not too bothered about buying a second hand one - I bought one from there this year pretty cheaply and in v. good condition. Its a Sony although I don't know enough about the different types to say whether its much better or worse than others. Hope this helps.

[simon_says]

My mini-disc player is the best thing I have ever bought! Depending on what model you by, you can have three different recording settings. Normal ( ie real time ), half-speed ( ie doubling the space on your disc ), or quarter-speed ( quadrupling the capacity ). If you record in 1/4 speed, an 80 minute disc can therefore hold 320 minutes of music!! To record your CD's, and if you have a DVD player, you will receive an optical cable with your unit ( maybe only some models will have them ). This can be plugged, into the back of a DVD player, then into your Disc player and away you go. Alternatively some hi-fi's may have a similar feature on them ( mine doesn't ). You can also record MP3s onto your disc, with the aid of a simple male-male cable connecting your player to the speaker ouptut port, although newer models can now be connected using USB ( think it's the right term! )connections. As for what model to buy, I can only tell about mine which is a Sony MZ-G750, but I bought this 18 months ago, and is surely outdated by now ( although it still works superbly!! ). I would recommend a Sony model, as it is what I know. It's the best thing I have ever bought, and if you do get one I am sure you will enjoy the superb sound quality that comes with these little pieces of wonderful technology. p.s. hope I didn't sound like too much of a geek!! Sony couldn't have written a more glowing recommendation!!!

[sft42]

i have three mini disc players two sony's and one toshiba and i have to say that sony are a great make. Try the shops Cash Converters if you live in or near a big city these are a modern version of a pawn shop and sell 2nd hand goods but they come with a 6 month warranty.

[julieann]

Thanks so far for all your quick answers. It has certainly given me lots to think about and some great tips on how to use the mini disc player when I get it.

[ipek]

Have you considered an MP3 player as well? There are plenty out there that hold a fair amount of music and my Archos JukeBox holds my entire collection of CDs. Bit heavy to carry for commuting, but great for a fortnight's holiday.