Sharp MD-MT821 Personal MiniDisc Player

I am an airline pilot. I bought this to use for workouts, jogging, skiing, traveling, rollerblading, cycling. I'd use it to play golf if they'd let me. I spent the additional money to buy a recordable one because I switched all of my car stereos to Minidisk players, thus had no device to record with--very few prerecorded Minidisks on the market. I have set up my whole audio library of CD's into a 200 CD carousel and got tired of pulling them out for the car/trips (scratched them up alot in car). Now I just record what I want from the library.

The mechanics of recording are simple, and I was worried that it'd be a pain in the butt to learn how to do it; but it is as simple as can be. I start by programming in 30 or so of my favorite songs in the carousel, then stick in the "LINE IN" (provided) to the Sharp Minidisk player via RCA plugs on the back of my stereo receiver (ie. Record/output side a red/black Cassette Tape female RCA "holes" in the back) and push two buttons on the Sharp machine ("Record" and "Sync"), and the entire series plays/records with automatic breaks inserted between songs. Be sure to switch CD's between songs or the machine may group the songs together--I think you need 3-4 seconds of silence. If you don't, no big deal, you can add "divide" markers later. You can also program it to Randomly play the songs back so you don't get sick of the order. The MD's hold 74 minutes which works out to be about 17 songs usually for me, so I'll fill up two Minidisks recording my usual 30 songs. I am actually running out of favorite songs from my 200 CD collection after filling up only 4 Minidisks. Bummer, need more music.

The machine itself is "cute" size, fits inside the palm of my hand entirely, about the size of a deck of cards but thinner. I found out it is durable when walking around the garage with it (brand new) and it slipped out of my hands. It smashed onto the concrete ground from 3.5 feet high, no damage whatsoever. Thus, I immediately put on the strap. One complaint I have is that the polished steel/aluminum is quite slippery, so don't run with it until the strap is on.

The buffer works great. I can even run with it, though I have to hold it in my hand, and it'll skip occasionally 15 minutes into the run (as I tire, start losing form and bounce around); but if you concentrate just a little, you can shock absorb it slightly and no more skip. Maybe someone knows a better/smoother place to put it and can tell me--pockets are too rough for my gait. No problem rollerblading or biking whatsoever, and I'm sure it'd be awesome for skiing/boarding.

The system comes nicely equipped: nice lithium battery--gives at least 4 hours of play (I haven't let it go further without recharging), an optical cable for digital-digital recording (the BEST way to record, but my stereo/CD player doesn't have this), the RCA to (headphone style) Line In cord that I was talking about earlier, a nifty remote controller, and decent headphones-free air foamy type so you can hear cars about to run you over.

The music quality is perfect. CD quality, and recorded without the digital-digital cable.

Editing features are very easy to use, and require "Confirmation" before deleting/erasing. Nice touch.

Perhaps my favorite is the "HOLD" switches on both the main unit and the remote. They're kind of stiff, and once they're "ON" it blocks any input to the switches (bumps, knocks, grabs). This is clutch when doing sports, because you can switch off the main unit (Hold "ON") and still switch songs/volume with the remote. Still grabbing the remote too tight? Switch it to "HOLD-ON". No problem. These switches are also good to prevent accidentally running the battery down when they're in suitcases (I used to have to remove the batteries to prevent this kind of thing).

That's my experience: Very happy, very impressed.