I sent sony this email.. hopefully i will hear from them
Hi, i would like to inform Sony of a common problem with their NetMD Model MZ-N1... many have indicated a fault in the product, specifically the recording head, and/or the connections associated with it. Here is a link to a forum which discusses the problem: http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=4712. This will help further explain my problem.
Here is an exert: "Abstract:
(for people who know what their MD looks like internally, and want to get to the point)
The ribbon cable that services the magnetic write head of the N1 is prone to breaking, as the magnetic head is coupled to the optical head (so even playback will stress the cable). The solution is to bypass the broken ribbon cable with wires, allowing signals to once again reach the write head.
The key aspect is the choice of wire used for the bypass; it must be extremely thin and very flexible, to reduce contributing any mechanical resistence to the lateral movement of the read/write heads as they traverse the disc surface. Single conductor wires will not do the job as they offer too much resistence, preventing the read/write heads from traversing the entire range from the inner to the outer edge of a disc. Use the wire scavenged/scuttled from inexpensive earphones for this task, as they are very thin multi conductor wires with a fibre core, and also insulated via coating"
I believe this problem is not a "case-specific" scenario due to improper usage, but a fault in the design and/or construction of the MZ-N1 unit.
My ultimate goal is to bring this problem to the attention of SONY and i hope they will further investigate it. Hopefully Sony will realize the problem with the MZ-N1 and perform a recall as many people are out of the warrenty period, including myself.
Thank you for your time and i hope to hear from someone.
-Wilson
