Azureal

So Sergio, the "lens" is the glass or plastic optical portion of the laser mechanism. The lens can scratch and possibly melt, but in reality with care the "lens" itself will never wear out. The issue I think you are concerned with is the laser which is the electrical light amplification device and generates the beam which is then focused by the lens. It is the laser, which is typically a semiconductor diode based electronic device that can lose it's ability to generate a powerful enough beam to provide the requisite signals for reading or writing the optical portion of the disc. This doesn't really answer your question though. You want to know how long the laser will last in some specific model perhaps. This is hard to say, how often is it used, is it a model with a history of long life or a history of laser problems? There are a lot of variables to consider in order to answer the question accurately ...

The 710 is a pretty nice little unit. I have one which I bought new in the blister package. One of the great things about it is that it runs for a long time on a single AA battery. A great everyday unit, although it seems a bit "clunky" to me. For that price, it would be a steal, I bet it climbs higher ...

That looks great! You have more initiative (and time) than I do! I can never find furniture made the way I want it, guess I'll need to learn to make it ...

Well, that's pretty subjective I guess, to my ears it sounds better. I mainly transcode because not all of my players can handle mp3, I think it sounds great.

I transcode mp3 content all of the time and to me it always sounds better, this is using SonicStage however. I bet recording 320Kbps mp3 realtime via optical or analog to SP would sound fantastic.

I agree with KJ, I bought one once and it is still in the original package unopened. I am not even sure why I bought it, I must have thought I needed it at one time or another ...

BIGHMW, I have two HD5s as well, sweet little machines! I need to bust them out and fill them with some tunes, you are right about the remote turning off the line out setting, I noticed that years ago as well. I also picked up a nice little HD1 which is very similar to the HD5s, firmware is a little different and I don't think it supports all of the ATRAC3Plus bit rates I hope I have stockpiled enough gear to last me until I fond something better, that may never happen.

I want a copy of that Cars MD! Seriously, I'll send you a couple of disks ...

I still have mine which I bought new in 2004. The seller of this unit obviously has issues with basic mathematics, but it looks like he'll be laughing all the way to the bank! It is a solidly built unit but without the remote it is tough to use. Mine is still in new condition, I should sell it, for cash like that I would for sure ...

That's a beauty!

Ah, yes. I see now what you were referring to. That does look odd, like it was under a heavy stack of something and was partially crushed! It still sold, hope the buyer is not surprised in a bad way!

That's the truth. I have bought from several UK sources over the past few years. I should have kept better records, I can't remember the names of the companies but they both shipped quickly and had a great selection of product.

Cheap optics in a cell phone camera. I have seen similar distortions in pictures I have taken with my iPhone (which incidentally has zero music files on it ) ...

Indeed, I wish I had the car for it to fit into as well :-)

That seems like a pretty good price for some cool blanks. I have a few 10 packs of them in stock, I could always use more. Does he really ship to the US for no cost?

Well that's a nice easy fix! Glad to hear you got it figured out.

Well, be nice, perhaps he just forgot ... Stephen is definitely right though, in order to move the files to another machine, this simple step is necessary. I know it has been for me. I have great success performing this simple step and then using the SonicStage backup tool to copy my entire 30GB library onto an external USB HD then performed a restore to more than one machine and each in a different directory structure than the original, It works quite well. I am so confident that this is a sure fire way of restoring your ATRAC library that I keep a couple of backups periodically refreshed on different USB drives. Definitely perform a test run to begin with before you wipe your original. I think you'll find it works quite well.

On an item like this, the seller must post original photos or their credibility is diminished in my opinion. Beautiful machine in the stock photo, but a fool an his money are soon parted, what does the actual item for sale look like??

I run my RH1 through a HeadAmp Gilmore Lite into a pair of Senn HD650s daily, it is a thing of beauty!

Note the fourth picture, it is a zoom of the lower left of the third picture. It looks pretty clear to me that it is a 60 minute cassette tape, the next row over is just more of the same, 90 minute variety ...

I have a '99 328i which I would love to do the same thing with. I have the business CD head unit and the car is pre-wired for the CD changer. I looked for the MDX-66XLP unit a few years ago and could not find one a the time. Just found this: MDX-66XLP Not too sure about buying that way, but it sure is tempting. Stephen, what sort of adapter would be needed? Hudson have you confirmed that the BMW CD Business head unit can control this device? Does this device use a 12V Chassis ground electrical system?

No problem! :-) I would love a 90 minute standard MD too !!! That would make me drool for sure!

Stephen, Those look like audio cassettes right next to the 60 minute version of the same brand ...

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing, these are sights I would never see in my town ... :-/

Chris keeps referring to "screws" when in reality I must assume he means potentiometers, they may have a screw slot in them but they are in fact variable resistors used to control gain in the preamplifier section of nearly any circuit like this.