claretkid

This is all very depressing. I have no less than 4 of the blighters - an original R 90 Standard only player, then an N10 followed by a Hi MD model (NH 1) only to be finally seduced by the MP 3 capability of the RH 10. None of the machines is perfect, the N10 and the NH1 were the best looking and constructed, though the NH1 had poor battery life, needed the docking station to charge and had no external battery. The RH10 is basically sound but looks big and plasticky. Sonic Stage has always been a dog and even in the MP3 compatible days it retains canine characteristics. Having said that have you ever tried getting the tunes out of an iPod and back onto a PC? I had to do this when my daughters hard drive disappeared in a puff of smoke and she wanted to keep the 5GB of music that would otherwise have gone for ever. I managed an amazingly complex solution which left the hassles of Sonic Stage way behind. For ease of use the Creative Zen is far better than the iPod; even Apple try to force you to buy stuff again when things don't work out. Just hope that my units will last a good few years and that media will remain available. I have a good friend who still uses a full size analogue Betamax video camera for his home movies, and 2 Betamax decks to edit them with. The only difference is the final tape is now digitised to a DVD!

The lack of a charge input into the NH1 is the second most irritating feature - the most irritating is the lack of USB connection to the docking station. The unit requires a USB type connector to a suitable charger - all it would need is a short piece of cable with rhe female socket to the AC adaptor on one end, suitably wired to a USB plug on the other. I'd do it myself if I knew how, otherwise you have to take the dock with you everywhere. An external power pack like the AA bolt on for the N10 would also be very useful, perhaps the 2 items could be packaged together? They could be used together to connect the battery pack to the MD unit. Count me in if you ever make one. Anyone know how the 'USB' plug on the docking station is wired for the charger?

Sony are very irritating. I bought my R45 then they brought out MDLP. SO I bought my home deck with MDLP and they brought out Net MD. So I then upgraded to the MZ N10 which was fine apart from battery life and - hey, said Sony, what about Hi MD? So then I changed to the NH1 which is fine apart from an absurdly daft docking station and and having to take aforementioned cradle everywhere to recharge it - so what now? The RH range with MP3 support, better battery life and a proper docking arrangement. Being now the owner of 3 portables and a deck it seems unlikely that I'll be able to resist the RH10 for long, just wish I'd not been so quick to buy the NH1 - if I'd known just how irritating the lack of USB connections to the docking station would prove to be I'd have waited longer. Anyone want to buy a whole stack of MD kit? My 3 kids were all converts to MD - sadly the sheer convenience of iPod has lost them to the format now, not surprisingly.