Hungerdunger

A bit depressing really - I can only hear up to 12khz. But then again I'm 55, so it appears to be normal for my age, and so far it doesn't seem to affect my enjoyment of music.

I don't mean to sound patronising, but you don't mention whether you actually opened the SonicStage program. Assuming you did this, what do you see on the screen? When I open SonicStage I see two panels: on the LHS is "Library" and on the RHS is "Hi-MD" with info on the disc in the MD recorder. If you don't see that, you should at least see three buttons along the top of the screen - Music Source, My Library and Transfer. Click on Transfer - what do you see?

My ears aren't good enough to help with your sound quality question, but I would advise against getting rid of the NH1 for build quality reasons. I've owned two NH900s (still got one) and I've had very similar problems on both of them with buttons malfunctioning. The main culprits are the Navi/Menu button which rarely allows me access to the menu, and the stop button, which usually just takes me to the next track and continues playing. I think you'll find a couple of old threads about this problem on this forum. It's not the end of the world if you've got the remote attached, except that you'll need to press the stop button on the actual machine if you want to get it to start charging the battery. On the other hand, my NH1 (touching wood) has so far developed no faults at all, even though it has had much more use than the NH900. I'm still in love with its sleek looks and slim body, though perhaps that's just a personal preference. If only it could play MP3s too!

The option to record "From Here" or "From End" no longer exists, and IMHO a good job too, as I lost several valuable recordings through forgetting to select the correct settings. It always records from the end of your current recording. There is no "End Search" button any more. I used to find this quite useful for accessing the end of a recording. However you can achieve the same result as follows: With the RH1 not playing hold down FF. It will run through the track numbers and display "End". Press "Play". The display again shows "End" Hold down "Rewind", and it will rewind from the end of the last track until you want to stop it.

I asked this question about a year ago, and didn't get any positive responses, so forgive me if I post it again: A while back I noticed that there was dust on the inside of the display. Although it's not too serious I'd like to remove it. Three questions: 1) Has anyone else had this happen to them? 2) Has anyone disassembled and reassembled this remote? I've taken out the one visible screw, but the remote doesn't want to open, so I guess there must be a technique for this. 3) If it is possible to open it, is it likely that I'll be able to get it back without any major problems? (Normally me and small objects don't get on together, and when I take the cover off they'll shoot a couple of small parts into a dark corner of the room just to annoy me).is is

You are less than 10 miles away from The Mall at Cribbs Causeway - why not give the Sony Centre there a call on 0117 914 3477. Failing that, the newport branch is less than 15 miles away - 01633 212900.

Somewhere on the forums is a report (with pictures) from some brave person who took their RH1 apart and replaced the eject button with a home-made but very professional one which doesn't project nearly as much. I'm not that brave (or knowledgeable), so as a temporary fix I've glued a small strip of black leather beside the eject button, and that has more-or-less eliminated those annoying resets. Admittedly it doesn't look great, but I'm usually the only one who sees it, and I'm prepared to put up with it if it cures the problem.

How about phoning your local Trading Standards Office and getting some advice from them?

In the manual for the RH1 (should be similar for all Hi-MD devices), it says that the disc must be in HiMD mode. It also points out that there should be a folder containing disc management files and these must not be deleted using Windows Explorer. If you reformat the disc, it must be done through SonicStage. It might be worth checking these things first.

You forgot to mention that your machine was an MZ-N1. I don't own one so I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about with regard to the ribbon cable, but I can see a small ribbon cable when I look inside my RH1. Having said that, I look at these forums quite regularly and can't recall any recent posts about the problem you had. I guess that at the end of the day you'll have to decide for yourself whether it is worth the risk. Or you just buy an Ipod and hope it isn't one of those whose battery fails just outside the warranty period.

I think this is what you want: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showt...752&hl=rh10

Did you mean "NH900"? I can't help with the corruption issue, but I can tell you that the NH900 is notorious for faulty buttons. I'm on my second one, having returned the first to the vendor, and both have developed faults with the stop/pause button and the NAVI/Menu button. I think you'll find several references to the problem if you search. ISTR that someone suggested that it could be cured by removing the battery for a couple of minutes, but that never worked for me. I try to use the controls on the remote whenever possible, but of course that means you can't use the Line-Out setting.

I wouldn't rush out to buy one if you weren't satisfied with the RH10, as the presets on the RH1 are pretty similar. I don't understand what you mean by "had no bass on any of them". Did you try the two customisable settings? I'm able to get a wide range of sounds by using these to suit individual ear/head phones, and I'm definitely able to increase the dominance of the lower ranges.

Yes, there are two customisable 6-band equalisers, along with 4 presets and other options. See Page 45 here: http://minidisc.amulation.com/manuals/sony...user_manual.pdffor more details

Also available in the UK from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lowepro-digital-ca...k/dp/B00013D5JY If you get it, I'd like to know what you think of it, as its about time I bought a new case.

I don't know whether this helps but I have a small circular depression on mine. It wasn't really visible until I started rubbing the label with my thumbnail, but now it's quite clear. It's about half way down the label and about one third in from the left. HTH

That's brilliant. As I'm not as handy as you with machinery I've been thinking about trying to stick a small piece of black plastic with the same curvature as the machine beside the eject button. This would have the same effect by making it difficult to press the button accidentally. I imagine something like a piece from a pen top might do the trick, but I haven't found anything suitable yet.

Did he say when the long-awaited Hi-MD DECK will be available?

This probably isn't much consolation, but recently I've been getting intermittent behaviour where holding down the FF button to advance through a track works for a few seconds then throws me back to the beginning of the track. And I also get the occasional "Search" when pressing the Volume control. If I hadn't my RH1 and NH1 to fall back on I'd be really fed up with this especially as it is out of warranty.

I have been thinking about trying to fix a small piece of black plastic in front of the eject button to avoid accidental presses. Perhaps something like a section from the top of a pen with the same curvature as the RH1. I know it will spoil the looks to a small extent, but this resetting is really annoying, especially as I download and listen to a lot of Podcasts which typically are 30 minutes long. I might stop playback after 15 minutes, then the next day it's gone back to track 1 and I have to search for the point where I left off. Has anyone got an idea for what I could use?

Perhaps you could point out that she doesn't need more than two pairs of shoes.

Yes, it has happened to me too - I thought I must be doing something wrong, but if there's two of us, perhaps it's the machine at fault. So far it is very intermittent. It only happens if I leave the machine alone for at least 12 hours, and it probably happens on only 10% of those occasions. But, as you say, it can be very annoying.

Or alternatively you could just hide the item under your coat and walk out with it. Either way is dishonest; it's just that you perceive one as more dishonest than the other.

I haven't got my RH1 with me, but I've looked at the manual (at http://minidisc.amulation.com/manuals/sony...ser_manual.pdf), and on Page 57 and 58 you'll see what appear to be fairly straightforward instructions. I'll try it when I get home.

If you haven't already done so, try the Sony Centres in London. Details are here: http://www.sonycentres.co.uk/dealersearch....&twn=london But don't expect to get any discount from the full Retail Price (£250)