The Blue Raja's MZ-E10 review (56k warning)

[theblueraja]

I tend to let pictures do the talking more, and with this unit I'll make no exception. Presenting one of (or the?) world's smallest minidisc players, the MZ-E10!!

I got this unit used, it certainly has much wear, and a metal body can seldom hide blemishes or dings... though they typically don't show up much in the photography.

My review is simple, a few quick pros & cons, and I'll let the photos do the rest.

PROS:

- ultra-thin and extremely light, no really, it feels like the same weight as a minidisc in its case, no joke.

- all-metal body

- crisp sound with custom EQ

- seems to have more options for the display on the remote than typical MDLPs, though I could be mistaken (song/artist/discname/groupname)

- very intuitive joystick control (one of the better ON BODY controls out there)

CONS:

- BIG downer; proprietary remote. WHAT? This unit has no regular audio output jack for be it headphones or a line out cable except with the provided short ADAPTOR cable. You can ONLY stick in this custom MC33ELU remote, no other remotes will work Most likely this was to enable the ultra-thin design, but not worth the tradeoff in my opinion. I suppose if I could easily find a replacement remote on Ebay it wouldn't be as much of an issue

- extremely light. Wait, didn't I put this in the PROS section? Yes, well, I tend to prefer a bit more heft to my units... and I thought the EH1 was lightweight, sheeesh.

- track access speed seems a bit slow. The modes for battery setting are not just ON/OFF for quickmode, but there is QUICK, NORMAL, and POWERSAVE. Normal seemed even slow for me to resume play, so I have no idea what the difference is between powersave and normal.

- INTERNAL battery. Like my MZ-N10, this too has an internal battery. It CAN be replaced with some screwdriver action and patience, but still that's a strike in my book.

All in all I still think this is a very decent unit to sport around and use but sparingly... due to its lightweight feel you have a sense of wanting to baby this unit more than perhaps something with some more heft. I have no regrets getting this unit (tho the remote jack issue was a shocker), and if some day I can come across a BOXED almost new one I may go for it to have an extra remote. Folks, let's face it, the MZ-E10 is like a clamshell case for a minidisc. It's so thin you can FEEL the disc spinning if you hold the unit with your fingers touching the back or front... I don't know how they engineered such a small device. Too bad its not HiMD

Enjoy the pics.

Ok, so here is the annoying NO STANDARD audio out jack, and its required remote end...

MZ-E10 next to TWO MDs stacked:

Versus the infamous "thin" EH1:

A shocker... makes the NH3D look FAT! :eek:

To me the MZ-E10 is like the old iPod 'shuffle', and the joystick control is very STURDY and intuitive.

I'm liking this unit more by the hour!!

[Richard]

Thanks for the excellent review Raja

* Moved to Pictorials / Review Section

[Tiesto]

I have mine stored for months, it has suddendly stopped to work at all I think the battery is dead. I will try to get a new battery and perhaps sell my E10... btw nice pics.