Comments on a newly purchased Sony MZ-NF810CK

[Guest Anonymous]

I just purchased the Sony 810 (US) and wanted to share comments for the prospective buyer.

1. The main purpose of the unit was to allow listening to my CD's while working out. It works very well for that. Transferring CDs using Simple Burner was easy and fast. I used LP2 and get about 3 CD's per minidisc with good enough quality. It has not skipped once, lifting weights or doing cardio. The only complaint is that I would like a belt case. I bought the Sony arm case. It is very nice, but rather bulky on the arm.

2. My second purpose was to record praise band rehearsals so I could play along with them at home. I built the "Coon" style mic using Radio Shack parts and it works fairly well. The great beauty is that I can record the whole thing in LP2 and then insert track marks at home while listening so I can easily repeat a song.

3. The 3rd purpose was to transfer language tapes to CD and put in track marks. That works great. I used LP4, so I can get a whole Berlitz Spanish or German course on one MD.

Other comments: The car kit and remote are probably a waste of my money, but I needed a mic input and this was the least expensive model that had one. In looking back, I might have considered an external preamp for recording. The rechargeable battery doesn't seem to yield as much time as they say. You can add the AA battery, but that is an addon case and then it won't fit in the carrying case. I wish it had a way to lock controls while exercising. I don't expect I will get much good out of the remote, too many wires while exercising. The radio is in the remote, so without it attached, no radio. Overall, I was impressed, I just might have looked harder at a less expensive model because I am not getting value out of remote and car kit.