The 722 is a good machine but is really only a marginal upgrade of the 702. So if you're in the market for a new recorder or your 702 has the UTOC problem then the 722 is a good choice, otherwise don't bother.

My first impression of the 722 was that it is ugly. The main unit, remote and the rainbow coloured handstrap all seem to have spent a lot less time in the design department than the 702. However, with the exception of the handstrap the 722's design does grow on you with its 'Mecha' inspiration (if you don't know what I'm talking about, type ROBOTECH into any www search engine). Also, the handstrap can be easily remedied with a black permanent marker. On the subject of the 722's appearance, despite the propaganda, the 722 is NOT smaller than the 702. This is because the face plate of the 722 sticks out a lot further than the 702 and thus cancels out the fact that the battery bulge has gone from the back.

After getting over the unit's ugliness, obviously the next thing I did was stick in one of my favourite MDs and crank up the volume. The sound difference between the 702 and 722 is phenomenal, but can be easily explained. All the difference in the 722's sound comes from a much stronger bass while the top and middle ends sound the same. The major reason for the improved bass is the new standard earphones that Sharp supplies with the unit whilst the other reason is that Sharp has increased the bass settings in the unit's EPROM. This can be done by 702 owners through the service mode but I wouldn't recommend it with the 702's standard earphones.

After a bit of use I realized that the 722 is almost exactly the same as the 702. With the exception of the new jog-ring, all the controls on the unit are the same but just in different locations. I'm sure that the majority of the 722's internal components are the same as the 702's. Sharp claims that the new layout of the 722's controls makes it easier to use than the 702 and easier to title MDs with. My opinion is that the new unit is no easier to use and the jog-ring is not particularly useful except for selecting tracks. My tip is to actually use the remote control to title MDs, which can be done with only one hand.

Even though the new remote control makes titling MDs easier and features a clock, I don't think it is really a great improvement over the old one. First of all it is quite easy to accidentally press more than one button when you're on the move and secondly, the new clock is completely built into the remote. Therefore it can't be used to control any real functions such as playing at a set time or time stamping a recording. The good point about the clock being separate to the unit is that it allows 702 users to upgrade to the new remote if they REALLY want a clock or (more likely) break their old remote.

In addition to the remote, 702 users can also upgrade to the 722's longer life battery (600mAh vs 800mAh) which can be used and recharged in the 702. For those who are interested, this is because most Li-ion batteries have built-in control circuits. With the 702 and old 600mAh battery I usually had to change the battery during a full work day but 722's battery will usually last until the end of the day.

Another significant improvement over the 702 is that the 722 has a lot longer shock protection and will happily play in my backpack during downhill rides on my mountainbike.

The last two (very small) differences from the 702 are that the 722 will TOC read a bit faster when you put in a disc and you can set the EL light to stay on when the unit is attached to the charger. Having faster TOC reading is quite useful for when you hear a good song on the radio that you want to record but being able to set the EL light permanently on does give me some concerns about it burning out.

In summary the 722 is simply a 702 with a new coat and a few improved features. Anyone who has a relatively recent portable shouldn't consider upgrading but for anyone who is looking to get a new portable or has a 702 with the UTOC problem then the 722 is well worth considering. I would however strongly advise 702 owners to upgrade to the new battery (after all, you'll always need a spare battery).

Having never owned a minidisc recorder before, I found the MD-MS722 to be very easy to use. Everything, I felt, was in the proper location and functioned well. The jog dial makes labeling the minidiscs easy.

Something else that struck me about this model was that it felt particularly well made for its price (which when I got it was 200 dollars). I had looked at the Sony R-37 and it just didn't seem to have the same quality of the MS722. The negative to the MS722 is that it looks very industrial. Although functional, I think that Sharp could have done a lot better than what it did on design of this unit. Compared to the MD702, also from Sharp, the MS722 is somewhat of a beast in terms of looks.

Another bad trait of the MS722, a trait that is shared with almost all other minidisc recorders, is the original equipment headphones. The included headphones are cheap and do not provide for much bass, or much quality sound for that matter.

On a more positive note, the MS722 does have some things that other portable recorders or players do not have. This unit has a front loading system where you put the minidisc in though a slot at the front of the unit. I feel that this is more convenient than the traditional clamshell system on almost all other portable minidisc systems, including the MS702. It also has a system that adds a lot to the bass of songs.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my MS722. I feel that it is a solid unit at an affordable price. The Sharp-722 model is much better than i expected. After listening to and recording with the Sony MZ-R55, and other various models, i found the sharp to record better digitally as well as analog. The sharp's "wheel" on the model is ingenious and a sign of ingenuity. The remote, I think, is easier to use than "stick remotes". The bass having four levels, 0, 1, 2, and 3, are much higher quality than other MD's, this feature may also be enhanced by the headphones. The unit always brings a smile to my face when i see the "HELLO" and "GOODBYE" when turning on and shutting off the machine.

The Skinny: The sharp MD has long battery life and convenience of buttons with the downfall of the thickness. Don't be fooled, the sharp weighs about as much as the MZ-R55 just looks thicker. So if you dont mind the thickness it is a great buy at $250 with a $50 mail-in rebate (for U.S. residents only)

Pluses:
-Long battery life
-User friendly
-Better analog recording
-Well placed buttons
-Relatively cheap
-Better bass
-You can recharge while recording
-Easier and better remote

Minuses:
-Thick

Rating:
9.5 out of 10 The 722 is getting to be a senior model now.. it's a bulky brick when placed next to the new superslim models. You won't be slipping this unit into your Lycra bike short's pocket, even if bike shorts had pockets. It's just too thick. Willowy people won't like it, but they'd be missing what is one of the best deals currently (early 2000) going.

Even after another of Sharp's now-familiar rebates expires, the price of a new 722 will still tend to be about $100 less than the price of a latest-and-greatest-- the one with the magnesium clamshell case and the tiny buttons-- your female friends would think you were popping open a compact and doubt your ruggedness-- but if that's not enough to make you take another look at one of the last of the slot-loading MD portables, consider that this old dog does tricks that even the newest don't:

Perhaps its greatest virtue is what I call one- button operation. Compared to other units I've owned or examined, the 722 can be operated right out of the box without a glance at the manual. While some would run you through a maze of menus, each button on top of the 722's chronometer- styled top deck pretty much operate as named. The EDIT button edits. The DISP button changes the display. The VOL+ button increases the playback volume. I love my Aiwa F70, but the jog dial is the volume control, and that's clever but not obvious.

Since I mentioned styling, let's be honest and say that not everyone will love the 722's shiny, busy-looking top deck. It resembles an old 35mm camera or perhaps a fanciful clockwork bomb timer. But notice this: no control hides on the back or the sides. Everything but the HOLD switch is right there in front of you, which brings us to the jog ring. You've heard that it's used for titling and track searching. However, no review I've read has mentioned the 722's neatest trick for those of us who like to cue up our discs for editing or just to find the good part of a song: Time search. That's right, you can search by the elapsed or remaining time of any cut from any other spot on the disc. Put it in play-pause and nudge the ring, and you'll see the display advance one second for each click. Twirl the ring and you can zip through the whole disc if you like. It's like using SMPTE timecode to locate a frame of video or film.

Simplicity as a guiding principle of design means that compared to some other models, the 722 is not quite so feature-rich. There's no automatic gain-setting during recording, for example, though there is a very clean-working synchro- record on mic, line and digital inputs (optical and analog patch cables included). The main LCD on the body isn't backlit, but it is very clear and easy to read at all angles and the record level meter is calibrated well enough to be taken seriously. The laser noisily goes about its business, and the slot-loading design means cleaning the lens will require a bit of legerdemain, but on the other hand, it's fun to hear the machine read a bit of disc to fill up the user-variable shock buffer (max 40 sec), rest to let the battery recover, then read some more. And the slot-loading makes you realize that you're holding what is basically a tiny disc drive with a tinier audio computer wrapped around it, which is not to mention that the hingeless body is physically much stronger than the more svelte clamshells. Many have bounced their 702s and 722s off floors and reported little or no damage. "Tank" is the term most often used.

No, the mic preamps aren't the quietest, but if you're recording in clubs and concerts, you won't notice. Outputwise, the Sharp's little amps are solid and clean and can drive a line in at full gain or any headphone you've got with a nicely- weighted bass boost that suits car speakers and lightweight headphones which won't be overloaded by bass they have no hope of reproducing.

It's all of a piece, in more ways than one. Battery life is still competitive with current models, and it comes with a cute one-AA-cell battery pack that actually bolts onto the side, so if you don't want to use up your $50 lithium- ion internal battery, you can use your nicads and alkalines until it's time to get serious, and you will be ready because the 722 can trickle charge its battery while it's in use.

The remote? The 3 little multifunction rocker- push switches are clever but are clumsily arranged around the circumference of the remote's body and the best you can say for it is that it originally was designed for the jogringless 721 model and not the 722. It's all too easy to press something just by picking it up, but using two hands it's not so bad. I keep its HOLD button on until I've got a proper grip. A last insult: I'm always dismayed by the two-color backlight. Still, it works.

Sound quality: I have found that while the Sharps of the 7xx generation can make recordings that stand up very well, there are some sounds that they seem to have minor difficulties playing back. Mostly, to my ears, these sound like tape saturation, a flashback to analog days. It's a venial sin, easily forgiveable, but if you're a truly, deeply obsessed audio nut, it may drive you to buy a home deck to play the recordings you've gathered. For anything less than this kind of pickiness, the sound is fine. My son uses his electrically-identical 702 as his "deck", placed atop his 250-watt subwoofer, and of course it sounds spectacular.

Try to find the 722 for around $200. This puts it in the price range of the better Sony dual cassette decks, and the 722 can go with you anywhere, with all the advantages of minidiscs.

A last word about UTOC problems: when you read reports of these in newsgroups, ask yourself: when was the last time this user cleaned his lens, and how careful has he been of keeping dirt out of a unit that begs to be taken out and used in conditions too playful for a delicate thingie that looks like a lady's compact? so far, both our 702 and 722 have been trouble-free. The Sharp 722 has been around long enough now to have a reputation as a chunky, rugged unit, and it is those things. It's also one of the easiest-to-use MD portables, and that doesn't often surface in user reviews.

All the 722's controls are on the top. This is true of some other, newer portables as well, but note that while some of the toggles on the Sharp have other functions depending on what mode you're in (recording, playback or editing), they're all reasonably large and the labels for those toggles aren't just silkscreened on the top plate somewhat nearby-- or worse, with little callout lines that snake around the corner of the case-- the toggles are actually stamped (molded, really) into their surfaces. Sounds like a small thing, but try operating one of those machines with the fancy graphics after being interested in, say, bicycles for a couple of months! The Sharp is easily operated by a new owner right out of the box, without even reading the manual.

I won't even mention some of the newer, tinier units that have to resort to menus (!) for tiny multifunction controls the size of pinheads. The aesthetic of a tiny, fragile, exquisitely-crafted object that astonishingly performs a complex mechanical function is one thing; being able to operate the little bugger first thing in the morning is something else entirely. I own and appreciate both types of machines, and the Sharp is the one next to my bed; that says it all. This control simplicity extends to the unit's more advanced features as well. If the 722 isn't the easiest to use portable MD recorder, it's got to be a close second.

Most of what you've read in all the other reviews and newsgroup chatter about the 722 is essentially true: it's big-- actually, "thick" would be a better descriptive. The shape is roughly that of one piece of a cube that's been sliced into thirds. It's really too thick to fit gracefully into a pocket, although it will go. It's not a lightweight either. It's a serious machine in that it does not set the record level for you. To make setting your own levels easy, the "meter" on the LCD is clear and easy to read. Nothing fancy, just the minimum information you need when recording through the analog inputs. The meter isn't a dual bar-graph; it only shows the louder of the two channels, and the right and left channels are adjusted in tandem. For purists who like to record events with minimal equipment, this is perfect. People who don't like to bother with their machine once it's recording should stick to digital dubs of CDs or else get a Sony or Aiwa. The remote, unfortunately, doesn't show the record levels, but does allow adjustment of them.

Digital dubs on the 722 are almost too easy. You park the machine in record-pause, which lets you hear the CD as you find the cuts you want to copy, then, when you're ready, you simply hit the SYNC toggle on the Sharp, start your CD player anytime you like after that, and walk away.

I've never had the infamous UTOC ERROR problem, but having other MD units, I can guess what might sometimes cause it. Most MD recorders write their TOCs after the recording session is done, usually at power off or eject. It's easy to forget that a recorder must not be bumped or shaken during TOC writing. It's even easier for a newbie to forget that the TOC still has to be written even if something important happens and the session has to come to an abrupt end. At power down, the 722 will write its TOC and likes to take its time doing it. My Aiwa writes its TOC very quickly after being taken out of the record mode. The Sharp has that 15 seconds of vulnerability just when you're ready to turn it off and put it down on a nice hard table, so some reasonable care is required.

You've heard people squawk about how ugly the 722 is. Yes, it's a little flamboyant (while still being very functional), but once you notice how everything is in plain sight, you can forgive a certain boy-rocket-pilot look that it has. I think it looks like a giant chronometer. Sharp should've made a wrist strap for it. Call it exuberant.

You've heard that the 722's jog ring can help select characters for titling. You may also have heard that while you're listening to a title, it will let you jog through all the other titles on the disc, then send you to any of them with a push of the ENTER button. But the best trick of all is one that I've never seen mentioned in any other review and which gets those of us with audio production backgrounds all excited: time search. Putting the machine in pause and turning the jog ring will let you find a spot on that track (or any other track) to the nearest second, whether you're displaying elapsed time or time remaining. Not quite as good as SMPTE time code, but nicely reminiscent of it. Perfect for finding that exact spot on the disc that you want to dub from or edit or play for a friend. Each click of the jog ring advances or backs up one second. No more zooming right past the point you want using the fast search keys. Ever wanted to quickly find the last 20 seconds of a song? It's easy on the 722 and an agility test with every other portable I know of.

Compared to my Aiwa, my Sharp is mechanically noisier; less svelte; more leisurely in writing its TOC; less lit up; less feature-laden; more rugged (due mostly to the slot loading design); easier to operate quickly, especially in recording (those features add complexity, you know); far less clumsy to operate with its external battery pack. They differ in sound quality too. The bass boosts, for example, are very different: the Aiwa drastically boosts the very deep bass, which is great for good headphones and good speakers but useless in the car, whereas the Sharp's boost is more gradual and more useful with inexpensive 'phones and low-level nighttime listening. I'd call it a draw.

Oh yes, almost forgot: the 722 will charge its battery automatically during play. Try that with any other portable recorder. Me, I use NiMH AA cells in the external pack, saving the expensive gumpack battery for those long field recordings.

The $50 rebate on the 722 will soon expire, but the unit can be had for $200 online. I say get one before they're gone. I have had my 722 for almost a year now, and for the most part, I think it works great. What I mean by "the most part" is that I did suffer a UTOC error about a month of use. I emailed Minidisco about the problem (it is where I ordered it)and they told me that it was the first 722 that they heard of that had the dreaded error. I knew that they couln't do anything for me but I thought that I would let them know. I had to send the unit to Wisconsin to be repaired. They told me it would take about 10 working days to get it back. Apparently, since it was one of the first 722s to have this problem it took a lot longer. About 10 weeks to be exact to get it back. They had to get a new spin motor and a new laser. Since then it has been working fine (knock on wood).

Now that that is out of the way, I think the sound quality of the 722 is really good. I have listened to some of the Sony units, mostly the MZ- R50, and the Sharp MD players have much better bass to it. The 3 base settings work really well. It usually depends on the amount of volume you are listening at to determine how much bass to apply. You get a happy median of high and low end sound.

It's cool that the 722 comes with both analog and digital cables. It's nice not to have to go out and buy these accessories. I still prefer recording in analog than digital. As always, digital records have a cold feel to it. But the option is there and I like it.

I was put off by the style of the player at first, but then I grew to like it. It's different than other units as far as look go. The jog dial is a nifty feature and helps you toggle through tracks and when label tracks. It is pretty thick by today's standards, it is mostly because of the slot type loading style. I like this better than the clam-type loading, mostly because you dont have to take the 722 out of its baggie to change MDs. Just open up the bag, press the lever to eject one MD out and slide in a new one. With the clam shell lid, you have to fiddle around more with the unit and take it out of its case. Also, I bought a leather case from Minidisco, where it is specially fitted for a 722. The recorder fits snuggly into the case, with cutouts for the phone jack and for the ejection lever. To change MDs all you have to do is open the velcro cover, push the lever, MD comes out on top, put new one in and close top flap. You never have to take the unit out of the case. With the clam shell lid, you have to take the player out.

The traditional headphones a pretty good. They put out better sound than the earbuds. You can hear more at the low end on the music. They don't filter out outside sounds to well though. I commuted by bus and train to and from school and you can hear your surroundings.

The battery life is good. You don't need to chanrge every time you get home. Charge time is pretty quick too.

All of the operations are easy to use as well and a lot of them can be accessed via remote.

I'll probably think of a couple more points after I summit this, but I give the MD-MS722 a 9 out of 10 rating. Only because it is a bit bulky when you compare it to the recorders that are on the market today. But for the price that many sites are selling it for, it is a unit that you can't really beat. Now before I get into what this player/recorder can do and the other specs people want to know about, I was very cautious when purchasing this. I read a lot about those (in)famous "UTOC" errors and was hoping I wouldn't be a part of that (in) famous crowd that would get it. So far, I've recorded on 4 separate occasions on the same minidisc and have found no problems when recording from MP3's.

Let's start out with design. Personally, I find it to be a rather neat and fashioned piece of portable sound. I'm not quite bothered by the fact it may weigh close to half a pound or that it may be a little bit on the big side. The controls are extremely easy to find once you know what they all do and the jog dial only adds to the easiness of use. The disc are front loaded which is a wonderful convienence. Also you can attach a AA battery with your rechargable and add more time life to it, but it will add to the size. The remote is the size of a watch and has a clip-on. The display is very nice in dark areas, but not on the player itself. You must realize though that it is necessary to have the remote attached at all times for your headphones to function properly. But all in all, it is a very well-rounded piece of portability from a design standpoint.

Recording and playback are extremely easy to do and the reaction I gave to my first recording was a mouth dropper. Since I have a SoundBlaster Live! card, I would take a cord from the "Line Out" in the back and plug it into the black hole ("Optical In) on the MD. To set the input volume is easy as well, but I'd recommend that you set it at a little bit above -12 if you're recording anologally. You do not have to do this if you are recording optically. Just press the record button on your MD, play your music and look for levels, then stop it and press "Sync" on the MD, play your music from it's source and it's off! I do recommend that if you use Winamp to play your MP3's that you get the "pause" plugin to allow for the MD to add the natural 2 sec pause like CDs.

The sound that comes out of the player, not using the not-that-great supplied headphones, is beautiful. I record with an analog connection at the moment, and I really can't tell that it was analog. The sound was actually better than what my CDs sound like and I really can't explain that. Yet, you will be presently surprised at how sweet the sound is.

I bought this over an MP3 player due to the fact I didn't want to spend more for RAM cards. Just buy a 5 pack of MDs for about $12 and you have much more music and truly sweeter music. Do remember though, it's a personal preference and I'm one of thousands who prefers this relatively older, but newer medium.

Recording via a mic is possible too and you also have the capabilities of moving tracks around, dividing them, combining them, and erasing them. It's so much more versatile than your bigger CDs.

Now to the "UTOC" error. I really believe to not be one of the victims, you should, at the end of a recording, not touch anything until the "TOC" is written completely (maybe all of 3 seconds). And I mean this too at the end of titling the MD and it's tracks. Once it finishes, turn off the player and then eject the MD. If you do not do this exactly, you could end up with that error and it's not fun to be stuck with a useless P.O.S.

Coming to the end of this track, I find that this player is fantastic and haven't been dissapointed. Mercata.com occasionally has it for sale as a "BestBuy" where people come and say what price they'll pay and the price continually drops with the more orders. I got mine for $137 and change. And that was also with a new member signup deal where you get to use 20% of your $100 Mercata dollars.

Take a listen for yourself where you can and dive into the mini world of minidiscs via any media source you can imagine! I have spent the past 6 or 7 months trying to look for a good md player/recorder to start with. I ended up getting the sharp mdms722 over aiwa fm70. Most of my reasoning came from the fact that I got the unit for $135 NEW at mercata. It was part of some kind of promotion.

To put it simply, this unit is awesome. Recording and playback time is more than enough for me. The size does reveal the unit's age a bit and contrary to what other people have said, I think this is still one of the best LOOKING players on the market.

The slot-in design makes things more convenient and less fussy. The only thing I am disappointed with is the remote. It looks kinda cheap and plasticky. It's a shame since the japanese spec remote comes with a whole lot of cool features like watch and alarm and stuff. Then again, the remote wasn't such a big factor when I was considering the unit.

This is my first unit and I am very satisfied with it and have no plans to upgrade in the near or far future. When my 722 came UPS from mercata.com, I was excited that my wait was finally over. I wanted to see if $135 for my MD was really worth it. As I opened the box, I was suprised with all the stuff that it came with. The contents included; the MD player itself, remote control, not-so-good headphones, AC adaptor, battery adaptor, carrying strap, carrying bag, a lithium rechargeable battery, and an optical digital cable. Not to mention three manuals.

The design of the 722 could have used some work to make it look a little more user- friendly. But after a while, I found that the casing looked pretty damn cool, looks quite professional and technical. And to me, size matters very little (MD player size mind you), you don't see the thing most of time do you? I wear cargos most of the time and the player fits perfectly in there. I like the screen size on the player and remote a lot but I'm afraid that if I'm not careful, I might create a huge scratch on the glass (or plastic, I don't know) screen.

The little remote control is damn cool too. It's small, looks cool, and is useful (If I haven't titled my music, a little fish will swim across the screen with four eigth notes trailing behind it). Each function except "record, edit mark, enter sync, eject, and character" is on the remote. There's even a hold switch on the remote.

Wherever playback is concerned, I detect no audible differences from my CD player or my computer. Three modes of bass is really cool, really useful too. Until I get a Sound Blaster MP3+, I'm forced to use an analog transfer which really sucks.

Making my own mixes from mp3s isn't very hard either, all I have to do is plug the MD into my sound card through an analog cable and record after I make my playlist on winamp. I have my MD set so that all my music is one great big track and I seperate it later. This is really cool because I can divide, join, and create tracks as I feel. There is no limit.

$135 for a almost any minidisk player/recorder is completely worth it. Everything about it is great except the quality of the included headphones, they just feel cheap. Though the reviews posted for this model seem to be positive overall, I feel I should tell my experience with the MS722 which had TOC and UTOC errors virtually from day one. Something as simple as playing a MD would take at least three tries minimum before the unit would properly recognize the disc and manage to struggle through the endless TOC read. The recording process had me stepping aroundthe device as if it were some delicate instrument destined to be attached to an orbiting satellite, as it appeared that ANY disturbance caused a 'DISC ERROR' thus creating tracks that couldn't be combined with others. Walking and listening to the unit was an exercise in frustration as it would 'skip' often. Of course, by writing skip, I really mean that the unit would either pause for 10 (sometimes more) seconds before resuming or simply give another 'DISC ERROR' message and turn off.

I must admit that my MS722 may have been a defective unit, so keep that in mind while reading this review, but judging from some of the message threads on the Minidiscussion board and hints given by other reviewers I would infer that such errors are NOT uncommon for Sharp units, therefore I see no reason to take the chance by buying one. Sure you can ship it back to whatever internet limbo business sold the thing and then spend weeks trying to get it repaired an shipped back, but why? After several days of errors I exchanged my Sharp for a Sony MZ-R70. The Sony unit is fantastic, it has never skipped or given me a TOC error of any kind. Also, the auto-level record feature works better than one would expect, though very quiet tracks may still require some baby sitting. I have found the trick is to get the initial signal as hot as possible during the quieter tracks and let the AVLS handle levels when things suddenly get loud. The Sharp has no such auto-level feature as I recall. Other differences; The Sony is much more slim, being able to title tracks while playing or recording is great, on the Sharp the unit had to be stopped or paused before letters could be input. When I got the Sony, I thought I would miss the jog dial on the Sharp model (one of the prime reasons I went for a Sharp in the first place), and though spinning the dial around and around was kind of fun, entering titles on the Sony is just as quick and easy, especially since you can do it while listening to the tracks. What else, the Sharp comes with rechargable battery, but if you would like to use an alkaline AA type instead, you must attach this horrible, shabby, cheap plastic extension box that is a pain to screw in and adds another half- inch or so to the already moon-pie like dimensions. With the Sony you simply take the rechargable out and put in a "AA' no fuss, though the battery cover seems kind of fragile.

One con on the Sony side, the headphone output of the unit is a little quiet. If you get this model and like to blast your eardrums into submission, I recommend a pair of in-the-ear phones, otherwise rocking-out levels may not be possible when on the move. This is an issue that does deserve some consideration for some. In my case, I was amazed to find that the headphones that came with the Sony, while plastic and cheap looking, actually sound great and deliver a very strong signal to the point they nicely block out the sounds of the new york subway. Naturally, I will be completely deaf in a few years as a result of listening to music too loud, but all in good fun. My larger, foam-over- the-ear phones sound fine, but just aren't quite loud enough to provide catharsis at key moments when standing in line at the grocery listening to MOP or Judas Priest. At this point I haven't shopped around, I am sure there are louder phones out there.

In the end, I just don't know why anyone would argue for a Sharp. The TOC errors were horrible, they completely ruined the fun of owning one of these machines. To even face the outside risk having such an experience seems pointless to save what would probably only be about 30 dollars at the most, assuming the Sony was more expensive. If you shop around, I am sure a good deal can be found on the Sony units. Feature-wise, the models are different, but none of the Sharp features seem better than those of the Sony, personally I find the Sony much more intelligently designed. I don't recall hearing of Sony models having TOC problems and I have not had any myself. Rather than entering into some kind of plan to get Sharp to fix the problems (see the discussion board TOC proposal) I would just say, avoid Sharp like the plauge. This is my first MiniDisc device, I am sure more knowledgable types would have specific, technical reasons for why a Sharp could be superior, but as a simple end-user I really don't think I care. Good Luck.