I didn't have a good start with the MZ-R700 (my first md recorder). I decided to pay a little extra for the usb pc link bundle, only to find that the link wasn't digital like I expected, but damn analogue. If I wanted damn analogue from my damn pc, I'd use my damn soundcard. damn. With that off my chest, I can say that the 700 is as nifty as I could have hoped. It's very small (4 minidiscs thick) and is pretty show-offable, despite the bottom half being hardened plastic (it doesn't look nearly as bad as 'plastic' sounds). The manual is very helpful and the menu system is easy to get to grips with and has all the options anyone will ever need. The rechargeable battery lasts me about 12 hours in playback (alkaline batteries apparently last for over 40 hours), and the LP2 mode works (to my ears) as well as the normal mode (i.e. brilliantly), so I can squeeze two long or three shortish albums onto one minidisc. LP4 mode, on the other hand, sounds terrible even to me - there's just too much warbling and distortion. The earphones supplied do the job, but I soon bought to a pair of decent, lightweight headphones - definitely worth paying a little extra for. The remote control, on the other hand, is just cool beyond belief. It's small, subtle and has an tiny button that acts like a jog dial by flicking it up and down. I think this is an ace minidisc player that's easy to get to grips with, has hundreds of neat little features and will hopefully last me many years to come. Definitely recommended.