The size; this thing is tiny, and i doubt that a smaller unit will be made as when you peak inside the unit there is no freespace, the unit is itself has a **SMALLER** top surface area than a MD Case, the only other units I have spent any time with is an mz-r55, and this is way samller and about 2/3 the weight of that :)

Controls; supprisinly given the units size the units controls are supprisingly large, and the touchpad is a jump forward in design, as it alows for much more contol than a button would give. Furthermore the menu system is logical and there is no end search!

Remote: on the web i thought that the remote looked crap, but it is much better in the flesh, although the hold mechanism, which also removes the lcds backing (allowing you to see through the lcd display, the text remains visable, and see the ground or you t shirt - a very nice but poinless feature) looks a little fragile, also the contrast is ajustted assuming angular veiwing and looks blurred head on. The actual display is clear but not as good as the sonys, the text does not move as clearly accross the display.

Sound quality: This is the reason that I got this unit; the sound is very good. It is a nice mix between the sonys natural sound and the sharps boomy bass; allowing me to hear every bit of jimi h. while giving me good bass for drum and bass. The sound quality must be affected by pasansonics use of a 24 bit Atrac DSP chip, compared to sonys 16 bit and shaps 20 bit (i'm not certain about the shap it may be 24 bit)

Extras: The case is crap a cheapo bit of shiny materal ( the same stuff that you get with a £40 walkman) that may protect the unit from dust but nothing else. But this has allowed more money to be spent on the part that is most often overlooked- headphones. The units that come with this player are not the best bud I've ever tryed (far from it) but they are the second best OEM's I've ever seen; the best came from my 20th aniversary limited edition walkman (ok it was a waste of £150 but it is without a doubt the best portable tape player ever produced, if you own one email me with you number cos I'm trying to find out howmany were produced I have number 34)

Overall: I bought this unit because of its sound, the size being a nice bonus, its not perfect, the eject is a little to forcful for my liking, but is ok if you slow the top down (It comes up like a rocket). but the best thing about it has to be its weight, I didn't relise how light 132g was! (note: this mass includes battery and MD) is in my opionion the best unit out there (at lest until the sony MZ-R900 comes out which sould give it a run for its money with MDLP) I bought this unit over in Japan on a Japanese trip and I would like to say that I am very satisfied with it.

I had never really delved into the world of minidiscs until I bought this unit, hoping that it would be simple and easy to understand. Not only was it easy to understand but I was able to easily record my first minidisc while on the bullet train.

A nice feature of this recorder is that while it is plugged into the AC adapter, it runs a higher definition recording mode, allowing for better clarity and depth of sound.

The touch pad replaces many buttons in that you can digitally control volume versus normal analog control, digital volume control is great since you can tune it to your liking.

Recording is very easy, and labeling the disc/disc titles is a little time consuming, but it is still a great little machine.

It is very small, and it could get lost in the pocket very easily, but so far it has withstood 14 days of travel in Japan which I think must account for something.

In all truths, the buds suck, my ears are smaller than normal, so rarely do buds fit me, but when I combine this recorder with my Koss Titanimum diaphragm headphones, I have a wonderful amount of depth and clarity in my music.

Pluses: Size, ease of recording, battery life (38 hours!), sexiness.

Minuses: Remote is a little awkward and seemingly a little too fragile.

Overall: A definite buy, although I don't know if they are in America yet, couldn't find it on bestbuy.com. I got mine for ¥23,800. About $205 American. So, it is a definite good deal.

Any questions? Email me at occamsrezr@hotmail.com