Sony MiniDisc player

What hackers pick instead

• Apple iPodLoved for its click wheel and simple, polished offline interface, with old units still working years later; critics cite clunky iTunes-dependent syncing and glitchy, unreliable hard drives.102recommend
• Sony WalkmanPocket players that play music without a phone, praised for compact, sturdy design and extras like AM radio; critics say newer Android-based models are slow and expensive.20recommend
• Apple iPod ClassicPeople recommend it for its simple, polished interface and easy modding with Rockbox, SD cards and SSDs. Critics say the display is dated and finding specific tracks is hard.18recommend
• SanDisk Sansa Clip+Recommended as a better mp3 player than others, with good battery life and night listening. Common caveat: the clip and headphone socket break.7recommend
• Apple iPod ShuffleRecommended as a simple, light workout music player with good audio for its time. One critic called it pricey and said iTunes would not let them use it.7recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 56 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Recording was the killer feature for me. I recorded thousands of hours of band rehearsals with their stereo omni mics and the media quality.

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)”

2. MDs were real progress on that front. Shame it was quite expensive and the digital models were hobbled by horrendous software.

   Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Modern Walkmans”

3. MD was quite conventient for recording (interviews, ambient ...) and with random access much better than cassettes.

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Modern Walkmans”

4. Minidiscs were so cool! I was surprised to see they still make them. Unfortunately they're not all that cheap

   Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Cassette tapes are making a comeback?”

5. I want to listen to music I own, on a device I own, which instantly responds when I press play.

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”

6. I could record from the radio, trim out the DJ, re-order the tracks, and give them titles.

   Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Copy That Floppy – Cambridge guide for preserving data from fragile floppy disks”

7. Recording was the killer feature for me. I recorded thousands of hours of band rehearsals

   Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)”

8. Mine was great too, but it just never took off quite the same, maybe because of price.

   Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Modern Walkmans”

9. It was a quality one, but it wasn't the lightest or more robust thing to carry around.

   Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking”

10. the limited storage of a single disk makes it easy to find the music you want

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”

11. Mostly because I could record radio, other cds and cassettes onto them.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Cassette tapes are making a comeback?”

12. Minidiscs were even smaller than floppies and more robust.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Modern Walkmans”

13. Physical media that are nearly infinitely re-recordable

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Cassette tapes are making a comeback?”

14. magneto-optical media (such as MiniDiscs) take the cake

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Tested: How Many Times Can a DVD±RW Be Rewritten? Methodology and Results”

15. you can easily carry a few around with you

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Modern Walkmans”

16. Recording was the killer feature for me.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)”

17. too little too late for too much money

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Copy That Floppy – Cambridge guide for preserving data from fragile floppy disks”

18. more durability than cassette or CD

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Modern Walkmans”

19. MDs are just another example of Sony screwing it up by making things proprietary and keeping it to themselves

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Modern Walkmans”

20. the portable players were so fragile, insert the MD the wrong way and you risk ripping the read head out

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”

21. the format flopped anyway, because they were entirely unwilling to market it for recording in the US

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “The lost joy of music piracy”

22. Sony intentionally prevented you from doing to to "prevent potential copyright infringement".

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Copy That Floppy – Cambridge guide for preserving data from fragile floppy disks”

23. I enjoy my atrac discman with writable disks, fits a lot of music but I'm not going to pretend I use it more than my phone

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Modern Walkmans”

24. MiniDisc would have been an ideal successor to the floppy disk if only Sony had unclenched their fist

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”

25. Tiny digital CDs packaged in little neon jewel floppy disks is the neotokyo future we all deserve.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Cassette tapes are making a comeback?”

26. Its pretty fun to visit them as someone who used a minidisc player through highschool and college

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”

27. it was generally a better solution: cheaper for managing a big library and it had compression

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “John Giannandrea to retire from Apple”

28. limitation breeds creativity. It makes you appreciate the media just a little bit more.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”

29. I still have a player and some sample discs because I found them so beautiful

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)”

30. It was such a disappointment when mp3 players like iRiver came out soon after

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Show HN: Rip.so – a graveyard for dead internet things”

31. I adored my minidisc players and they were all basically calculator displays

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”

32. I preferred my Japanese Mini-Disc player. 240hrs of play time on one charge

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Modern Walkmans”

33. MD was a very proper medium, but the inventors made some wrong decissions

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “A web server on a single floppy disk”

34. MiniDisc really stands out as a very good portable physical solution

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Custom Firmware for the MZ-RH1 – Ready for Testing”

35. doesn't discredit the strengths of the physical storage medium

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Tested: How Many Times Can a DVD±RW Be Rewritten? Methodology and Results”

36. To me a MiniDisc would have been far better than a Zip disk

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Copy That Floppy – Cambridge guide for preserving data from fragile floppy disks”

37. Apparently they were reliable but godawful slow

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Sony Data Discman”

38. Come and join the resurgent Minidisc movement!

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player”

39. it is only available as lossy due to minidisc

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Tested: How Many Times Can a DVD±RW Be Rewritten? Methodology and Results”

40. it just can’t compete with a cheap USB stick

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”