What is The Latest addition to your Collection?

iriver SlimX iMP-350 (click to see larger image).

 

Was playing it through my japanese panasonic q.
its limited to whatever signal you get in japan.
Dont think its a pal signal

 

When i say i have a collecting problem i mean it!
my collecting is varied,old 80s items,games consoles,minidiscs,laserdiscs,vinyl.
This is one of my outside storage spaces where i keep my less valuable items.

 

I have that one too, recently did a firmware update

 

If this is only part of the collection.. TechMoan might be watching
Do you heat the room?

 

Thanks for that,will have a look.
Love the old vfd games.
they all work aswell which is handy,my kids used to like playing them but they are grown up now so its just me!

 

Yeah mate,i moved the oil fired radiators out of view for the pictures,i have my hot tub in there so not the wisest choice!
Its just grown arms and legs over the years.i am pragmatic in my approach.
if the cold kills it i can repair it.

 

I recently acquired these 2 Minidisc portables: the Sony MZ-E710 and Soy MZ-N710.
The first one is a very light MiniDisc player released towards the end of 2002, the second a NetMD recording unit released a few months after the E710 in 2003.
Below a few observations.

MZ-E710 size comparison
It is pictured next to 2 stacked Minidiscs in their case.
It could have been thinner if the transparent window (blue circle) had been scrapped; it slides away to show the Minidisc upon insertion.
Quite a useless mechanical feature, but at least it is recognizable.


Low output volume
The E710 unit was sold without accessories as fully working, but when it arrived, I thought the audio output was faulty as it was very low.
It was not trivial to find out (for me at least) what the issue was since the unit has no display on the body and it came without a remote.
After a while, I got my hands on a working remote and checked the AVLS setting: it was on
With AVLS off, the volume coming out of unit is pretty good.
Not a power output monster, but it drives the passive little Sony SRS-7 Walkman speakers good enough for home office use.
Tip: in the E710 operating manual you can find how to control AVLS settings without remote. Should have tried that first, now you know.

Sidecar and remote for both E710 and N710
I also obtained the (AA) battery sidecar and it simply looks out of proportion attached to the E710.
Sony could have created a smaller (AAA) battery sidecar for this one, like Aiwa did for the HS-EX2000 (same as HS-PX557 and HS-LX2000) thin walkmans: a sidecar with 2x AAA cells.
The N710 takes the same sidecar but came originally with a different remote, according to Minidisc.org.
As I bought it too without accessories I am happy to say it works fine with the RM-MC33EL, stick remote including backlight.


Aiwa AM-HX400 similarities?
The E710 seems very similar (to me) as the HX400; similar dimensions, same battery - headphone jack - slider to open location, LEDs (red, green, yellow) to represent a certain status, similar layout.
All controls on the Aiwa are located on the back of the device (top in the picture), while on the Sony most are on the side.
On the E710 it might look like one LED located in between the buttons, but these are actually 3 LEDs combined behind one piece of frosted plastic (per the service manual).
The battery sidecar cannot be used on the HX400 in case you are wondering; obviously the headphone/remote jack is complete different.

 

That is a seriously nice set-up you have there! I'm on the look-out for a sensibly priced Panasonic Q, seem to be hard to find now

 

For the Aiwa AM-HX400, it would be great if somebody could share the operating instructions or service manual.
Usually I would not pay for a manual, because most of them are available for free. For this one I would make an exception, if the asking price is within reason.
I tried hard to find it but to no avail yet. Given that my unit occasionally stops playing when headphones are connected, it looks like there is something wrong.
Alternatively, the original remote would also be great (RC-HX400):

If you have one you would like to sell - please send me message.
Without a remote with a screen these little players are not that easy to configure!