Note added 03-09-2007: See the update at the end of this post for news about Sony dropping SonicStage for new Walkman models.
17 years ago my father gave me a Sony Walkman for my birthday. It was a WM-F202 recording Walkman. Although a little beaten up its still going strong, a great compliment to the build quality as its had a lot of use. Earlier this year he gave me a Sony NetMD MiniDisc (MZ-NF810) for my birthday. Its a great piece of hardware; nicely engineered and a worthy successor to the old Walkman. 
You can get up to 5 hours music on a MiniDisc and although it can't hold a zillion songs like an iPod I think in some ways its better:
~ It uses an easy to change rechargeable or normal AA battery...
~ ...So no need to take a charger when travelling.
~ It has long play time 40 hours + on one AA battery
~ It has an am/fm radio tuner built in.
~ It can record from a digital input or microphone, which is a real bonus.
The disc capacity limitation is eliminated in the latest MiniDisc players as the new Hi-MD Walkmans have 1gb disc storing up to 45 hours of music. That removes one limitation but there is another possible problem: SonicStage - the software Sony supply to manage music.
Sonic Stage 1.5 came with my player and it installed and worked OK. Occasionally a CD transfer would fail but usually a second attempt would work. An email arrived recommending an upgrade to SonicStage 2. I attempted this and although the install seemed to go OK (the final dialog said it was successful) the upgrade was a total failure.
It corrupted the existing track database so they couldn't be used. It failed to work with both my CD and DVD drives and I had constant fatal errors. After checking the net I've found I wasn't alone and the MiniDisc forums & newsgroups have many complaints about SonicStage.
In the end I removed SonicStage 2, manually deleted all the "Sony folders" I could find, trashed the corrupt database (all off Cd's I own anyway), and manually removed Windows Registry entries for "Sony". I then reinstalled SonicStage 1.5 but it didn't work as disc's still couldn't be read from either the CD or DVD drives in my PC.
As a last resort I upgraded the semi functioning SonicStage 1.5 to the current release: SonicStage 2.1. Thankfully this works so I'm back in business but having to hack registry entries and manually remove software folders is not something you should have to face to upgrade versions. From what I have read SonicStage had poor removal/install as a clean install seems to work fine.
As all their "net portables" (MiniDisc, Network Walkman etc) use SonicStage its vital Sony make their software as good as the hardware because that is great. It would be a pity to turn off customers with poor quality software. I like my player and the MiniDisc format but will be very nervous when the next software "upgrade" arrives.
UPDATE 03-09-2007: Sony have, finally, given up with SonicStage for new Walkman products:
"Available in six vibrant colours, the new S610F-series Walkman supports the open audio formats of MP3, non-secure AAC, security-enhanced WMA and the secure format of WMA. To help manage digital music libraries, the new Walkman model comes with Microsoft Windows Media Player 11. Alternatively, consumers can simply select music, video or photo files from a computer then drag and drop them into their corresponding folders in their new S610F-series Walkman."
For more detail see the full press release a Sony New Zealand
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POSTSCRIPT: These links may help with SonicStage problems:
SONY ANNOUNCMENT:October 21, 2004 Updated: October 23, 2004
It has been confirmed that some of Sony's application software(*) for managing music files on the PC may not work as originally intended, if a user installs Microsoft Windows Security Update Program MS04-032 (KB840987) on his/her PC.
For details see: http://www.openmg.com/support/en/840987/index.html
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Last resort rebuild instructions sourced from:
http://www.minidisct.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24052
WARNING:
If you use a Sony VAIO with preinstalled software provided by Sony or use other software developed by Sony, do not follow the procedure below.
In all cases cefore you try this consider:
- Are you prepared to loose the existing database?
- Are you comfortable editing the windows registry?
These instructions are provided with no responsibility or liability for any damage or data loss caused if applied to your system. All I can say is they worked for me.
1. Uninstall all OpenMG related software via the Add/Remove Programs control panel and reboot as necessary. This includes, but is not limited to, OpenMG 2.2, related 'Limited Patches' and the 'Secure Module', SonicStage 1.x/2.x, Simple Burner 1.x/2.x, and software by RealNetworks. Make sure that you unplug your unit before doing so.
2. If you run Windows XP/Windows 2000 Professional, proceed to delete the following directories:
"\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sony Corporation"
"\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared"
"\Program Files\Sony".
3. Start -> Run -> regedit. The 'Registry Editor' utility should appear on your screen. Delete the references to OpenMG located under 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sony Corporation' and 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Sony Corporation' by right-clicking on the entries.
4. Disabling any anti-virus software that is running in the background to free up some resources [if necessary]. Update your installation of Windows at Microsoft Windows Update (windowsupdate.microsoft.com). For Windows 2000 Professional users, you are recommended to upgrade to Service Pack 3 or later.
Make sure that your unit is disconnected and install the latest build of SonicStage 2.x from Sony Connect/Sony Connect Europe. The drivers for Sony units will automaticaly be installed. (If you use a Panasonic or Sharp Hi-MD/NetMD unit, install your drivers before you install the actual software!) Restart if prompted to do so; if not, it is still recommended that you do so. Plug in your unit, and start SonicStage 2.x.
