by Steve W. aka SithLord
Disclaimer: This is my personal experience with my device, your actual experience may differ.
Introduction
The Sony MZ-E900 is a portable playback only device that plays minidiscs. It takes a gumstick battery or it can take a standard Sony sidecar, there is no docking functionality. The sidecar it was shipped with had a 1.5v barrel jack port for powering the device for playback. The batteries, gumstick or AA, could not be charged in this manner. The E900 supports MDLP so you can play SP, LP2, and LP4 minidiscs. Hi-MD is not supported.
Design and Ergonomics
Using a gumstick battery, the E900 is a very low-profile device, not much larger than the minidisc itself.
There are two switches on the back, one to put the device on hold, and the other to toggle AVLS which sets a limit on how loud the output can be.
There are 5 buttons and an indicator light on one side: volume down, volume up, stop, rewind, play/fast forward. The buttons are a little raised from the case and with a bump on the volume down and play/fast forward buttons. I can feel the buttons to operate without looking with my bare hands, but it's more difficult if wearing gloves.
A port for the remote control / 3.5mm headphone jack is on the other side with the open button. You can use most Sony minidisc remotes with this player. Some settings like the playback mode, sound mode are only visible/adjustable through the remote.
Features
The E900 comes in a silver and blue brushed aluminum, the one I have is the "silver" version. The brushed stainless steel does make a cool aesthetic even if it can seem a little “dirty”. The case is constructed of metal so it feels pretty solid. The one I have has a few dents in it, but it is still working very well.
Limitations
This is a low profile minidisc player that you can carry around all day. There is no recording functionality and no display on the player. If you want to see song information, you will need a remote to show that information.
My thoughts
This is the first player-only device I got to listen to music on the go. I also got li-ion gumstick batteries, and they generally last about 8 hours (on and off) of playback time. I can recommend one for listening to music while travelling for short periods of time. However, if you need recording ability, or a screen to see what is playing, then this may not be the right MD player for that.