Never Stop Learning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway It's time! For my very first giveaway, please enter between December 1 and December 9, Midnight US Pacific time using the Rafflecopter entry form above. This is my personal giveaway and is not associated nor affiliated with Google/YouTube! Please see official rules, here!  Privacy policy is included here also - I don't need/want your info outside of getting this device to you! To enter, just use your email (I don't use Facebook so I don't know where those entries will go...) and I'll use Rafflecopter to pick a winner after midnight, December 9th! I'll reach out to the winner via their email that they used to enter and ship them the device/set! Winners are responsible for any customs or duties! Again, see official rules for details. For all MiniDisc lovers, let's have fun with this so I can continue to have more giveaways! Please see official rules, here! Thank you all! Long live MiniDiscs! Please see official rules, here!

The MiniDisc Giveaway format: I will post a specific MiniDisc Giveaway video on YouTube In the YouTube video, the video's description, Instagram, and this blog, you'll see a link or an embedded Rafflecopter entry form. I will be using that to collect and choose a winner. At the [end of auction]* I will screenshot/record all comments and put all usernames into a list ChatGPT/Google Bard/CommentPicker/Rafflecopter or some other tool will randomly choose a winner from the list I will contact the winner by emailing them based on the entry info (so check your notifications!) and we'll verify you and your shipping information If I can't communicate with the chosen winner within 72 hours, I will choose another one randomly repeat previous step if needed I will ship out the package to the winner Winner is in charge of any local customs or duties * [end of auction] will be stated in the YouTube video and will be listed in US Pacific time, currently GMT -8 I need to create this a...

Notice that I didn't call this a repair video... Unfortunately, this beautiful Sony MZ-E10 is just as non-functional as when I received it.  I do walk through opening it up and changing the battery (same as the Sony MZ-N10) so hopefully that will help any of you lucky enough to have a working one in need of a battery swap! The Sony MZ-E10 (late 2002) was the thinnest and lightest MiniDisc player at the time. It's a stunning device that's so thin, Sony designed a proprietary connector for the remote (which then had a proper 3.5mm headphone jack). It had a special dock for charging, and a joystick controller for navigation. Unfortunately, it was so thin that the board would sometimes flex and connections could break. It's hard to find a working one these days and the ones that are can still be very fragile. I remember some posts by a Korean super-fan that had more than a dozen of these devices stored in various states (battery switch on or off) and many of them were rand...

Panasonic may not have reached the MiniDisc upper echelon like Sony and Sharp, but they did put out some fun models like their speaker dock ones (marketed as "Dockin'style MD" which started with the SJ-MJ50. Here, we'll look at the very similar SJ-MJ55 (late 2002) which was only working with an AA sidecar. Cleaning the battery terminals (which were actually pretty clean) didn't fix the issue with gumstick battery connectivity, so we had to try something else. In this case, we tested with a piece of copper tape to see if it could help with the electrical connectivity and it did! Once your test is confirmed, you can use adhesive-backed copper tape or find a piece of spare copper from a different donor device. Since that electrical issue was resolved, and with this device being more than 20 years old, I decided to also open the front lid to clean/lube it. These speaker dock models are fun, even if their speakers aren't the best. I still haven't gotten my hand...

The Sony MZ-R500 (late 2001) is an MDLP-capable recorder powered by an AA battery. It's similar to many other models that were plastic and ran on AA batteries. In this case, I received a model that worked fine, but wouldn't eject discs. When you pushed the eject button, the door would open, but the disc would just sit there instead of springing upwards/outwards.  Luckily, the MZ-R700 uses the same disc eject mechanism, and I was able to take a spring from a junk model (featured in a previous video) and replace the one that was missing. Please watch the video for the walkthrough, but the steps are below: Remove bottom casing Remove top lid Disconnect flex cable for top lid Unscrew board Gently lift board until you see the spring location (bottom right corner) Replace spring (one end onto the frame, one onto the moving arm) Reassemble

The Sony CMT-C7NT NetMD Mini System is one of Sony's nicest ones (IMHO). Even though it came out late in 2001, the compact design and mirrored finish along with the green light-up speakers made it a standout, even today! It's fully-featured including NetMD, Type-R, USB audio for computers, and more. Since it uses an MDM7 MD mechanism that uses belts, it can fall prey to the belt stretching or losing elasticity. Replacing the belt itself is not hard, but in a compact system like this, the hardest part is getting to the belt! After getting inside the case, there are 3 layers (CD mechanism, middle tier board, and a metal box) to get through before getting to the MD mechanism itself. I can't effectively write it up yet, so if you're interesting in fixing your own, or just seeing what I went through, please check out the video. Thank you!

100 subscribers! Sure, that's not a huge milestone by "influencer" standards, but that's probably 100 more than I expected! Thank you all - I'll continue to work hard and add some useful content to keep these precious MiniDisc devices working!

One of my favorites from Sharp (along w/my good 'ol MD-DR7), I couldn't pass up a deal on a slightly worn MD-DR77. Yes, I have some in good condition, but who can pass up a sale? Well, it had the wrong remote, but I had some spares. Testing showed that it worked only via the AA sidecar, not with an internal gumstick battery. Also, the eject slider wasn't returning back to the original position... You had to slide it back manually. Luckily, playback and recording were working fine, so I took it apart to fix that eject slider. Luckily, my parts graveyard had a similar mechanism with a usable spring. Check out the video for more details, but a brief summary follows: Remove the battery door remove the bottom case screws pry open from the top remove the top lid (be careful of the flex cable routing to the back) undo the flex cable and put the top lid aside unscrew the trim screw at the top and gently unclip the trim starting from the power jack in my case, one of the eject slide...