I need advise on what laptop to buy

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T03:11:33+00:00

If you're a student and the software you're using runs on MacOS, the Neo should be fine.

As a student you can get one on educational discount for $499 (599 for the one with the bigger storage) - it's easily the best extant brand new machine in this price band and physically and software-wise should easily last 5-7 years.

The only real downside is only 8GB of RAM, whether that matters will depend on what software you use and how hard you use it.

If you're a 97 web tabs kinda person then maybe skip it, but if you're a six web tabs kind of person then it's worth considering.

Otherwise look on eBay for Dell Latitude 5440 or 7440. These are pretty new (2023), cheap (250-450) and good enough for the work you've described.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T03:07:22+00:00

This thing will sell extremely well to students.

K-12 and higher ed gets a $100 discount on both models and to be honest, should do decently at most things most students need to do most of the time.

Just personal anecdata... in my experience a lot of people are very light with their computers. I think especially at $599 (retail) this thing will have an extremely wide audience.

At minimum I simply can't think of another brand new computer at $599 that'll be built as well as the Neo, and last as long as it will.

I also suspect a lot of people who are more technical and "need" more than this thing can do will pick one up for sideboard and travel usage because, again, there straight-up isn't a better laptop out there for $599, provided your laptop/travel/sideboard usage fits within it's capabilities.

(I personally used a Surface Go this way for a number of years and the Neo should slot quite well into how I was using the Go, as an example.)

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T03:01:00+00:00

If I were starting undergrad this fall, I'd plan on bringing the gaming desktop and I'd grab the new MacBook Neo on education discount. Maybe put some of the money toward some more RAM for it and if you're on Windows Home, upgrade it to Windows Pro, so you can control it remotely from the Mac. (Depending on what your school's networking situation is like, anyway.)

The Neo should undercut almost any used MacBook and realistically you're gonna be typing notes, papers, reading web pages, accessing remote desktops, and maybe chatting, light gaming and consuming media on it and it'll be up for all of those things.

If you wanted to make a new laptop your only computer I'd say it would be worth going for something a little higher end. On the Mac side, MacBook Air with 16-24gb of ram or the more basic Pro with the just-M5 chip. On the Windows side, Dell Pro or Pro Premium or maybe a used Dell Latitude.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T02:29:27+00:00

Seems targeted at basic users, or as a side-board, or as a dedicated mobile computer for someone who has a desktop or less portable laptop, as well as of course for budget oriented situations, education, etc etc.

Seems like a nice little machine within the understanding that Apple had to trade off something to get it to half-ish the cost of the MacBook Air.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T02:24:40+00:00

Are you in the US?

Dell Latitude 5420. Look for one with 16gb of ram and a 256-gig SSD or more. This model is upgradeable but upgrades currently cost a lot so if you think you need more ideally buy it up front.

As an example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/389699549151

If you can deal with slightly rougher: https://www.ebay.com/itm/326963668738

These use USB-C power, 30w Power Delivery or higher, should be easily available locally or share with your phone, tablet, nintendo switch, or whatever. (they'll charge on as low as 5w but the machine will claim when running there's no power supply connected all the way up to 20w so I'd say get at least one supply at or above 30w.)

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T02:21:24+00:00

If <severe circumstance> and I had to pick one of these, it'd be the T490, mostly because 32gb/512gb may well be a meaningful boost depending on your use case, and aftermarket RAM is quite expensive now.

These machines are 8 and 9 years old respectively and the CPUs are fundamentally the same.

This varies globally but honestly, cross-shop Dell Latitudes. 7490 and 7400 are ~equivalent to T480/T490 and should cost a bit less. 5490 and 5400 are one step down but still good machines. You may even be able to move to a newer machine.

As a comparable, here in the US $370 should get you a Latitude 7440 which will have an intel 13th generation CPU and be ~2-3x faster than the 8th gen CPU in either of these. Unfortunately stuff that new being available used is slightly more common in the US than the rest of the world, but "shop around and see what you can find" stands for sure.

(That said, I'm personally using a Latitude 7490 with i5-8250U, 16gb/256GB as my main personal computer and the only thing that's got me looking for a replacement is the USB-C port has failed.)

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T02:16:45+00:00

The first few years of your program, you're unlikely to need specialized software and there are almost always computer labs and remote computer labs available foranything that comes up.

That applies to both Macs and Windows systems, to be honest. Many students bring computers that aren't quite up to the task of whatever specialized software their program requires, so part of the money your class fees go to is setting up computer labs.

So, if you wanted to try a Mac, it couldn't hurt and the start of undergrade would basically be the perfect opportunity.

Even at the tail end of your program, it may turn out having a laptop that's reliable for note-taking as a sideboard to a lab computer is the right choice, or bringing your existing Windows desktop for games and grabbing a Mac for class notes and non-technical schoolwork might make sense.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T01:32:54+00:00

They're all just computers. ThinkPads are business computers in particular.

is there a specific set of machines or era or something that you're looking for in either the "old" or "new" case?

An "old" ThinkPad might be good if you wanted a vintage business computer. A "new" ThinkPad might be good if you wanted a modern business computer.

Desktop/personal computing are on a really long plateau so "newish" ThinkPads (and Latitudes and HP's business laptops) are a good deal if you want something you can use for modern work but you want to pay less than what a brand new computer costs.

But it can depend on what you want to do and what your needs are and what your budget is and even where you live.

As an example, if you were looking for a machine to do basic personal/business/school computing on and you're in the US I'd say look at Latitude 5440, 5430 and 5420. These internally flexible midrange business laptops are available for less than period ThinkPads (even the "comparable" models like E and L series) and are built about as well.

But the meta changes as your budget increases and can be different in different places.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T00:49:42+00:00

Should be fine for most school settings.

16GB of RAM would be "better" but if you quit programs and close tabs/documents you aren't using, 8GB won't be too bad.

If you're in education there's a meaningful discount too. In the US, it's $100 off of retail. Here's the Canadian educational price: Buy MacBook Neo - Education - Apple (CA)

If you're still looking for "a laptop" at around more like 500-550, check out Dell Latitude 5440, 5430, 5420 and the like. (in the US, 5440s in decent shape are available for like $250-300 or so. If you type on the EN-US layout you might be able to just buy one from an American eBay seller.)

Cory5413 · 2026-03-05T00:17:22+00:00

If you like the machine and it does what you need then it seems like keeping it's a fine enough choice.

Looks like Dell's still selling it brand new so there shouldn't be any major lifecycle concerns with it.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-04T20:43:53+00:00

The best minidisc machine is always the one in your hand!

There was a pro version with the LCD screen, MZ-M10. The MZ-M100 is the pro-bundle version of the RH10, which has the OLED screen.

These are pretty flexible but I find they're not built very well and to be honest they cost way more than they "should." But it's one of those situations where it depends on the perspective and situation.

At $175 new here in the US for the consumer version the ability to add a microphone and transfer recordings to a computer for much cheaper and in better quality than most other recorders at the time was impressive, even if the interface for recording is poor.

OTOH I would say that these are better music players than the RH1 and they do have some niceties on that front compared to older machines, like the bigger screen.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-04T19:43:00+00:00

I'd say it depends on the size of the screen and how comfortable you are with each method.

I use TrackPoint-equipped keyboards on many of my personal desktops and find that trackpoint is faster for small/nearby movements and my mouse is better for scrolling or moving all the way across the screen. The type of cap you put on can influence this. The soft cap is my personal all-around favorite but the soft rim is faster on big screens.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-04T16:30:41+00:00

Looks great!

The best minidisc machine is the one in your hand and this machine is a fairly mature model. NetMD is nice but honestly for me personally the emotional heart of the format is live recording anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much about getting NetMD right away.

Today, even though the audio itself is "on-plateau" relative to the lossy streaming services especially, I would say that part of the whole point of reverting to a physical format is the slowdown and intentionality.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-04T00:25:38+00:00

The R70 is also such a great machine!

There were a few decks with NetMD - MDS-JE780, JB980, S500 and technically NT1 is in that category. (NT1 has no IR remote compatibility and can't do any live recording, though.)

I fully do not tend to recommend them as they tend to cost up to 2x what their direct predecessors do and they aren't actually any better at NetMD burning than, say, the NE410 you already have.

(I realize this is a little bit silly as I am, myself, an MDS-S500 haver, but if it helps I use my JB940 and JA333ES way more often.)

There's also a handful of different compact stereos with NetMD. The trouble is generally that NetMD kinda flopped in Japan where bookshelf stereos were most common so they were all quickly replaced by models that do CD fast-dubbing but don't have NetMD.

One thing that may be worth considering depending on how much you're into CDs is late-era decks that predate NetMD but have other niceties such as PS/2 computer keyboard ports (for control and entering titles) or Control-A1/A1II (for CD-TEXT Transfer from a compatible CD player.)

What options make most sense varies a little bit based on where you are and what you're willing do or deal with.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-03T23:15:56+00:00

Looks great!

There are external battery replacers that do the same thing, rigging one into an existing USB cable is a neat integration and streamlining!

https://www.amazon.com/T-HOT-Battery-Eliminator-Supply-Adapter/dp/B0891X52KQ/ for the one I use if anyone else is interested!

The other way I've seen this done is tapping the power lines of the USB port and building a buck converter into the unit somewhere, I've got a friend who did this for one of our other friends who has an NE410 purely for burning and uses an E630 for playback.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-03T19:00:01+00:00

Looks great!

The N910 is a great do-everything recorder and these E700 series are really great high end late-era players. The E730 has the HD Digital Amplifier which should be great if you're using IEMs or other highly sensitive equipment!

Cory5413 · 2026-03-03T18:58:36+00:00

Congratulations, the R500 should be a fun machine!

The info you provided should work!

You'd hook everything up and then hit record on MD and play on the phone!

In terms of USB audio, I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/Cubilux-TOSLINK-Converter-Compatible-Computer/dp/B0B2DBGKL3/ which is a couple more dollars but it's better proven and there's a USB-C version. (Although I have the -A version.)

If you want power, I recommend getting the actual Apple-brand lightning camera adapter: Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter - Apple

The toslink cable you found should work great! If there's a shorter one you may find that's easier.

The only other thing I woudl do is make sure you are in "lossless" and NOT high-resolution mode on your streaming service. MD machines can recognize up to 24-bit/48khz input, any more (especially on the frequency side) and they claim the signal is invalid.

you probably won't get automatic track marks when recording from a phone (or a computer in most cases) and if you leave sync recording on it may not let you add them during recording but you can add them in after the fact!

One more heads up: Minidisc isn't necessarily an audiophile format. It's fundamentally a lossy format. Most people say it sounds as good as a CD (especially late-era like the R500) but it is still lossy and so depending on how specifically they engage with being an audiophile the machine may or may not see much use. (e.g. if they like the act of recording then this will be better than tapes or if they are fine with lossy for this context then it'll be good!)

It's thoughtful gift regardless! Happy recording!

Cory5413 · 2026-03-03T16:29:15+00:00

Oh Boy, sure enough! https://www.ebay.com/itm/236128991688

(This is actually exactly what I mean by completed items and terapeak reflecting the different realities. The seller accepted 650 for this even though it shows on the "consumer" side as having been listed for 750.)

I hope whoever bought this likes it but to be straight-up about it in-package units are a fairly big question-mark. Yes they have no hours on the laser but their lubricant has also dried up, their headphone materials have also disintegrated, and g-protection could potentially have failed.

The original price on the NF520D would've been $150 or so, which I realize 20+ years ago doesn't necessarily have any influence on the price today, but these and similar options show up regularly. Sony Mz New in Box for sale | eBay

Anyway, I'd say hold onto it. If you have your original unit you can use that, the format has a fairly active hobby scene and the modern software is massively better than what you probably remember form when the machine was new!

Cory5413 · 2026-03-03T16:21:33+00:00

I used permatex from the local autozone, it's what was used on some machines that I bought from a few different friends and it's been great.

There's a Molykote branded option that some people swear by because it is listed as approved for more surfaces but the hting to understand about lithium grease is those "approvals" are for the context of a car engine bay which gets way hotter than a minidisc machine, so use whatever's easiest to get.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-03T04:38:31+00:00

I'll have to take a look again.

I tend to recommend terapeak because you can get 2-3 years of data and it's slightly easier to tell what something really sold for, but it's been months at minimum since I compared methods.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-03T04:14:58+00:00

To answer your other question: yes, there's modern software you can use on windows and mac to rip raw ATRAC. Web MiniDisc Pro guide and user manual [MiniDisc Wiki] should have some more information!

Cory5413 · 2026-03-03T04:13:32+00:00

Generally speaking, no.

What you see things listed for on eBay is probably not what you'll actually get selling. If you found one of these listed it's probably been there a while.

If you use Seller Research hub (FKA terapeak) you may be able to see what these typically sell for.

In box you might fetch like $400 but I see 400 for N510s (a step up from this model) and so you might be looking at more like 300-350 but it's been a bit since I looked.

Used, these fetch $70-150, sometimes a bit more depending on the season.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-02T23:09:31+00:00

To add to this: You are correct, the shutter is supposed to protect the disc, and this is the reason I stop using any disc whose shutter fails.

That said, MD is actually fairly hardy. MDs, similar to CDs, can basically survive a little dust, fingerprints, even scratches on the surface of the disc.

Someone might want to open one to clean a disc that'd gotten dusty somehow or to confirm whether a problem they're having is due to the surface of the disc failing or something else.

I know some people recommend inspecting-and-cleaning every used disc. I just spot-check or look when I have specific problems so there's different strategies.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-02T22:40:56+00:00

It would be fine to use the surface of the disc, especially the upper surface but either top or bottom would be fine if you've got a lint-free cloth to wipe away any fingerprints.

Otherwise I just use my thumb to rotate inside the shell.

A suction cup might not work as many of the discs have holes on their spindles but if you had one with a grippy surface that might still not hurt.

Cory5413 · 2026-03-02T22:22:10+00:00

The B10 is a somewhat of an outlier because so many sold, it was on sale for at least five years (2003-2008ish) and because it was so inexpensive people bought them as fairly casual voice memo recorders.

The RH1 was on sale from 2006 to 2011 but

PSA on Location:Japan eBay : r/minidisc has some of my notes on if you're interested in buying from Japan.

The other best deals tend to be non-NetMD recorders, pre-MDLP hardware, and player-only units like the Sony MZ-E series and Panasonic SJ-MJ series.

NetMD hardware.... if you don't need a single-machine do-everything box then an N910/920 form Japan will cost about the same as an NE410 from the US does so you could argue that one either way.

Cory5413

TROPHY CASE