From Google Products about the Sony RH1:
"MiniDisc players have been almost entirely eclipsed by MP3 players, but according to experts, MiniDisc recorders are much better than MP3 players for making live recordings of concerts and lectures."

This is nonsense. MD recorders can't have an internal mic because the MD mechanisms makes loud clicking noises. Solid state recorders are silent and work well with their internals mics. The article quoted above makes no attempt to explain its assertion.

The Sony RH1 is twice the price of many competent solid state recorders.

Minidiscs are expensive. Memory cards are cheap for the same capacity and available in much higher capacities.

If you record to ATRAC, how is this useful after copying to a PC?
(compared with MP3 which nearly everything can play)

I used to be an avid minidisc fan, but my Edirol R-09 leaves MD in the dust. Sorry Sony: adding usable USB connetivity is too little, too late.

(apologies for thread drift...)