I don't know about MD...I have one, (non-NetMD, mind you)and it's great for recording, but the recording time with the Xitel thing is just insane. Granted this doesn't apply here, but it's a gripe all the same.
Plus, listening at 128/64 kbps is laughable as far as I'm concerned. And LP4 recording, which aoi tsuki mentioned is ~64kbps, not 128(which is LP2). Then there's the discs themselves- hardly portable if you're going to carry more than two or three. OpenMG which is used for transfering files, is supposedly a very annoying program, which has to convert your Mp3s to ATRAC3 format for the MD.
Right now, there isn't any perfect format out there....so either hold off, or get MD is you aren't concerned about the gripes I have with it.