pata2001

I've converted tons of videos using Nero Recode's PSP/memory stick preset, and I never have a sync issue with either my PSP or 5G iPod. How do you playback the videos? The issue might be with the playback software or your PC. As for your second point, Amazon.com is actually going to try that new business model. They are going to offer downloadable movies, and the price you paid will be good towards a credit if you want to buy the DVD version.

A very good insight. Yup, I think I've been discussing how stupid Sony is (especially Sony USA) in the T-board for many times. Just to add on: -We know when MD and HDx got MP3 support. In contrast, Sony PCDP has MP3 playback first before Atrac. Same thing with Sony CD car decks. They've been supporting MP3 for like 2 or 3 generation, before Atrac support coming in last year. -Sony has boomboxes and mini hifis supporting MP3, but not Atrac. AtracCD support first came into 2 boombox models. Now there is a mini hifi with AtracCD support. Still, no component home audio device supporting Atrac, even though there are plenty of Sony DVD players with MP3 support. -Seamless/gapless for AtracCD. AtracCD PCDPs have this feature since 2004 lineup. Yet, none of the other AtracCD devices (boomboxes, CD car deck, mini hifi) have this feature. -Sony USA intentionally disabling kanji display support on MD/PCDPs in the US, going as fas as modifying the firmware (eg. NE20). Sony is a Japanese company for god sake. It would probably cost them more to differentiate the units from the assembly line, than just use 1 unit. And it's not problem free either. Just take the RH10's alphabet bug, which does not exist on the Japanese units. How hard can it be to just use 1 firmware for all units in the assembly line? Isn't that the point of assembly line? -PSP supports AAC, yet none of any other audio-related Sony devices do. -iLink/firewire port on the PS2. It's so not usable that Sony got rid of it for the second revision of the console. -Clie. Sony Clies are very good palmOS PDAs, and brought multimedia features that was unheard of for a palm. Sales were pretty good too, with great prices. Yet Sony pulled them out, and only made Clies for Japan. -UMD. Sony wanted UMD to be a new standard media. It was accepted as a standard, but so far, we only have the PSP supporting it. What good a media that supposed to be standard if you can only use it on 1 device? -Sony has plenty of bad rap in regards to being propietary. Betamx, MD, memory stick, Atrac, blu-ray, you name it. Yet, they're the first one who came up with a DVD burner supporting both +R and -R, while other companies like Plextor, Apple, or Dell only supporting 1 of the 2. Sony's Sir Howard is right about Sony divisions not talking to each other. Also there are Sony music and Sony pictures, which seems only interested in inhibittiing progress in the name of profit (disguised as copyright protection). However, I don't see Sony doing anything better, with the connect fiasco and the Axxxx series. You just never know. As for other manufactures. we don't have to look that far out. Just take Apple. They bashed x86 architecture in the past till no end, now they are using intel and brags how it is x times faster than their G4/G5. Creative. Their flash-based MP3 players are all pure drag-n-drop UMS, yet their hard-drive based DAPs are not even mass storage compliant. Panasonic. Japanese version of their PCDPs have line-outs, while the US version with the same exact model numbers don't. It would probably cost the more to make 2 different units from the assembly one then just simply use the same unit for both regions.

All previous AtracCD car decks CANNOT play AtracCD gaplessly. I'm not sure about these new lineup, since my local Bestbuy refuses to show a demo unit, since they still have the older units in stock, even though they do have the new ones in stock too.

Well, Audiocubes is selling them for $29, so there you go. Pricey, considering you can get the EX71 for $29, at least in the US.

Well, for a stock bud, they're pretty good, if not the best. The only better stock bud is probably the EX51 included with some MD player units. For comfort, I highly suggest getting those foam covers.

I was shopping at Target today, and to my amazement, there's a new Sony AtracCD PCDP, NE330. It's not even listed in sonystyle USA yet. Looks like it was only marketed in certain Asian (not all Asian countries) and European countries. It's pretty much a poorman's NE920. The controls are similar, using jog lever instead of buttons like NE320 and family. The LCD is on the left side of the lid, side by side with the controls, instead of up+down arrangement ala Ne920, non-backlit. What interesting is, there is a big label on the box, promoting that the unit has 15mW + 15mW output! It's been a while since we see that kind of output in sony portables. Color is black, and it comes with a non-LCD key-chain remote, like the ones included with Psyc NE320s. I didn't check the price, but maybe $50? Anybody want to get this and test the output?

I was stating that just to point out that Sony would be the last to put "mainstream" features in their products, thanks to sony music and sony pictures. Sony limit the resolution for self-encoded videos to 320x240, while the PSP's native screen resolution is 480 x 272. Only UMD movies take the advantage of higher resolution. Besides, there is still control/limitation on the medium, memory stick, which is Sony's propietary, not a 60GB hard-drive. PSP is an oddball (heck, it even supports AAC, while none of Sony's portable audio devices do). PSP development doesn't translate equally to the consumer electronics side though. Again, if Sony music can put so much pressure to hamper development on Sony portable audio devices, what do you think about sony pictures? They have UMD, and blu-ray in the horizon (which is also heavily DRMed). What do you think the executives say if they are presented with a DRM-free device, and that they don't have control on the content (via medium or DRM)? Creative managed to make the vision:M supporting divx/xvid, since they don't have any conflict of interest in the entertainment industry. Apple is kinda in the middle. They don't have a tight relation with the entertainment industry, but they don't want the RIAA/MPAA pulled the plug on iTune store either.

How long did it take Sony to actually support MP3 in MD? And no MP3 support when HD1 first came out? Let's face it, Sony still has its Sony music and sony pictures departments do the talking. "Video support," if ever, is probably going to be heavily limited and DRMed to death. IMO, before Sony going to video, they must really put improvements in software first. What use a good hardware with buggy software?

From the pics, I believe the A3000 comes with the E931, which is pretty good itself and shouldn't be dismissed just because it's a stock bud. I would use it first before tossing it out just because it's a stock bud.

From the pictures, I would say it's the E931.

Most of them will be in Japanese only. Action, racing and platforming games should be easy/straight forward without having advance knowledge of Japanese, except for the menus. The only problem is RPG games.

As long as you have older firmware (1.5 and older), you can run emulators on your PSP, and your game selections are expanded considerably. Outside Japan, the games selection for the PSP is pretty mediocore (although more games are coming out, still pale compared to Japan, where there's already a greatest hits lineup for the PSP). Good thing is there is no region lock on games so far.

I would avoid those units. Not only they are made from obviously cheap plastic, they requies 2(!)AA and their battery life is at the stone age of PCDP. I would get at least the D-NE320/319, which should not be much more expensive than those 2.

Can you just re-rip the original CDs to MP3? The only reason you would do what you said is if all your albums are purchased from connect store, unless you don't have the original CD anymore or deleted the original source (eg. MP3).

Other than the white iPod stock bud, I've seen MDR-V300, EX71, and streetstyle. Not much variety, except for some international students from Japan or Asia with some colorful clip-ons.

Jacket or shirt pocket. IMO, dangling a DAP on your neck is not a good idea, unless you're not afraid of being mugged.

Yup, that's a valid concern. Plus it is more difficult to transcode your Atrac files to other format. That's why for newcomers, I highly advise to stick with MP3 instead of Atrac, unless gapless is a must. Sony has screwed us before by abandoning the original Atrac (SP) format in NetMD and 2nd gen HiMD units, and now it seems they are abandoning Atrac3 too (only LP2 remains in SS3.3). In addition, every generation of devices has incomplete support of the Atrac3+ codec (HD3/5, Network Walkmans, HiMD, AtracCD).

Just to add on: If compatibility and future usability concern you, go with MP3. There is no way telling the future of Atrac (and the fact that it is more difficult to transcode Atrac to other format). MP3 is pretty much the universal standard for compressed music. If you need to squeeze more space, before going to other codec, I would still consider Lame MP3 with --preset medium or -V 5 setting. If gapless music is a must, then go with Atrac. Sony players (except some AtracCD devices) play Atrac gaplessly. WMA is gapless, but I doubt the A3000 can play it gaplessly since no other WMA capable DAP could (except the Rio Karma).

The only "obvious" benefit of battery life will only be realized if you use low bitrate Atrac. Atrac3+ 256kbps still uses plenty of juice. The HD3 plays MP3 just fine, so there is no point converting your MP3s. If you still insist in converting to Atrac, it would be more logical to convert your MP3s to Atrac3 132kbps or Atrac3+ 64kbps, therefore giving you better battery life than Atrac3+ 256kbps. Drawback is the loss of sound quality is even greater. Still, if you're transcoding from high bitrate MP3s, the reduction in quality might not be that noticable. Is it just me, or is there an increasing number of questions regarding transcoding MP3s to Atrac? In the past, many people complained about Sony not supporting MP3 and having to convert to Atrac. Now that Sony devices supports MP3 natively, many want to transcode to Atrac. Oh the irony.

I never use the V-surround feature, and I don't understand why it would be useful for a portable device in the first place. It would be more useful in a home receiver, or on a movie capable device. IMO, standard EQ is enough for a portable audio device. V-surround, SRS, Wow, etc IMO only distort sound.

IMO that's bull. Maybe during takeoff/landing, but in the air, I've seen people using notebook computers, portable DVD players, and PCDPs just fine.

I've seen Sony USB AC adaptors available at retail stores like Bestbuy, and it's not that expensive either, only $20, unlike iPod's, which is $30.

Why would you want to transcode your MP3s? Transcoding only means LOWERING the quality further. You will NOT get better quality by transcoding lower bitrate MP3 to 320kbps. The HD3 handles MP3s just fine, CBR and VBR, so I don't see the reason of transcoding. If you really have to transcode, then just like everybody said, might as well transcode to Atrac. MP3 is a bad codec for transcoding. There was a comparison in hydrogenaudio forum that reveals trascoding MP3 to MP3 with other codecs, and MP3 to MP3 (even using Lame) gives the worst result.

Hey, that's my favorite Mr.Children album. Just arrived: The Best Of Non-Stop Super Eurobeat 2005 Disc 1 1.O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei 2.Bombers - Hi Hi Mazinga 3.Franz Tornado & Bazooka Girl - Motto-Motto Inamoto 4.Franz Tornado - One Night With Bazooka Belly Dancers 5.Jeff Driller - Lucky Doom 6.Franz Tornado And The Akihabara Maids - Maid Attack 7.Bazooka Girl - Money Funny Dollars 8.Sticky, Tricky & Bang - Sticky, Tricky And Bang 9.Kiki & Fancy - Big In The Night 10.Go Go Girls - Nothing Can Stop The Music 11.Milk & Coffea - Yellow Butterfly 12.Niko - Pilot Is The Hero 13.Manuel - What You Need 14.Dave Rodgers - Wild Reputation 2005 15.Dave Rodgers - Space Invader 16.Powerful T. - Original Sin 17.King & Queen - Boogie Boogie 18.Go Go Girls - I Wanna Be Fat 19.Go 2 - Funky Funlover 20.Joe D. Toaster - Black Night Cadillac 21.Garcon - Pistol Man 22.Boogaboo - Bugabuga Chew Chew 23.Mark Foster - Like A Fire 24.Fastway - Kingo King'o Beat 25.Overload - Terminator 26.Neo - Go Go Money (B4 Za Beat Remix) Disc 2 1.Leslie Parrish - Victim 2.Stephy Martini - Emotions 3.Dave & Nuage - Don't Make Me Cry 4.Lolita - Loving Tonight 5.Melissa White - My Wish 6.Nuage Feat. Sonia - I'm Never Gonna Let You Down And Forget You 7.Kevin Johnson - Don't Say Goodbye 8.Degaz Feat. Vanessa - Stand Up 9.Nuage - You'll Never Stop Me Lovin' You 10.Queen 26 - Inside Your Heart 11.Madison - Without You 12.Nuage - Still Love 13.Ace - My Valentine 14.Melissa White - Fine 15.Eurofunk - Stop To Give Up 16.Cherry - She's All Right 17.Chris Stanton - Love Is Freedom 18.Dee Dee & Regina - Beautiful Day 19.Sophie - Eternal Simphony 20.Stylophones - Never Say Goodbye 21.Pamsy & Ace - 2 Love, 4 Love 22.Virginelle - Like A Virgin 2005 23.Lolita - My Heart Burns Like A Fire 24.Digital Planet - Call Me Tonight 25.Digital Planet - Try To Believe Me 26.Mega NRG Man - Supertonic Lady (Y. & Co. Remix)

I was thinking about more of the device's processor clock speed. Many electronic devices now (especially DAPs, PDAs) use processors with variable clockspeed (like the Pentium M). So when doing intensive stuff, the processor runs at higher clock speed, the battery meter will seem to drain faster or at lower point, but when the processor is idle (lower clock speed), the meter also adjust accordingly. If you have a Pentium M notebook, you'll see the estimated remaining battery time changes, depending if you are running a game, using wireless, or idle, etc. True, the moving parts can also take part (just like when the battery meter of a PCDP flickering between full/partial charge when spinning a disc).