hobgoblin

bingo, a 1GB flash card is about 30USD around here (1GB secure digital). a usb flash storage device with the same capacity seems to be about the same. hmm, a 1GB hi-md comes in at about 12USD... a bit more expensive then i first tought (been a while since i checked). still, they are about half to one third the cost of a usb device or flash card... a 5-pack of minidiscs come in at about the same as the single hi-md. what was the storage capacity of a hi-md formated minidisc again? (i have a interest in the format, but getting hold of a player in this part of the world is anything but simple).

the one issue i have with flash devices is that they are not sold in multiple packs. say one could pick they up in 10-packs, maybe in that version thats no bigger then a flashcard with the basic usb connectors at one end (just fold some plastic bit away and stuff it into a port).

hmm, is this to say i can connect it between a md-plaer and a headset, and when my bluetooth enabled mobile gets a call i can use it as a handsfree device?

so if i want to grab a unit, it looks like i have to shop somewhere else then the local electronics shop...

well it comes packaged with a microphone so im not surprised...

if i should hazard a guess, it have something to do with some legacy code...

i think most people have a problem with the atrac codec, not with the MD format itself (alltho, people are getting used to carrying double digit GB of storage in their pocket). now, where did that hi-md datadrive go of to?

i think its allready been posted. cant be botherd to do a search tho

i think its not a problem of sony licencing the tech, i think its a problem of the other companys not finding it sane to licence a tech with a limited marketability from the company that basicly have the whole market coverd.

hmm, by the looks of it (i cant say for sure as i do not have the hardware to test it) you would need the new RH1 (or whatever its called) that sony is going to start shipping...

craptastic...

what would be the ideal solution but if that cant happen, having a app that can run from a md and manage the transfer of mp3's to and from the discs would be a nice substitute...

a very valid question, and i would say no. atleast not from a home player device. but we would probably see studio devices that could ignore the DRM settings...

now if sony would make a program that could fit on a md with hi-md formating and that can manage transfer of mp3s...

was it even sony that made said bookshelf? i have a feel it was a third party...

or maybe edit the headline so that its clearly labled as a joke...

someone posted a link to a car unit with a usb port in front. in theory any mp3's stored on the disc in data "format" would be readable by said unit... so if sony would allow for playback of data format mp3's, it could combo nicely with said car unit, and basicly skyrocket the value of the himd format... listen to the music directly from the player while outside the car. plug into unit and continue to listen when inside car... ok, so you could have two discs with the same music on it. but come on! why make it more complicated then it needs to be? as for a deck, i would pick it up in a flash if it had a usb port and allowed for high speed writing (as in external power for single pass delete/write with a high power laser).

interesting that track one reads mp3, but cant give any info on length or bitrate...

i wonder, have anyone done any testing of this player?

check some of the comments to that one... one of the most used ones is a 2004 test of atrac vs other codecs...

i have a problem with that image, there is no real size refrence on it...

allso, transfering 8GB would require you to swap md about 7 times

well well, im glad i didnt jump on the 600 offers that was floating around... however, the price for this one will be a bit to stiff for me right now (on top of that, hi-md devices is allmost impossible to locate in norway by the looks of it). im guessing that the mp3's will still have to go thru sonicstage...

problem is that france is a something like the third biggest music market in europe. pulling could put a dent in the bottom line...

hmm, i just found a article about france vs apple&sony... basicly the french dont like that apple have a lockin on the sale of music to their ipod devices (ok so its aac wrapped in a "weak" drm but hang with me) and wants them to open up this system so that third party's can sell to the device allso... this will indirectly hit sony as its much the same with the atrac codec. therefor one may end up with a release of the full atrac spec, complete with how the hi-md units talk to sonicstage (this part is realy the issue as its here that the drm and the vendor lockin comes into place). sorry if this is the wrong place to post something like this but i cant think of a more fitting place without starting a whole new thread...