rubicon23

Hi all, Does anyone know if Hi-MD discs from other brands are on the way? For that matter, will there be competing players too (as NetMDs by Aiwa [sony-owned], Sharp, etc.), or is this just a Sony monopoly for now? Rubi

>>Don't get me wrong, I've been a proponent of the MD format for years, but I think it's the wrong choice for people who mainly use MP3s. After giving some thought to this comment, I think I chose my Net MD over a Creative Zen last year because MDs are like discmans (you can load in your choice of discs easily without hooking up to a PC), but smaller and less likely to skip. NetMDs let me upload mp3s or wmas. And when Hi-MDs came along and offered 1Gb of individual removable storage, that's the best news for me yet. Rubi

Hi There, I use my NHF800 (Hi-MD) primarily as a portable music player, and also as a storage device for my university stuffs. Yes you can transfer your downloaded mp3s to your Hi-MD set, or transfer the tracks from CDs you own. The thing to know is - the "mp3s" you eventually listen to on the set are ATRACs, converted via Sonic Stage, the software that comes in your box. If you listened to mostly live mix/dj mixes, you should know this too - if you 'burn' from CDs, the tracks are gapless and flow seamlessly. However, if you 'burn' from mp3s, there're discernible gaps between tracks, which might mar your enjoyment. (Using Foobar writing solves this problem sometimes [the results are not always perfect], but it means having the entire mix as a single lengthy mp3. But I digress...) I used to own a Net MD before the Hi-MD. I'm happier now with the bigger capacity (naturally), the 6 band equaliser and surround sound options, plus not having to face the check-in check-out limitation... So, I'm not sure if Sony will eventually go totally Hi-MDs. Even if they do, you should still get Net or other model MDs from other brands. Rubi

Sorry if this has been discussed before... Does Sony have plans to release disc formats that are larger than the current 1GB? It'll be really good if they do, cause it will mean giving the competitors (iPod, Muvo) a good run...