Skradgee

Actually, 2GB is how much it came with when I got it. It really seems to help move things along when doing intensive things like encoding or compressing files. That came at a higher price, but it was worth it. You do have a great video card. That shoud work quite nicely. I have an old desktop that should probably be retired soon. It's a 1.2Ghz Celeron with 256 MB of RAM. It still runs alright, but that's pretty weak by today's standards. It's time to upgrade, and maybe get a nice dual processor machine.

Actually, USB 2.0 is now supported...but only with the RH1. All other Hi-MD models use a previous USB standard. Sony has been slowly easing up on digital rights management over the past year or so. Products that are unfriendly and difficult to use do not create happy customers. You might get drag and drop someday, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it. Hmmmm. Maybe Sony could allow drag and drop for MP3s, but not Atrac files. That could be fair.

Vista is alright. I haven't used a Mac in a while, but some of the changes to the user interface make me think of MacOS...mostly because of the visual transitions that happen. For example, some windows will shrink and fade away when closed, or double-clicking on an icon will make an image of it get bigger. It looks nice, but I wonder how much it ties up the video card, memory, etc. A lot of computers that are several years old and still in use today will not be able to run it because of the minimum specifications. Stuge mentioned that in a thread here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=15663 There are still some stability issues. Blue screen errors have happened a few times (usually caused the video controller), but that is to be expected from a beta release of a product that isn't completed yet. The Beta 2 release is apparently much more stable than the Beta 1 release was. Oh, and I haven't tried SonicStage with it yet. That might be a true test of stability! I'm not quite sure what else to say about it since I still haven't used it very much, but here are the laptop specs and some screenshots... [attachmentid=1803] The System Performance Rating seems like it could be useful. It looks at your hardware and basically gives each part of it a grade. The laptop got a 3 overall. [attachmentid=1804] Note that in the Start menu, I had to customize it to add the listings for Printers and Run They were hidden by default after the installation. The Printers folder I don't care too much about...it can be found in the Control Panel when needed, but 'Run' I use way too much to go without. Sometimes it's just easier to just type instead of going through several clicks to get to something. [attachmentid=1805] Desktop (resized 50%)

Last weekend I repartitioned the 60GB hard drive in my laptop. It now has three operating systems: Fedora (a version of linux, of course), Windows XP, and the Beta 2 version of Windows Vista. There are 30GB for the XP installation, and and 15 for the other two. I started with 10 gigs for Vista thinking, "Oh, that will be big enough to mess around with for a test installation." Well after the installation finished, there was less than 15MB of free space left! So, I increased it to 15GB and that left just enough room for Fedora. Overall it's quite nice, but I wish there was more room for a regular FAT partition for sharing files between the Windows and Linux installations.

To be clear, Minidisco is selling the Black one. I don't see the Silver one listed for sale at their website.

Does anyone else find it funny how the Windows defragmenter marks all the MD data as fragmented files (red)? I can see how that could be misleading to some people.

Zed9, the short answer to your question is no, but headphones can be plugged directly into the body. See the page for the NH1 on the equipment browser at minidisc.org.

How 'bout that...it was added today, but it's been officially available to Canada since May 25th! Of course Sony has to tweak the software for the online music store, but it seems like spreading that out over a month isn't really necessary. Anyway, I just rebuilt my laptop and haven't reinstalled SonicStage yet so I'll check it out tonight.

http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-RH1.html This is "the one". You said you want the best, the one that will give you the most options...buy this machine and you may never have to buy another minidisc unit ever again. The main difference the MZ-RH1 has from all other Hi-MD models is that it can upload legacy minidisc recordings. It's available from online retailers to the tune of about $400 dollars, but good luck finding a black one that isn't packaged without a microphone. Currently I can only find Silver ones that are ready for shipping. Anyway, you also mentioned wanting a unit that doesn't use rechargable batteries...check out the MZ-RH10 and RH-910. An MZ-M100 or MZ-M10 might be nice if you have a MAC. If you buy one new you'll get a rechargable battery anyway, but those models can use the attachment needed for AA batteries. Mics are another whole issue. I'll leave that to someone else.

After high school, I almost took that route...getting certifications and whatnot. Instead I enrolled in college and earned an Associate degree in Computer Engineering Technology (one more year left for a Bachelor's degree). My brother did the opposite...he has an A+ certification and is working on his MCSE. We both have similar tech support jobs and make roughly the same amount of money. Certifications usually cost less than going to school, but either way you'll be better placed to apply for computer-related jobs. Consider that this is my US point of view. I'm not sure about the tech-job scene in Australia. Are you looking to make more money at your current job, or find another job after you earn the certificate?

Our emails would likely either get backed up to DEV\NULL, or Sony would ask to be put on the global "DO NOT SPAM" list.

Interesting... Really though...just start selling the damn units in the US! I understand that Sony wants to get the marketing right and sell as many as they can sell, but I'm getting sick of waiting...and might give in and buy one from Audiocube$.

192kbps sounds noticibly weak on high-end frequencies to me. Yeah, you can adjust that with EQ but I don't care for it. 132kbps or 256kbps is how I roll.

All you can really do is duplicate the left channel to make a mono mix to fill in the silence in the right channel. It won't be true stereo of course, and you’d notice it when listening to the recording through headphones, but it'll sound better than leaving it the way it is. One other thing you could do is create a fake stereo mix. There are certain effects you could apply (simulated stereo, 3D sound, etc.) that would make the transitions into the mono parts seem less abrupt or awkward. Ideally, you'd apply something like that to the entire track/mix since using that on only the mono parts could make the recording sound even more strange.

I don't see any for sale at walmart.com either. A search for 'minidisc' returns one result of a book which looks like guide to digital music.

I was tempted to buy an RH1 from Audiocubes. I can't wait any longer! Well, really I can wait, expecially since buying from them would cost major $$$. Considering the money that'll be saved from buying elsewhere, it should be worth the wait.

Well, good to hear that it is working correctly now. It can be scary when all of a sudden something like that stops working (or stops working correctly).

$700 dollars?! Dang Chris, how fast were you allegedly going? Just yesterday I got a speeding ticket...$200 + five points. There goes the Tool concert and the RH1.

I can find some talk about that, but it appears to be speculation. Who's got some solid info on this deck?

Sitting in my cubicle...listening for tech support phone calls. Today is my day to sit at the desk instead of being out around the building fixing computer problems.

Hey thanks Dan Anonymous! Your translation is much more readable than the google one I posted. This was very interesting to read.

Go for the MZ-NHF800 for another Hi-MD unit...I think it'll be worth it. You should be able to find an inexpensive used one if you go the eBay route. A440 makes a good point that if you only want a radio, you could buy just that to save some money, but I like having both built into one unit. During the workday, I'll switch back and forth between the radio and MDs when I get tired of listening to one or the other. Plus, if your MZ-RH10 ever craps out, you'll have a backup unit to play all your MDs.

No! I want one right now! No more waiting. Other people have 'em already.

Hey danielbb90, I had a problem with my NH1 playing back, and recording discs properly. Does your deck still record OK? First I had playback problems (moments of silence...disc spins, but the counter doesn't move or it would move slowly), then the recording problems started (tracks saved with skips and moments of silence, or not at all). The solution? Sony repair. Apparently the optical unit stopped working correctly, so it was replaced when I sent the deck in for service. The part was replaced, the unit was tested, and then it was shipped back to me. Now almost all the playback problems are gone, and recording works too, but after all this happened I don't trust the machine 100% (for recording, anyway). Now I mostly used that deck for playback. So, find out about sending your NH1 for repair...it'll probably cost a few dollars, but it might be worth it...especially since the NH1 is now a discontinued model.

Here's a link to the Google translated page. It's not the greatest translation, but you'll get the jist of it. RH1 Interview