MDman53

Best Buy still carries blank Minidisc's. They have the 5 pack of Preminum Gold 80's priced at $11.99. at least in the Minnesota stores...that I can confirm in January 2007! HI-MD can be found on line at prices as low as $4.69 each. Don umwoofwoof wrote: Best Buy has also discontinued blank minidiscs. I bought the last Fuji 10 pack, which apparently was packaged by Fuji to get rid of old stock. It was SUPPOSED to be the dark black tinted transparent discs, but it was the colored discs like Fuji used to sell in the 15 pack in the 10 pack packaging. Fuji no longer sells minidiscs either. Best Buy still had 20 packs of 2002 Sony "Premium Gold" minidiscs in the packaging that they were originally sold in 2002...they have been on the shelves nearly 5 years; Sony changed the packaging of these back in 2004.

I find it interesting how a Sony rep can mispell minidisc as minidisk!!! Was this a hastily typed reply or does she really know the Sony MINIDISC products? We would also appreciate a firm US release date of the MZ-RH1. Don Quote below: <<Hi Eric*, We showed the new minidisk product at our Open House/line show in March so it is definitely intended for the US market. My latest understanding is that is will be available around May of this year. Best, Valerie Motis Corporate Communications Sony Electronics>>

The BEST News for Minidisc since the HI-MD format made it's debut. Love the sleek, compact design of the RH1 with the record levels and controls in easy to use and logical orientation. An external battery would be a plus. Unless they have improved the capacity from the current MZ-RH10 "gumstick" battery. I use the sidecar battery for ALL field recordings on my RH10. I'm looking forward to picking up a MZ-RH1 as soon as it is released in the US. We also need to have Sony build a HI-MD home deck. I currently have a MDS-JB940 deck that works fantastic with standard MD. I would definitely purchase a home HI-MD deck for advanced audio editing and sound quality. Don

It's no big deal. You can use the "Combine" feature later; to make the 2 tracks 1. Don

HI-MD fans: I'm the one that started this topic. It's sure caused alot of discussion. Maybe I should explain my question:Why does Best Buy ignor Hi-MD? When I go to a Superstore as in: Best Buy. I expect a SUPER selection of EVERYTHING. Not just huge quantities stacked floor to ceiling telling the public. "This is what's Hot and what you need"! or "This is what we bought in huge quantities and we have to move...NOW"! Maybe it is just easier for Best Buy to sell ALL the Ipods and MP3 players they can. They don't want to be bothered explaining the tecnological and sound quality advantages of HI-MD to the naive consumer. This is an Minidisc Forum so I assume everyone here is a BIG Fan of the format! There are probably Pro Ipod forums out there. I'm sure their tolerance level of Minidisc is just as predictable. Don

When the 1st gen HI-MD recorders were first released in 2004. Best Buy and Target carried the entry level: Sony MZ-NH600D. The 600 typically sold for $199.99. Unfortunately this unit had USB input only and not line in/mike jacks. I tried to get my 12 yr. old daughter to buy a 600. She wasn't interested; because all her friends at School had Ipods. It turned out into a costly purchase. The Ipod Mini cost $250.00 vs $199.99 for the 600. Then I had to buy a new computer with Windows XP run to run the Itunes software. The 600 with Sonicstage would run on Windows 98SE. Don

Just received the Best Buy Holiday Catalog in the mail today. 65 pages of almost? everything in electronics. There are 5 pages on Digital Music players..they feature a variety of MP3 players by many manufacturers (no Sony) plus Ipods and accessories. NOT one mention about Hi-MD or any Minidisc recorders for that matter. This is very discouraging. I've noticed the past few years; "Big Box" retailers (Best Buy, Circuit City and Ultimate Electronics) really DON'T have a large variety of electronics. They tends to carry a limited selection of products only in the "mainstream" and "HOT" categories. You can find virtually every Apple Ipod made. But you can not find even ONE Apple computer at Best Buy. Can Sony find a way to have the Big Electronics stores carry Hi-MD recorders? They carry Sony TV, DVD players, Camcorders, Digital Cameras, Computers, CD players and on and on. They even carry cassette Walkmans. Do cassette Walkmans even sell anymore? Is there some way we can get HI-MD sold by mainstream stores? Anyone else want to weigh in on the invisible HI-MD retail market? By the way; I ordered my Sony MZ-RH10 HI-MD recorder from Datavision (on line) last May. Paid $239.00 plus shipping..a Great price. The RH-10 is the BEST Minidisc yet. A fantastic recorder and it "blows away" all the Ipods and MP3 players on the market....IMHO! ! ! I've supported Minidisc since I bought my first Sony MZ-1 back in 1992. Don

Hi Jaz: I would highly endorse the Sony MZ-R10. I've had my unit for the past 5 months. I sound quality in the PCM mode is excellent. The same quality as DAT. You get 94 minutes on a HI-MD disc. The backlight is GREAT for nighttime recording. One item takes some getting use to: Going thru the menus to set the manual record levels. The TOC writing (to finalize the MD) takes about 10 - 15 seconds. If are recording and don't want to change discs? I have had excellent results using the HI-MD HI-SP record mode. My previous favorite MD recorder was an Aiwa AM-F70. This unit had the backlit display plus set the manual record mode once; even with disc changes. The advancement in electronic technology in the new SONY has put sound quality well beyond the Aiwa and all previous MD recorders; for that matter. The digital amp in the MZ-RH10 puts this unit at the cutting edge in portable recording! Get the MZ-RH10; you will really like it. Don

So you used the external pak with the 2300 mAh NiMH rechargable but removed the gumstick battery? I serious doubt you could record for 8.5 hours in the HI-MD PCM mode using the above battery. Do you have a MZ-RH10 recorder? Net MD recorders are completely different in power consumption. I used a 2100 mAh NiMH battery fully charged but not brand new. The point I was trying to make is: the supplied gumstick battery is NOT adequate for (2) HI-MD PCM discs (186 minutes recording time). With the gumstick + the external battery pak attached; it is. But that's some additional bulk to add to the recorder. Don

I've had my Sony RH-10 for 5 months now. Here is some advice on battery life from the gumstick and external battery case. If you are doing recordings using Hi-MD media in the PCM audio mode? Follow these steps: -Turn off the "quick mode" under the Menu options setting. If you don't the gumstick battery will drain even if you do NOT use the recorder. -Fully charge your gumstick battery. -Use a brand new alkaline battery in the external battery case. Do NOT use a NiHM rechargable battery. They drain faster than conventional alkaline batteries. -Top off the "charge" on the gumstick right before you leave. -Turn the "quick mode" back "ON" right before recording. -Do not rely on the internal gumstick battery to give you long recordings. Use the external battery case if space permits. I found this out the hard way. I lost part of a "Live" recording. I tried recording only with the internal gumstick. After 90 min of PCM. The battery indicator showed half life remaining. I changed discs and added the exteranl battery pak. The recorder said: "NOT enough power to record". I had to REMOVE the internal battery and rely on the external battery to start the recorder and finish recording. The long battery life (33 hours) Sony claims is strickly for playback: NOT recording. They list PCM recording at 5.5 hours. How come I only got 90 minutes? Hi-MD requires huge power to record in PCM. Sony needs to make a Hi capacity gumstick to replace the current NH-14WH. The recorded sound quality in the PCM mode is EXCELLENT. No compression and every bit as good as DAT. Don

So if Sony abandons the Hi-MD format? How about DAT? Will DAT continue to be sold in the US and Japan? I don't see how. Talk about a failed format; at least in the mainstream consumers mind. I know there are Pros that use DAT and some "Tapers" swear by it. Face it; DAT decks sell a small fraction of volume Minidisc sells. So if Sony finds a way to keep DAT around; it must be the golden stepchild of someone in upper Sony management. There is NO way DAT can be profitable for Sony to manufacture. Can Sony keep at least a couple Hi-MD high end portables and release a new Hi-MD home unit for professional use? I think everyone on this board currently using Hi-MD would qualify as a Professional! Don