Norick

I bought 80% of my MD collection (thats about 18 units) from Ebay-UK sellers. No problem whatsoever

I also paid a visit to the Sony Center on Tottenham Court Road last week, and they were out of stock (so were all the stores I went to). The guy at the counter told me to come back at the end of this week, but I don't think he knows what he's talking about, he just wants to make sure I don't get it somewhere else (well, I already have a RH1, I need to get one for a relative)

Damn...out in Spain and here in France we still have to wait till...well, maybe September, some even say November. Go figure. Not that I really care, for I have already bought mine in the UK, but still, it'd be nice for Sony to show some minor consideration. But hey, what do you know...

Just order one from China on Ebay and you'll be set. That's what I did (it should arrive in 1 week). http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Sony-Hi-MD-Lithi...1QQcmdZViewItem And read the following topic before you make up your mind: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=16019

One question: is it hard to put the new battery inside a MZ-E10? I'm a little worried about that wire ribbon thingy I see on the pictures.

I find this amazing...Can't find a single one in Paris but Sony shipped it to Chile. I might move there Once in London, you can check out the Sony Centers (Tottenham Court Road, Baker Street, The Lewisham Centre). There a several consumer electronics stores in Tottenham Court Road (besides the Sony Center), too.

Thx for the link. One last thing: where does you sig come from?? I heard that same sentence yesterday, made me laugh, but I cannot remember where and it drives me NUTS! I tried tracing the things I listened to and saw yesterday (a couple of Richard Pryor albums, 3 "Two and a Half Men" episodes, ...), but I'm not sure.

Thx for your reply, excellent idea, I'm gonna try the NL forum (well, "try" sounds fairly appropriate, for I don't speak a word of dutch language and can't read it. Hopefully they will accept my creating a thread in English)

Hi, I hope I'm writing this in the appropriate section. I'm going to the Netherlands for 3 days to attend a Guns N Roses concert on Sunday, staying in Amsterdam on Friday and Saturday and I was wondering if there were any Sony Centers there, and what were the hot places to purchase minidiscs and minidisc related produtcs. If you could give me the exact locations, that'd be awesome. Thx in advance

Damn...all these "i got my RH1" topics are putting my patience to a strong test Put yourself in my shoes: I got my Rh1 about 10 days ago but won't be able to lay eyes (and hands) on it until mid july (I got it through my brother who lives in London, as I'm in Paris and the RH1 won't be here before...well, ages). I read all that can be read about it, I've seen all the pictures and the pdf brochures, just to get in the mood. How pathetic is that? hehehe

Damn, the RH1 on Ebay UK went for 265£!! Thats how rare that baby is...I wanted to join the party as well (I already have one, but my cousin also wants one), but when I asked the guy about product warranty he gave me a vague answer, telling me that Sony was "probably" gonna take care of it in case smth happened. The thing is that he claims his RH1 is an unwanted gift, which is fine by me, but Sony needs some kind of proof of purchase or receipt in order for the unit to be repaired. He didn't seem to have that (at least he kept silent when asked about it), which is somehow understandable since its a gift (and people who make gift don't always give you the receipt with it - common courtesy or smth). Unless Sony handles the whole warranty issue like Apple does (ie no need for a receipt, you just gotta give the unit serial number), I don't know...

Looks like that Super Nintendo cheatcode we used to do to enable the superturbo feature in Street Fighter 2 Thx, I'm going to try it on my unit.

Well, considering Steve Job's burning desire to distribute full-length movie on ITMS, I'd say tomorrow at about 6pm. Be prepared.

The thing is that, as opposed to pirated GBA games, a fake battery might damage the unit. Don't ask me how, I'm no expert, but I just think it could do smth...you know...inside

Damn, you saw that too? just when I thought I was the only one (yeah, call wishful thinking...). Its the only one available on Ebay UK and the minimum price is really and intelligently good. The units available on Ebay Germany are insanely priced, sellers are totally out of their mind (400/500/600 euros). I already got mine and I wanna buy one for my cousin, but I'm under the impression that this one could go far beyond its intial retail price (220£)

I sincerely hope you're right on that one. And imo they should have picked up on it by now: e-tailers and Sony centers in the UK are significantly pre-ordering it, the Sony Center in Bruxels also has quite a good demand, etc... Isn't it one of those days when you REALLY wish you were some kind of big Sony executive, endowed with the power to just say: "Yeah, let's launch the baby on a wide basis!"?

If that can be of any help to you, the RH1 is NOT available in most EU countries. And even in places where it has be "seen" (UK, Belgium and some say in the Netherlands), releasing a couple of units here and there is not what I call an actual release. I don't know what's going on on the japanese market, but we sure aren't the luckiest chaps. Release date in France has been "officially" postponed from early june to mid july, but a Sony rep told me it might not be available until the end of August here in Paris. Online stores are pre-ordering it by the dozens but are getting more and more embarrassed as they have to mail all their customers about endless delays. Sony has made marketing and strategic mistakes in the past (oh boy they have), but they have to clarify things on this one because it's getting ridiculous: of course they're not gonna outsell Apple's Ipod, but the demand is obviously here, and focusing on an upper class model-only policy for this 3rd generation of HiMD could also be a good thing. All they have to do is manufacture the damn thing...

middle of july? well, I wasn't so off beam when I said that France could compare to Spain in term of Minidisc. Here the RH1 is due out on July 17th.

I'd just like Sony to REALLY release the unit on time, not just make 100 of them, dispatch them worldwide and say the unit is sooo successful that they're out of stock. Just that. Nothing more, nothing less

well, thats the magic of Ebay. Your unit could sell for 130£ or 200£, depending on various factors. Just set a reserve price at 150£ and you'll be fine. But in my opinion, the odds of you selling it for more than 300 dollars are thin. You gotta be quite the minidisc fan and appreciate the fact that its a "japanese" unit to pay that much. The average minidisc joe guy looking for a cool unit will just buy the regular version instead.

Yeah they should, but if they had, it wouldn't haven taken a gazillion years before Sony switched to mp3 direct support on the their unit. And MAYBE "iPod" wouldn't be a generic name for portable music player

I'd like a new play-only unit as slick and thin as the E10, if that's at all possible. But to tell you the truth, what I would love is to see Sony REALLY release the RH1 a wide, regular basis. It's quite easy to call a product a success if you only release a couple of units here and there. Make the RH1 really available, then maybe release smth else.

Well, seeing how Sony released it in the UK and The Netherlands (if one can call that an actual release - only a few units available here and there), I wouldn't really get my hopes up if I were you, especially since the UK is known to be more MD-enthus than many other places in Europe. In France, which can be compared to Spain in term of minidisc (I guess), I spoke with a Sony employee (business department) and he has absolutely no idea when the RH1 will be released. It was supposed to come out in May, as mentionned in the official statement made by Sony, but it has been delayed since, and no new date has been set. The guy also admitted he doesn't have access to top secret information, but still, he doesn't see it out on the French shelves before the beginning of July. And that's being optimistic, according to him.

Where did you get yours?

Yeah I know what it feels like. Here in Paris such thing started a while ago for some of our most famous retailers. Its the "mp3 player/iPod" generation. I guess stores aren't there to promote alternative solutions and give you the opportunity to choose between two rather different types of products: they'd rather focus on what's popular. I can understand that, it's just sad. Lucky for us, we still have some specialized retailers (especially Sony retailers) that will continue to sell minidiscs. Not because they really want to, but because Sony kind of tells them to. I don't think it's the end. I'd say it's just attempted murder heheh...Minidisc is supposed to die every year, but still it survives. I guess it'll still be there. Just a little harder to get your hands on.