Azureal

So, it does look like the JB920 is of the same ilk as the JA20ES, although the JA20ES specifically states it has "Type-R" which in my mind is post ATRAC 4.5 (thus superior). I have recorded and played back from the JA20ES and the JB940. The JA20ES is a much nicer machine for SP recording and playback. I can't speak for the JB920 unit, but I suspect it has a good sound quality ...

I think Stephen (sfbp) has devised a fix for the slow upload issue. It is somehow related to an outdated NetMD driver causing issues with Hi-MD uploads. I could be wrong, but do a search on "Hi-MD upload" or such and see what you can discover ...

Stephen, you have pretty much covered all of the bases I know of... :-) I am going to go dig out my one and only Sharp unit now and play around a bit. I'll grab a few screen shots if I have success.

Yes, good point Stephen, slight oversight on my part... I was not even considering the driver not being a Sony driver. Sorry to the OP. Would be interesting to know if one of the W7 64 bit drivers could work, not likely, but possible if the unit is based on a USB communication chip the same as a Sony unit, although it would have a unique identifier not in the list ...

Music data file transfer has always been "one way", that is from PC to MD, there are no transfers in the other direction with older NetMD gear, the only exception is via the Sony MZ-RH1 which allows uploads of SP/MDLP recordings via USB (other Hi-MD units can upload Hi-MD encoded recordings). To transfer your recordings made in MDLP or SP mode, you need to playback on the recorder and then record in real time via sound card input on the PC. This has always been the case, your reinstall did not cause the issue, you were never transferring anything via USB from MD to PC with your Sharp unit. SonicStage does work well with Windows 7 using the SS 4.3 Ultimate version in the downloads section of the forums along with the 64 bit NetMD/Hi-MD driver package also available. There is a pinned thread which details the setup. It works great!

Use the task manager to find processes which are using excessive CPU and kill them. You'll want to determine how these are started on boot as well and stop them from restarting. Most likely junkware installed by Sony to sell you some junk software you do not need. Google is your friend ....

I am almost certain that Sony never licensed the Hi-MD technology to any other manufacturers for media. I do believe Onkyo has made a couple of Hi-MD decks.

I know, that's crazy. It's cool but not that cool ...

Wouldn't that have been a nice unit! I agree with both of you, I love my RH1s and I use one of them daily but it is fragile.

That's an extremely complex set of questions! I have done this before on several machines, here is my advice: 1) The Crucial Drive should work without issue in the Sony laptop, the M4 is a fast drive and will make that fast machine even faster. The Sony may or may not support SATA III (6GBps) but if not, the drive will step down to SATA II (3GBps) and still be lightning fast. 2) In every case of installing SSDs in systems, they were all recognized properly by the system BIOS, some required BIOS tweaks in the settings for the correct drive mode, Windows 7 has all of the drivers you need built right in, there are forums (referenced below) where you can find very helpful guides to installing and optimizing Windows 7 on and SSD. Every machine has its idiosyncrasies with respect to getting an SSD installed and optimized. You will need to find a user group of folks with the same or similar model machines as your own to really get the scoop on the details. 3) I have read in many places that cloning a drive with platters to an SSD is not always a good idea. It will not hurt anything so you could certainly try it, but you may not get the performance you expect because the cloned image may not be proprly "aligned" on the SSD, some cloning software is supposed to be designed to ensure the clone is properly aligned. Installing Windows fresh on the new drive is the optimal method most people use, this sets windows in specific modes with the correct drivers to best handle running from an SSD. Be patient, in all three cases where I performed this task, it took time to locate the right information and to perform the build, install the apps, and tweak the system for best performance. Once you get it running right, it will fly. Here is the best resource I have found for working with this technology: http://forum.noteboo...-manufacturers/ It looks like there are two Sony groups there which will be very useful. Also, some specific SSD related stuff: http://forum.noteboo...-flash-storage/ Do a search in the notebookreview forums for Windows 7 tweaks, there are a lot of things you can do to reduce wear on the drive as well as disabling things like swap files, indexing etc. Good Luck!

Hey topturner, are you still looking for a DH10P dock? I saw this on eBay this evening: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Second-hand-Sony-MZ-DH10P-walkman-charge-/230714586005?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b7a93395

You should be able to find drivers for most things, but knowing Sony, some devices may not have drivers, rendering them useless (eg: webcam or USB3.0 ports). XP should definitely install and boot, all of your primary "standard" devices should work without issue but I suggest you do a thorough driver search in advance if you expect to access every piece of hardware on the machine ...

I was the one who asked Philippe, and it drives me nuts too!

If I recall, the firmware update routine made specific note of the loss of the functionality and allowed one to not perform the update. Since I had never used it and could run Linux on any number of PCs, I choose to accept the update and agree to the understanding that once updated, there would be no going back. The update which removed the ability to boot to an alternate OS had no effect on the hardware capabilities, i.e. the ability to natively run PS and PS2 games. I am sure it is possible to find one of these models which has not been updated and is still capable of the alternate boot capability. You would have to check some version listing to determine what update removed the capability and look for a unit with an older version installed. It seemed like a cool feature but if I recall, people were really hacking things more than Sony wanted and in their typical control freak manner, they decided to lock it down. From the above Wikipedia article: "The original PlayStation 3 also included the ability to install other operating systems,[170] such as Linux.[171] This was not included in the newer slim models and was removed from all older PlayStation 3 consoles with the release of firmware update 3.21 in April 2010. The functionality is now only available to users of original consoles who choose not to update their system software beyond version 3.15.[172] [170] ^ "Install Other OS". PlayStation 3 User's Guide. Sony Computer Entertainment. 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-25. [172] ^ Boyes, Emma (2006-11-27). "Yellow Dog Linux launches for PS3". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-11-30. [173] ^ Andrew Yoon (2010-03-29). "Linux support dropped from PS3 firmware 3.21". Joystiq. Retrieved 2010-03-29."

Sorry it took me a couple of days. I dug out the box and also checked out the Wikipedia article on PlayStation 3 models and history here: http://en.wikipedia....i/PlayStation_3 The model I have is the CECHA01 which is also refered to as the 60GB model, it was originally released in November 2006, hard to believe it is that old ... This model and the 20GB CECHBxx units are the only units which had built in hardware PS2 emulation capability. Sony apparently attempted to perform software emulation in later units but it did not work very well and they dropped it completely after a while. Also, note that the first two NA units I mention here were able to boot to an alternate OS, mainly Linux, which was eliminated with a firmware update a couple of years ago. It looks like eBay has a number of the 60GB units: http://www.ebay.com/...6.c0.m270.l1313

I'll take a look at the specific model number and any other details and post them tomorrow.

Understood, Sound Forge has been around for many years. It is not included in my Version 6 of Vegas Movie Studio and DVD Architect Studio, take 'Studio' to mean the 'Light' version, because compared to Vegas it is ... As I said before, Vegas Studio 5 and 6 will read and perform rudimentary editing on ATRAC files but Sound Forge is far more capable for editing all sorts of audio. Even a 2 year old version for that price is a good buy, it was selling for 120US 18 months ago ...

The original version of the PS3 has specific hardware/software combination to allow emulation of the PS2. I feel fortunate to own one, I'll likely never get rid of it for just this reason. You'll have to look on eBay or another used source to find one most likely. I don't know how commo0n it is to see them up for sale. Mine came with a 60GB drive, small by to day's standards but more than sufficient for the gaming machine.

I have been using Sony's Vegas Movie Studio package since version 5 and it is really an awesome video editing tool. Both of the versions I have include DVD Architect Studio as well which is a great tool for mastering DVDs. Vegas Studio has some rudimentary abilities for editing ATRAC files as well. I always figured it would be to record audio separate from the video and then dropping it on the timeline and syncing it up. I have never used this functionality or even tried to open an ATRAC file in Vegas Studio. My older versions do not include the Acid Studio software. That price seems pretty good. If I recall I paid around 100US for each of my copies. Maybe it's time to upgrade ...

I believe that is by design. Only uploads of SP and MDLP recorded through the Optical or analog (mic or line level) inputs. Anything placed on a disk using NetMD, whether HiMD or Standard MD is not upload-able..

You should head over to the Notebook Review forums: http://forum.notebookreview.com I post there for several different laptops I own and there are no shortage of experts for every model. I also frequent Notebook Forums: http://www.notebookforums.com/f/, not quite as well trodden, but a great resource all the same. We don't seem to get too many folks here posting about their laptops, just the occasional straggler ... Good luck figuring out your problem.

I am about ti dig mine out for my 7 year old son. I have had it in a box in the closet for years, at least since I got the PS3. I think he'll love it

This is one of several "Business" units that Sony made (http://minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-B100.html). I have a B10 new in a box unused, I'll break it out one of these days. I have read that the B100 was one of the best B units made, mostly metal case, very sturdy. They command a high price when in great condition. I don't think it has NetMD, but it is MDLP capable. Optical input for recording from CD or MD, stereo mics and built in speaker. Pretty nice unit if you ask me.

Stephen, I can give this a try. I have a first generation PS3, one of the ones with all of the bells and whistles that Sony has stripped out of the design over the years. I think however, you may be reading the page you link to incorrectly. The PS3 allows one to rip audio from redbook CD to the internal hard drive for later playback. One of the options for the CODEC to encode the files is ATRAC. I do not think the unit will copy files from an ATRAC CD created in SonicStage onto the local drive.

Replace it with another, newer unit for pennies on the original dollar. The MZ-1 is cool, but it's a brick, I would personally not spend any money repairing that unit. I suggest an early MDLP unit like the R900 which can be had for 30 bucks on eBay, far more portable and you'll get a better sound with the newer ATRAC version chip.