bogon07

Could be SONY's new way to promote MiniDisc for a minimal cost! Release a brand new blue HiMD blank then hint that there maybe no 3G recorders/players. It is certainly making us all think about trying to buy up a few extra recorders to get us going for the next few years.

Beware the MZ-DH710 is a USB downloader & powered. While the MZ-RH710 has a line in & seperate power adapter in jack as well a USB port. Doomlordis has a detailed review http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=11669

The black RH710 is looks better than the photos indicate. Note there is also a DH710 downloader (no input or adapter charging only USB connection). The brushed silver metal surrounding the jog wheel is feels good and keeps finger prints off the black case. There are is a silver version around. I once saw a picture of a blue one but unfortunately can't remember where.

This is one of the beauties of Minidisc because you aren't worried about running out of space you can record whole albums (or whole artist's collections) and play them in the order and entirety they were intended to be listened too. You can create disc devoted to a single artist or style. Sure you can jam a fair bit onto a flash or HD player but with MD you can always put more on another disc rather than delete part of your collection or buy a new player. You can see why the iPod shuffle came about with a finite amount of space there is a potential for boredom and playing in random order particially overcomes this along witha nostalgia for radio. Minidisc also gives you a range of sound quality to record your music. I really like the idea of being able to have my music in discreet little packages. Panasonic has a removable flash player SV-SD100V but at the moment 1GB flash cards are much more expensive than 1GB HiMDs and seem too insubstantial. Besides I've spent a lot of time and effort putting music I like on minidiscs. Such a pity if Sony drops MiniDisc as they put a lot of effort into developing and improving it. I think their credibility as a company is at stake; for developing technologies they keep to themselves then dropping them. Is the new PSP doomed to a short deadend future too?

http://www.sony.com.au/article.jsp?id=3462 The last vistage of HiMD on Sony Aust, unfortunately the links don't go anywhere.

As KrazyIvan says the "NHF800 has a radio tuner remote." It is an AM/FM tuner but you can not record from the radio to the Minidisc recorder. Note: the rectangular lug on the remote socket is just a bit too big to fit into the normal Sony Hi-MD socket holes so you can't but this remote to use with other HiMD units.

indeego, at or au not much difference. But much worse when I occassionally leave out the "AL" when typing to fast (must remember to check the country carefully when ordering from overseas)

Sony.at is Austria isn't it. Sony.au is Australia. Now if only Sony HQ would send the Austrian supplies down here. Actually I can't understand why they don't make the JE Tourist models available in all Countries. Sony claims they should work everywhere and the warranties/service available world wide. http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/tourist/mdwalkm...&ST=3&VC=1&LG=1 Surely that would simplify their production lines and avoid the silliness of the NH600 & NH710 models which also appear as Download only models in some countries.

leon, That's bad. Hope you are re-united with them soon.

Thanks Raintheory. Any expression of interest in Minidiscs no matter where has to be a good thing. Hopefully Sony will stop regionalizing its products so everyone has access to the same selection of products (within power supply restrictions).

Sony Australia currently has a web site survey in the latest News section. http://www.sony.com.au/index.jsp Questions 11.What is it about this site that you would most like to see improved? 12. What changes or additional features would you suggest for this website? are free form text boxes - an opportunity to tell Sony about their lack of 2005 Hi-MD units in Australia. Kurisu, sorry to revive this topic yet again.

Wonderful icons. Great to use for folders etc as well as the actual device.

Not too thin. There appears to be some concerns with Nano screens cracking. http://news.com.com/Problems+surfacing+wit...ml?tag=nefd.pop The Sony design has a sort shell over the OLED display so this should not be as much of a problem. The thickness is dictated to some extent by the type of battery in the unit. I quite like the NiMH AA rechargable batteries as I have 10 with 2 chargers from Sony. AAs are easily replaced and available everywhere. The gumstick and other hard wired ones allow for a much thinner unit. Seems a pain to have to send the unit in for service if a hard wired battery dies.

"The sad part is, I know there is a market for MD in Australia, but unfortunately Sony have decided to more agressively pursue hard disc MP3 players." - Zathura Unfortunately Sony Aust has a "head in the sand" policy as you can only register MDs that have been released here. So Sony would have no idea how many 2nd G Hi-MDs have been imported into Australia. There is a 2G HiMD MZRH910S available at Sony NZ which makes for a very strange marketing strategy in this area of the world.

You can find the user manual at: http://www.minidisc.org/manuals/sony/Sony_...tion_manual.pdf Details on erasing tracks is on pages 64-65. While playing the track you want to erase you have to enter the edit menu then selected erase etc. Or connect to your computer and erase the tracks from SonicStage.

Given Sony's usual tradition you would expect them to release some 3G Hi-MD units in 2006. Probably a couple of recorders.

Could the new 3G Hi-MDs be based on the NWA1000/3000 design? ......take out the harddrive and put in a slot or hinge for the minidisc. And add a sophisticated remote with OLED display. If SonicStage3.2 is the last version and maybe an enhanced SimpleBurner will take over the software side of things to deal with legacy MD formats that Connect can't handle.

The Low Volta has summed it up perfectly. Also I think that the concept of an iPod component unit would give music purests nightmares but unfortunately would probably be a marketing success.

In Australia. They have a line in but no mic in. Also has a 3V DC input. see Minidisc Australia - very reliable seller (and fast)

Patti Smith The Cramps

It does ultimately depend on the state of your hearing abilities and the environment you are listening in. I was also curious about the actual difference in sound playback between the different Sony portables considering that their specs are similar. Some of the top line ones have digital amps and virtual surround sound which allow more customisation choices but is the basic sound reproduction better.

Noticed this at Audiocubes today: "X-B8 is Onkyo's all new 2005 high quality CD/MD/Tuner Amplifier System features Hi-MD support" http://www.audiocubes.com/product/Onkyo_X-...ier_System.html It has "Hi-MD" standard correspondence. So is it really a Hi-MD deck. Also says the MDsection has a Frequency characteristic: 10Hz - 20kHz (most of the Sony portables are 20Hz-20kHz). Sorry looks like this has been around since March2005. However the frequency characteristic is interesting. With Sony portables having 20Hz-20kHz is it overkill using earphones rated for 5Hz-23kHz ?

Asia has a good point. Some improvements to the software especially SimpleBurner's access to all MD formats. Hopefully Sony won't wait until releasing the 3rd Gen units for this.

You can download the manual from the downloads section or http://www.minidisc.org/part_Manuals.html You will need to use a 1GB Hi-MD disc to store that much. I used an ATRAC3 @ 66k bit rate or Hi-LP (32hrs & 50mins). If you use a standard MD around 9 hrs. see page 49 of the manual. I tried 64k the first time and ended up with a bunch of unplayable songs. I also you can obtain the lastest SonicStage V3.2 from the downloads section of this forum.

The Sony Aust prices are around $100 lower than the original release RRPs. However Minidisc Aust are much cheaper and include the bonus pack which is good value.