Viper

Suits minidisc or any stereo capable notetaker. Bidding starts at $30 (retail around $110-$140)

Still in good condition. I thought it best to sell seperately from unit as not everyone who wants a screen needs a battery etc... Bidding starts at $5, which is pretty good since i'm sure sony retailers would quite happily take a leg for one of these.

Just not economical for me to get a new hard drive for it, so i figured someone may want the screen or the black casing. Also, if anyone here wants to buy the battery let me know before I offer it to the general public. Item No. 9726982323 on ebay.com.au

it didn't take long to find the work-around. I'm not one to support piracy, but then again why the hell should we pay hundreds of dollars to a multi-billion dollar company for an operating system that is NEVER complete when it hits the shelves? Sure, a few minor updates would be okay, but to have to download major fixes, patches etc for security holes, i think it's beyond a joke. I don't mind downloading added functionality, but when it's a matter of security and major bug fixes, it really is well beyond professional.

Thanks! I checked it out a few hours ago and the sites were helpfull! I dissected the iPod in seconds! I'm still running into problems though, but i thought it best to continue everything to do with the upgrade in the original thread I started a few days back, to help others in a similar situation. It's much easier to track that kinda info if it's in the one thread

Ok, so I tracked down an MK3008GAL to replace my HD5's HDD, it used to belong in an iPod, and to my dismay, the ZIF connector is DIFFERENT! The 'pin' array is different, and the actual flexiboard is a different width to the HD5's. Simon, you mentioned earlier you were able to upgrade to a 30GB disk using an iPod's HDD, how did you get around that? I'd really LOVE to get the HD5 working again.

Stuge, do you know of any good site that will show me how to open up and steal the harddrive from an iPod? I got my dirty paws on one to replace the HDD for the HD5

I had the same problem when I first got into MD players, when I bought my MZ-NH1. I tried uninsalling it and re-installing it. No good. I spent a lot of time with it. Eventually, a good freind of mine suggested to use some uninstall software to completely remove all traces of the program (windows does a really half-a**ed job and leaves lots of registry entrys and strings behind, amongst other things). So I used advanced uninstaller pro. It worked great for me.

Probably the 5000+ customers we get on a quiet week that pay my wages and also buy mp3 players, cd players, cameras etc from me and thus allow me to afford cool s**t. oh, and me. No download can beat purchased DVDs. There's no artwork, there's no surround..... Anyway, i'd say those suckers will be expensive.

Also, as much as it hurts to say and hurts to realise the truth, but there really needs to be more than one DAP on the market that is compatible with a Mac. I know, I know... most DAP's CAN be tweaked or have bodgey drivers available for Mac (If you look hard enough). But let's face it, a lot of people who buy an MP3 player these days can't even imagine how to "make my music get into my Samsung iPod!?!?" (quoting the most brainless customer I ever had, and served today).

Just because the ticket price on a set of great headphones is over $100 doesn't mean you'll pay over $100. Even before I was getting awesome staff discounts on general HiFi gear I knew that the mark up on headphones and speakers was generally double cost price. I grabbed a set of Sennheiser HD435's for my PC for under $100 because I knew that cost for most retailers is around $70. They were marked at $129, I told the guy he was "going to sell them to me for $95 and a set of HD485's for $100 even, because I know your markup is ridiculous and your still making a good margin". The HD485's are for my home theatre amp so I can watch movies late at night without sacrificing sound quality. They were marked at $165. Don't be afraid to haggle a bit on this kind of stuff, even if it's not the norm in your country. You might be surprised at how much you can save on certain items.

I work in a leading retail outlet of many different brands and types of MP3/ATRAC3 players and I can say without a doubt that the NW-AXX00 series are being discontinued (according to my Sony rep) and replaced with yet another line-up of supurb ATRAC players. All the rep said was that they aim to clear the current series from the warehouses and stores by late 3rd quarter of this year to make way for "... a VERY sexy portable that will knock your socks off..." that will start with a 30GB model and also release a 60GB. There were plans for a 40GB but last he heard was they scrubbed it to better compete with Apple. He mentioned the battery will be built-in "... and off the record, you could replace the battery for a customer in less than 5 minutes once you know how to open it. There won't be any soldering points thus far unless we decide to change the design for that particular part of the board..." which I doubt, after so much research. Oh, and the battery will be fairly pricey, as per usual... around AUS$130. I don't know anymore than that really. Everything else I would almost assume to be standard; lightweight, deathly slow software (he had nothing to say about Connect), good sound quality (on the whole) and most remotes will give you at least the basic functions.

Thanks for the help guys, it was all good. I was just told that I may be able to get it done under warranty if i do some kind of receipt-on-the-sly thing, but upgrading to 30GB is more appealing... Also, I think I remember seeing a box of the silicone cases at my work, I think they were going to send them back to the supplier because no-one wants them. So, if anyone here wants one, let me know and I'll see if I can secure a few before they get shipped out. I think they're around AUS$20. Sex, drugs and ATRAC3plus

You should also be able to use 132k as a conversion rate which doesn't sound that bad. Also, earphones that come with products (included) are generally crap. Even if they sound good they usually last you a couple of months. The earphones that came with my HD5 were OK, but you should be able to pick up some sennheiser MX450's for under $30 (in Australia) or the MX500 for under $50. They sound good and will last you almost as long as the player itself. I'm currently using Sony's MDR-Q66 earphones which clip onto the ears and have retractable cords. They aren't awesome but they are better than what i started with and MUCH more practicle.

My my my, what a fantastic forum!! I've been searching for a while for the service manual for the HD5 since mine is out of warranty and the HDD decided to stop spinning up... Then I found this place! Well, I can't seem to download the sm for it but I was hoping someone may have heard of replacing the HDD altogether or actually done it themselves. I don't even know if it's an open platter or if it's in a second housing (which would make it a whole lot easier). I havn't managed to find a way to open the unit, so I'm still at square one. Any help would be good, even if everyone just says to forget about it.