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HD5 cannot display Chinese fonts, you can use Japanese Kanji to mimic Chinese fonts, but it is not a real rolution. HD5 has two versions with different size of EEPROM inside, check service manual, you will find Chinese version of HD5 has two more chips on board.

Obviously, RH1 is aiming for professioal. There isn't much room in comsumer market for this type machine. That's why SONY dropped all limits on uploading and copy sound tracks. You can get RH1 at SONY business solution website for $399, or $329 at minidisco.com I guess even for the hotest Toshiba gigabeat S, the total sale in US market is far less than 10, 000 units.

SONY said it will be available on July 20.Looks SONY will never give up US market after encountered so many software and hardware problems.

I just read A1000 service manual, it uses freescale SCF5250 chip. In this machine, only sub system control still uses SONY own developed chip. But where is Sony's VME, and MagicGate? Are those all going to firmware? I believe due to this change, SONY haave a very tough time to bring CONNECT to work properally. The actual hardware design of A1000 is much complicated than others'. But anyway, SONY's R&D is very very weak.

I will say the debut price will be even higher than $300, it is around 35,000JPY for A3000 in Japan. Why the price is so high? Because it is very hard for SONY to reduce the cost of production within current mode for relative short lived audio products, such as MD, HDD: 1) home developed chips, new chip for every new model 2) new designed case 3) new designed headphone 4) service manual/parts supply In earlier 90's, SONY can push one new walkman model in less than 3 months, how about now? If SONY still wants to stick on VME, MagicGate, it has to develop new chips for each newly released model, there will be no way for SONY to catch up with ishit, unless SONY has real big brain on hardware R&D. Why Minidisc dies out? The answer is very simple, it is too slow. 10 years ago we only buy several CDs in one week,maybe, but how about now? one can download several CDs within one day. Who will spend time on SonicShit? But the real problem is, SONY cannot learn, at least it should learn why Toshiba, AIwa, Kenwood, panasonic gave up their portable music sectors....

A3000 is on sale before it is officially released? http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/sc/product-...sp?id=964600561