Eljay

What you say is probably true. I have a horrid feeling that the RH1 is Sony's last-ditch attempt at the MD market. It's clearly aimed at the professional and the radio/recording industry rather than the private individual, judging from both the non-user-friendly design, the hefty price tag (here in the UK, anyway!) and extremely limited availability. I think the only way that mini-disc can survive in the future is if Sony starts including it as an extra feature in its MP3 players, and markets it NOT as a 'mini-disc recorder' (which is alien to most people), but as 'AN MP3 PLAYER WITH BUILT-IN MINIDISC' - allowing users to save their MP3s and make line-in recordings onto the drive, with the option of then burning them onto disc. MD enthusiasts would also be able to record directly onto the discs in the usual way. Bingo - everyone's happy! I really think that's the way forward for mini-disc - they need to start appealing to the 'MP3 kid' generation, as well as the professionals and MD enthusiasts, in order to survive. What's Edirol? I've never heard of it... As far as I know, mini-disc (despite the increasing lack of availability) is still the norm in the radio industry - especially for recording interviews and 'vox pops' on-location! What other format is portable enough for doing that?!

I'm debating whether or not to take out an extended warranty on my RH1 when I buy it. Although the price of the unit seems to be the same at all Sony Centres across the UK (£249.99), the price of the extended warranties varies wildly from centre to centre... Today, at three different centres, I've been quoted £70, £79 and £82 for the 3-year warranty, and £81, £119 and £135 for the 5-year warranty! (According to the pricing policy on http://www.sonycentres.co.uk, "Sony Centres are independently owned & operated retailers who set their own prices," so I suppose they are perfectly entitled to do this.) With this product being incredibly expensive anyway, I feel as though an extended warranty will bankrupt me!! So what I want to know is, is it *really* worth doing? I understand that Sony's warranties do not cover "periodic maintenance and repair or parts replacement due to wear and tear" - which I suppose means that when the product eventually packs up due to age and/or frequent use (like my Panasonic SJ-MR220 did after two years), I'll have to pay for the repairs myself anyway? In which case, surely a warranty will be useless, unless it subsidises the cost of such repairs? Also, do I *have* to buy the extended warranty *with* the product, or can I do it 11 months down the line, as the initial 1-year (free) warranty is about to expire? I hope someone can please advise me on this!

Well, if any UK people want to phone SonyStyle UK to complain about them not stocking the RH1, the number is 0207 365 2947 (the lines are open Monday to Friday from 9am-8pm and Saturday from 10am-6pm). Or you can e-mail them a complaint at this link: http://www.contact.sonystyle.co.uk/Default...?language=gb_en (click on 'Register a complaint'). Who knows, if enough people complain they might re-consider this crazy decision!! You can also contact Sony UK, to complain about the extremely poor UK distribution of the RH1. Their number is: 08705 111 999 (open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). Or use the following e-mail link: http://www2.sony.co.uk/feedback/feedbackform.asp (select 'Portable Audio Products (including HiMD)' and then 'I wish to... complain about a Sony product/service/dealer').

I phoned the UK branch of SonyStyle Europe a few days ago to find out what's going on... Initially, I was told that they don't have it in stock (which, of course, I already knew from browsing the site). When I pointed out that it's available on the *American* SonyStyle website (as well as Amazon.com and other online US retailers - none of whom will ship the product outside the US), he said that is normal, as America is usually several months ahead of the UK with most products. I then pressed him further, asking if he could please give me a UK launch date for the RH1? He put me on hold for a bit, while he asked his colleagues, and when he returned he told me... guess what? That SonyStyle Europe has no intention of ever stocking any mini-disc products (including blank media) again! Well, I was so shocked at this revelation that I didn't have the strength to protest at such a lunatic decision, but I have a good mind to phone them up again to complain! What on *earth* is the point of Sony's official online retailer in the UK not selling all of the company's current products? I'm sorry to say this, but I'm afraid the RH1 is doomed to fail, in the UK at least, what with the ridiculously high price tag (much higher than in the States), extremely limited availability and general lack of promotion from Sony. I really don't know what Sony UK are playing at - it's as if they *want* it to fail. And that's a huge shame. Anyway, SonyStyle Europe advised me to try one of the authorised Sony Centres, as they normally stock the full Sony range. So I contacted the one nearest to me (about two hours away!), and they said they have run out and won't get their next batch in for several weeks, but they will give me a ring when they do. The man I spoke to there said he predicts that the RH1 will be the very last mini-disc recorder that Sony brings out (although he couldn't swear to this, as he said it's impossible to predict what Sony is going to do next!), and that it will probably have a very short shelf life, about 12-18 months, before being discontinued. He's probably right about the latter at least because, let's face it, this model is never going to take off, therefore it won't be popular or commercially viable enough to keep it going for long. When it does get discontinued, maybe a year from now, I imagine Sony will cite poor sales as the reason, ignoring the fact that they themselves were largely to blame for this by not marketing the machine properly! The RH1 was touted as Sony's revival of the mini-disc format, but if it doesn't succeed (and the evidence so far is that it *isn't* succeeding), then I fear it really will be curtains for our beloved mini-disc. It doesn't look good...