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lyceemoliere

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I was just thinking, you know how PM John Howard walks every morning, and always has some music in his ears... well I was thinking we Aussies should send him an MD for his birthday! Along with some nice headphones and some already loaded discs (he might find it a little hard to transfer songs using SS tongue.gif)

How good would it be, if someone went up to him and goes... what is that thing you are listening too? And he would say, "A Sony MD, really good device!"

Just thought about that tongue.gif Hopefully Apple don't decide to give him an iPOD, then MD would be doomed in Australia for sure!

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We should hope Apple sends him an ipod. As soon as John Howard is seen using an ipod it will lose all street cred.

Ahahahaha!!! laugh.gif

That is good! tongue.gif

Or hopefully it like breaks or doesn't work after only using it once... and all his precious music files will have beeb lost.. and he'll get really angry.. and ban the business from running in Australia mellow.gifunsure.gif

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So we buy an iPod, run the battery on lots and lots of shallow cycles so it only has about 30 minutes playtime when fully charged, load some songs on it and send it Mr Howard.

2 months later we send him a brand new RH-10 with some pre-recorded discs, and 2 brand new high capacity batteries wink.gif

A rolleyes.gif HAHA Awesome idea!!!!! tongue.gif

Only prob is that the security ph34r.gif might think it is a bomb parcel on 1st inspections ohmy.gif

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There's not as big-a professional market in Aus as there is in USA. I live in Aus myself, and the majority of people here are consumers who want 'a nice n easy device which gives them music from their PC fast with little (or even no) effort at all.' So naturally it's the MP3 players which rank supreme over here.

I have an iPod too, and playback-wise it's the most used device I have. BUT, I love sound recording (it's a hobbie of mine), and this is something the iPod can't do. The closest you can get it is by buying a Griffin iTalk (which is more of a note-taker than anythinig else) which you fix onto the top of the iPod, but this thing records at a set 42kbps and sounds TERRIBLE. It makes me wonder why they even bothered with a Line-In jack on the top. Oh yeah, and there's no manual record level either, but that's to be expected on something like this.

[sigh] If only the iPod had a Line-In, Mic-In, manual record levels and a battery life longer than a lousy 4 hours.... 15gb is an awfull lot just to store music.

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Yeh I think DaikenTana makes a very good point. People want easy, simple ways of listening to music, and honestly if you are computer illiterate, you have probably little hope with Sonic Stage.

And it comes down to again the marketing techniques. iPOD advertise people dancing etc with their iPODS, and everyone knows what they look like.

Sony advertise every now and then, but I don't think they explain well enough what exactally an MD can do.

And then there comes SS, which most people wouldn't be able to use mellow.gif

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I just noticed on Sony NZs site an RH910 pop up with no pricing or picture. No RH10 yet and it shares the MD section with the NH800.

If you select the picture it tries to download a zip file of about 4-5 pictures of the RH910.

Interestingly the MZNHF800 has a rrp of $499NZ same as the Australian rrp so it would be slightly cheaper ($449.36AUD) in real terms.

But the same can't be said for the HiMD blanks at $14.95NZ ($13.47AUD) compared to $4.95AUD at SonyAustralia.

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If you select the picture it tries to download a zip file of about 4-5 pictures of the RH910.

Interestingly the MZNHF800 has a rrp of $499NZ same as the Australian rrp so it would be slightly cheaper ($449.36AUD) in real terms.

But the same can't be said for the HiMD blanks at $14.95NZ ($13.47AUD) compared to $4.95AUD at SonyAustralia.

They're still 14.95? A while ago you had to buy five of them to get any at all. I wonder if that's true still.

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They're still 14.95? A while ago you had to buy five of them to get any at all. I wonder if that's true still.

In Australia it seems there is an oversupply of the HiMD blanks and hardly any HiMD recorders. So I suspect the dealers are just trying to get rid of them eg Minidisc Aust is offering a stand for free with 20.

A few years ago Sony was selling 5 MD packs with a nice free plastic stand.

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Hi Sefu!

I think I bought some HiMD blanks in ebay from you some time ago. If you are same person (minidisc_au)? Seems you don't sell them anymore in there? I ordered 10 pieces and was little worry if they get stucked in customs as I live in Finland. I was prepared it though. But they were marked them as a gift without even notice(there were piece of paper on the packet) and there were only an imprint on the packets which said: GIFT. DUTY-FREE.

Edited by L7R
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Hi Sefu!

I think I bought some HiMD blanks in ebay from you some time ago. If you are same person (minidisc_au)? Seems you don't sell them anymore in there? I ordered 10 pieces and was little worry if they get stucked in customs as I live in Finland. I was prepared it though. But they were marked them as a gift without even notice(there were piece of paper on the packet) and there were only an imprint on the packets which said: GIFT. DUTY-FREE.

Yep thats me smile.gif

Sony Australia is totally out of Hi-MD blanks now so I had to pull down the auctions until more stock comes in. I was told by the end of next week.

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Both packets came in a same day and same minute. It was almost as fast as ordering inside of Finland. They cost me about 5,5€/pcs (shipping included!) so I saved 45% compared to prices in Finland (9.90€).

It was really nice to do business with you. cheers.gif

Thank you very much.

Edited by L7R
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The My Sony team would like to invite you and a guest to attend the opening of the new SonyCentral at World Square. A flagship store that displays the very best Sony has to offer.

Experience the latest Sony technology in an interactive and entertainment style. Sony will be showcasing their latest product range which includes the recently released VAIO line-up, the smallest High Definition handycam – HDRHC1, latest Network & Hard Drive Walkmans and a sneak preview of the DAVX1 – two channel DAVS system.

Be one of the first people to interact with Sony Ericsson’s yet to be released mobile phones - W800i and the Z520i.

Sony Computer Entertainment will reveal the upcoming PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and demonstrate their latest entertainment products.

On the night we will be offering

• 10% off every product in the store*

• 5% off the entire VAIO range

• Pre sales of the PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable)**

OH YEH biggrin.gif!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've given up waiting for Sony to release the latest models in Australia and took the plunge by buying a Japanese black RH10 from a guy on eBay (buyfromjapan). I ordered on Wednesday and it arrived the next Monday! It ended up costing about AUD$440 (including postage) and came with english manuals, SS3.0 and a plug adaptor. The Japanese model also has the backlit LCD remote and charging cradle.

I went to Go Audio in Melbourne Central and picked up a box of 5 Hi MD blanks for AUD$22. Until recently, JB Hi-Fi in the City also had heaps of blanks but they were gone when I last checked.

I am now a happy Hi MD owner and my wife has picked up my old MZ 707 in the deal.

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I am now a happy Hi MD owner and my wife has picked up my old MZ 707 in the deal.

hi blixa,

welcome to MDCF and glad to see you're a part of the HiMD club... and do not feel too disappointed by the lack of 2nd gen HiMD's in Au... here in Belgium you can only get NH800/600 for still the full price the started out on... so we're even further behind laugh.gif

buyfromjapan is indeed a very trustworthy and friendly ebay seller... I bought an RM-MC40ELK remote from him and shipping to Belgium (literally the other side of the globe) was only 5 days (with a Sunday and a Belgian holiday inbetween as well)

hope to hear more of your impressions here on MDCF... feel free to write a review of your new 'toy' from an Australian point of view (in the product review/pictorial-section)... might inspire some of your fellow countrymen tongue.gif

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Good to see Sony dragging their knuckles still on the 2nd Gen MDs.

Have found Target in Melbourne selling NH600s for $139AUD!

Dick Smith Selling them for 149 and NH700 & NH800 for 299AUD!!!

Go Audio are way overpriced for any MP3/MD devices. a 4 year iAudio player for 489AUD on special!!! A device that isn't even mad anymore.

With the glutton of mp3 devices out there there needs to be a bit of senibility from shop front suppliers out here. It' amazing their level of ignorance on good product like MDs and high quality mp3 devices.

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I went to Go Audio in Melbourne Central and picked up a box of 5 Hi MD blanks for AUD$22.  Until recently, JB Hi-Fi in the City also had heaps of blanks but they were gone when I last checked.

Seems to be an extremely good price, AUD$44 for ten compared to AUD$105 here in Sweden (including AUD$21 VAT), and that's a good price compared to elsewhere in Europe.

AUD$44 = 249SEK = 17.80GBP = 26.30€ = USD$32.20

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Seems to be an extremely good price, AUD$44 for ten compared to AUD$105 here in Sweden (including AUD$21 VAT), and that's a good price compared to elsewhere in Europe.

AUD$44 = 249SEK = 17.80GBP = 26.30€ = USD$32.20

As far as I can remember, Hi MD blanks have always been around the AUD$4.95 mark in Australia.

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Well, with that decent price I understand why Sony don't want to deliver and rather sell the disks elsewhere. I have wondered when the prices on Hi-MD discs would fall, since it in most countries is set based on how much more it will hold than a normal MD disc - not at all the difference in manufacturing cost.

Is it you that use to export Hi-MD discs, when you have them?

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Honestly. I think Sony are now trying to focus more on the HD5 things... then the MD's in Australia. It seems that whenever I go into s Sony shop asking about MD's the sales reps just basically have no idea about them or their capabilities, or that there is such a thing as a 2nd Gen Hi-MD. :|

I think that Sony will start to focus more of its marketing onto the new HD5 HDD players in Australia... and might slowly dwindle down its MD's... that's what I think *might* happen in the coming year(s)

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Ok jsut a small update on the MD scene in Oz.

Its a bit weird and Sony Aus seems to have gone backwards but they have restocked thousands on the 1G Hi-MD units again and at the same price. I'm not too sure what they plan with the 2G units but if they are clearing stock first then it will be a while...

So if any of you guys are interested pop on over to our website.

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Grab while you can, these stores are clearing stock on assumption that they were being discontinued, they were expected to be discontinued and they should be discontinued but Sony brought them back to life so after the "clearance" sale they will be back to normal pricing I assume

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Strange with Hi-MD prices... You could find NH600D on eBay for USD$150 while the NH600 is still dumped in shops here at USD$65 (but of course there's a used NH900 at eBay with a Buy It Now price of USD$488...) so the pricing never ceases "to be interesting"... wink.gif An NH1 costs 150 dollars more here than a RH10.

Sony Sweden still only shows the NH600 as the only Hi-MD in Sweden, I wonder if the rest are imported without going through Sony...? Are there shops doing that in Australia, selling minidisc players Sony Australia doesn't have?

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