jazzbro Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Sirs: I hope this is the right forum.I live in the U.K. It appears that one of our largest Electrical retailers DIXONS/CURRYS are not stocking MD's,Hi-MD's or any Blank MD Media and are selling all their old stock at bargain prices.Do they know some thing I don't know. Has any body out there heard if MD is being phased out and won't be available in the future? Best regards---jazzbro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJ_Palmer Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 I don't think so, in fact I think the shelves are probably being cleared for the second generation Hi-MD units... Namely the RH10, RH910, and so on. These have started to appear in some Sony Centres in the UK, and perhaps other outlets. I imagine the other chains will very soon follow suit. Very nice they look too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTang84 Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 I don't think I'll ever buy an expensive electronic product from Dixons ever again. They are too expensive there and if you are buying Hi-MD units, you may as well get them from the Sony Centre. The prices of the 2nd gen units are very favourable. I bought my NH1 from Amazon for only £110, a superb price, and I think buying online is the way to get nice units. The high street will often rip you off and the units' output is also crippled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxigenicpoem Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Not to mention generally highly outdated units, appearing for thier brand new price... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zerodB Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Not to mention generally highly outdated units, appearing for thier brand new price...←I can only speak for myself, here in AUS, but down at one of the JB-Hifi (CDs/DVDs/Electronics retailer) stores close to me, they've got a NEW silver MZ-R900. Goodness knows how long it's been sitting there for...Apart from that tho, all their other MD stock is 1G Hi-MD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saaron Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 (edited) After the announcement of the new CEO and that Sony would start "putting consumer interests first" again, I mailed Sony UK to ask if in this new spirit Sonic Stage would ever be released for the Mac (one major reason I'm not interested in jumping on the HiMD bandwagon aside from an apparent lack of commitment to the format on Sony's part).The response I got stated that Sony UK was getting out of the MD business (I interpreted this to be manufacturing?) and that they knew of no plans to port Sonic Stage, and sorry, it's obvious you're a committed user of the format, blah blah. Not very encouraging. I note that whereas I bought an MDLP shelf system at Comet a couple of years ago, I can now find no decks or systems other than portables (NetMD or HiMD) at any high street retailer other than John Lewis (lovely JL) or specialty hi-fi shops and have resorted to eBay to try to find a new shelf system for my daughter and to buy my home deck.Personally I'm not too bothered by the apparent demise of the format as there's a substantial enough userbase that I don't perceive issues with buying blank media or getting ahold of hardware -- even if second-hand -- in the future; in fact I would hope that if Sony decides to bin MD altogether in favour of UMD or HD/flash-based players that they would finally open up the format so it could finally exist as it should have all along: a digital media/data format on par with CD. Edited May 29, 2005 by saaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haybrd Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Sirs: I hope this is the right forum.I live in the U.K. It appears that one of our largest Electrical retailers DIXONS/CURRYS are not stocking MD's,Hi-MD's or any Blank MD Media and are selling all their old stock at bargain prices.Do they know some thing I don't know. Has any body out there heard if MD is being phased out and won't be available in the future? Best regards---jazzbro←I enquired a couple of months back to Dixons/Currys why they didn't have any MD/HiMD players. They said it was an 'outdated format' and was being replaced by 'things like MP3 players and iPods'..... emm not sure I agree with that!(interesting that there websites though still lists info on Minidisc players and HiMD so I think they will make a come back into stores).I went in to the sony shop around the corner to ask if there were plans to discontinue MD/HiMD and they said and I quote 'not bloody likely!' He said the new ones (HiMD) were selling really well, especially since the price drop and that the newer versions with the camera etc were already causing interest (in the UK). He also made a very good point that it is unlikely MD will ever be phased out because of the record/edit facilities. Most media bods i.e. radio stations, jounalists etc use MD to record their live interviews etc and they would be up in arms if MD was withdrawn.About 12 years ago, my then Technology teacher told me about this new fangled thing that was coming out called minidisc and he refused to buy a CD player as this was going to be the future and would eventually destroy the evil CD and rule the universe. He also drank heavily so don't believe all the hype! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrius Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 Look at the bright side. If they stop supporting MD and begin catering to the masses with their Crap-Pods and MP3 Players (40 USD for a 256 MB flash card? Heh. May I introduce you to my 7-bucks 1 GB Disc?) MD will become an elite/niche format. And people will look at us MD users with respect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breepee2 Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Yeah, like the respect they have for old people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NRen2k5 Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 (edited) Some retailers are just ditching MiniDisc altogether in favour of I-Pod and MP3 players.It happened with Centre Hi-Fi in my area.Kind of funny, really, when legitimate businesses are willing to sell illegal and stop selling the legal alternative. (In the States, that is.)(I found out that, as with "Audio-CD" CD-R's, when you buy a MiniDisc you're putting money in the record labels' pockets, making MiniDisc a legitimate recording device as covered under the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. MP3 players are not covered under the AHRA, therefore copying music to an MP3 player is a violation of copyright.) Edited June 10, 2005 by NRen2k5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saaron Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 What confuses me about all of this is why Sony isn't just pitching MD as a replacement for audio cassette; surely if they had done that as aggressively as LP records were forcibly retired by the big labels so they could re-sell everyone what they already had on CD, there'd be no tape and loads of MDs. I use CD-MD like I used to use LP-Cassette, only it's much much better. The editing features alone make it superior to any other recording medium you can get, but Sony just kept on making tape decks and boom-boxes/shelf-systems etc. with tape decks.Really, really, LAME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sushi Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Sony seem to have always been worried that MD wouldn't work and held themselves back from commitment. If one day (& completely by accident) it became "popular" then they'd be laughing all the way to the bank.In the meantime, we love MD for what it is - 90% of what it could be!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mangizmo Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 Hi...This has confused me too, and I have given it alot of thought as we are big users of the format in my family....But sorry guys, this is my conclusion:I have decided that Sony has no real commitment to the format any more...the launch of Hi Md has been half hearted, I suspect that Hi MD was concieved long ago, and obviously has huge potential to be a great product...but it looks to me as though Sony have decided to pull the plug, and have just launched what they have as the swan song of the format..........very sad, why have no other manufacturers produced the elusive 1GB blanks?, why are there no microsystems with Hi MD (or even Net MD)?....why are there no boomboxes or car systems. The answer is that Sony have turned there back on the format, and it is soon to be no more (SOB!!!)All the major UK high street outlets have blown it out, and the most exciting and promising 2005 models are flawed, underdeveloped and very limited in selection (only 2 or 3 models)So...I will not invest in any more MD hardware, I have just bought an HD5 hard drive player, and we will keep our four S2 net walkmans, my wifes car system, my MZ-NH1, and my RH-910 for a while yet, I have had huge loyalty and commitment to the format over the years, but I think the writing is on the wall now folks..........please tell me Im wrong, but I think its all over bar the shoutingVaughan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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