Upgrading from MZ-N420D

[Zombi3]

Good day minidisk.org forum members, I am a new member here. I have surfed your site as well as your forums for a while, and it led me to my first purchase: A Net MD MZ-N420D, or for those of you not good with the numbers, the PSYC model. I loved it to death. The format always caught people's eye, and was a great conversation starter. It's also not a very well-known format, so it has that allure to it. However, over the past year of my owning it it has been through hell enough. It was dropped twice from 6 feet up onto a solid concrete ground, while on. This damaged the section where the disk comes out, making it so that it never looks like it's properly closed. Then, a little later on, my sister had stepped on the unit and afterwards it started making strange noises and taking longer to read the disks.

Long story short, I began to look at my upgrade options. I spotted a model that seemed interesting enough: the MZ-DH10P. I saw that it was on Sale at Amazon.com for a price tag that is nearly $200 under the list price. This makes me quite satisfied, seeing as this seems to be a quality model. However, I do have a few questions before I go ahead and make my purchase.

1.) It boasts a fine looking 1.5" screen, which contains a bunch of information about the track you are listening to. Does this still display for Net-MD disks? I read that the unit IS backwards compatable with Net-MD burned disks. I wouldn't want to have to go through the pain of transfering everything back onto my computer (I used SonicStage 2.0, I have yet to update to 3.0, more on that later) and putting it on the Hi-MDs.

2.) Is SonicStage actually required to transfer data onto the MD, or is there a way it can be used as a hard-drive of sorts? I've read that SonicStage is a horrible mess. While i've only had one problem with SonicStage 2.0, (a ram-dump error, nothing was lost) I would like to use it as least often as possible. I don't want to run the chance of installing more programs that may contain Sony's DRM spyware.

3.) The Camera mode, how are the pictures retrieved from the camera? Is there a software piece for that as well, or is there an add-on to SonicStage that allows for this?

4.) The LCD screen sounds pretty nice, and I love how bright i've read it is. However, is there a way to de-activate this so I can preserve on Battery Life? While i'm not out for 14 hours at a time, it would be nice to have a slightly more expanded life for those times when i'm out of the house and can't lug the charger around with me.

5.) During photo-taking mode, can I still listen to music as i'm doing so? I would hate to be listening to a song, and I accidentally lower the cover for the lens and then I have my music cut off.

6.) While I don't plan on messing with the EQ, i'm curious. Does the EQ still work on Net-MD disks?

Thank you for your time, and I hope to become an active member here at the forums.

[A440]

First, take a look at this and see if it answers any of your questions:

http://www.mdcenter.nl/redirect.php?file=h...0preview_en.php

As for question 2: you can transfer data to a Hi-MD as if it were a hard drive--it's plug-and-play for Windows as a USB device. However, if you want to transfer music to play from an MD, you're stuck with SonicStage.

Update as soon as you can to 3.3 (and follow the uninstall instructions for 2.0 under Software FAQ).

If you don't want the camera, and don't care about recording, you can get a much cheaper downloader that's comparable to your N420: the NH600D. You can find it new at www.jr.com or on Ebay for under $100.

[Richard]

Hi, welcome to the forums, I'll try and answer your questions as best I can.

1.) It boasts a fine looking 1.5" screen, which contains a bunch of information about the track you are listening to. Does this still display for Net-MD disks? I read that the unit IS backwards compatable with Net-MD burned disks. I wouldn't want to have to go through the pain of transfering everything back onto my computer (I used SonicStage 2.0, I have yet to update to 3.0, more on that later) and putting it on the Hi-MDs.

Yes and no - Net MD disks are fully compatible, most of the display screens show info but of course the date info or bit rate won't show up with NetMD discs (it just displays playmode SP/LP2/LP4 etc..). I haven't tried cover art with NetMD discs - I will have to try this and let you know.

2.) Is SonicStage actually required to transfer data onto the MD, or is there a way it can be used as a hard-drive of sorts? I've read that SonicStage is a horrible mess. While i've only had one problem with SonicStage 2.0, (a ram-dump error, nothing was lost) I would like to use it as least often as possible. I don't want to run the chance of installing more programs that may contain Sony's DRM spyware.

It can be used as an external hard-drive, but you ,have to use Sonic Stage or Simple Burner to transfer music. Don't worry though versions 3.2 / 3.3 are pretty mature, and the DRM on tracks can be disabled.

3.) The Camera mode, how are the pictures retrieved from the camera? Is there a software piece for that as well, or is there an add-on to SonicStage that allows for this?

Just as you would from any other digital camera - ie. via explorer when it is connected via USB.

4.) The LCD screen sounds pretty nice, and I love how bright i've read it is. However, is there a way to de-activate this so I can preserve on Battery Life? While i'm not out for 14 hours at a time, it would be nice to have a slightly more expanded life for those times when i'm out of the house and can't lug the charger around with me.

It automatically switches off after 30 seconds of inactivity. You cannot set it to always off however.

5.) During photo-taking mode, can I still listen to music as i'm doing so? I would hate to be listening to a song, and I accidentally lower the cover for the lens and then I have my music cut off.

I'm afraid not, changing to photo mode always stops music playing.

6.) While I don't plan on messing with the EQ, i'm curious. Does the EQ still work on Net-MD disks?

As far as I'm aware yes.

Edited December 10, 2005 by richyhu

[Zombi3]

Thanks to you both for your responses. It looks like i'll be making my choice of either a MZ-DH10P or MZ-RH10 pretty soon.

A question about the DRM, however.

If I am to uninstall SonicStage 2.0 completely, along with SimpleBurner, will my .mp3 library be affected in any way? Will they become useless, corrupt, deleted, or otherwise junked? I don't want to have to check everything back in, as I have a large (around 30 or so) NetMD disks that would take a while to get everything back in place. I also have a large mp3 library, that would take me more time than I have available to back up. I would just like to know what risks are involved in the uninstallation of SonicStage 2.0 before I upgrade to 3.0.

[A440]

Before making any changes you should use the Backup Tool, which is under Start/Programs/SonicStage (not within SonicStage itself) to burn what's in My Library to CDs.

There's some small possibility that upgrading SonicStage will mess with your library, but if that were to happen you would be able to restore it from your backed up files.

It doesn't happen to most people, and it hasn't happened to me through upgrades from 1.5 to 2.1 to 3.1 to 3.2 to 3.3. If your mp3s are stored on your computer outside SonicStage, then you don't have to worry about them. You might want to back them up anyway, though--computer hard drives do fail every so often.

[Christopher]

Sorta off topic, but can you make a backup of a SS database, import that on another computer, and employ it normally?

[atrain]

Sorta off topic, but can you make a backup of a SS database, import that on another computer, and employ it normally?

can he personally? cause others sure can, it'll give you a clone of the library - do it from a network drive for that new notebook

[A440]

Really, atrain?

My understanding--and reading here about the woes of people who made .oma backups that got stranded by DRM--was that each SonicStage installation is tied to its own computer, and that the .oma files can only be played by that particular installation of SonicStage in order to prevent the dreadful possibility of piracy.

Have you actually transported a library from one computer to another and played it with a different installation of SonicStage?

[Zombi3]

So as long as I didn't convert the files into a .oma file, they should be safe from copy-protection?

[atrain]

Really, atrain?

My understanding--and reading here about the woes of people who made .oma backups that got stranded by DRM--was that each SonicStage installation is tied to its own computer, and that the .oma files can only be played by that particular installation of SonicStage in order to prevent the dreadful possibility of piracy.

Have you actually transported a library from one computer to another and played it with a different installation of SonicStage?

once using a small library & the sonicstage transfer tool. i only did it after prompting from another user here who insisted it was posible. i assumed it was the back up tool that made it happen. note that i'd never transferred the music to any devive, just did it to test.

Edited December 11, 2005 by atrain

[A440]

Zombi--

The "optimized files" in My Library have already been converted to .oma or (for your older unit) .omg files. There's probably your original mp3 on your computer and an .omg/.oma version in My Library. Upgrading SonicStage runs a small risk of screwing up My Library, which is why you should use the backup tool. It won't affect the mp3s if they're elsewhere on the computer.