gman_g Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Does anyone know if Sony has any plans on making HI-MD home Decks? It would be nice to have especially with an Optical output. The Net MD home decks never made it here in the US. I know they were available in the UK and Japan. I guess that would be asking too much from them as usual. Then they wonder why the Minidisc isn't picking up the pace in the US. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 There is no word on this yet. Most likely if the format "lifts off" then there isn't any doubts that some form of deck would come steadfast. As soon as we know it'll be discussed in this forum and then in the front page of minidisc.org. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbdoah Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 I doubt it seriously that any Hi-MD deck will ever come stateside, mainly for the same reason why NetMD decks didn't come to North America, ther simply isn't a big enough market for minidisc over here. Hi-MD was marketed as an mp3 device, something to compete with flash drives whose media cost one hundred times more for the same capacity, not a traditional minidisc unit per se. Mainly, the deck would have to have a very large control faceplate, to facilitate the many functions that Hi-MD has, mainly the vast capacity of the disk would mean an easy method to browse through thousands of songs. If one didn't use group method for organization, this would be an extremely lengthy process. And on top of this, viewing this on the traditional two line LCD would make you scream and holler. The ability to view a larger control template via TV would simplify this process tremendously. It is possible, but simply thinking about everything that one deck would need to deal with the capacity would drive the price up several hundred dollars more than the traditional QS series line. At least this is what I think :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doclloyd Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 I agree about the extra info that will be availble on Hi-MD due to the additional space. The idea of linking up with your TV for browsing a disc is interesting. However, I think if people saw that there were more devices available to listen to their (Hi-)MD discs, they may be more apt to purchase them because they seem more useful. I love the fact that I can listen to my MD's in my living room just the same as on the go. Releasing a full line of equipment to playback/record Hi-MD - including home decks and cars - would make life great. Which also brings me somewhat offtopic - will Sony start making their CD/DVD players/decks/"Mega storage" multi-disc players support ATRAC? If they really want people to use their technology, you need to support it across more of your products and not MP3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 tbdoah: I like the TV interface idea. Considering the fact that $50 DVD players can do this with mp3s I don't see why it should be such a problem for Sony to manage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doclloyd Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 The only challenge would be adding the circuitry for a traditionally audio-only device to output information to a TV. Does it start crossing boundaries of its use? Either that, or only allow control via a TV interface (not a good idea IMO) and have built-in visualizations for fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumz Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Hi-MD has been available in Japan for a little over a week now. I wonder how it is doing there... Ultimately I think Hi-MD's success in the Japanese market will determine whether or not decks ever become a reality. As others have said, I don't expect them to make it stateside even if they do appear in Japan. At least you can import, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAjEsTiC Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Rumz : yup i agree with that, i'd be interesting in getting a Hi-MD deck since i luv decks for recording stuff...wonder wot kind of range they'll have for Hi-MD decks since they've got quite a few for std MD's (with NetMD capability)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDOG58 Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 I doubt it seriously that any Hi-MD deck will ever come stateside, mainly for the same reason why NetMD decks didn't come to North America, ther simply isn't a big enough market for minidisc over here.I wish Sony would just figure out how to market this stuff. I have seen NO advertising at ALL for Hi-MD or the MD brand. How does Sony expect to go mainstream with Hi-MD if they dont market? What is the point of even OFFERING it here in the US if they dont market? I think Hi-MD could lift off VERY fast if they would just market. THe US is in the "digital movement". Everything has to be digital. WHy not market Hi-MD has the digital alternative to audio cassettes? Sony must learn, to make money in the US, you have to market. SO do that! THis Hi-MD format has sooooo much potential, they just need to realize it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDOG58 Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Releasing a full line of equipment to playback/record Hi-MD - including home decks and cars - would make life great. FOr Hi-MD to take off, they need to do that right now! If yu are going to compete with MP3 players and IPod, you have to take out a full scale assult on the market. People arent going to buy a $250 Hi-MD player/recorder if that is the only thing they can listen to it on. I want to get the 800, but due to no car decks (what I would mainly use Hi-MD for) or no home stereo decks with Hi-MD, i see no point in getting the 800 if I can only listen to my discs on there and I would need an adaptor elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jammin72 Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 FOr Hi-MD to take off, they need to do that right now! If yu are going to compete with MP3 players and IPod, you have to take out a full scale assult on the market. People arent going to buy a $250 Hi-MD player/recorder if that is the only thing they can listen to it on. I want to get the 800, but due to no car decks (what I would mainly use Hi-MD for) or no home stereo decks with Hi-MD, i see no point in getting the 800 if I can only listen to my discs on there and I would need an adaptor elsewhere.You state the exception in the argument... the i-Pod is selling like gangbusters... There's no real difference between it and the I/O options of the Hi-MD Line (assuming that Atrac3Plus happened to be as popluar as .mp3) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doclloyd Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Except that MD (and Hi-MD) is a portable disc format vs. a HDD player. People now expect to be able to play their CD's just about anywhere... I can now. how convenient would it be for people to have the "digital tape" that is (Hi-)MDand take their music with them into the car or living room or wherever life takes you on the same disc... I personally would be all for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazeybt1 Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 addressing the marketing and the pushing of the product HIMD may not be soo attractive to sony as we may think now especially in this day and age where there's numerous legislations being passed and all sorts of legal fences being put up linking to piracy.. and now it's getting pretty tough on the makers of the devices which these legal busters see as the cause or part reason to all this illegal downloading and sharing of media where as it's the p2p networks who's responsible for this all hmm..... have a look at this if it's still valid http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5280384.h...html?tag=adnews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDOG58 Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 how convenient would it be for people to have the "digital tape" that is (Hi-)MDand take their music with them into the car or living room or wherever life takes you on the same disc... I personally would be all for it.That is EXACTLY my point. The mass public wil have no use for Hi-MD unless there are other places to use the dics than just the little player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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