Travel Technology - Sony unveils 45 hour mini disc

Will this (http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/01/11/sony.minidisc.ap/index.html) fly, in the face of all the other portable players out there?

I think not, in the US at least. Sony has some draconian DRM software that requires users to "check in" and "check out" songs from a digital vault, making the whole process unnecessarily complicated and difficult.

In addition, you can't use the mini disc as a portable vault for other PC files, like you can with the iPod and other devices.

I do enjoy using my old mini disc player for working out though. If it ever gets busted I won't be too upset.

As an avid MD fan, I can tell you there's been loads of discussion on this. The 1GB MD coincides with a new generation of recorders/players that will:

1. Allow uploaded of mic-based recordings, so perfect for lectures, meetings, etc.
2. Allow you to store other data files on the 1GB disc because it will be FAT formatted.

Also, the check in/out process you refer to is not at all, as you claim, "unnecessarily complicated and difficult" - it may be for someone who is used to drag n' drop, but even if you have a modicum of experience with PCs, it is not generally problematic. It's the software (Sonic Stage) that tends to get people upset.

Battery life is the thing that still keeps me from getting an Ipod. Sorry, but if I'm on a flight across the Pacific, I want the tunes the whole way, not just for 3/4 of the trip!

One person on another forum summed it up best, I though: what's the point of carrying around months worth of music if your player doesn't last longer than 8 hours?

Anyway, don't wanna turn this into another MD vs HD players thread!

ZZZZZZZzzzZZZZZZZ

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by DavidNZ:
Battery life is the thing that still keeps me from getting an Ipod. Sorry, but if I'm on a flight across the Pacific, I want the tunes the whole way, not just for 3/4 of the trip!

One person on another forum summed it up best, I though: what's the point of carrying around months worth of music if your player doesn't last longer than 8 hours?</font>

The 30gb $250 Creative Zen Nx has replaceable batteres, lust like your laptop. It also runs for about 10 hours on a single charge...

If you can find one, the original first-generation Creative Jukebox ran on 4 AA batteries. With a good fully-charged set of NiMH's, I've gotten 8 hours, and then they're trivial to swap.

The downside is that the player is a bit larger and heavier than an iPod or Zen, but it's still far better than the equivalent in a Discman + CD's...

I just bought an external battery case for my iPod... four AA batteries so with a set of Energizer Lithiums I should be good for 16-20 hours easy. I'd much rather that than carry around 40gb worth of MDs.

*sigh*

A MD player and three minidiscs (each holding 2.5 hours of music) = 10 hours of music (including the disc already in the player), and that's with a total carry-on footprint that rivals that of the Ipod. In fact, beats it if you have to add the AA battery pack (how much extra was that?).

Sorry, I'm being cheeky and really don't mean to be! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif Besides, we're putting skofarrell to sleep!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by DavidNZ:
*sigh*

A MD player and three minidiscs (each holding 2.5 hours of music) = 10 hours of music (including the disc already in the player), and that's with a total carry-on footprint that rivals that of the Ipod. In fact, beats it if you have to add the AA battery pack (how much extra was that?).

Sorry, I'm being cheeky and really don't mean to be! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif Besides, we're putting skofarrell to sleep!</font>

My 40gb Ipod and a battery pack have (figuring 6MB/song well encoded using LAME VBR for high quality) a capacity of 6986.66 songs which is (at an average of 5 minutes/song) 582.22 hours of content/music. Plus, I don't have to pack a ton of Minidiscs nor deal with slow transfer times etc... I can load 600 songs on an Ipod before one MD is loaded. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/biggrin.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by skofarrell:
The 30gb $250 Creative Zen Nx has replaceable batteres, lust like your laptop. It also runs for about 10 hours on a single charge...

</font>

I brought one of these to replace my ipod. Very impressed with the battery life.

Also for me I may have to spend a three month stint away from home, so I want one unit that holds all my music. I don't want to have to lug extra Minidiscs which I would lose. I'm also lazy so they wouldn't be labelled meaning I'd always be hunting around for the songs I wanted.