External "Discman-style" Sony MPD-AP20U external USB 2.0 CD-RW/DVD drive / MP3 CD/DVD/Flash player (Memory Stick) $99.99

[CZroe]

Saw it on clearance at a local Circuit City store. $99.99 after manufacturer rebate. Last one was gone when I got back from the ATM so keep me in mind if you are picking one up for yourself (I have the PayPal funds)

This drive has internal rechargeable batteries and can play MP3s, WAV, CD-Audio and more (DVD Audio?) independantly when undocked from the PC. While undocked, it can play media from CD, DVD and Memory Stick! When docked, it becomes a PC CD-RW/DVD drive w/ internal 8MB buffer. The dock also provides charging functionality and is itself also battery powered to extend the portable battery life of the drive when used as a recordable PC drive. It can be connected to a PC with or without the included dock.

Because I own a DVD recorder, I consider it my alternative to the iPod (Buy another 5GB iPod's worth of storage for less than $2 whenever I need it). So if you own one, please notice the advantage of being able to play MP3s from DVD discs. Of course, the iPod's HDD is faster than any optical media but... It also has the same benefits Flash players have by also supporting MP3 and WAV files from Memory Stick. High capacity and solid state in one drive? I WANT IT!

 

[tmchow]

I have this player and really like it. It acts like a DVDROM and CDRW drive for my laptop, and a portable MP3 player. Best part is that it will play MP3s from DVD-writeables, so you can get 4.5GB worth of music on a single disc.

I wouldn't dare consider this a replacement for the IPOD, especially since this is so much larger than the IPOD and not as durable since its disc-based.

All in all, this is a great deal!

 

[littlebitstrouds]

Originally posted by: tmchow
I have this player and really like it. It acts like a DVDROM and CDRW drive for my laptop, and a portable MP3 player. Best part is that it will play MP3s from DVD-writeables, so you can get 4.5GB worth of music on a single disc.

I wouldn't dare consider this a replacement for the IPOD, especially since this is so much larger than the IPOD and not as durable since its disc-based.

All in all, this is a great deal!

I also have this drive... got it for 200 and it was well worth it for my .77" laptop that's too skinny for any drive at all. It's also usefull because windows reconizes it on any computer so you can burn and watch dvd's anywhere.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: tmchow
I wouldn't dare consider this a replacement for the IPOD, especially since this is so much larger than the IPOD and not as durable since its disc-based.

Size isn't the comparable aspect. Capacity is. It's also Flash-based, which has all the advantages even the iPod lacks.

BTW, when the first decent MP3 CD Players hit the market (Rio Volt and iRiver products), they were considered the smart alternative to flash-based players (Which topped out at 128MB + expandable back then). The decision was "Hmm, 64MB flash player for $200 or $129 CD player which plays back from media which you can buy 200 700MB discs for free after rebate?" These Digital Relay series Sony drives are the only ones I know which rival the capacity of HDD players and have cheap expandable storage. This is the only Digital Relay drive with Discman-like look, functionality and size and yet it happens to support DVDs

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: tmchow
I wouldn't dare consider this a replacement for the IPOD, especially since this is so much larger than the IPOD and not as durable since its disc-based.

Size isn't the comparable aspect. Capacity is. It's also Flash-based, which has all the advantages even the iPod lacks.

BTW, when the first decent MP3 CD Players hit the market (Rio Volt and iRiver products), they were considered the smart alternative to flash-based players (Which topped out at 128MB + expandable back then). The decision was "Hmm, 64MB flash player for $200 or $129 CD player which plays back from media which you can buy 200 700MB discs for free after rebate?" These Digital Relay series Sony drives are the only ones I know which rival the capacity of HDD players and have cheap expandable storage. This is the only Digital Relay drive with Discman-like look, functionality and size.

you suck..why didn't you let us in on this sooner..? and btw..found this ..now I want..

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
you suck..why didn't you let us in on this sooner..? and btw..found this ..now I want..

Yeah, I saw that too. That's the same rebate Circuit City provides you I assume.

 

[dc]

ooo, me wants one. anyone know of any stores in southern california that have this?

 

[vroom1810]

It's at Ecost for $171 with free shipping. I THINK you can use the rebate if purchased from them, and i think it's $50. So alternative if you really want this. It may be hard to find at most CC stores. This was the best price i could find online and it doesn't say it's a refurbished item....like alot of their items are.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: vroom1810
It's at Ecost for $171 with free shipping. I THINK you can use the rebate if purchased from them, and i think it's $50. So alternative if you really want this. It may be hard to find at most CC stores. This was the best price i could find online and it doesn't say it's a refurbished item....like alot of their items are.

I may have to resort to that. I *will* get one one way or another! Thnx.

 

[pecel]

Time to visit my local CC tomorrow.
Hopefully find 1.

Thanks OP.

 

[vroom1810]

Oh...another thing (refer to my post a couple above this), you won't have to pay tax at Ecost and most people will pay tax at CC....plus you can have it delivered to your door free! I"d get this myself, but have spent too much money lately and just purchased the Buslink 8x external dvd recorder from Staples (there's a thread here i think) and LOVE it!

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: vroom1810
Oh...another thing (refer to my post a couple above this), you won't have to pay tax at Ecost and most people will pay tax at CC....plus you can have it delivered to your door free! I"d get this myself, but have spent too much money lately and just purchased the Buslink 8x external dvd recorder from Staples (there's a thread here i think) and LOVE it!

Thanks! I think I'll be taking your suggestion (Unless one of you ATHD'ers can hook me up with a Circuit City find)

 

[Joel Kleppinger]

I just went to the CC in Reno, and they didn't even have a clue what I was talking about, much less the drive itself. Guess it's eCost for me.

 

[bob4432]

if this had an am/fm/tv/weather tuner i would consider the best cd walkman of all time. hopefully they will integrate these options soon.....

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: Joel Kleppinger
I just went to the CC in Reno, and they didn't even have a clue what I was talking about, much less the drive itself. Guess it's eCost for me.

I had trouble with some of the calls I made too. Anyway, it does seem to usually remain on the CD-RW drive shelf.

Does anyone know of any retailers where a price-match to the shelf tag might work? The tag was still there last I looked but Best Buy doesn't seem to carry it and neither does CompUSA.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: vroom1810
It's at Ecost for $171 with free shipping. I THINK you can use the rebate if purchased from them, and i think it's $50. So alternative if you really want this. It may be hard to find at most CC stores. This was the best price i could find online and it doesn't say it's a refurbished item....like alot of their items are.

Well, I just realized that it does say open-box. Many of the items on eBay are less for the non-new ones too.

I bet the high occurrence of "open box" & refurbished drives at retailers and on eBay is because the rebate has been in effect for so long and it requires nothing more than a serial number and UPC scan. I bet people have been making a living off of scamming the rebate with different addresses! I wouldn't trust any "opened but never used" drives on eBay to qualify for the rebate for the same reason. Damn.

If you get lucky, someone PLEASE buy me a second at Circuit City. Don't worry about whether I bought one yet or not... You can always take advantage of CC's "No Hassels" guarantee (No restocking fee and no "in-store credit only" gimmick) and I do have the money in my PayPal account. Thanks!

 

[vroom1810]

When i posted the unit from Ecost i'm pretty sure at that time it didn't say "open box"....i could be wrong, but i was looking to see if it was refurbished, which i couldn't find. It's possible i over-looked the "open-box" description, but they also could have changed the description. It's probably that i over-looked it, though. I'm not sure i'd purchase an "open box" unit, but i've made only one purchase from them and the item was brand new, but defective. They arranged pickup and i didn't have to pay any shipping....altho i seem to recall they didn't refund the "processing fee" since shipping was free. Robert

edit: i wonder if you can still use the rebate for the unit even if it is "open box". I would think so as long as the upc symbol is there....but i'm not sure. On second thought, "might" take an "open box" unit if i really needed/wanted it and then see if i could use the rebate. If the unit isn't sastisfactory i'd get it returned.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: vroom1810
When i posted the unit from Ecost i'm pretty sure at that time it didn't say "open box"....i could be wrong, but i was looking to see if it was refurbished, which i couldn't find. It's possible i over-looked the "open-box" description, but they also could have changed the description. It's probably that i over-looked it, though. I'm not sure i'd purchase an "open box" unit, but i've made only one purchase from them and the item was brand new, but defective. They arranged pickup and i didn't have to pay any shipping....altho i seem to recall they didn't refund the "processing fee" since shipping was free. Robert

edit: i wonder if you can still use the rebate for the unit even if it is "open box". I would think so as long as the upc symbol is there....but i'm not sure. On second thought, "might" take an "open box" unit if i really needed/wanted it and then see if i could use the rebate. If the unit isn't sastisfactory i'd get it returned.

Yeah, I was thinking that they could have updated it too. My concern is that the reason that there are so many retailers offering this item as "open box" that it is because people have been cashing in on the rebates and returning them for almost a year. Because only a copy of the UPC and a transcription of the serial number is required, this is possible (Circuit City certainly wouldn't refuse the return). They probably either went back to Sony where the serial number was noted or they were already registered with a previous rebate to that serial number.

Well, I know I'd buy one with or without the rebate sooner or later so I'm looking at all prices too

 

[nero2]

What is the battery life when using this as portable player playing mp3s off of data DVDs?

 

[CZroe]

I saw a few reviews claiming that DVD movie playback is only 1.5 hours on battery, but they didn't specify whether they were talking about with the cradle or without. Also, DVD movie playback leaves the drive constantly spinning and requires a connection to a laptop. DVD-R MP3 playback should be able to cache the entire MP3 into memory 12x faster than CD-R MP3 playback (Higher density disc = increased rotational transfer rate). I've also seen it reviewed with claims of burning up to 70 CD-Rs on one charge and stand-alone CD-Audio playback @ 11 hours (Nice).

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: CZroe
Saw it on clearance at a local Circuit City store. $99.99 after manufacturer rebate. Last one was gone when I got back from the ATM so keep me in mind if you are picking one up for yourself (I have the PayPal funds)

This drive has internal rechargeable batteries and can play MP3s, WAV, CD-Audio and more (DVD Audio?) independantly when undocked from the PC. While undocked, it can play media from CD, DVD and Memory Stick! When docked, it becomes a PC CD-RW/DVD drive w/ internal 8MB buffer. The dock also provides charging functionality and is itself also battery powered to extend the portable battery life of the drive when used as a recordable PC drive. It can be connected to a PC with or without the included dock.

Because I own a DVD recorder, I consider it my alternative to the iPod (Buy another 5GB iPod's worth of storage for less than $2 whenever I need it). So if you own one, please notice the advantage of being able to play MP3s from DVD discs. Of course, the iPod's HDD is faster than any optical media but... It also has the same benefits Flash players have by also supporting MP3 and WAV files from Memory Stick. High capacity and solid state in one drive? I WANT IT!

why didn't you just use your debit card instead of going to the ATM.
Doesn't really make much sense.
All the ATM cards that are issued now are usually check cards.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: CZroe
Saw it on clearance at a local Circuit City store. $99.99 after manufacturer rebate. Last one was gone when I got back from the ATM so keep me in mind if you are picking one up for yourself (I have the PayPal funds)

why didn't you just use your debit card instead of going to the ATM.
Doesn't really make much sense.
All the ATM cards that are issued now are usually check cards.

*Purely* because I had to check my balance. I truely am living paycheck-to-paycheck.

 

[CZroe]

Well, I ordered mine. One left!

I only hope there's a way to check with Sony about whether the rebate has been applied or not before my 7-day return policy thing is up. No way I can wait for a rejection letter. I think the seller is high-volume enough to trust that he isn't selling rebate merchandise, but he does claim that you only have seven days DOA guarantee because the price is "unusual."

I guess eBay isn't totally devoid of deals on this drive after all. It took a lot of searching to find these, but I bet this one is legit too because it's another high-volume power seller and has free shipping (That's Why I bid on it first... Now I'm hoping someone will outbid me but it'd be a steal if I won it for my bid price with free shipping anyway )

 

[vroom1810]

CZroe....did you get it with your bid?!

 

[CZroe]

The guy had three in a Buy It Now-only auction for $149.99. I got one and now he has one left so someone else noticed. Unless you mean the other one, which I'm still the high bidder on (I bid much less than $149.99 even though it has free shipping). I got the Buy It Now one because I expect the other to easily go over my bid and even higher than the other's Buy It Now price and I expected the Buy It Now ones to be gone by that point. I don't need two, but I'm confident that I'll get outbid on the other.

So as it stands, I've got one of three and possibly two of them. But I think I might get banned from Hot Deals for bringing eBay into this so I'll shut up after this I was just trying to say that I no longer need you guys to keep me in mind when checking Circuit City, and if you missed Circuit City like I did, well, there's a detailed record of what I did.

CC is still the best option if yours has it.