MD Players or this Panasonic "SD" thing??? help!

[abc]

LINK
what is that, some proprietary Pansonic thing? Is it good or gimicky?

I've thought about an MD player for about 2 months, and Sony released in Japan a few days ago, their first NET.MD player.

Which path should I go?

 

[Ornery]

Why not CD-MP3 player? From what I've heard, CD-R put the kabosh on Zip discs and will probably do the same to mini discs.

Edit: That Panasonic thing's largest memory card is only 64MB. What good is that?

 

[Antoneo]

The NetMD player will cost at least $300 USD (the portable recorder one: MZ-N1). What is the price for the Panasonic thing?

 

[Koing]

I would get the NET MD if I were you. I've got 3 MD's but I've had them for years. The NET MD wasn't out when I got mine. I'd go for that one myself but I've got an MD myself......

 

[Antoneo]

MP3 CD players are HUGE compared to Minidisc and mp3 players. The size difference is incredible. You can't really fit a CD player in the front pants pocket unless you are wearing those rapper's pants.

 

[loup garou]

<< what is that, some proprietary Pansonic thing? Is it good or gimicky? >>


They're just panasonic mp3 players that take Secure Digital Cards (like Multimedia Cards) as flash memory. I'd go the MP3 player route and get an Intel PocketConcert or NomadII.

 

[Ornery]

"...MP3 CD players are HUGE"

Gawd, sounds like my wife... "It's too big, oh my!" :Q

 

[MrHelpful]

LOL

 

[MrHelpful]

image 1
image 2

This could fit in my pant pocket, no problem.

It plays MP3s.

 

[MrHelpful]

 

[VirusDub]

It really depends on what you'll be using it for. If you just want to listen to music, go for an MP3 player. If you want to be able to record on the go, get an MD recorder.

 

[crypticlogin]

I first saw that Panasonic device just a few days ago and other than being *small* and uses SD cards, I didn't think there was anything else going for it. I think the actual size was 1.75" x 1.5" x 0.75", or something along those lines but once you get over the size thing, it's just another MP3 player with a pretty impressive (in a bad way) price tag.

My vote is to get a MD player for now, and if the Panasonic player still interests you in a year or so, then go for it.

 

[Koing]

<< image 1
image 2

This could fit in my pant pocket, no problem.

It plays MP3s. >>



Try and stick that in your front pocket and THEN sit down. I bet it cracks! Unless you have a MOFO of a front pocket!

I'd say get the NET MD player. Its faster then single speed MD recorders which are real time. The only thing that sucks about MD IMHO. If they were only faster!.

 

[RoninRXN]

Guys...I'm in Hong Kong right now. Price on the Sony MZ-N1 is $350US.

I suggest you buy an MD player because of the cheap media and small size. The Panasonic SD thingy...I don't like it myself.

And why not a MP3 CD player? Because they're HUGE. I think anything bigger than an MD player is a brick. No matter how small they get...even with the small CDs...they're still huge.

Why not a MP3 player? Lack of remote and expensive media.

MD player. No question.

 

[abc]

hey Ronin, my bro's somewhere in HK now too! and we're emailing ea. other about locating some MD stuff. He hasn't been able to find the Net MD one, can you point me where my bro should go? around 350.00 you say?

 

[RoninRXN]

<< hey Ronin, my bro's somewhere in HK now too! and we're emailing ea. other about locating some MD stuff. He hasn't been able to find the Net MD one, can you point me where my bro should go? around 350.00 you say? >>



They're not available yet. That's the price I got quoted. You can probably find it cheaper if it's "water cargo" (you'll know what is if you're Chinese...if not, don't worry about it.)

 

[abc]

I am Ronin, but I still don't know what that means heh heh, damaged goods?

wait i asked pop and he's kinda like 'shady goods' kinda thing.

wait, so your 350 quote was not from a mom/pop kinda place but a stiff place?

 

[RoninRXN]

It means that the guy that runs the store bought them direct from the manufacturer. Sometimes, it's refurbished. I don't have a problem with any of that as long as there's a waranty.

As for shady...who cares? I'd buy stolen stuff if the price was good.

Yeah, $350 was what a guy at Fortress told me it should be. Might be more. Not sure. It will definetly be less at a ghetto spot.

 

[MrBond]

If you rip a CD digitally to minidisc (most DVD players can do it as long as they have optical out) it sounds much better then the average mp3. The remote was a big plus for me, It's nice to be able to throw the minidsic player in my pocket and clip the remote on something more accessible.

 

[abc]

hey RONIN my bro went to Japan now, and he picked me up the MD sweety for about $270.00 US, can ya dig it!!!!

 

[kgraeme]

Keep in mind that SD or SecureDigital is the tool of the RIAA. They want a media format that will understand copy protected music files and prevent you from transfering songs how you want. The first step is getting people to buy products with SD cards. Once that's done, and there aren't open devices like CF, they'll release their copyprotected music format and you won't be able to make MP3s anymore.

 

[KokomoGST]

Actually, there are microCD-MP3 units that are even smaller than the iRiver... given the smaller CD size (same size as those business card CDs) it still has more storage ability that an MD, similar size, and better sound/fidelity depending on how you encode your MP3s. (MDs cut out all sound above a certain frequency, so they may sound better than the "average" mp3, but not better than a well-encoded one)
Plus, you don't have to buy into $ony's encoding technology and media tech. Although microCDs might be a pain to get...

The main advantage of MDs though is the builtin recording ability... but if you don't care for that, a small HD MP3 unit or microCD MP3 unit is best for portability. Personally, I think it's a pain to put an MD player in your pocket, it's still to heavy and I don't like it either squeezing it into a tight pocket or slapping my legs in a loose one. Belt clip is fine for me... something like the Archos Jukebox might be something to look into.

You could consider a CompactFlash or one of the old SmartMedia MP3 players for ultimate portability... SD is better than SmartMedia and hopefully even if they introduce more security measures into SD, you could still use your MP3 player. I was in Japan last year when they first had SD MP3 players in stores, a tiny watchlike thing with 64Meg cards. Thing about buying stuff in Japan, if you're not getting some thing early or unique, isn't worth it since we get stuff pretty cheap here in the US... even with the weakness of the yen.