[James]

Quote:

Originally posted by 3Double Do you know why?

Because, to the best of my knowledge, before MiniDV came out, Betamax was the highest-quality video medium most low-budget studios could afford (read: high-school & college TV). At least, I THINK that's how it went.

ipodophile is right, it's about having your music at your fingertips, even if the battery doesn't last long enough to play it all. Why anyone would prefer limiting themselves to listening to the same music for 40 hours (which, by the way, is the recording time and likely not the life of the battery) is quite beyond me. Or spend ten minutes downloading wanted music when you could instantly call it up on a properly-sized HD player. Now, if someone could come out with a Muvo-sized, 20GB+ flash player with 20hrs+ of battery life, I'm willing to bet that MP3 player designs as we know it will plateau, at least until video players come out in force.

ezra2323: I wasn't aware that ATRAC was the worst of the codecs. In fact, I was under the impression that it was one of the best -- if not THE best -- at its 292kbps bit rate. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Archangel]

This must be great for students .
I study abroad so basically I could have alot / all of my music collected there and on my computer and save ALOT of laguage space for not bringing x number of cd`s with me .

HOLY S&(*T maybe I should buy one !! LMAO

 

[davei]

Am I in the majority/minority when I think that neither of these options (iPod/HI-MD) appeals to me?

- iPod is not large enough to hold my entire collection of MP3s, so I have to pick and choose anyway (albeit 40GB worth)
- even if my entire collection fit on an iPod, how smart is it to carry it all on something that is easily lost/stolen (yes, should have a synced backup on local HD, but then I have to commit a large chunk of HD space)
- HI-MD cost is around $7/gig, 40GB = $280 plus whatever the player costs. As expensive as an HD based player in the long run with a decent amount of discs. Slow transfer, etc.
- if Sony's copy protection scheme holds true, barring any cracks/etc. if you lose a HI-MD your music is essentially lost (check-in/check-out - can't check the HI-MD in again later)?

 

[blessingx]

My iPod seemed to get over the news pretty quickly.

 

[mclaren20]

Quote:

Originally posted by iPodophile If you don't want the ability to carry your entire music collection around with you, then you don't like music.

I love music, couldnt live without it, but I seem to manage just fine wath a 128mb muvo when i had one.

 

[blessingx]

I'm with mclaren20.

Not sure how you can really be into (careful repeated listens) more than a dozen or so albums at a time if that. I like jumping around as much as the next guy, but any comments about "love of music" and tons o' music sets me back.

Variation on that Salinger line- "if you like all poems, you don't like poetry".

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by 3Double Carrying around 40 gigs of music with you is really kind of pointless, since you can only listen to it for about 8 hours before you have to recharge.

You call it "pointless," I call it "variety. I generally only listen to MP3s for a couple hours at a time, but I like that it's always a different two hours every time, and I don't have to sit there beforehand trying to decide which MDs to bring with me.


Quote:

Originally posted by ezra2323 No one uses ATRAC!!!!! It is the worst of all the compression codecs!!!!

Well, this isn't really true. ATRAC is actually a great code.

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally posted by iPodophile If you don't want the ability to carry your entire music collection around with you, then you don't like music.

I don't need all my music with me at all times, More and more I seem to categorize music: car music, walking around music, exercise music, working around the house music, reading music, falling asleep music. I'd be fine with making up a MD or two for each my categories.

Quote:

Originally posted by iPodophile I don't have to decide the night before which music I want to take to work with me the next day, because it's all on my iPod.

Hi-MD will probably not appeal to those looking for a high capacity jukebox, but I think it will win over a lot of those who would otherwise look at flash players or 1.5 gig to 4 gig HD players.

 

[Watchdog]

Quote:

Originally posted by James Because, to the best of my knowledge, before MiniDV came out, Betamax was the highest-quality video medium most low-budget studios could afford (read: high-school & college TV). At least, I THINK that's how it went. ipodophile is right, it's about having your music at your fingertips, even if the battery doesn't last long enough to play it all. Why anyone would prefer limiting themselves to listening to the same music for 40 hours (which, by the way, is the recording time and likely not the life of the battery) is quite beyond me. Or spend ten minutes downloading wanted music when you could instantly call it up on a properly-sized HD player. Now, if someone could come out with a Muvo-sized, 20GB+ flash player with 20hrs+ of battery life, I'm willing to bet that MP3 player designs as we know it will plateau, at least until video players come out in force. ezra2323: I wasn't aware that ATRAC was the worst of the codecs. In fact, I was under the impression that it was one of the best -- if not THE best -- at its 292kbps bit rate. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

There's no right or wrong here only personal preference. Before it was kind of lousy having to choose b/t the roughly 6 - 7 hours of battery life I have with my 30GB iPod (I use high bit rate files that drain the battery more quickly) or the 40+ hrs of battery life, but limited music I can carry with my MD.

Now with HI-MD I can easily carry 1 disc in my pocket and have one in the player for 2 GB, which gives me quite a lot of selection plus I can have an AM/FM/TV/Weather band tuner as well.

On the road, I'd sometimes use my iPod and other times the MD. I think with HI-MD I'll use that for my main portable. The iPod will get confined to home use due to the pathetic battery life.

Again this is a personal preference and everyone must decide for themselves. But to think I prefer X therefore everyone else in the world should prefer that as well is near-sighted.

 

[archosman]

That's exactly what I do now...

Quote:

Originally posted by Watchdog ...On the road, I'd sometimes use my iPod and other times the MD. I think with HI-MD I'll use that for my main portable...

 

[DigDub]

Quote:

Originally posted by ezra2323 1 GB mini-disc? Cool! ATRAC3 compliant only? yawn. Apparently Sony has already forgotten their 'betamax' disaster! No one uses ATRAC!!!!! It is the worst of all the compression codecs!!!! Sony, if you are worried about the integrity of your music division via file swapping, adopt Apple's proprietary version of AAC or Microsoft's WMA, but not your "own' format that no one uses!!! What a shame because Sony makes such cool devices. ATRAC??? <still laughing>

wow. that was the most ignorant statment i have heard today, or this year. japan and parts of asia has a thriving minidisc market. as for atrac (sp i presume), its audio quality for sony's atrac sp version 3.5 and above has been excellent, so much so that in a/b blind tests, most so-called audiophiles could not discern which was the original cd and which was the minidisc format. and this was before 'cd-quality' codecs such as lame mp3, aac, wma and ogg came out. i am still amazed at how good atrac sounds at 292kbps, even till today. and the fact that it uses some technology from famed audio company dolby certainly helped them to create a very good audio codec.

"worst of all compression codecs"? haha! try googling before you try to make any comments in an attempt to make u look smart and technology savvy.

 

[archosman]