Portable CD-RW/DVD Player 269
BugNuker writes "If your CD/MP3 player wasn't enough, you have to check this out. Sony has released this all in one media device that can play mp3's, wma's, cd's, and DVD's... yes, DVD's. It can be hooked up to your computer, and be used as a CD-RW and then hooked up to your TV, and play your favorite DVD's. But can it play my mp3's recorded on my DVD? Ultimate media device I would say, same size as a personal cd player. Comes with a Memory Stick expansion slot, a rechargeable battery and a USB 2.0/1.1 interface." There's a picture. It's cute. And expensive.
Expensive???? (Score:2, Insightful)
This thing sounds like a bargain to me.
Re:Expensive???? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Expensive???? (Score:3, Informative)
This is what it does:
Portable CD player - regular and Mp3 cds
External CD-R/W drive and DVD ROM drive
Maybe its just me, but this is no big deal. Portable CD/MP3 players can be had for under $100 dollars, and almost everyone already has a CD burner / DVD ROM in their computer.
If you need to make CDRs while you are on the road, this may be useful, but I'd be surprised if you couldn't already get an external CD burner for under $300.
To Sony, I say "big deal".
Re:Expensive???? (Score:3, Interesting)
One additional bonus that this device presents laptop users : most modern laptops have some sort of swapable drive bay that houses the optical drive but will also house a second battery. With this (IMO, relatively inexpensive) drive, you can add a second battery but still retain portability and optical drive connectivity.
Re:Expensive???? (Score:5, Informative)
Portable CD/MP3/DVD players can be had for under $100. The only link I can find has them for $107 [zoovy.com], but my local Target has one on clearance for ~$70.
Re:Expensive???? (Score:2)
Of course, neither of these makes CD-R/W like the Sony product this article's about.
Hey! for that money... (Score:2, Funny)
FINALLY (Score:5, Funny)
Re:FINALLY (Score:5, Funny)
Perhaps you should moan more quietly, then?
Why not just get a notebook? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Why not just get a notebook? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why not just get a notebook? (Score:5, Funny)
I'd pay an entrance fee just to see you do that.
This one might fit in your shoulder bag (Score:2)
Re:Why not just get a notebook? (Score:3, Insightful)
$979 vs. $300, see the difference?
Re:Why not just get a notebook? (Score:2, Informative)
What's the use of a portable DVD without a screen? So you can take it upstairs and watch DVDs on your portable in bed, or the kids can do the same. Or you can visit friends who haven't bought DVD yet, and take along a movie to watch.
The portability alone has a use even without a screen. And if you're really sad, you can use the opportunity to listen to a director's commentary without the pictures - most of the time with commentaries you might as well have sound-only.
Re:Why not just get a notebook? (Score:3, Funny)
And laptops are where cats sleep, curl up purring or pad until they draw blood. There's no escape from ambiguity.
Re:Why not just get a notebook? (Score:2)
Re:Why not just get a notebook? (Score:2)
Play mp3's off DVD? (Score:5, Informative)
"When away from the computer, the drive then works as a stand-alone CD player that can play standard audio CDs, and MP3 or WAV files from a CD, DVD or Memory Stick."
Damn, sure sounds like it to me.
Re:Play mp3's off DVD? (Score:2)
VCDs (Score:5, Funny)
Re:VCDs (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:VCDs (Score:3, Funny)
KINDA IRONIC (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:KINDA IRONIC (Score:2)
Well... (Score:3, Insightful)
Sony is actually two companies? (Score:5, Interesting)
What happens in there? Does one team produce cool stuff and then try and sneak it out before the music side get their claws into it? Or is this clearly a case of two different companies (or should I say cultures and ideals) releasing products under the same name?
Re:Sony is actually two companies? (Score:4, Insightful)
How depressing must it be to be a product developer in there, busting a gut to produce neat stuff that people will love, only to have the weasels in legal forcing them to eviscerate the product with ill-considered DRM?
Re:Sony is actually two companies? (Score:2)
I expect the same thing happened with NetMD as well. Sony Music is more of a money maker so DRM was included.
Re:Sony is actually two companies? (Score:5, Informative)
The subsidaries seem to be free to act as they see fit and their seems to be very little interference in how they are run from the Sony group company.
Just the computer games divisions are divided into Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEI*), Sony Computer Entertainment America(SCEA) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe(SCEE). All of these companies are separate entities, with seperate responsibilities and ideas about how they should be doing business.
*Yes I know it should be SCEJ, but it isn't, okay?
Re:Sony is actually two companies? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Sony is actually two companies? (Score:2)
Re:Sony is actually two companies? (Score:3, Interesting)
While there are certainly folks at Sony who are right in there with the whole DRM thing, I think what happens is that the hardware sales have a polarizing effect on these efforts within Sony.
Look at their competition with MS in the game space. Sony knows that, push comes to shove, they sell TVs and Walkmans and Glasstrons, and Microsoft sells the occasional keyboard or router. They will price MS right out of the market on the PS2 (in fact, they are already turning a profit on those things [zdnet.co.uk]), while selling all the hardware they are known for. Microsoft cannot lean on an alternative revenue stream so heavily... although they do have that ridiculous war-chest in the bank. Investors won't stand for raiding it without a visible means of putting that money back, though.
Sony can do this, and the tech industry is simply that much bigger than the media industry. Hell, Sony co-invented the CD; I think they actually take a tiny bit of profit from every CD-based game sold on the Xbox (someone correct me if I'm wrong about that; I know the PS2 has some CD-based games, some -DVD).
Links (Score:5, Informative)
Product page: http://www.storagebysony.com/cd-rw/product.asp?id
why (Score:5, Interesting)
actually, a better why...
why do americans not like/use minidisc players? i noticed that when i was over there about a month ago - everyone had clunkly cd-size walkmen. in london mini-disc players are continuing to become more ubiqitous and i would assume for two reasons:
1) size
2) re-recordable
does this just not go down well in the US?
i mean, discover the sony mz-n1....
Re:why (Score:2, Insightful)
Reasons why MD is better than MP3 (Score:2, Insightful)
Oh, but I almost forgot: an MP3 player is just that... a player . Not a recorder. So what happens when you want a digital copy of a concert? Or want to record a lecture? Or want to copy a friend's new CD? You're shit out of luck. With an MP3 player, you're constantly tethered to a computer if you want to expand your music collection. Minidisc doesn't have this problem.
People who think Minidiscs are poor substitutes for CD's miss the point entirely -- they are excellent substitutes for TAPES. Keep your CD player. But for portable tunes, with an option for recording, I always carry MiniDisc.
Re:Reasons why MD is better than MP3 (Score:2)
Nice try.
Wrong tho.
Nomad Jukebox [nomadworld.com]
There are MP3 players which record, and I believe the Nomad even encodes to mp3 on the fly, so you're not constantly tethered to your computer in any way.
Re:why (Score:3, Interesting)
The only people that I know who used them were those that had them as part of their entertainment centers. That means you had to have the portable player and the standalone recorder which, in this day and age isn't happening.
I suppose the greatest dilemna for Sony was that they didn't let anyone else produce material or hardware for the minidisc, it could have taken off had they done that.
--trb
Re:why (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:why (Score:4, Insightful)
*Cue Apple switch music*
I had it... it worked... but it kinda sucked in the fact that to put music on.. you HAD to do it in real-time. I bought a HI-FI deck which allowed x2 speeds, but still it did not really satisfy my needs - who wants to waste 30 minutes waiting for a CD to copy over? Oh yeah, NetMD now apparently is better, but I've never had one, nor will I ever get a MD player again. For me? 20gb iPod all my music, all my documents and 'some' of my movies in my pocket. It brings a smirk to my face everytime I see people fumbling around with CDs/MDs on the train platform.. hehehe. If you're willing to spend *THAT* much on a personal audio device, you might as well buy the best availble... I'm Michael Jin, and I'm a student....
Re:why (Score:3, Insightful)
Why would anyone pay $350 for a NetMD player that has lower capacity and a proprietary format, not to mention all of the DRM.
MD == Slow (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, I'd also like a digital out, but that's not an issue that would keep me from buying a player. I'm sure the DACs in the MD players are plenty good, and then hardware to do ATRAC->PCM and then use your receiver to do PCM->Analog.
Re:MD == Slow (Score:2, Interesting)
Also, to note: I believe that the ATRAC format is better than mp3. The files are smaller and of the same quality.
But I agree with you. If I could copy mp3 -> minidisc, I would be in heaven.
hmm ... (Score:2)
why do americans not like/use minidisc players?
Hmm ... could it be because they suck?
Nah, it must be because we are quaint and technologically backward. It's true; I read it on /.!
Re:why (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, I'm a Londoner and I wouldn't say they are becoming more ubiquitois. Yes, there are a larger number of people with them than I've ever seen before, but what is become more seen is those people with the little white clip on their clothes. That is the Nokia 8310 [nokia.com].
Plus those people that do have MD's are often holding several year old models rather than the latest one. Which either means there is a damn good trade in ancient MD's or these are players bought a while ago.
But anyway I'm digressing, here's why I don't use the NetMD:
MD's are good quality. If you can overlook the fact that you have to copy all your music to MD at realtime.
Of course, you could get the NetMD, but then you'd have to jump through hoops (read check in/check out) to get the songs onto the MD, you can't copy them back off, you can't check them out more than 3 times, you have to convert them to Sony's propriatory ATRAC format, LP4 compression is so poor quality-wise you can only use LP2 at the most, you can't delete the songs off the MD without checking them back into the software and you sometimes find that the software refuses to convert an MP3 (often a VBR one).
Oh, yes, and you get to pay £250 for the privilidge of the above when my player was over half the price.
NetMD was an attempt by Sony to capitalise on the MP3 boom, unfortunately their content division were so paranoid about piracy that they effectivly cripped what would have been a seriously good product that might have stemmed the death of the MD.
If, however, MP3 means nothing to you or you have no need for such a thing, then a plain old bog standard MD player is both cheap, light, jog-proof and rather cool. But NetMD is a joke.
Re:why (Score:2)
You can now download to the unit faster with the MD stuff, but unless a new hack has come out, you cannot upload at high quality, even content you have recorded.
I was considering a cheap one for portable recording, but ended up with a laptop and an Eiderol/Roland UA-5. 24-bit recording, decent mic-pres, and a bunch of analog and digital ports.
look at it objectively (Score:5, Insightful)
If you want a DVD player, you're much better off going with a dedicated unit for the same $$$. It will give you infinitely better picture quality.
If you want an MP3/etc player, head for an iPod [apple.com] or that new Creative device. It'll be smaller (and even the cheapest version will still have as much memory as a DVD), and the battery life will be better because it doesn't have to spin the damn dvd around all the time.
One of those cases of big wow factor because of convergence/size/cuteness, but when you look at it objectively - jack of all trades, master of none.
-- james
Re:look at it objectively (Score:4, Insightful)
Really? I've seen NO appreciable difference in DVD players.... The TV makes the most difference.
256MB memory stick? (Score:5, Interesting)
Where does it say it plays WMAs? (Score:3, Interesting)
Where does it say this plays WMAs? I couldn't find it in the article. What I did see is that it provides enough playback for 1.5 hours of DVD, so less than a lot of movies.
This should be a nice alternative to car DVD players which are always ridiculously expensive.
This sounds cool, but... (Score:5, Informative)
Only then will it rock!
Can you read? (Score:2, Informative)
That's the second half of the 5th paragraph in the artical.
Come on people. It's not that hard. (and +5 informative? Whatever)
Re:This sounds cool, but... (Score:3, Informative)
Perfect for travelers with subnotebooks! (Score:5, Insightful)
The drawback of the bundled add-on CD drives that come with the notebooks is that they don't function separately - you're just lugging around a mostly useless cd-rom reader, not a CD/DVD Walkman. This thing is going to sell like hotcakes to business travelers!
Re:Perfect for travelers with subnotebooks! (Score:2)
You might want to look at the Fujitsu P-Series [fujitsupc.com]. The specs are pretty nice, it's quite small, it has a CD-RW/DVD drive built in (which can be swapped out for another battery), it's available in the States and it's much less expensive than a Dynamism import.
Really cool, but, what about regions? (Score:5, Funny)
Not the ultimate player. (Score:2)
Soon enough, the newer dvd players will be able to play "divx"
I am asking myself... (Score:2, Interesting)
Uh oh..... (Score:2)
Uh oh.....
Sony [sony.com] isn'y going to like this!
Obligatory vorbis complaint (Score:2)
This thing plays everything (CDs as well as MP3, WAV and WMA files that are stored on CDs, DVDs or the company's own Memory Stick cards) but vorbis! Is there really more people with WAVs stored on Memory Sticks than folks who want vorbis playback?
But... (Score:2)
Once again we return the problem issue of battery time. This seems to be the limiting factor in portable electronics today, either you can't use it long enough, or it is to heavy to be carried.
Missing Killer Feature (Score:2)
This thing is missing the one feature that would have made it unique as a portable device.
VCD Recording.
I understand the practical limitations that would prevent it, but if after all I'm going to hook it up to a TV, why not record?
It would have made a great adjunct to the current crop of digital CamCorders.
It's pretty (I guess depending on your estetic), but the extra utility would have put it over the top even if the list went to $500.
Of course it would have to be more reliable than my Terrapin.
Platforms... (Score:5, Funny)
They say this like there are only two.
"We got both kinds of music here - Country and Western."
Yes! (Score:2)
Napster has been dead for what, well over a year and a half?
Do I really need a device that is borne from the efforts of a company that lives, breathes and lives the DMCA? And is the main member of the RIAA?
Fuck MP3.
Go Ogg.
Another /. RTFA! (Score:4, Informative)
Sony product page [storagebysony.com]
Sony's cool new Digital Relay(TM) portable battery operated CD-RW/DVD-ROM/Memory Stick® drive burns CDs when attached to a PC or Macintosh® computer using the USB 2.0/1.1 port. Detach the drive from the computer, and you now have a portable CD player that also plays MP3 and WAV files on CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, or Memory Stick media.
It plays DVD-ROMs, not DVD-Video discs. This basically is a MP3 player that can use DVDs. So you can get 4.7GB on a MP3 disc instead of 650-700 MB. I still think it's worth a link on /., but for pete's sake, RTFA before you submit, and editors, RTFA before you post!
Maybe you should RTFA, dumbass. (Score:2, Informative)
"When connected to a Windows or Macintosh computer, the device can serve as a CD-RW drive for recording digital content or backing up computer data. When connected to a television or PC, the device can also become a DVD player for watching movies. "
Re:Another /. RTFA! (Score:2)
Good point, and for just that functionality it's way overpriced. The NetworkWorldFusion article then also probably has the power usage figures wrong, because it makes no sense why it would only run for 1.5h reading DVDs vs. 10h reading regular CDs if it's not actually doing video decoding on the DVD.
Re:Another /. RTFA! (Score:2, Informative)
yeah, but memorystick? (Score:2, Interesting)
But save for those couple of issues, this seems like an incredibly versatile unit for 300 clams. I expect we'll see a lot more machines like this, and probably for a lot less cash once Samsung, et al, get in on it. And they'll probably come to market with a more useful replacement for memorystick, too.
Oh yeah: Does anyone know what, if anything, this unit has in the way of DRM support? One would not like to buy a device that was deliberately crippled in any way.
Re:yeah, but memorystick? (Score:3)
> useful replacement for memorystick, too.
Such as no memory card slot at all, because what's the bloody point? Sony is just putting MS slots into everything it makes nowadays in order to force the standard down people's throats, whether it makes sense to or not. This is a CD and DVD player, not a memory card player. If I want a memory card player, I'll buy one of those. Why increase the cost of a rotating media player by also making it play other types of media?
Re:yeah, but memorystick? (Score:2)
> cheaper and more useful to include a diskonkey
No it wouldn't. The player is just a USB device and has (almost 100% likely) no host controller, and USB memory devices require a host controller (plus lots of software drivers) to be read. The USB bus is a master-slave setup, and plugging a DiskOnKey into the Sony player would result in two slave devices being connected together without a master controller, which is completely useless.
Archos - 20Gb and a screen for $449 (Score:5, Interesting)
UK [archos.com]
MP4 Video Player (DivX compatible*) JPEG/BMP Viewer MP3 Player & Recorder
Expensive??? I don't think so. (Score:4, Insightful)
For a portable device which records and reads CDs at 24X, rewrites CDs at 10X and reads DVDs at 8X, for less than $300 I think it isn't too bad actually. IMHO of course.
ogg files? (Score:3, Interesting)
Will it play ogg files? My absolute requirement for anything I get like this is that it be able to play oggs.
Also, does it use the USB storage interface, or some other standard USB interface so I don't need funky drivers to use it under Linux?
Re:ogg files? (Score:3, Insightful)
No Linux support (Score:3, Interesting)
This alone is a showstopper for me. Of course people will hack around and maybe get it to work. The price doesn't seem too high if it is under US$ 300 as the article mentions though.
Re:No Linux support (Score:2)
Well, the fact it supports Windows and MacOS doesn't necessarily mean it won't work on Linux.
Being a CD-RW, it probably just talks SCSI over USB when writing, and probably shows up itself as a SCSI-over-USB cd reader (or as a Mass Storage unit) when reading. IIRC, there is good support for both on Linux (unless the firmware is broken). OTOH, IEEE1394 would have been a better choice than USB2.0, IMHO (at least, IEEE1394 has been out for more time).
..But how about the BenQ? (Score:2, Informative)
$159 isn't too bad. There's also:
http://mp3playerstore.com/buy_it_now__/mp-2001.ht
for $64.95. Probably horrible shit construction, but not bad for the price.
Thank you, Sony! (Score:3, Funny)
OK... some things don't look right here... (Score:5, Informative)
The ZDNet [com.com] article states "...When connected to a television or PC, the device can also become a DVD player for watching movies. "... Now that is not entirely false... As you'll see in a copy of the press release (scroll down the page to find it) here [dcviews.com]... You'll see that you can play DVD movies via the PC's USB.. "Hi-Speed USB Interface (USB 2.0/1.1)"! at 8x speed... only... as for the TV it's not supported; as stated "Output: Mini analog stereo (headphone jack) only"... So that is one fact down... Prolly in the future they may provide the means to do it via USB>DECODER>TV...
Now for the other problem... support for Linux... the press release states "System requirements: Pentium® II 233Mhz or faster PC with 32Mb RAM, HDD with 1.2Mb sustained transfer rate or faster, Direct-X supported sound card, Installed USB 1.1 or 2.0 port, Power Macintosh G3, Power Mac G4, iMac DV or iBook® computer running Mac OS 9.2.2 or higher OR Windows 98/2000/Me/XP operating system..." So the answer for the time being is no... no Linux support... but it's less than a month away... and who knows... if everyone rants on their head they may support it
Something better (IMO) (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_2/60 2-7461077-2529429?asin=B0000632FZ [target.com]
And I gotta tell ya, I take this $99 beauty of that $300 Sony anyday. It plays CDs/CDRWs/MP3s AND DVD Video which you can hook up to a TV! No, you can't hook it up directly to a computer but who cares?
CD/VCD players (Score:2)
mp3's play longer than CD-audio? (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting that it gets more power playing an Mp3 CD than a regular CD. I would have assumed that it would take more juice to decode for mp3's.Perhaps mp3's cache to reduce disc spinning laser usage?
Also, it would be nice to get a stat on the load-time for mp3's. I've noticed that some Sony mp3-disc players in cars (such as mine) seem to prefer caching the filenames on spinup, which can take annoyingly long.
Re:mp3's play longer than CD-audio? (Score:2, Informative)
I've got a Rio Volt and it uses the audio buffer as cache for the loaded mp3. (they say... 40secs of cd audio or upto 1200 sec of mp3 audio in the equiv space) It's cute, usually halfway through the song, the cd stops spinning and I can shake the unit till I'm blue in the face or the next song ends. It's got about the same sort of performance on 2AAs.
just 1.5 hours of DVD-ROM playback?! (Score:2)
Clarification (Score:2)
Point #1) It only plays DVDs when connected to a computer
Point #2) Yes, it will allow you to play MP3s from a DVD
Point #3) It will let you burn MP3s (and I assume anything else) from the memory stick to a CD. That's pretty darned handy, too
I didn't find anything about Ogg support.
Forbes thought it was a DVD-R (Score:2, Informative)
Forbes thought it was a DVD-R [forbes.com]
Funny.
What about DVDs with mp3s (Score:2)
Expensive? Not really ... (Score:2)
Last I checked, to get all the functions of this device seperately you'd be spending over $1,000. Then when you pack it all into one small case and make it portable
$300 is a DARN fine buy, if you ask me. Though, I don't need one of these because I have hardware to do all the functions independantly, and no need to be portable about it. But it would make a cool Christmas present for a geek relative.
bus power or wall wart? (Score:2)
It's Wednesday... (Score:2)
TOMORROW must be "Sony is an evil member of the RIAA and the MPAA" day.
Silly me, I thought Sony was a member of the RIAA and the MPAA, with all that implies, 24 x 7 x 365...
Re:cute, but.... (Score:2, Funny)
What I want to know though is, does it play DivX files? That would be pretty neat if it did.
Re:cute, but.... (Score:2, Funny)
Hey does it run [ Insert open source alternative that may not be as good as a pay product but automaticially cool because I know of the program and I sound intelligent. ] ??
Just wondering I just got a new [ Insert cool ass piece of hardware that just came out 2 weeks ago and want to post about it because I think by bragging about cool hardware I will automaticially get mod points. ] and I wanna try it out.
Re:cute, but.... (Score:3, Informative)
Ogg Vorbis has better audio quality than MP3. Someone who just wants better quality would say the same thing.
Furthermore, supporting *wma* (also rarely used and lower quality than vorbis) costs money and doesn't have a lot of point.
What's the market (Ogg?) (Score:2)
I gather it doesn't have the outputs to play directly to a TV, that's a bummer too. In my quick read I thought they implied it could be used with a TV, but it wasn't that clear. Is it just a matter of the outputs, or does DVD playing require some processing in the PC that would normally be handled in a dedicated DVD player.
Re:cute, but.... (Score:3, Insightful)
The reason so many people ask about Ogg Vorbis is because they are actually interested in supporting the format..
If there were some feature missing from a product that you were interested in, don't you think that posting a message about it in a public forum would be a good way to raise awareness of that feature?... Also note that when you follow a link to the story, there is a section there for posting comments too.. And the first comment that you see, is "Does it support ogg?"... Probably a slashdotter that followed the link, but still.. People are trying to get the word out, not troll..
Personally, I agree with the poster, and many other posters, in saying that I won't be buying a player until someone comes out with one that supports Ogg... It's simply a better format...
In comparison, I think that buying a device without Ogg support would be like buying a really fancy cassette player.. Just like CDs sound better than casettes, Oggs sound better than MP3s.. I'm not just making that statement based on what I've read elsewhere.. I have actually taken several songs and encoded them both ways, at various bitrates to compare for myself..
Size Issues (Score:2)
The grand thing about DVDs and CDs is that they are the same size and work of reasonably similar technologies, at least similar enough to integrate into a single device. The problem with MD is that it's size is unconventional (what with the "boxy thing" that they are in like the earlier Mac CDROMs), this is why I personally I wouldn't go for MD again (I had one, it got stolen).
Next time I think I'm going to go for a player that can play VBR (Variable Bit Rate) [r3mix.net] (Specifically -APS) MP3s from half-size CDRs [5inch.com]. My personal favourite is <plug> this one [thinkgeek.com] </plug>.
Re:what about mini-disks (Score:2)
Seriously, why buy into a proprietary format which none of your friends have a player for, has almost no pre-recorded music, and doesn't sound very good (sorry, ATRAC compression is as bad as MP3 to my ears)? CD-R(w) is cheaper, can be played almost anywhere, and can even be used for things other than music. With CD-R, you can choose between uncompressed audio, mild compression that holds much more than MD and sounds better, or higher compression where you can put ten albums on a single disc (and still not sound much worse than MD).
Re:removable media (Score:2)
Yeah, but that would be only pre-recorded data DVDs. If you burn your own DVD-Rs, you're back to 4.7GB worth of MP3 tracks.