I’m been keeping an eye on this product since it was announced late last year. I’m pretty happy with my current Sony Cybershot DSC-F707 but it’s starting to get a little limiting for me as my needs as an amateur photographer have changed.
What makes this camera so droolworthy is it’s new 8 megapixel resolution, new Sony Real Imaging processor (with 4 colors) and the fact that it supports Memory Stick and Compact Flash types of media. The 7x optical zoom and brand new Carl Zeiss lens is also a very attractive feature. I also like the use of a more usable hotshoe for the flash.
More info can be found here.
Sony has finally released a new MiniDisc specification that pushes the ailing MD format into the spotlight again. There are a few things that makes this device so compelling.
First of all, the biggest splash is the new Hi-MD format which uses a new 1GB optical disc. This increases MD’s by a factor of 6. At a maximum, the 1GB disc can hold 45 hours worth of music. At the best quality (virtually exact CD quality), the Hi-MD can play for 8 hours which is pretty good for people who are sound quality freaks. Hi-MD also boosts the MD’s transfer rate to 9.83Mb/s (up from 1.25Mb/s) for Hi-MD discs and to 4.37Mb/s for older MDs.
The second huge thing that’s brand new for MD technology is the fact that Hi-MD uses the FAT file system which allows the older MD and newer Hi-MD discs to be used as versatile rewritable PC media. The new Hi-MD players will complies with USB’s Mass Storage Class allowing the units to be recognized by most modern operating systems without requiring a driver.
The Hi-MD discs will cost around $7 which is phenomenal for small removeable media at 1GB. Owners of older MDs can still use their discs and can actually get more out of them than before. The old MDs only held around 177MB. Reformatted in Hi-MD mode, the older discs will hold 300MB of data. At only $2 a pop, that’s pretty good.
This was actually released a month ago but I’m only getting around to adding this. I really like the idea of this product as it gives you portable audio on the go and a decent amount of storage space on cheap replaceable media. 1GB is a lot of space and should be fine for many tasks. As one invested in MD technology and media, this is a great new move that’s sure to keep MD alive.
Of course, I’ll have more updates in the future should I add one of these to my collection of gadgets.
One review a month? No way! I’ve decided to try to kick it in gear since the labs are so full of things that must be mentioned. And so, the Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 gets a full review and a lot of love.
This diminutive digital camera is another one of those Sony products that has serious “wow” factor. Be sure to check it out and see what this gadget freak thinks about it.
So, one item off the current list…next up are probably the phones and maybe some software I’m using. Check back in a couple days to see what’s next.
If you haven’t already noticed. I finally put up a review of the Sony PCGA-BP3T large capacity battery for use with the Sony TR notebooks. Click here to read more about it.
It’s been a hectic new year so far with lots of stuff going on. As always, I’m contemplating the next review and I have many products in the labs getting tortured and used. I hope to get these out soon once they’ve passed my rigorous testing and scrutiny.
Items being considered for review are the following:
Sony Ericsson Z200 Mobile Phone
Sony Ericsson Z600 Mobile Phone
Sony DSC-T1 5.0 MegaPixel Digital Still Camera
Jabra BT200 Bluetooth Wireless Headset
Toshiba 5.0GB PC Card Storage Device
OtherWorldComputing’s Mercury-to-Go USB2/Firewire Enclosure for 2.5” HDDs
...
Hopefully, the gods will grant me enough spare time to knock these out. I’ve accumulated a lot experience with these products so they should be coming Real Soon Now (as Jerry Pournelle would say).
