Mp3 Versus Minidisc.

bloodninja

I've been looking to buy an mp3 player for a while now. I came close recently to purchasing the new sony purple one, but then minidisc was suggested to me.

I'm eager to know your opinions, the pros and cons for both and advice as to what to go for.

In my opinion MD seems nearly better, more resonably priced (main factor, mp3 is crazy financially), potential to store more in long run, but i dont know and i want to know what everone thinks

whiskeyman

why do you think mp3 is "crazy financially"?

Perhaps it's best you list what you want from a portable player instead of listing pros and cons of each type.
It'll become clear which suits you then....

For me, I wanted something very small to fit into jacket/trouser pocket (for to and from work), could hold over 100 songs at least...with digital display... radio would be nice feature...good sound quality... shock proof (I jog during summer months) and less than €150.
Looked at everything out there and decided on a Creative Muvo Micro mp3 (512MB for €99) and it's just what I wanted.

bloodninja

That's a dinky little yoke, creative are v.good on the smaller players.

Well mp3 seems very highly priced, suppose its just a common feature of all new tech (Re DVD, mobile phones). And i was in a sony centre earlier in week, 6gb player was €250 and 20gb player was €299; so the memory doesnt seem too expensive but the player must be quite pricy.

i want big storage, at cheap price.I don't need any extra video functions or anything like that. MD and mp3 can both achieve big storage but MD is cheaper.

I'd like people to compare quality, ease of tranfer between computers, and other aspects of MD and MP3. Maybe theres a point to be proved that MD is a good alternative...

whiskeyman

mp3 players are falling in price the whole time... no doubt they'll much much cheaper again in the Christmas sales.
You say you need big storage... I presume you do have a collection to fill it?
I'm always amazed at some people who spend a lot of money on a big size player but only really require a gig or two (at most!).


I did think of mini disc myself, but the main clincher for the mp3 player was its size and weight.

Alvis

I'd prefer the MP3 player myself.

Due to faster transfer rates, no-need to carry around individual MDs and swapping them to look for an individual song and the ability to use it as a portable hard drive.

Nala

I went from a portable CD player to a Creative MuVo TXFM and have never looked back!

One of the pros of MP3 is not having to buy disks and not having to keep changing them.

wet-paint

The high density MDs hold a lot, but they're bloody dear.

Capt'n Midnight

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_disc

Hi-MD discs - These have the same form factor as conventional discs but a new recording medium gives a raw data capacity of approximately 1 GB.

1GB max and it's got moving parts.
You can get that capacity without moving parts using flash.

How much does a blank Hi-MD disk cost ??
http://www.shop4memory.com/products/mp3-player.asp -

SD/MMC Card Reader and MP3 Player. Supports Secure Digital and MultiMedia cards. Reads MP3 and WMA songs from a flash card (supports up to 1Gb cards). No built-in storage. Available in red, USB1.1 interface, A-B repeat function, 1x AAA battery, weight only 20g.
Included: MP3 Player/card reader, 1x AAA
€ 22 incl. VAT & Delivery

€34 will get you one with a radio and 128MB build in - the sony will wipe it on sound quality and features but if you just want background noise on the bus..

bloodninja

so moving parts are bad because of friction or whatever?

Capt'n Midnight

They wear out and break, or become misaligned , make noise, use more power, fiddly to repair, get clogged with dirt/dust etc.

Oddly enough up to 90% of problems with electrical (electronic ?) goods are caused by mechanical failure.

flogen

The only pro I'd say to having an MD player is if you're considering a career in radio, because they're pretty much the standard format for recordings there (as in interviews etc, they have CD quality and are easier to edit than casettes), but at that I can see mp3's moving in here too in a few years, once studios start to implement an easy way to hook up an external device like an ipod to play music (which surprisingly many don't).
I would have said another advantage is MD's can record mic in and line in, but there are plenty of mp3's that do that too, and for a good price.

Think about it this way, a HDMD player is expensive enough, and with 1 disc you get 1gig of music, you'd easily have spent more than you would for a 1gig mp3 player.
MD's do give you the option to expand (so you can start with 1 gig disc and buy more as you need them) but in the end it's just cheaper and much handier to buy a decent sized mp3 player (that suits your collection) and be done with it.

melekalikimaka

sound quality isn't as good, but its close. md is dying, why jump onto a sinking ship who medium will be the audio betamax in a few years

Cassiel

I've been asking myself the same question, having been using a 1gb flash player by sony, I was impressed with the sound quality achieved with 64kbps compression with Sony's ATRAC3Plus (sony's own form of audio compression).
So with the net minidisc, I could have 1GB of music or 35 CD's on each minidisc. Sounds good doesn't it? Infinitely expandable too.

But as mentioned these discs ain't cheap, get to 20 discs and you will have spent €200. A player will be a shade over €220 online, looks cool:
Sony MZ-RH10 HD Walkman

The minidisc may be moving parts but the disc is removable storage, so if your MD walkman packs up, your music is still safe.

But at the end of the day, if you've got a computer then a dedicated mp3player is the way to go, also useful for carrying around files, pictures, whatever.

Top bargain quality player with line in recording and 30GB capacity is this Philips model: about the same price as the Sony MD walkman and damn if it doesn't look good:
Philips HDD6320 syncs songs through Windows Media Player and not through the "unique" software that comes with the Sony player.

Me, I use a Sony NWE-407 (snappy name) 1GB player, got it as a stop gap after being let down too many times by an ipods battery life. It doesn't have the capacity of an ipod but 35 CD's is plenty for me at any one time. I don't really need to have my entire music collection everywhere with me, just a few favourites and whatever new stuff I'm listening to.


Hope this helps.
C

bloodninja wrote:

I've been looking to buy an mp3 player for a while now. I came close recently to purchasing the new sony purple one, but then minidisc was suggested to me.

I'm eager to know your opinions, the pros and cons for both and advice as to what to go for.

In my opinion MD seems nearly better, more resonably priced (main factor, mp3 is crazy financially), potential to store more in long run, but i dont know and i want to know what everone thinks

Guy:Incognito

Cassiel wrote:

But at the end of the day, if you've got a computer then a dedicated mp3player is the way to go, also useful for carrying around files, pictures, whatever.

The Hi-Md works as a portable HD too. A big plus for MD, if your into recording gigs or interviews, or pretty much anything that doesnt involve recording from a pc, MD is greta, plus you can upload your recording sto the pc. MD is the device to go for if your doing any recording, otherwise there isnt much pointin not going mp3. Of course thats assuming your going to be using it with a pc, otherwise an mp3 player is an expensive paperweight.:)

TempestSabre

While lots of MP3 players record they do it in poor quality compared to MD. If you want a recorder go with a HiMD. If you don't record buy a MP3 player. While you can use HiMD for data. You won't as its too slow. (USB1.1 speeds). Sony seems to be pulling HiMD from everywhere except Japan.

I have a HiMD for recording and a Mp3 player for everything else.

Capt'n Midnight

Stekelly wrote:

The Hi-Md works as a portable HD too. A big plus for MD, if your into recording gigs or interviews, or pretty much anything that doesnt involve recording from a pc, MD is greta, plus you can upload your recording sto the pc. MD is the device to go for if your doing any recording, otherwise there isnt much pointin not going mp3. Of course thats assuming your going to be using it with a pc, otherwise an mp3 player is an expensive paperweight.:)

You can get MP3 players with Microphones ( prices start at €34 ) Also with most devices you can always set the volume to 7 and the connect the headphone socket to a line in socket.

For the price of the Sony (spyware inc.) minidisk player you could get a PDA (with a mic ) that plays MP3's, ok audio ain't as good as on a dedicated device but it does many other fancy things. Many PDA's can take Compact Flash Hard drives later on too.

TempestSabre

Its true HiMD is extremely expensive in Ireland. Much cheaper on the web.

Guy:Incognito

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

For the price of the Sony (spyware inc.) minidisk player you could get a PDA (with a mic ) that plays MP3's, ok audio ain't as good as on a dedicated device but it does many other fancy things. Many PDA's can take Compact Flash Hard drives later on too.

If you actually read the article/thread you'd see that the spyware issue was nothing to do with th eMD players. On the recording quality issue, surely if your buying a device for recording, quality is going to be high on your list if oreferences, and for that md wont be beaten. Radio stations dont use md because it's cheap, seeing as you pointed out there are cheaper options. They use itcos its the best option.