Unregistered
04-14-2003, 08:08 PM
I had posted this to a different discussion forum, before I found this much better one! This is an incredible resource, and thanks to all the posters! I did find a few answers on this forum to my initial questions, but I am raising a few issues I haven't seen discussed yet...
I've had the NZ90 for over a week now, and have been generally happy with it. This was an replacement for a HP Jornada, where I had a 512 MB compact flash card filled with 56 Kbps mp3 files, so I was looking to do something equivalent with the NZ90, but of course with memory sticks instead. I ran into several disappointments, and I wonder if anybody else has any experience / words of wisdom about the following:
1) Regular memory sticks (up to 128 MB max) only accomodate mp3 files, and will not work with ATRAC3 files, making the SonicStage software included with the unit useless. Worse, only 96 Kbps (or more) mp3 files will work, meaning fewer files that can be stored (compared with my preferred 56 Kbps).
2) I purchased a 512 MB magic gate pro memory stick, for increased storage space and supposed support of ATRAC3 format, which in principle allows 66 Kbps file support (or more).
First disappointment, the price ($264 was the best I could find, at techdepot) is steep.
Second disappointment, of 512 MB, only 460 MB is actually available! Presumably, the overhead is due to copy protection features, but 52 MB is exceptionally poor, especially considering that the entire Palm OS on the unit is 6 or 7 MB...
Third disappointment, although the NZ90 recognizes the memory stick natively and can read/write from/to it, the MS Export software on my desktop (a Dell Windows XP box) is not yet compatible with the memory stick, so I can't write to it yet. SONY tells me it will be several weeks before a software patch is available. Note that the MGMSPTCH.PRC patch SONY lists on their Web site dows nothing to help with this.
Note: I *did* find useful posts here that address this. I guess everybody else is also waiting for the patch...
Fourth disappointment, SONY lists on their Web site that SonicStage is not yet compatible with the Magic Gate Pro format, so even if they fix the MS Export to allow my desktop to write to the stick, I will still not be able to write ATRAC3 files to it. I'm not sure if a fix is in the works. I just installed the brand new patch that supposedly allows Audio Player to correctly recognize ATRAC3 files, but I can't try it until I can get SonicStage to write to the memory stick!
Fifth disappointment, the Magic Gate Pro sticks will supposedly never be compatible with the ATRAC3plus format, which could in priciple allow files down to 48 Kbps (or higher).
Many people advocate sticking with mp3s, but the smaller size ATRAC3 files would be attractive if they can be made to work with no significant degradation of music quality...
Thanks for any comments/info!
skou2 (still waiting for my confirmation message after I registered)
I've had the NZ90 for over a week now, and have been generally happy with it. This was an replacement for a HP Jornada, where I had a 512 MB compact flash card filled with 56 Kbps mp3 files, so I was looking to do something equivalent with the NZ90, but of course with memory sticks instead. I ran into several disappointments, and I wonder if anybody else has any experience / words of wisdom about the following:
1) Regular memory sticks (up to 128 MB max) only accomodate mp3 files, and will not work with ATRAC3 files, making the SonicStage software included with the unit useless. Worse, only 96 Kbps (or more) mp3 files will work, meaning fewer files that can be stored (compared with my preferred 56 Kbps).
2) I purchased a 512 MB magic gate pro memory stick, for increased storage space and supposed support of ATRAC3 format, which in principle allows 66 Kbps file support (or more).
First disappointment, the price ($264 was the best I could find, at techdepot) is steep.
Second disappointment, of 512 MB, only 460 MB is actually available! Presumably, the overhead is due to copy protection features, but 52 MB is exceptionally poor, especially considering that the entire Palm OS on the unit is 6 or 7 MB...
Third disappointment, although the NZ90 recognizes the memory stick natively and can read/write from/to it, the MS Export software on my desktop (a Dell Windows XP box) is not yet compatible with the memory stick, so I can't write to it yet. SONY tells me it will be several weeks before a software patch is available. Note that the MGMSPTCH.PRC patch SONY lists on their Web site dows nothing to help with this.
Note: I *did* find useful posts here that address this. I guess everybody else is also waiting for the patch...
Fourth disappointment, SONY lists on their Web site that SonicStage is not yet compatible with the Magic Gate Pro format, so even if they fix the MS Export to allow my desktop to write to the stick, I will still not be able to write ATRAC3 files to it. I'm not sure if a fix is in the works. I just installed the brand new patch that supposedly allows Audio Player to correctly recognize ATRAC3 files, but I can't try it until I can get SonicStage to write to the memory stick!
Fifth disappointment, the Magic Gate Pro sticks will supposedly never be compatible with the ATRAC3plus format, which could in priciple allow files down to 48 Kbps (or higher).
Many people advocate sticking with mp3s, but the smaller size ATRAC3 files would be attractive if they can be made to work with no significant degradation of music quality...
Thanks for any comments/info!
skou2 (still waiting for my confirmation message after I registered)