what memorystick do I buy? help!!

[Unregistered]

I have been a long time owner of the clie t615 but never had the need for the memorystick. I am getting ready to upgrade to the NZ-90 and will obviously need an MS. I saw three different brands at Compusa with a price variance of $30.00. The Sony brand being the most expensive at $90.00 and the Lexar brand the cheapest at $60.00. What is the difference between these? And are all of these completely compatible with the NZ-90? I saw a note on all three brands that said 'not compatible with magicgate'. Not sure whatthat means either.

Any help wouldbe greatly appreciated


Don Livingston

[jmg_NX21]

If you can BUY them ONLINE

Ecost for Example (http://www.ecost.com/ecost/promotions/detail/490127.asp)

I have 2 Lexar MS and have had no problem.

Magic Gate: (sony copy-protection); Atrac3 files for MiniDisc quality audio files... I think... someone will clear this up soon

I don't expect to HAVE to use Magic Gate MS' either.

[oneeyesquare]

FWIW, the new Memstick Pro's are due out this month as well. In case you really want to drop some money!!!!
I buy the cheapest 128's I can, which usually end up being Lexar's. I have encountered no performance problems.

[gdarel]

The Magic gate is some BS copy protection thing Sony has worked into their software..... They DO produce Music and Movies so it would make sence that their products would try to keep people from listening "stolen" music.

Buy any Memory stick you want, just make sure it's the cheapest you can find.

To get around the Copy Protection buy a $20 Memory stick reader at CompUSA and put the MP3's directly on the stick, as long as you put them in the "MSAUDIO" folder everything will work fine.


And thats all I have to say about that.

[JohnJ80]

The memory in all of the CF, Smart Media and Memory Sticks all come from basically two vendors - Samsung and Toshiba with Samsung being the largest.

The difference between all of these is the controller chip (especially in CF). With CF, there can be compatibility problems.

I have the Lexar 128MB with the LED and it works great. I think the main differnece between that and Sony is the color of the plastic and 4 lettes (S-O-N-Y). Actually the 'S' should be a '$'.

j

[the_iceman]

If you live near a COSTCO Wholesale place... and you, yourself, or have a friend with a membership there... check 'em out! Here in the Seattle area You can get 128mb MS (the Blue ones) for like $45-47. That is the cheapest place I've seen the MS in a 'retail location'. Now... those memory sticks for $45 aren't by SONY itself, but they work just fine. and there are no differences. Just a memory stick as far as I'm concerned!

[Marudine]

iceman, I've found the Lexar 128Mb MS. It cost only US$29.99. Check it out here

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/promotions/detail/490127.asp

[the_iceman]

Nice price!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess I was only quoting what I found from a 'retail-store' around the Seattle area. I don't go to all stores... just looked at the prices of the MS at stores I go to. but... $29.99 is a good price (granted you will have to pay the extra $15 when you buy it .... and then send in for the $15 rebate. $44.99 isn't bad for an initial cost. Only bummer... is standard shipping is $7.95 which drives the initial cost up to $52.94 all to get a $15 rebate. 1/2 of the nice rebate is sucked down (based on the link) with shipping :(

I like buying my electronics, if possible, local... that way I have somewhere to go to take it back if there are problems with it. Just my own opinion :)

[Marudine]

I do think you have your point. It is alway convenience/easy to bring the items back where you have bought them from. So in this case, you will not enjoy the discount perks :(