A few Clie points to correct... >Ok, a bit overkill, but it certainly fits the bill of being portable! If >its anything like my old Palm Professional, it would be about the size of >an MZ-R50. My Palm Professional was, without the case, almost the exact >same size as my R50. For the record, the Clie is about the same size as the Palm V/Vx. >Of course, the R50 sounds a lot better than my Palm Professional ever did. >;-) > >> So, you can't use a bigger, non-MG memory stick to hold your >> non-secure MP3s? Looks like Sony wants to snooker you into having the >> capability to hold secure audio whether you need it or not! > >Um? That's whacked. The N710C (US model), and the 700C (when flashed) can both take Memory Sticks right up to the 128MB ones. To play ATRAC3, only white (MagicGate) can be used. The blue/purple ones can hold any amount of MP3s and other files. No ATRAC3 though. >What is it that makes ATRAC3-encoded music more secure than MP3 anyway? >Or rather, what is it that makes Sony THINK that ATRAC3-encoded music is >more secure than MP3? It has to be 'signed out' through their program OpenMG. Maximum of 3 signouts, so you can't just copy it to all your friends. This can also convert MP3s on the fly as they're being transferred, if you like your music in ATRAC3 format. >The capability to hold "secure audio" is something I don't really care >for. I just want to be able to listen to music I've copied from my CD >collection and do the occasional live recording - I don't want to jump >through hoops unless I get an obvious benefit from it. For my R50, the >benefits are size, the remote control (when biking, I keep the R50 in my >backpack and the remote on my shirt), and recordability - the hoops to >jump through are the slow recording speeds and airport security asking me >to explain the battery pack for it (only happened once though). > >What's the benefit of secure audio? > >Erm, sorry, that mini-rant wasn't directed at anyone in particular, just >the music industry in general. Just to reiterate, the N710C (retailing for $450-$500) will happily play MP3s. ecost.com have 128MB Memory Sticks for $105. So you can get a 2-hours-of-music playing, 11-hour battery life, full colour hi-res all-singing all-dancing Palm which plays videos for $600. And it fits in your jacket pocket. Not too bad eh? -Richard ----------------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
