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A little bit of Googling suggests Minidiscs hold somewhere around 120mb, and that Minidisc data drives do exist, but they're a bit pricey.

For myself, I'd rather buy one of the Mini-CD MP3 players that can hold 200mb of MP3s. The discs are cheaper and compatible with every burner and CD-ROM out there. 'Course, I'd probably rather go for a full size MP3-CD player (and I have), or if I had a little more money, a hard disk player like the Nomad, Riot, or Ipod. Even Sony now has an MP3-CD player, something I never thought I'd see.

Anyway, my main point is that all the HDTVs I saw... and I looked at a good number, could display 480i, 480p and 1080i, but definately not 720p.

That may have been true a couple months ago, but there are 3 manufacturers that make models that I know of, today, that display 720p either natively or by converting to 1080i.

The Samsung HLM437W, HLM507W, HLM4365W, HLM5065W
The Panasonic PT-40LC12, PT-45LC12.
The two Sonys KP-57WV600, KD-34XBR2 are some of many that can display 720.

To say that none can display 720p is blatantly false. The two DLP sets, the Samsung and the Panasonic, display 720p natively. The Sony's "downgrade" the 720p to 1080i. As for ABC, they are planning on broadcasting about 60% of their primetime programming in HD at 720p. I can't find the quotes on this, but you can google for it.

You mean like this Floppy Disc Interface for Memory Stick Media

Or like this SanDisk FlashPath SmartMedia Floppy Adaptor

However, if you use the included software to upload MP3's to a regular memory stick as a mounted USB drive, the included player plays MP3's just fine.

I still insist that the ultimate device would be an iPod with a screen that runs the full length of the device

If the screen's that large, where are you going to put the controls?

You don't want an iPod with palm/phone, you want a palm/phone with an MP3 player. Go talk to Sony.

16.1"? Why? Whats the point? Aren't laptops supposed to be /portable/?

Depends on your definition of portable. If your definition is "desktop in a briefcase", then the GRX line is for you. This GRX91G/P will do quite nicely as a Powerbook Ti crusher. If your definition is "as small as practical", try the SR, R505, or C1. In Japan, Sony has even smaller models, like the GT (think C1 with a much larger camera attachment) and the U (recently nicknamed "My First Sony" by the /. crowd). Of course, this is all based on Sony's Japanese and American lineups. Toshiba, Dell, IBM, Apple, HPQ... quite a diverse marketplace.

As for the GRX91G/P itself, it looks like the only major differences from the US-spec GRX500 are the DVD burner, the remote control, and the software bundle. Otherwise, it's the GRX500 with the core specs (CPU speed, memory, storage) turned up one notch.

I wonder if they are going to sell that USB remote in the States? I could use something like that.

16.1"? Why? Whats the point? Aren't laptops supposed to be /portable/?

Depends on your definition of portable. If your definition is "desktop in a briefcase", then the GRX line is for you. This GRX91G/P will do quite nicely as a Powerbook Ti crusher. If your definition is "as small as practical", try the SR, R505, or C1. In Japan, Sony has even smaller models, like the GT (think C1 with a much larger camera attachment) and the U (recently nicknamed "My First Sony" by the /. crowd). Of course, this is all based on Sony's Japanese and American lineups. Toshiba, Dell, IBM, Apple, HPQ... quite a diverse marketplace.

As for the GRX91G/P itself, it looks like the only major differences from the US-spec GRX500 are the DVD burner, the remote control, and the software bundle. Otherwise, it's the GRX500 with the core specs (CPU speed, memory, storage) turned up one notch.

I wonder if they are going to sell that USB remote in the States? I could use something like that.

One of the comments to the KDE3 article (on the article's page) said this:

"Would it be too much to ask for a Linux distro made specifically for KDE so that it may be optimized for KDE and really integrate KDE into the underlying system?"

Wow! Is this an original thought? I can't believe I never thought of that myself. I'd sure as heck give a such a distro a try on *my* desktop. I know so many folks prefer other desktops, and for good reasons, but if a standardized desktop (forced on the community because the KDE distribution overwhelmingly becomes *the* distro that all non-sysadmins use) that most apps were (in the long run) coded towards; that finally allowed me to cut and paste between apps (like the mac has been able to do for 18 years) would finally enable me to dump windows forever.

[Aside: I finally tracked down an OSX machine to check out the OS that so many /.ers have been raving about. Opinion: Yes, it's very nice. The nicest OS I've ever seen. But then I saw one of THESE and decided that when it comes to lugging a laptop around all day, weight is primary and OS choice is secondary. I'll be ordering one in a month. You have to see the little thing to believe it. It's unbelievably cute!]

" If integratd cameras are to be all the rage, then why hasn't anyone (to my knowledge, and if I'm wrong please correct me) build a PDA with a Sony Picturebook style camera in it? I would find it many times more useful than a "phone-cam"."

Like this one? Or how about this one?

"And while they're at it, put a phone in the PDA, with just a headset jack for mic/speaker."

What, like this one?

I hope you feel suitably corrected :-)

Phillip.

I have to disagree that using optical devices within cameras causes much of a problem, battery wise. I currently own a Sony CD Mavica CD200, which uses 3" CDRs and CDRWs, and my experience with it has been excellent.

To begin with, a fully charged battery lasts (IIRC) about 160 minutes. This may not sound like a lot, but this is 160 minutes of being left on. The camera itself powers down automatically after about 5 minutes of being idle, and it powers back up pretty damn fast, although about 1 in 10 power-ups takes a bit longer (perhaps initializing the CD reader is a variable-time operation). It has been my experience that I can go out for a day, and take 150-200 pictures on one battery, as well as a few video clips (up to 1 minute clips, although the new version of the CD Mavica can write clips as long as you can store them). I also keep 1 backup battery in my camera case, and so the battery life has never been an issue.

On top of this, you cannot beat the media for price per megabyte of storage. I can buy a 10-pack of the 3" CDRWs, each of which holds 156MB, for about $15.00 . If you don't care about rewriteability, you can get a 50-pack of 3" CDRs for about $25. In my camera case, I have a small CD wallet that is designed for this size CD (and GameCube games), and it has 10 of these CDRWs in it. For $15, I have at my disposal enough storage to take about 1800 pictures at 1600x1200@32bpp. Try that with flash or other media, and you'll find that you're going to have to spend upwards of $2000.

Optical media is perfect for digital cameras, IMHO. I really hope that this new media ends up in a camera in the future, because it will allow the cameras to be smaller, but still hold a great deal of information on (hopefully) cheap optical discs. Or, alternately, I'd love to see a larger form-factor (perhaps the 3" we have now) of these discs, which would allow for an incredible amount of storage, and hopefully would also help spur adoption of the format in the form of a replacement for CD and DVD drives in computers.

I think it's just a stylized double "V"

<sarcasm>Actually, it's a backslash, a capital X, and a forward slash: \X/EGA<sarcasm>

Sony's electronics site spells it WEGA. But it's apparently pronounced as "WEGA" would be pronounced in German: "Vay-gah".

Sony also came out with an ultra-portable notebook known as the VAIO SRX77 this february/march. I had one for a while and it was pretty damn sweet, though I suspect the Dell Latitude X200 is better (larger screen). You can read more about the SRX77 (or SRX87 now -- guess they fixed some of the major problems with the first SRX product line) here.

If this interests you, you should take a look at the Sony VAIO SRX Series. Here are the specs for the latest model:
P3-850
256 Meg RAM (exp to 384)
30 Gig HD
V.90 Modem, 802.11b, 10/100 all built in
Firewire, USB, Sony Memory Stick, PCMCIA slot
4 Hour battery life (8 with double life battery)

I have one and absolutely love it. It is the same size as my paper notebook and just slightly heavier (2.7 lbs).

What about the sony u1 that slashdot already had an article about?

It weighs less (820grams) has smaller dimensions (184.5 x 139 x 30.6) and has virtually the same specs (but with an 867MHz Crusoe instead and only a 20GB drive).

It also costs way less! 149,800 yen.

Now you play mp3's on your Sony walkman :
"Playback MP3 music files recorded onto CD-R and CD-RW CDs, and create your own music compilations from a CD recorder deck or PC with our CD Walkman® Compact Disc/MP3 Players."

Bzzt. Celine Dion?

The sony clie kicks ass - palm os, keyboard, mp3 et, but it would be better with a hard drive, about 20gb should be cool, for an mp3 dukebox

Hmm. I think you're forgetting the Clie NR70, that not only has the thumb keyboard, but a swivel 320x480 color (65k) screen. It runs palm os 4.1.

I'm trying to figure out the hook for this product. It isn't the smallest Palm PDA. It isn't the highest resolution Palm PDA. It isn't the most expandable Palm PDA. It isn't the cheapest Palm PDA.
...
All I can come up with is: it is the only Palm PDA that has the built-in thumb keyboard. Will this hook be enough to sell lots of these?

This Handspring still isn't as Sexy or as impressive as the new Sony Clie PEG-NR70V. Though, the Handspring's built in wireless and GSM capabilities are nice to see.

On a side note, with $700 and $600 price Tags, why not throw in $1000 and just get a Notebook instead? Then again, who cares about cost when your buying toys! :-)

I totally agree... it would take very little to get the iBook screen to behave like the ones on the Sony Clie, and with a touch screen, Voila! tablet computer!

I get emails (since I bought a Sony laptop a couple years ago) from Sony now and then. Sony Style is a nice site to see what they have, but, oof, not the best prices.

If you're interested in a far more detailed review from a site that is focussed on nothing besides Palm hardware (so they should know what they are talking about) go to here.

As an additional bonus they already have a fairly burgeoning discussion from a buncha PDA geeks, who likewise really know what they're talking about for the most part (though the site has a real problem with trolls).

Incidentally, if you would like one that is in English Mr. Taco, you could buy them practically anywhere these days as I understand. This is a logical, if hideously overpriced place to start. At the rate that yen is converting to dollars these days, it's actually cheaper to buy a Japanese model and import it to the US than buy it through the curiously overpriced US outlets. I saw a N70V for 4-something US dollars at my local electronics etailer here in Japan, without doing any shopping around at all.

I'm also curious as to why they didn't equip the iMac with the same amount of ram (512mb) as this is an option Apple offers.

Last but not least, I couldn't find the Sony Vaio PCV-MXS10 on Sony's website. It appears to be discontinued in favour of the PCV-MXS20 which has a 2GHz Intel Pentium 4 and a 120Mb hard disk.

The big difference between these two machines is the OS. I chose to buy an Apple because I wanted to run OS X. With a VAIO, I would pretty much be stuck with Windows. Sure, you could install Linux but you would lose support for all the nifty features.

Overall, the article is a letdown. There isn't any point comparing Apples to oranges. (sorry, couldn't resist)

clambert asks: "A few co-workers and I are in the market for a new laptop, but it's been incredibly difficult to try and explore what's out there. How do Sony's warranties rank up against Dell's? Can I get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the new Toshibas? What model IBMs feature DDR memory? There doesn't seem to be an AnandTech/Ars/Toms for the notebook market, and short of filtering through all the marketing hype on every {brand}.com, its tough to find out what systems offer what specs. Are there any comprehensive resources out there for those of us in the market for a new laptop?"


Hi! I'm a lazy p.o.s. lard-ass who is too stupid too lookup information for myself on the web about laptop configurations. Can I have /. spoon-feed me since I'm too lazy to look up notebook specs myself?

Jesus! Comprehensive resource? It's called your brain your worthless coprolite! How was this question even allowed to be posted? Oh, that's right. We now have CaptTaco and his minions pandering to drooling morons who can't reverse a cranial-rectal inversion.

How do Sony's warranties rank up against Dell's?
I don't know dimwit, why don't you look it up on their WEBSITES!

http://www.sonystyle.com/vaio/notebooks/index.shtm l
http:/www.dell.com


Can I get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the new Toshibas?
I don't know dimwit, why don't you look it up on their WEBSITE!

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/pc/pc_prod List.jsp?comm=CS&plin=Portable%20Computers


What model IBMs feature DDR memory?
I don't know dimwit, why don't you look it up on their WEBSITE!

http://commerce.www.ibm.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/Cate goryDisplay?cgrfnbr=2035724&cntrfnbr=1&cgmenbr=1&c ntry=840&lang=en_US


short of filtering through all the marketing hype on every {brand}.com, its tough to find out what systems offer what specs.

gee, all I had to do was to goto Dell's website to configure a system to the specs I wanted. and if I didn't understand what the technology was, I either clicked on the link that explained it or called up their 1-800-624-9896 and spoke to a technician. Ditto for Toshiba, IBM, and Sony. IT's called PRE-SALES TECH SUPPORT, you lickspittle excuse for a manager retard.

Yeah? So what if this is flaming? It's one thing to ask for opinions, it's quite another to be too damn lazy to look up information that's easily retrievable on the web. Don't like it? sod off you pissant bugger!

I haven't used Sony, but they have a SuperSlim Pro series that is very light-weight and seems to have good features, including FireWire and video out.

I have used and supported Dells and Toshibas extensively at our University, however, and they both seem to be rock solid machines. Although the Dell might have a slightly better looking display, I think I favor the Toshibas a bit more. They are a little sleeker looking and they just seem to be incredibly stable. (We are running Toshiba Satellite 1805's (new), 2800's (old) and 2060's (moldy)). Kudos to them for redisigning their touchpads, which have incredible accuracy in their newer models.

Note: We are a Windows 2000 only shop.

Very impressive, but still not available.

MSRP of $350, when you consider that an iPod was available 6 months ago, at $400.

They always seem to leave features out. Sony is getting close, they just need to make a 1GB + Memory stick. New Sony Clie - PEG-NR70

As of about 5 months ago, a Sony VAIO RX550 went for $1000. P4 @ 1.5GHz, 256MB RAM, 60GB HD, DVD-ROM, CD-RW. This was the last brandname I ever bought. One box that I built died on me and I didn't have time (or the parts) to screw around building one. Mind you, this was _without_ a monitor.

The specifications could be found here.

Now they're selling about $750 refurbished. But what do i love most? That blue light in the front. It just looks cool.

I have one of these Mini Disc Walkmans. Along with it came this handy little kit to connect my walkman to my PC and record a cd to it.

Now with this CD from Sony Music I am unable to use my Sony PC Link to enjoy this music I have (hypothetically) purchased using my Sony MD Walkman. Hmmmm. Certainly calls into question my plans to purchase a new MD Walkman, the much more expensive MZ-900DPC sometime this month. Or maybe I just won't purchase Sony Music titles any more.

Nice of you guys to put me in a position where I have to choose between your hardware and music titles. I would have figured you would prefer me to purchase both, that's probably why you're the high paid media exective and I'm just the consumer with a love of music and a large disposable income though.

So long and thanks for all the laughs, if you need me I'll be in the Panasonic section at Circut City.

I have one of these Mini Disc Walkmans. Along with it came this handy little kit to connect my walkman to my PC and record a cd to it.

Now with this CD from Sony Music I am unable to use my Sony PC Link to enjoy this music I have (hypothetically) purchased using my Sony MD Walkman. Hmmmm. Certainly calls into question my plans to purchase a new MD Walkman, the much more expensive MZ-900DPC sometime this month. Or maybe I just won't purchase Sony Music titles any more.

Nice of you guys to put me in a position where I have to choose between your hardware and music titles. I would have figured you would prefer me to purchase both, that's probably why you're the high paid media exective and I'm just the consumer with a love of music and a large disposable income though.

So long and thanks for all the laughs, if you need me I'll be in the Panasonic section at Circut City.

Yes, it may be 600 bucks, and yes, that is a little excessive for something you didn't realize you needed until five minutes ago.
However, Sony understands.

Just pay twice the price spread out over a couple years. You'll be thanking yourself when you're making that final $30 payment on a PDA that was useless two years ago.

Sony Financing services... I'll finance you!

Believe it or not, the very first link in the story to Sony's site shows the NR70 at $499 and the NR70V (with camera) for $599.

Preorder today & receive FREE overnight shipping!
...
Shipping early May

Sony comes close to looking good, until you realize the MX model (shown) starts at $2700. The other Sony computers are just the standard "beige-with-color-tints" which are popular with PC manufacturers now -- their half-effort imitation of Apple's first iMac.

I did find it a little strange in Showtime that they looped the PowerBook G4 ad on that TV set about three or four times, though. ;)

Clearly you'll want to go buy a big screen TV to watch this.

I know how OSDN is strapped for cash these days. What if companies paid them to add some relevant links to Slashdot editor comments?

Clearly you'll want to go buy a Sony big screen TV to watch this.

Is Slashdot above product placement? Tell me you weren't thinking about it when you read the article!

(I would have used Philips in my example, but their site is broken in Mozilla.)

for those too lazy to copy & paste :)

here's a link

Check out Sony's Clie. They have a couple of version that play MP3s and an adapter for the ones that don't. While they don't come near the 5gb of the ipod, they do suppory memorysticks, which 5 gb worth might equal the size of the ipod.

I just bought a Sony VAIO GR250P laptop - for the specs. And it was cheap! ($1500 or so.)

But was VERY surprised, as a silence freak and hater of fan noise, that this thing must have no fan or something. It's TOTALLY SILENT!

The only thing you EVER hear from it is the itty bitty sound of writing data to the hard drive. And you know if THAT'S the only sound you hear, the rest is pretty damn quiet.

Anyway - I've been following the "How to Make a Silent PC" threads on Slashdot with great interest, and I think I accidently stumbled across a much easier solution.

This thing is a silent powerhouse 1000 mHz, 256meg RAM, intel 10/100 ethernet, 20gig hard drive box, ready to go. Highly recommended. So is my girlfriend's new Apple iBook.

Look into it. Much easier than the days you'll spend trying to make your own quiet PC.

You should have taken your own advice.

Here's a Sony Intel-based full featured notebook. They go from 3.5 up to 12.5 hours on a single battery charge. Faster CPU, higher res screen, more RAM, 20Gig HD. Oh, and it weighs 2.76lbs --with battery-- only a hair heavier.

VAIO SR

And what about the Apple Powerbook G4? Up to 5 hours on a single battery charge.

Powerbook G4

And those are just the systems I wasted my time looking up for your know-it-all ass. Sorry, a lowend, crusoe-based web tablet ought to be able to do better than 3 hours.

I've been using Palm devices since 2/16/99, when I finagled a 50% discount on a Palm III at Staples (and subsequently helped others do the same). Since then I've owned a IIIxe, a Vx, an m500 and an m505, and have been pleased with all of them except the m505. Poor illumination killed it for me, though spending so many years at the same resolution should have done it.

I went out this weekend and upgraded to the Sony Cli&eacute 615, and I've never been happier. 16MB RAM, 320x320x16 resolution, continuously variable brightness control, Memory Stick slot (with a flickering drive light beside it!), polyphonic sound, and one absolutely thrilled user.

The OS is flashable, so I expect I'll upgrade to 5.0 when the time comes, but I've seen the future of Palm hardware, and it ain't at Palm Computing.

Discussion Topic 1: Palm OS 5.0 supports display resolutions "from 160x160 pixels to multiples of 160x160 pixels." That takes in my 320x320 display, but it raises an interesting point: What is the ideal aspect ratio of a handheld device? Pocket PC and others use quarter-VGA, while Palm devices use this square format (which on a Clié provides 33% more pixels than QVGA). Any opinions on which display format is more ergonomic for a handheld, or for a desktop for that matter?

Discussion Topic 1½: I have nearly three hundred ebooks sitting on my 128MB Memory Stick right now, with room for another couple hundred, and I love reading from my Clié. My question is this: why would anyone buy a dedicated ebook reader, unless it were simply too cheap to turn down?

Perhaps you're referring to the i705, which uses Secure Digital cards (as have all other expandable Palms since the V). It's the SONY Clié that uses Memory Sticks.

Perhaps you're referring to the i705, which uses Secure Digital cards (as have all other expandable Palms since the V). It's the SONY Clié that uses Memory Sticks.

Does anyone else think it's odd that Sony's web page lists a "NO" in the PEG-N760C column for Universal Remote Feature?

"People are going to suddenly wake up and realize the the MS logo is on their computer, tv's, vcr's/dvr's, video games, toddler toys, kitchen appliances, car electroncs, etc

but people havent woken up to Sony yet , Sony are just about the only company that can complete the circle from not only producing the Artists that make the media (and the equipment they use to create it) to delivering it to the consumers eyes/ears on their Sony stereo/TV/computer/etc yet people still shower them with praise and dont feel they are a monopoly, even microsoft are not in Sonys exclusive position

I saw the day about two months ago, and it really bummed me out. I hope someone can correct me, but the very attractive (except for the Magic Gate) MP3 player by Sony (the NW-MS9) requires the magic gate memory stick and software which only works in Windows (possibly Mac OS?). I have the Sony Vaio Picture book with a memory stick slot, and the Sony PC-3 camera which uses the memory sticks. I love the memory sticks, they work fine under Linux. And I would love to be able to just slap mp3s on the memory stick and throw them in the Sony NW-MS9--it is exactly what I want in an MP3 player. No stupid cables to find/carry around. Tiny, tiny, tiny.

If anyone can (truthfully..) tell me that the NW-MS9 will play mp3s on a non-magic gate memory stick, I'd order one today.

But alas, the day has come, Sony is attempt to force me to accept digital rights/wrongs that I don't won't. When will the companies remember--"the customer is always right"?

• accessory pages for:
• peg-n760c
  
• peg-t615c (new)
  
• peg-t415
  
• peg-s360 (new)
  

• prices you wondered about:
• stylus - $14.99 for a 3-pack
  
• cradle - $49.99
  
• ac adaptor - $29.99
  

• accessory pages for:
• peg-n760c
  
• peg-t615c (new)
  
• peg-t415
  
• peg-s360 (new)
  

• prices you wondered about:
• stylus - $14.99 for a 3-pack
  
• cradle - $49.99
  
• ac adaptor - $29.99
  

• accessory pages for:
• peg-n760c
  
• peg-t615c (new)
  
• peg-t415
  
• peg-s360 (new)
  

• prices you wondered about:
• stylus - $14.99 for a 3-pack
  
• cradle - $49.99
  
• ac adaptor - $29.99
  

• accessory pages for:
• peg-n760c
  
• peg-t615c (new)
  
• peg-t415
  
• peg-s360 (new)
  

• prices you wondered about:
• stylus - $14.99 for a 3-pack
  
• cradle - $49.99
  
• ac adaptor - $29.99
  

I love the memorystick camera...

better go and update my wish list !

although I still think they should come with a bigger memorystick as standard 8Mb is a lot small, esp when paying 450 USD the top spec clie

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