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Sony's PSP Memory Stick Entertainment Packs Shipping

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the movies-to-go dept.

Croakyvoice writes "Sony's new Memory Stick Entertainment Packs are now shipping in 1GB and 2GB sizes and contain a launcher DVD. The packs contain an unlock code and you have the choice of one of these four films: 'Hitch,' 'S.W.A.T.,' 'The Grudge,' or 'XXX: State of the Union.' Prices are $47/$77 for the packs."

79 comments

  1. its a SONY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does it include a free rootkit?

  2. nice by na641 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Although i still fail to see the real world useability of a 1gb memory stick when it comes to watching films. I mean, at most you can fit one full length movie on it.

    I suppose these things would be awesome for TV episodes though.

    1. Re:nice by stunt_penguin · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Well the real world usability of the 1gb stick *is* that you can put a movie or two on it, and very handy it is, too. I generally get two medium sized movies worth on my 1gb, as it's MPEG-4 and is pretty efficient etc; when I go home for the weekend (usually about once every 4-5 weeks). It's a 6 hour bus journey each way, so two hours of something good n' distracting in the middle makes my PSP worth every cent. The best things to put on there are documentaries (especially Michael Palin's travel stuff). If I set up my current machine as a mythTV box when I get a new machine, I'll be able to drop reencode stuff straight onto the stick.

      The point I fail to see is why anyone would want to watch the movies released with this pack in the first place. I'd be put off thinking I was paying for the shit they release 'for free'. Utter fucking drivel. Release something decent, you pricks.

      --
      When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
    2. Re:nice by Orion_ · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, the PSP would be just perfect for watching movies, if they hadn't crippled their video player by making the maximum resolution much less than the native resolution.

      Of all the shitty things Sony has done lately, this is the one that convinced me to never buy a Sony product again.

    3. Re:nice by macshome · · Score: 1

      This though pretty much points out what I think is the biggest issue with the PSP. You bought a whiz-bang handheld gaming console but you get your value from watching movies on it.

    4. Re:nice by stunt_penguin · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Oh I get the value from the games as well; Loco Roco, Lumines, Burnout and Worms (plus a few others) have all given me their fair share of fun ^^. I was really just addressing the movie bit of the equation.

      They'll never have a lineup like Nintendo's though; there have been a lot of dumb games for the PSP.

      --
      When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
    5. Re:nice by monopole · · Score: 1

      My experience is about the same two or so movies or quite a few anime episodes. About as much as the battery life allows.

      Of course my GBAs an DSes run 5-10 hours with a play yan. I've watched a full movie in a GBA micro with no trouble, suprisingly nice.

    6. Re:nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Psp resolution is 480 x 272, using h264 avc codec i can compres a 90 minutes long movie into 300MB.

    7. Re:nice by kwark · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The default movieplayer in the firmware prevents full resolution playback from memorystick. But there is homebrew software (PMP Mod AVC) which let's you playback fullresolution H264/mp3 streams.

    8. Re:nice by michaeldot · · Score: 1

      Yes, PMP_mod is a great proof of concept and works pretty well once you've jumped through the hoops of making some content, but it would still be much nicer if Sony would allow the built-in video player to support 480x272 MPEG-4 movies.

      For one thing, it's awkward having to go to the Game > Memory > PMP_mod item, launch as a "game" then drop into a CLI menu to select your file. Not to mention the fact that you have to be running firmware 1.5 in the first place, and many games now force an upgrade. Even though you can get back, it's a multistep process, and not something you want to do all the time.

      The built-in player has its own menu entry which is very quick to access, with preview icons in the list, and some nice features like jumping to any time point, etc. In fact, even though I have PMP_mod, and know how to make content for it, and know how to downgrade to 1.5 firmware, I still produce MPEG-4 308x268 movies (highest res the built-in player allows) so that I can play them normally.

      As the grandparent suggests, the PSP would make an ideal movie player if it supported 480x272 natively.

    9. Re:nice by kwark · · Score: 1

      Might I suggest that you install devhook so you can leave the firmware in the PSP at 1.5 and load required other versions to RAM from MS when needed. As a side effec it also lets you "mount" iso images from MS to emulate UMD, iow: lets you play downloaded^Wbackuped games.

  3. No spelling errors to be found, so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I searched for some style-errors:

    You guys totally forgot to say something degrading about Sony, the PS3, or the PSP in itself.
    This is NOT the Slashdot I've come to know over the years. :D

    1. Re:No spelling errors to be found, so by Stormwatch · · Score: 2, Funny

      Look at the list of film choices. It's hard to get more degrading than that!

      --
      Circumcision is child abuse.
    2. Re:No spelling errors to be found, so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you call that character between "Sony" and "s" in the title? It's certainly not an apostrophe.

    3. Re:No spelling errors to be found, so by teknomage1 · · Score: 1

      Look, they listed the four crappiest films anyone could have chosen as launch titles. What more do you wan? I mean do the editors have to tell you XXX 2 was a bad movie?

      --
      Stop intellectual property from infringing on me
  4. Does it contain all four movies? by Poromenos1 · · Score: 1

    If it contains all movies and you just unlock them, can't someone just copy them to the PC and unlock one after the other? And why would they want to?!

    --
    Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
    1. Re:Does it contain all four movies? by solevita · · Score: 0

      I imagine that entering the code not only "unlocks" one of the movies, but also allows deletes the others, or at least allows them to be over written. It must be possible to create an image of one of these memory sticks onto your PC from where you can either unlock each movie in turn (all you would need to do is create four images, for example) or simply break the locking system and get access to all movies.

    2. Re:Does it contain all four movies? by starrsoft · · Score: 1

      Does anyone else find amusing the juxtaposition of XXX and State of the Union in a movie title that has nothing to do with porn or conjugal union?

      --
      Read my blog: HansMast.com
  5. DRM by EnsilZah · · Score: 4, Funny

    Looks like Sony's new DRM scheme: release crap movies no one would want to copy.

    1. Re:DRM by Landshark17 · · Score: 1

      I thought that was Hollywood's philosophy right now...

      --
      This sig is false.
  6. Prices have dropped a lot by DrXym · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A year ago a 1Gb memory stick would have set you back at least $99. Now it seems you can get a 2Gb card for less and a shitty movie thrown in too! Seriously though, I wonder if this signals that Sony is going to dump UMD for some kind of movie download service. It would actually make a great deal of sense, and if they did it right would make them far more money than UMDs ever did.

    1. Re:Prices have dropped a lot by SleepyHappyDoc · · Score: 1

      It also addresses the utter failure of UMD as a movie format. By providing media on a device that's actually good for something else (ok, maybe it's not interoperable with anything that doesn't say 'Sony', you can still use the Memory Stick for other uses after you're finished with the movie, be it PSP games or pictures in your Sony digital camera), that deals with a big stopper on their previous attempts to make people adopt their proprietary formats; the 'I can't stick this UMD disc (MiniDisc/Beta tape) into anything else or do anything else with it' factor.

      Maybe it'll catch on better than NetMD or whatever that attempt was to make MiniDisc into a second-rate MP3 player platform.

      --
      Stasis is death. Embrace change.
    2. Re:Prices have dropped a lot by raezr · · Score: 1

      A lot of studios and retailers have already abandoned the UMD format. A couple months ago Sony said that they were planning on making a download service to replace it.

    3. Re:Prices have dropped a lot by Rix · · Score: 1

      But I can't stick a Memory Stick(TM)(RM)(OMG)(WTF)(BBQ) into anything else, either. Everything else uses SD cards.

    4. Re:Prices have dropped a lot by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      NetMD was a great alternative to MP3 Players. You could run them for 30 hours on a single rechargable AA battery, they were smallish, and if you were going on a long trip, you could bring a bunch of discs and bring a lot more music than you could usually fit on a comparably priced MP3 player. It was also non-skip, and the discs are very sturdy. That hard case means you can drop of even throw them without worrying about breaking them. The only downside was the terrible software they installed with it, that made it a real pain to transfer your music to it. It had a bunch of DRM crap to ensure that you didn't have more than 3 copies of a song on different disks. It was also painfully slow. But if they won't have screwed up the software and DRM it would have been amazing. However, I see Sony making the same mistake this time around for the memory stick movies.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    5. Re:Prices have dropped a lot by DrXym · · Score: 1

      UMD was a flop because Sony thought they could sell the things for MORE than the equivalent DVD. If they had been half the price - the format may have taken off. Still, the silver lining is that Sony could still salvage something from the debacle - PSPs have a large memory capacity, large enough that if they produced an iTunes-like application that sold movies for $5-10 they could still make a killing.

    6. Re:Prices have dropped a lot by Reaperducer · · Score: 1

      You can put it in a CF adapter and use it in Compact Flash devices, which are far more prominant than SD devices.

      --
      -- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
    7. Re:Prices have dropped a lot by Reaperducer · · Score: 1

      I'd be up for this if they did it with TV shows. Lately, I've been renting DVDs of TV shows and watching them on my PSP while I commute. I'd pay $1 a show for a high-quality download instead of having to go through the bother of ripping them myself.

      --
      -- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
    8. Re:Prices have dropped a lot by steveo777 · · Score: 1

      Makes me wonder why they didn't just use there HD Mini Discs. They've been using them for years and they run on very low power. A few years ago I found a cheap mini disc player. Much cheaper than an iPod, much more memory (with $5 worth of discs) than any sub-$300 mp3 player at the time. I used the thing for years. It ran off one AA battery for about 60 hours. Even if they doubled or trippled the read speed on that, they would still have around 10hours of power from the equivelant of a standard AA battery, and the Li-ion they stuck in there hold a lot more power than a AA. There's that, and it would be interoperable with an already existing (albeit small) userbase.

      --
      This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
    9. Re:Prices have dropped a lot by SleepyHappyDoc · · Score: 1

      Funny, I can't find the SD slot anywhere on my PSP. Do I need a different revision?

      --
      Stasis is death. Embrace change.
  7. Finally! by Speare · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow, cool, I can spend a premium price for a plain old memory device that is not compatible with almost any other computing hardware, has some shovelware* minigames on it, and has a digital key for a digital movie that is ALSO not compatible with any other computing hardware?! SIGN ME UP!!!!11

    *shovelware: clipart, minigames implemented in flash or hypercard, font collections, or other stuff you'd find in the $5 bin at CompUSA, the stuff that you'd normally download for free if you could figure out how a modem works

    --
    [ .sig file not found ]
    1. Re:Finally! by swv3752 · · Score: 1

      Memorystick duo is a direct pin compatible with Memorystick, and usually has an adapter to use in regular Memorystick devices. Pretty much every multiformat card reader will read Memorystick. Memorystick is used in more than just Sony devices, but not alot more. But why are you not complaining about xD cards? Or Smartmedia? Even Compactflash is not that common anymore. And even if you had a a Sony camera, you would still want two cards as it is a pain to go swapping cards around.

      --
      Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
    2. Re:Finally! by cgenman · · Score: 1

      Even Compactflash is not that common anymore.

      CompactFlash is no longer the only standard, but it is still by far the dominant standard in professional recording equipment, and is by far the most forward-compatible.

      You can plug a CF card straight into your IDE chain and it will read as a drive just fine.

      --
      The ______ Agenda
    3. Re:Finally! by Reaperducer · · Score: 1

      You can plug a CF card straight into your IDE chain and it will read as a drive just fine.

      Just like any Memory Stick. Or SD card. Or any of the other formats. That's why card readers are so dirt cheap.

      One thing I really like about some of the Sony cameras is that they have TWO memory slots -- one CF and one MS. Lets me load up with 8 gigs of storage and head out for the day not worrying about how many RAW files I shoot. Remarkably, the Sony batteries keep up with this, too. I bring an extra one with just in case, but hardly ever have to swap.

      Though, considering the recent track record Sony has had with batteries, I might want to keep a tiny fire extinguisher in my other pocket.

      --
      -- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
    4. Re:Finally! by Speare · · Score: 1

      I'm not complaining about the other crapola memory "standards" because Sony's not offering them in some lame promotion that offers junk movies and junk games. Sure you can find an adapter for a ton of stuff. Doesn't mean that Sony isn't a choad for trying to spawn one lockin technology after another. I can't remember the last time Sony produced a product that was simple and consumer-oriented instead of proprietary and revenue-oriented.

      --
      [ .sig file not found ]
    5. Re:Finally! by Ernesto+Alvarez · · Score: 1

                You can plug a CF card straight into your IDE chain and it will read as a drive just fine.

      Just like any Memory Stick. Or SD card. Or any of the other formats. That's why card readers are so dirt cheap.


      I think the GP poster means that you can plug it into your IDE chain without translating anything. The interface is one of a IDE disk. I've seen CF to IDE adaptors, they only have 1 or 2 resistors, and the rest is just a straight mechanical adaptor.
      --
      GPG 0x1B479C78
  8. Let alone by dark-br · · Score: 1

    Let alone filling the memory sticks with crap, that's my job, and give me a 2 or 4gb M2 stick Sony!

  9. Blows my mind by n3tcat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You would spend $50 to $75 on a $5 bargain bin DVD so that you can have a lesser quality movie. At what point is this a deal? Especially when you can buy the dvd and rip it to a memory stick already... Oh wait wasn't this why the UMD failed in the first place?

    At least it's on memory stick right out of the box now, so you can try to get it on your computer through a stick reader. Odds are it's locked though so without some cracking tool it'd be useless to the people who just want a no-hassle solution.

    Here comes sony again trying to create a demand for something they think is a good thing to supply. Too bad nobody is listening...

    1. Re:Blows my mind by swv3752 · · Score: 1

      You are looking at it wrong. You are getting a 2gb Memorystick for $77. A couple of months ago I bought a 2gb MS for close to $100. The fact they are throwing in a movie is nice. This might be enough to get people to buy the Sony MS for a couple of bucks more than the SanDisk MS. that Sony also gets to promote thier movie download service is good for them, and I don't see how it is harmful to consumers.

      I personally just rip my DVD's, but if I didn't already have a 2gb MS, I might be inclined to pick one of these up.

      --
      Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
    2. Re:Blows my mind by bri2000 · · Score: 2, Informative

      A couple of months ago $100 was probably the going rate. A quick look around internet retailers puts the current average around $75 for a 2GB memory stick. By way of comparison 2GB SD cards go for $50 or less.

  10. Re:I'm First!!! by smchris · · Score: 2, Informative

    $25 special for a 1 gig drive at my local computer store this week

    So I guess that means something like:

    $20 for the movie
    $5 for the DVD software and packaging

    Yawn.

  11. Insert blatant Sony bashing here. by Andrew+Kismet · · Score: 1

    Good news: Cheap memory! Very portable! 1Gb/2Gb!
    Bad news: Awful movies! DRM! Incompatible!
    Other news: When will this general Sony catastophe end? (DRM, Rootkit, UMD, PS3 price/delay/features, exploding batteries...)

  12. Hmmm - 2 GB? by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 1

    I do need more space to store those ISO images - my 1GB isn't big enough. I mean - my music and un-DVD ripped movies. Yeah. That's it.

    --
    52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
  13. Sony is lame by xinu · · Score: 1

    How do they expect the populous to adopt another proprietary media format? They have got to take their head out of their arse and play with the rest of the world.

    1. Re:Sony is lame by 2004.3 · · Score: 1

      Just another example of their lame attemt at lock in. Sony, you suck!

  14. Fuck that by You're+a+dick! · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I downgraded my PSP to 1.5, and use Devhook to emulate firmware 2.7. Haven't looked back since, I can now run a ton of "legitimate backups" of games. In the same way, I can put video on it. The PSP is expensive, and they want me to PAY for stuff I run on it?! Ha!

  15. Premium pricing... ah, bliss. by lupine_stalker · · Score: 1

    The sad thing is that these will probably sell like hotcakes among the 95% of the population that live 3 years in the past technology-wise. The average consumer sadly suffers a complete loss of common sense when they see the word "Free".

    --
    Ninjas use italics.
  16. But.... by IAstudent · · Score: 1

    do any of them come with Ridge Racer.. Riiiddddggge Racer!

  17. Slashdot: a grammar-free zone by ColonelPanic · · Score: 1
    Sony's new Memory Stick Entertainment Packs are now shipping in 1GB and 2GB sizes and contain a launcher DVD, the packs contain an unlock code which you have the choice of one of these four films, 'Hitch,' 'S.W.A.T.,' 'The Grudge,' or 'XXX: State of the Union.'

    Are there some words missing from the middle of that non-sentence? ... the packs contain an unlock code which you have the choice... just doesn't parse for me.

    --
    "Skill shows through where genius wears thin." -Wittgenstein || Religion: uniting aviation and architecture.
  18. If it's from Sony... by zcubed · · Score: 1

    I won't ever buy it. Their customer support/policies are terrible, not even bringing in the latest DRM fiasco. When I see the Sony label I get a cold shiver with the memory of calling their customer support number the last time.

    1. Re:If it's from Sony... by adisakp · · Score: 1

      Sony's not the only one with bad customer support. My sister got a Dell computer and her media reader drive broke. It took over three hours on the phone with someone in India who was barely comprehensible and *DEFINITELY* reading off a script to get them to replace a $8 part. My time is worth way more than that. I've bought 3 Dells in the past but this experience with their "customer service" pretty much means I'll never buy another Dell again.

  19. Took them long enough... by millennial · · Score: 0

    Wonder why it took them so long to ship them. I wrote an article about this back in July. And yeah, I'd wager that everything is nicely DRMed and that you'll have to update your PSP to the latest system software to view the movies.

    --
    I am scientifically inaccurate.
  20. Wait by rushmeat · · Score: 2, Informative
    So, on Newegg.com you can get a 4GB SD Card for around 60 something dollars last I checked, or, you can shell out 47 for 1GB and one [bad] movie, of a format not as widely used? 77 for the 2GB? No wonder Disturbed chose to cover "Land of Confusion"...


    On a lesser note of frustration and confusion, does it at least come with a way to watch the film on anything other than the PSP? How do you get the movie on there? Download?

    1. Re:Wait by rushmeat · · Score: 1

      ... Wait, why the hell are you telling me something I know? I bolded the fact that it was, just as a price comparison, and asked a question about future movie downloads on the card, [Is the 1/2GB card locked with the movie on it forever? Is there extra room for downloads?] and I clearly stated in my reply to the article "of a format not as widely used," so I have no idea why you even bothered to post that, unless you like to hear yourself be redundant...?

    2. Re:Wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apparently you enjoy taking a dump on people. Time to lower your caffeine dosage.

    3. Re:Wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Taurine is so much better.

  21. No spelling errors? by Mr.+Mosty-Toasty · · Score: 1

    They used a grave accent instead of an apostrophe in the title. This IS the slashdot we've come to know over the years.

  22. Lock? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This makes sense as it's a way for people to buy the Sony memory stick rather than the competitor's slightly cheaper memory stick. But this is assuming the stick can be deleted and used for general storage (ie: watch the movie once, then ditch it).

    However, knowing Sony's track record I predict that these mem sticks will NOT have that little "locking" switch. Instead it will be hardwired to "lock" mode.

    Can anyone confirm my prediction?

  23. *cough*pspvideo9*cough* by monopole · · Score: 1

    *cough*videora*cough*
    I've had this cough for over a year now!

  24. I just got a psp and ... by kinglink · · Score: 1

    bought a 2 gig off ebay for 50 bucks. I didn't buy it for movies.. Movies suck, and they are too big, besides I'd have to rip a dvd then put it on my system.. it's a huge amount of work, unless you're shady.

    However I do use it for Anime. a 2 gig stick will hold at least 10 episodes of anime, or can hold 5 episodes and a gig of music. I still have to research run tims on the battery but that will be very appreciated.

    1. Re:I just got a psp and ... by Emetophobe · · Score: 1
      bought a 2 gig off ebay for 50 bucks. I didn't buy it for movies.. Movies suck, and they are too big, besides I'd have to rip a dvd then put it on my system.. it's a huge amount of work, unless you're shady.

      So if I rip a legally purchased DVD movie so that I can watch it on another device, say a PSP, I'm somehow shady? Do you happen to work for the RIAA?
    2. Re:I just got a psp and ... by kinglink · · Score: 1

      No... I said it's a huge amount of work UNLESS you're shady.

      I was more talking to the people who downloaded AVIs being shady.

  25. Proof of Sony's inability to function as a company by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 1

    Really this is just more evidence that Sony once again is completely out of touch with what people want, and they continue to try to divide and take over.

    They love to make their own formats that only they can control. How useful with the mem stick be in 4 years? Sony will have released 3 more different versions by then, none of them fitting any of the existing devices, thus making us buy new ones again.

    Sony is evil in many ways, but the worst thing about Sony is, they will kill themselves while trying.

    Yet another stupid buisness move by Sony. Its becoming common isnt it... Does anyone think there? They have this top down mentality. The market defines how it uses technology to fit everyday life, not sony. Sony cant hand craft our existance.

  26. Yet another Vin Diesel fact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not even Vin Diesel can make the Memory Stick format not suck.

    1. Re:Yet another Vin Diesel fact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not even Vin Diesel can make the Memory Stick format not suck.

      More relevantly, neither can Ice Cube.

    2. Re:Yet another Vin Diesel fact... by Goffee71 · · Score: 1

      With most UMD movies half price in stores, surely this is inventing the lock and the door, after the horse bolted - before the stable was even built?

      --
      If he's the Walrus then can I be a penguin please?
  27. Only on slashdot.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..could such a retarded comment be modded "funny".

    1. Re:Only on slashdot.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree that the comment isn't funny. It should be modded 'Insightful'

    2. Re:Only on slashdot.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If by Insightful you mean brainwashed groupthink.

  28. For the fans of german words: "Deppenapostroph" by erichschubert · · Score: 1

    in english: "idiot's apostrophe" - or was it "idiot`s apostrophe"? ;-)

    Also known as "Apostrophitis" or "Apostrophenkatastrophen".

    Although the term is mostly used when someone incorrectly forms plural with an apostroph. ("two car's" - ouch, it's still "cars", please!)

    In german, the title would have been "Sonys PSP Memory Stick ...", btw. - we don't do the saxon genitive in german. There are only few exceptions where you may place an apostroph, e.g. "Hans' Auto", where you would have two s otherwise. However, this error has become quite common in Germany...

    --
    Debian GNU/Linux - apt-get into it.
  29. Re:Proof of Sony's inability to function as a comp by Reaperducer · · Score: 1

    How useful with the mem stick be in 4 years?

    I would imagine just as useful as the day you bought it. People have been dragging out that line since the first Memory Stick surfaced. How long has it been? Six years maybe? I still have my first Memory Stick from my first Sony camera that I got in 2001. I no longer have that camera, but the stick works fine in my new HP printer.

    Sony will have released 3 more different versions by then, none of them fitting any of the existing devices, thus making us buy new ones again.

    Do you know this because you work for Sony, or because you're a member of the Psychic Friends Network?

    New memory card formats come out all the time. Look at xD, SD-HC, and more. I don't see you complaining about Mini-SD being incompatible with things. What if the SD people come out with another three new cards over the next few years!?? OMGWTFBBQ!

    I'm not trying to be a Sony apologist, but I don't think the situation is as dire as you, or any of the other Sony-haters make out.

    Right now I have M2 Memory Sticks for my phone. I have Memory Stick Duos for my PSP. I have Memory Stick Pros for my camera. And guess what -- they all came with adapters so they work in my computer.. my printer.. my Palm Pilot.

    Formats change. EVERYONE'S formats change. Get over it. Maybe Sony people are more adept at adjusting than you are.

    --
    -- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
  30. Here's some bashing for you. by Ernesto+Alvarez · · Score: 1

    Good news: Cheap memory! Very portable! 1Gb/2Gb!


    Cheap?
    You can buy one gigabyte of either CF or SD for USD30, in Argentina (so it's more expensive because it's imported). USD 44 for a gigabyte of flash memory is a ripoff.

    Memory sticks were never cheap, and the only reason people buy it is because they are locked into the format.
    --
    GPG 0x1B479C78
  31. Stick management by ^_^x · · Score: 1

    I was going to write about how annoying it was buying new Memory Sticks for three Sony gadgets, but when I thought about it, it wasn't that bad...

    I have single and double-sided Memory Sticks for my Clie PDA, a Memory Stick Pro for my camera because it can't shoot HQ MPEG video or save over 128MB with a normal stick. Its cards won't work in the PDA because the capacity is too high for it. Now I have a PSP, and several Memory Stick Pro Duos for it. With an adapter, they work in the camera, but not the PDA.

    When you look at it, each new format addressed an issue - first addressing capacity and speed, then physical size (the MS Pro Duos can always be had with a free MS Pro adapter they slide into.) So while it's annoying always buying newer formats to catch up, it's not really the evil conspiracy it's cracked up to be. Every new stick type brings a significant technological upgrade, and tech permitting, they make their new stuff as backward-compatible as possible. My camera will use old sticks for photos, but they simply do not have the write rate needed for HQ video.

    I'll always be able to get the files off them, since all three devices will instantly turn into USB Memory Stick readers on demand. The camera uses a unique USB/composite video cable, but the PSP and PDA both use a normal Mini-B USB cable. A modern device that takes full-size cards such as my camera can read any of the formats easily.

    Everyone's looking for some kind of evil empire here, but all you get is a last cheap but misguided attempt to market a failed format from a branch of a nice high-midrange electronics company. If you want to hate on Sony, try Sony Music again - they're a different company (kind of like Sony Cosmetics or Sony Life Insurance...) and they'll get no sympathy from me, even if I think they're more incompetent than evil.

  32. Yes by Rix · · Score: 1

    Products with the code name "Sony" tend to replace standardized formats with obscure proprietary ones.