Oh how we wish it were all just a horrific dream, but somehow, the engineers behind
Clarion's flashy new MAX9700DT in-car navigation unit
still felt it necessary to include support for a format that just refuses to die. Granted, the system is loaded to the hilt with features and supported formats, but we have a hard time believing that even the Japanese really still find
MiniDisc and
ATRAC all that attractive. Nevertheless, the unit also boasts a seven-inch touchscreen display, built-in
1Seg TV tuner, DVD player, a 40GB hard drive,
iPod compatibility, 50-watt x 4 amplifier, AM / FM radio, and support for a whole host of audio formats including WMA and MP3. Getting around shouldn't be too difficult given the expansive screen and "3D maps," and just in case that 40GB of internal storage isn't quite enough, you can cram an SD card or Memory Stick into it for a bit more space. As nice as all this sounds, few from crowds other than the elite will be pondering a purchase, as ¥341,250 ($2,868) isn't exactly bargain basement (or even "good deal") territory.
[Via
NaviGadget]
posted April 28th 2007 1:18PM
Who uses mini disc anymore?
That 'user' interface needs a map of its own.
Well, for the year 2005 the number of blank MiniDiscs sold was just over 200 Million and the number of players sold was around 6 million. Both of these numbers were expected to drop by 25% in 2006. I am not sure if the actual numbers for 2006 have been released yet but you should expect the numbers to be 150 million and 4.5 million. I would say all-in-all not a bad end of life for a product now in year 15 of production.
again with the "why MiniDisc?" vibe on Engadget. Why? Because there's a market. Particularly in Japan. Why ATRAC? 'Cause it's the standard for MiniDisc and compares (usually favourably) to mp3?
Of course there's Hi-MD for a few years now, which has allowed lossless CD-quality recordings on 1GB discs on players with more input choices than you can shake a stick at with removable batteries and robust media (horrifying concept in the dopi world, I know).
I agree. Minidisc is a viable and affordable format. The fact that North Americans seem to have fallen in love with expensive and substandard technology means that they need to constantly justify their choices and denegrate anything different.
In this case, I would need to make sure that they are supporting the Hi-MD format discs since they offer 1Gb of storage for about $6.
But, since this is never going to make it to North America...it really doesn't matter.
If you want to know why Minidiscs are still around-listen to your Ipod with a pair of decent cans, such as Sennheiser HD650's, and then listen to a Hi-MD recorded in Linear PCM.
The Ipod will sound pretty flat, but looks really cool, just like in all the ads, the Minidisc sound is clear, sharp and warm. Every year we are told by the "industry" that the Minidisc is a redundant format?? Consumer choice however, says differently.
Yeah to be honest, I actually still use my minidisc player - i just figured i was the only one.
Looks like the same hardware as the Clarion NAX907HD and MAX675VD that's in my car now, sans the 3D mapping and unsupported formats (around here). I have heard they are working on 3D mapping for North America - sweet. Figures Clarion would lead the way.