acontrol2002 wrote:
> I have decided to take the leap to digital. Am still considering if
> mini-disc or PC card is where I will land.
>
> Question 1. With respect to minidiscs, what is the real difference
> between the HHB: MDP-500 Portadisc and the Marantz PMD-650 other than
> about $500 (using list prices)? Has anyone had field experience with
> the Marantz? Do both brands use the same ATRAC compression?
I believe the Marantz is using ATRAC 4.0, the Portadisc is ATRAC 4.5.
In other ways the Portadisc is a more modern design. I would say a
little more rugged design too.
I don't think the Marantz has the 6 second prerecord. That's a extremely
valuable feature found on the Portadisc.
I've seen reports that would indicate that the Marantz is much more
battery hungry than the Portadisc.
Since I've not had a Marantz to do side by side comparisons, I don't
know a lot about them.
> Question 2. Has anyone had significant field experience with the
> Marantz PMD-690? Is it a bother to use the flash memory cards in
> transfering the material to a laptop in the field (ie--the motel or
> camp where you are staying in the evening.)
Having used a laptop in the field, I can say doing anything with them in
the field is a big hassle. They are power hungry. And a very awkward
package. They are really a portable desktop machine, not a field
machine. Mine has all it's case parts loose from the wear and tear of
holding it in awkward ways.
If you are going to go on a extended field trip, having to have a
laptop, and probably some form of storage off the laptop will get to be
a problem. There is a lot to be said for a small durable optical disk as
a field medium. Compare that to your laptop choice of CDR or such like.
You will also have your eggs in one basket. The hard disk. They are
pretty reliable, but do get trashed or just quit working. And then you
have lost everything except whatever is on your current flash memory. In
many years recording with minidisc I've never had a disk failure. I am
reasonably careful with them.
Note most evenings I'm camping where there is no power other than from
my car battery. And I'm definitely too tired to be transferring
recordings to free space for the next day. I would have to camp earlier.
With the Portadisc when I fill a disk in the field it takes moments to
put another in and put away the full one. And I don't have to do
anything more until I'm back home. Field time is valuable, and costs, so
I want to make the best use of it.
When I was actively using my laptop in the field it always seemed like
it cut into my rest time. I got a Streetpilot GPS to replace the map
software in the laptop, and hardly ever bring the laptop anymore.
Walt
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