Sony MP3 on Mac?

According to the SonyStyle website, the Connect software is not yet Mac compatible.

~Lyssa

~iBook G4 1.07GHz (Kaiya), with extra 256MB RAM ~and a red Apple logo~(Mac OS X 10.3.9)~ LaCie 160GB external hard drive~ ~3G 15GB iPod (Nakai)~ ~GiveStarsto users who earn them.~

Hi Swimming bird, I've been surfing the net to find an answer to your question (about any alternative ways to use a sony mp3 player without the sonicstage nor the connect software), and I have to say that after reading a lot of customer and publicator's reviews, you and your boyfriend may be better returning the sony player and buying some other thing (please note I'm not trying to convince you of getting an iPod, but something else that is not tied to sony crappy software).

Really, about 70% of the reviews are complaints about the non-usability of the player due to problems getting songs on it, even when using a PC. So, you may want to reconsider your gift. One example could be found here (and this is only ONE EXAMPLE):

http://www.ciao.co.uk/SonyWalkman_NW_A3000_MP3_player_20_GB__Review5542281

Sorry for not being able to help you do what you need to.

Hi there,

I was a Sony minidisc user for a number of years and the news on Mac compatibility isn't good. I suspect that if you contact Sony's support people they won't say anything useful about Apple at all. The company simply has no interest in supporting the Mac and in fact has an interest in working against it.

There were efforts to evolve some open source software to provide NetMD functionality on the Mac but last time I checked, they hadn't really got off the ground (try googling XMD). The problem centred on the difficulty of cracking Sony's proprietary 'ATRAC' format to allow the copying of files to the Sony MD unit.

So things don't, hitherto, look much good but try this:

http://home.earthlink.net/~mac-minidisc/

This implies that the newest Sony MD units will permit the uploading of non-proprietary formats, so MP3s or AACs might work - provided the Mac can be persuaded to recognise the MD unit (this might be where the XMD project is worth investigating).

In sum - it really isn't going to be easy, I don't think, to run a Sony MD unit with a Mac. It ma be impossible but it will be worth investigating both the XMD project and the URL above to investigate progress in this area. I'm fairly sure that as things stand you will get almost no help from Sony though.





G4 iMac USB 2.0 / G4 iBook Mac OS X (10.4.6)

It depends on how the music is loaded onto the MP3 player.

With my brother's Samsung MP3 player, we can just drag and drop music onto it.

If the Sony MP3 player can load music this way, then of course you can use it with a Mac.

You might want to contact Sony with your questions.

~Lyssa

~iBook G4 1.07GHz (Kaiya), with extra 256MB RAM ~and a red Apple logo~(Mac OS X 10.3.9)~ LaCie 160GB external hard drive~ ~3G 15GB iPod (Nakai)~ ~GiveStarsto users who earn them.~

I've talked with a friend who was a sony employee in this area. They are really mean against ever supporting Apple. They see apple as the enemy. If they only knew it would enlarge their customer base.

Sony's software you must use to connect with a PC is VERY buggy and problematic. It seems like it was coded by some cheap programming labor in Russia. I love sony's products but their software for connecting to computers is very lacking.

Another option is to keep yourself the sony mp3 player (you already have a vaio) and give your boyfriend your Video iPod, so it matches his iBook. So the question is, How much do you love your boyfriend?

Just joking.... you should check with sony for the compatibility with a Mac.