Sony’s New MiniDisc USB PC Storage Solution

Sony will start sales of its new MD drive for PC use which connects via USB, the PIT-IN, on May 21. The current price is listed as open price, however store managers expect the device to retail for about ¥15,000. The device will be compatible with Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP.

The drive is of an MD player type intended for use on a PC. The PIT-IN will use both MD media and Hi-MD media to store data. The drive can use both regular MD media which can store a maximum of 305MB and costs ¥100, and Hi-MD media which can store up to 1GB for only ¥700.

The data transfer rate of the drive is 9.83Mbps using 1GB MD media. It connects to the PC via a USB 1.1 interface and is bus powered. Since the device behaves as a USB storage class device, one can simply transfer files using drag & drop. Using the included SonicStage 3.1 software, music can be played back from the drive.

The drive comes in four different colors: silver, black, red and green. The body size is 86x22.9x79.3mm with a weight of 100 grams. The package includes USB cable and a pouch.