With MP3s gaining popularity even among the unwashed masses, demand for CD/MP3 players is rising; with the huge storage capacity of CDs as compared to Flash memory based devices, CD based solutions have a real advantage, but most people don't have a CD Burner installed on their computer. A portable CD/MP3 player/burner seems like a great solution to this problem; plus there's a lot of other target markets for this kind of product, too; as a developer I'm always burning CDs and it's really annoying to have to use a shared computer to burn CDs. A CD burner is a born match for a laptop computer; sharing files with clients is made much easier, plus the MP3 player functionality is useful for those long plane rides. The Sony Digital Relay (or CRX10U) seems like a perfect match for all of these cases.
Features
The Digital Relay I received was a final production unit, but it came in a plain cardboard box (the retail boxes were still in the works) with a driver disk, a CDR containing my utilities and a bunch of cables. When I first took a look at the Relay I thought "Damn, they should have called it the Digital Whale!" because it's at least an inch and a half longer than a normal CD player and makes my poor Rio look like a little shrimp in comparison. Upon further inspection the reason the relay is extra long is be cause it runs off of Sony's camcorder batteries. To get an equivalent voltage out of AA batteries would require a lot more space, and the power is definitely needed: after plugging in and turning on the Relay for a few minutes it got pretty warm; Sony must have a lot of electronics in there because they definitely warm up your pocket. The Digital Relay totally looks like a laptop accessory as it looks good contrasted with classic laptop black, and I'm sure it will color co-ordinate well with a Vaio Laptop. ;) I immediately loved the silver color because it matched my Sony MDR-V300 headphones.
Specs
Here's what Sony says:
Digital Relay CD-R/CD-RW Drive (CRX10U-A2) Sony's first battery-operated, portable CD-R/RW burner can also perform as a stand-alone CD player. The computer peripheral incorporates a USB interface for plug-and-play connectivity, and comes with a complete suite of feature-intensive Macintosh® and Windows® software, an InfoLithium® rechargeable battery, an AC power adapter, a wired-remote with an LCD display, earphones, cables and blank Sony media. The Digital Relay drive will be available in April for about $400.
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/digitalrelay/
