Scott:
They are avaliable for $399 at Music 123

Music123MPP

Maxone welcome.

I've had the MPP about 15 months and for me it's been a great tool. I have 1200 plus lead sheets stored in it and I'm as happy with it as when I bought it.

I have had no problems with mine, it is very dependable. I have the newer version 4.0.6 that has the capability to play mp3 files. I do not use that function, but my understanding is that the mp3 player has problems. Esh who posts here can probably add some feedback about that.

It is gig friendly, I use it all the time and have an optional foot pedal to turn pages. If you're playing an outdoor gig you're out of luck the screen is not bright enough to be used outdoors.

You can use any printer with the MPP because it comes with software that is loaded on your PC.( I have no Mac experience ). As a rule I have no need to print from the MPP software.

Edits can made right on the MPP using a stylus that comes with the unit. There are many color choices you can use to write your edits on the screen, since it comes with a color palette similar to what is found on a PC.

Scanning sheets into the MPP can be very time consuming and tedious. I have a collection of lead sheets in PDF files and don't do much scanning anymore. I copy the PDF files into MS Paint, then save as a PNG file then import to the MPP. Time savings doing it that way are susbstantial. I don't use Sibelius but for those lead sheets not found in print I use Band in a Box to convert midi files to lead sheets then simply print to the MPP software installed on my PC. You may also want to visit the forums at

Freehand

I have already stated my many displeasures with the Music Pad Pro (search the forum), none of which have been addressed by the company in the past year in the slightest.

I did manage to have a brief conversation with "Greg" at Freehand support a few weeks ago - he told me the problems with the MP3 player are part hardware, part software and no fix is forthcoming, period. He said he knew that was not what I wanted to hear but that was that. I have asked subsequent questions by email that have gone unanswered and it's my guess that Freehand no longer wants to be bothered with my concerns or with fixing their defective products. They are also ignoring current direct questions about OS 4.0.6 on their forums.

None of this has slowed down Freehand's marketing... they still advertise the MPP as having a working MP3 player. I will never buy a product from Freehand again and I'm searching for better solutions to displaying music and playing MP3 backing tracks.

Thank you all for the prompt answers.
I'll definitely get in touch with Frank before I buy the Music Pad, which is gonna be sometime on the second half of April.
Anyway so far, just like on this thread on this Forum, I've got very different opinions from users of this unit: some say couldn't live without it and others just hate it. I don't need an MP3 player (even thou a working one would be nice), but I'd like to make sure that I can get my (MIDI) scores in DigitalPerformer and about 200 other
songs from my different Real Books into the Music Pad Pro without too much headache.

What's the difference between the old $400 unit at Music123 and the $900 one at FreeHand?

Hi Guys. I can comment on this. I bought an older MPP recently as well. Although my time to work with this device has been limited by my regular employment, I can tell you the following things about it based on my experience thus far:

1. I got the MPP Plus (think that's the only one available anymore) which has a battery and an audio out jack (though I haven't figured out what application would use the audio out at this point)
2. I charged it up and ran it today and the MPP ran 2 hours and 45 minutes before it died, with the screen intensity set to max. I really wasn't worried about the battery, since I can't imagine a situation where I won't have AC power for my keyboard, but just checked it to see how long it would last.
3. I will use it primarily for lead sheets. I don't expect to scan many charts in. I have built several fake sheets using Band in a Box. When I do this, I build the fake sheets using BIAB and then save them as JPEGs, BMPs or PNGs. With the latest version of BIAB, I can adjust the output file resolution to 768 X 1024 (which is the resolution of the MPP Plus). If you don't set the resolution to that size, it will default to a smaller page. Then when you import the sheets into the MPP, the MPP file processor will enlarge them, which can introduce some graininess. After I started saving my BIAB files to the 768 X 1024 resolution, they displayed much better on the MPP (no graininess at all). I can build a lead sheet using BIAB in about 2 minutes or so. Total time to complete a chart and export/save it is between 3-5 minutes. You can build a whole directory of sheets and then call up the MPP import tool and it will convert all the files quickly.

Bottom line is (so far) is that I like the MPP. It has a bright display, is fairly easy to use, and will be a lot better than thumbing through books, though they will be in my trunk in case I have a failure.

Two other observations. It is awkward to handle when it's not on a stand. After I nearly dropped it a couple times, I bought the MPP stand which makes it much simpler to manipulate. Secondly, the operating system is a little slow (takes a minute or two to boot up). But all in all, it appears to be a nice device.

Finally, if you go down through the Synth Zone listings (this forum) to February 1st, you will find another series of informative posts about the MPP.

Randy

Esh, let me know if you find better solutions for displaying music.
If I was a PC guy maybe I'd have a look at
the eStand (http://www.estandmusic.com/), but this is out of question after 15 years of using Macs.
Plus, there is very little information about the eStand.
You can't find a review or someone who actually is using it, they don't have a Forum and not even on their site you can find to much (information about their product). Well, this is not OK.

Thank you for the tip SaxxMan.

Guys, is there any way you can edit a PDF file, I mean change some chords, move one or two notes here and there, transpose...
I'm referring to the PDF files some of you already have on CDs or on PCs.
I know you can do that with the scanned scores.

If not what kind of program do you need for something like this? Would Smart Score do?

You have to get the program from Adobe. The Reader is free, the ability to write costs something.
DonM

Thank you DonM, but tell me WHICH program from Adobe?
Adobe Elements would do?
Besides, I thought I need a notation program like Sibelius or Smart Score or Finale, in order to be able edit notes and transpose and write some new chords above the staves...etc.....etc...
Am I wrong? As far as I know, Adobe (whatever) is NOT a notation program.