any one have direct exp with hi-end hard drive?

The Nova Physics Memory Player has two webzine reviews out there at this time. Go to www.stereotimes.com and www.positive-feedback.com.
For a printed preview writeup see the latest issue of The Audiophile Voice.
As these reports point out, the MP is not merely a "hi-end hard drive". The MP does not use a hard drive to play the music back. The music data for playback is retrieved from "flash" memory. A hard drive is only used for storing the music data.
It is a unique product. The way the data is read off the CD, the way it is processed, and the way it is stored is brand new to the industry in a commercially available product.

I am sceptical that the MP has been derived from the video arena. Rather, as one of the reviews points out, the RUR process is derived from something the audio recording industry already uses. But that is only one third of the story. Then you also have to consider that the Error Correction Codes for video are much more sophisticated and are not compatible with the Reed Solomon ECC used for the Compact Disc.
Furthermore, the MP uses a flash memory for storing the data that is to be played back. Put RUR, dropping RS-ECC, and playback from flash memory all together, and the MP moves into the unique category. At least from what I have been able to construe.
Go to www.thememoryplayer.com for more info yet.