The computer and electronics super geek thread

[mikeszekely]

For someone coming off of Apple products, which would be better? I like the the aluminum body on the One but I've read the battery life and call quality are poor compared to the S4. Also, I like having a physical home button a lot. I've been considering getting an S4 on T-mobile lately.

Well, here's what I can tell you.

From the one call I made on the One vs. the two or three I made when I had the S4, yes, the S4 has better call quality. It's not a night and day difference, though. The call I made on the One was perfectly clear, it was just a little tinnier. Reception is fine on both, which is to say significantly better than when I had a Galaxy Nexus on Verizon. Here in Irwin (about 30 miles east from Pittsburgh) I've got a good LTE signal. Of course, YMMV with reception, being that you're on the other side of the country and talking about a different carrier. It's probably worth noting that I've read that the T-Mobile and Sprint versions seem to have antenna issues similar to the iPhone 4 if you hold it a certain way in your left hand, but I haven't heard that about the international version or the AT&T version.

For battery life, Android in general is simply not as efficient as the iPhone. I'm not sure how much you use your phone... I don't really play games, I do a little texting, some Twitter, some email, some websurfing, and some e-reading, mostly, and my wife is pretty much in the same boat. Out of the box with no changes to settings, she'll have more than 70% left at the end of the day, so she can use her phone for two or three days on a charge. Me, I turn off all vibration, set the screen at 1/3rd to 1/4 of maximum brightness, turn off auto brightness, turn off Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi when they're not in use, set weather updates to once every three hours, and set my email and Twitter to update manually. I also condition my battery by charging the phone to full, unplugging it, turning it off, then plugging it back in until the charging light goes out. The extra 300mAh in the S4 didn't really make a difference for me; I can make it through the day ok, but my phone goes on the charger on my nightstand every night when I go to bed. Which made the S4 problematic, because it pushes a notification that the battery is charged that makes a sound and turns the screen on. In the middle of the night, it was enough to wake me up. The One doesn't do that.

In terms of screen quality, The One has a slightly higher pixel density and more natural colors. The S4 is vibrant, but looked a little warm to me. I loved that it was bigger, though. The S4's screen is the size of the One's screen plus the row of capacitive buttons. While I hated to give up the large screen, I think the One's looks better. And they're both much bigger than the biggest iPhone.

I've read that the One has a better camera than the S4 and the iPhone 5, and there are websites out there with lots of pictures and tests to argue that. I haven't taken any, so I have no comment.

In terms of build quality, I have to stress that the S4 isn't bad. Yes, it's plastic, but it feels solid despite feeling light and thin. And how deliciously thin it is! That being said, it felt really cheap compared to my wife's iPhone, and it was one of the many tiny reasons I switched the the One. The One's construction is very similar to the iPhone with the aluminum unibody and the glass face. Coming from an iPhone 5, you'll be right at home with the feel of the One. That means it's a little heavier than the S4, but not majorly so. At it's thickest point, it's about as thick as an iPhone 5, so if they're both on a table screen up they look similar. However, the One's back has a gentle, natural-feeling curve. If they're laying on a table screen down, the One seems thinner than the iPhone.

I guess the biggest adjustment to make is getting used to the software. Android isn't as dead simple as iOS, but my opinion as someone who's used both is that Android tends to be a lot more flexible. Given a choice, I prefer stock Android (at least post 4.0) to iOS. But it's difficult to get stock Android. Both the One and the S4 are customized with manufacturer skins and loaded with carrier bloatware. The bloatware can largely be turned off, but you're stuck with the skins. For me, I can say that I thought Samsung's skin looked closer to stock Android, but I was wrong, and after playing with both phones, I found that I hated Samsung's TouchWiz skin, while HTC's Sense skin is more of a minor nuisance. Learning the ins and outs of Android may take some time, but for basic stuff it's not too different. You have a launcher at the bottom with apps that will show on every home screen, and rows of icons on each home screen that you can page through. You'll find both phones come with the usual calendar, contacts, messaging, and email apps, and you can probably find apps for anything else you want in the Play Store. If you're used to iOS, though, I can say that there's a lot less games in the Android App store.

I can't really comment on the physical home button. It's part of the Apple experience, so I expect it on my iPad. But coming from a Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 7 tablet, it felt unnecessary to me on the S4. It's right-of-center placement on the One irks me more than the fact that it's a capacitive button.

If you can, try both in the store and see what you think feels better. All I can ultimately tell you is that I thought I would like the S4 better, especially coming from a Samsung phone before, but I was totally wrong. I took it back, bought the One instead, and I'm much happier with it.

[Archer]

So, rumors have it that HTC will be giving One purchasers the option to sswitch to stock android upon the release of the Nexus edition of the One. Take that with a grain of salt of course, but I'll seriously consider a switch if iffered. Loving the one so far by the way, very smooth switch from iPhone.

Just wish u had the courage to go ceaseless

[mikeszekely]

So, rumors have it that HTC will be giving One purchasers the option to sswitch to stock android upon the release of the Nexus edition of the One. Take that with a grain of salt of course, but I'll seriously consider a switch if iffered. Loving the one so far by the way, very smooth switch from iPhone.

Just wish u had the courage to go ceaseless

Ceaseless? Unless you mean caseless... but if that's what you mean, I totally have the courage for that. First thing my wife does after getting her iPhone is shop for a case, and she asked me what case I was getting. I told her none... I can't stand anything that would add weight or thickness to the phone.

If HTC really does offer us the ability to switch to stock Android, I'll definitely do it. I'm not saying Sense is bad... I know I thought it would be, from previous HTC phones, but it's actually not bad at all. It's just that I'm coming off a Nexus phone, and I've really grown to love stock Jelly Bean. But I doubt it'll happen. Even if HTC's cool with it, AT&T will find a way to screw us over.

[Archer]

Sorry, I meant "if I had the courage to go caseless".

And on that note, you've inspired me to take off that bloody case. I HATE cases, but more than damage, fingerprints irk me. Time to get rid of that phobia

[mikeszekely]

Sorry, I meant "if I had the courage to go caseless".

And on that note, you've inspired me to take off that bloody case. I HATE cases, but more than damage, fingerprints irk me. Time to get rid of that phobia

Do you have the black One or the white/silver One? I have the white/silver one, and while my screen has a layer of fingerprints on it so thick it's a wonder I can see through it (maybe because I can't stop playing with it... seriously, that aluminum body and gorgeous screen is like tech crack), they're not really showing on the back.

I've had a smartphone since the days of Windows Mobile 6, and in six smartphones I've never had a case. Fingerprints aren't nearly as irksome as people who buy these amazingly thin, stylish phones and slap them in those OtterBox cases that turn them into rubberized black bricks the size an '80s cassette Walkman.

That being said, leave it to the people who gave us the One to come up with a case so stylish I'm almost tempted to get it anyway...

[Archer]

I have the white/black, and you'Dr right. After a day of use, very few prints on the aluminum.

Have you tried the beats audio chip/boomsound yet?

[mikeszekely]

I have the white/black, and you'Dr right. After a day of use, very few prints on the aluminum.

Have you tried the beats audio chip/boomsound yet?

Yeah. If you're actually using the phone's speakers, it's pretty good. If you have good headphones, though, it just cranks up and distorts the bass.

[Beltane70]

Ceaseless? Unless you mean caseless... but if that's what you mean, I totally have the courage for that. First thing my wife does after getting her iPhone is shop for a case, and she asked me what case I was getting. I told her none... I can't stand anything that would add weight or thickness to the phone.

If HTC really does offer us the ability to switch to stock Android, I'll definitely do it. I'm not saying Sense is bad... I know I thought it would be, from previous HTC phones, but it's actually not bad at all. It's just that I'm coming off a Nexus phone, and I've really grown to love stock Jelly Bean. But I doubt it'll happen. Even if HTC's cool with it, AT&T will find a way to screw us over.

I had my iPhone 4 in a case all of one day. Luckily, it was one of those free ones, so I didn't waste any money.

My phone is now almost 3 years old, yet still looks like it's brand new.

[Archer]

I have sennheiser hd 598 headphones, which are super flat, so I kinda liked the added bass boost.

[mikeszekely]

I have sennheiser hd 598 headphones, which are super flat, so I kinda liked the added bass boost.

I didn't try it with all of the headphones I have, because I must have at least three pairs of earbuds and three sets of cans, but the bass with Beats on was pretty distorted on the included headphones. I only use earbuds when I'm traveling light, though, because the cans are comfier. My Panasonic cans are a little light on bass, so I might like Beats with them, but the expensive Sony cans I have are ultra-bassy as it is.

On a note totally unrelated to phones but very much a tech note, I've been having issues with my mouse lately. It's a Logitech Performance Mouse MX, which I'd picked specifically because it's their top of the line mouse that still works with a Unifying receiver (my keyboard is a Logitech Wireless Illuminated Keyboard K800). Basically, the left-click wasn't working right, so sometimes it wouldn't register clicks, sometimes it'd register a double-click when you only clicked once, and holding a click down to click-drag (or to draw a bow in Far Cry 3) was basically impossible. Apparently, it's a common problem for the Performance Mouse MX, so even though I really loved that mouse, I decided to replace it with something else.

Now, since I built my new tower last year, I'd gone from keeping my tower up on the desk to down on the floor, and I found that plugging in flash drives and what not was a chore. So I bought a powered 7-port USB hub, and suddenly had enough ports that keeping everything on a Unifying receiver wasn't as big a deal. And since I primarily use my desktop for gaming, I decided to go with a gaming mouse. I settled on the Logitech G700s, which was on sale at Best Buy for $80, plus I had a $40 rewards coupon.

Lo and behold, I get to the store and find plenty of the G700s... but off to the side, marked down to a mere $55, was the previous model, the G700. As near as I can tell, the only real differences between the G700 and the G700s are a higher max DPI setting on the G700s and some rather ugly cosmetic differences. So I walked out of Best Buy with the G700 for $15 after using my Rewards.

[anime52k8]

I'm not sure if this is cool or stupid:

http://www.zdnet.com/turn-your-iphone-into-a-legitimate-camera-with-foto-sosho-7000009802/

[mikeszekely]

I'm not sure if this is cool or stupid:

http://www.zdnet.com/turn-your-iphone-into-a-legitimate-camera-with-foto-sosho-7000009802/

Why can't it be both?

[anime52k8]

In case you haven't seen what Apple is doing with iOS7:

Jony Ive Redesigns Things

[mikeszekely]

In case you haven't seen what Apple is doing with iOS7:

Jony Ive Redesigns Things

To summarize: playing catch up.

That being said, I like the new, flatter icons, thinner fonts, and that thing they do with the background is pretty cool. Honestly, I'm all for new features that make iOS less of a pain to use... I just wish Apple's misguided faithful wouldn't try to claim features that have been in Android are somehow new now that they're in iOS.

[azrael]

Oh thank you Jeebus!

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

First business for the next CEO: DUMP WINDOWS 8 AND EVERYONE WHO THOUGHT METRO WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA FOR PROFESSIONALS.

[lechuck]

JUST CLICK THE DESKTOP TILE AND IT'S CLASSIC WINDOWS!!! HOW HARD CAN THAT BE?

Seriously the whining at this point is just pathetic.

[mikeszekely]

Oh thank you Jeebus!

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

First business for the next CEO: DUMP WINDOWS 8 AND EVERYONE WHO THOUGHT METRO WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA FOR PROFESSIONALS.

I feel like Hanukkah came early this year...

JUST CLICK THE DESKTOP TILE AND IT'S CLASSIC WINDOWS!!! HOW HARD CAN THAT BE?

Hard enough. Most of my customers can't even figure out how to turn the computer off now. And knowing that you have a desktop "app" doesn't save you from going back to the start screen whenever you need to find an app (unless you want to clutter your desktop/taskbar with icons), nor does it save you from Modern apps or Microsoft's stupid charms. Pointing out that Windows 8 is more than just the Start Screen doesn't mean that Windows 8 isn't a failure in usability design. Calling Microsoft out on bad UX design isn't pathetic, quietly accepting it as "good enough" is.

[Ghost Train]

Always found Microsoft to be the lesser of all evils and never understood all the vitriol... and we've been hearing predictions about Microsoft's demise since 2000.

Steve Ballmer made some poor recent choices like the aforementioned Metro and the draconian features of XBONE, but under his tenure he made MS a more robust and diversified company. Not many companies have the b4lls to just step into the gaming console market with 0% market share with the original X-Box, and after two iterations compete against a well established Sony and Nintendo on equal footing (and arguably kick Sony's a$$)... though the winner of the next round is to be determined . Also, he was able to take command from Bill Gates and made the company expand and flourish. Meanwhile, Steve Job's successor in Apple seems to off to a rough start matching that.

[jenius]

I always though thought of Windows 8 not as a stupid move but a necessary evil. The industry needs to move to an interface that is phone and tablet friendly. PC software makers and users are going to take time to get used to this and MS is going to need a few efforts to get it right. Windows 8 is the first product of transition.

[mikeszekely]

I always though thought of Windows 8 not as a stupid move but a necessary evil. The industry needs to move to an interface that is phone and tablet friendly. PC software makers and users are going to take time to get used to this and MS is going to need a few efforts to get it right. Windows 8 is the first product of transition.

I don't think anybody is denying that's the direction personal computing is headed. The question is whether or not Microsoft succeeded, and I think the answer is an unequivocal no.

Part of the problem, I think, is the notion that smartphones and tablets becoming the form-factor of choice for casual home use means that smartphones and tablets are going to be the form-factor of choice for computers period. It's not. Yes, for casual net surfing, Facebooking, and emailing most people can get away with a phone or an iPad at home. However, they're a lousy form-factor for work that involves multiple windows, editing large documents or spreadsheets, coding, etc. They're lousy work computers.

[azrael]

Part of the problem, I think, is the notion that smartphones and tablets becoming the form-factor of choice for casual home use ... They're lousy work computers.

Someone has to write those apps for your smartphone or tablet. Someone has to write those long financial reports with huge spreadsheets and slideshows for the executives. People need massive amounts of computing power to run calculations or process data for experiments. Someone has spend time on Illustrator and/or Photoshop creating or fixing images with huge monitors and pen-&-tablet input devices. Someone has to mix together an entire score with huge sound boards. Tablets and smartphones can't do that. Not at the same level. I made this argument a page back. To bring what mikeszekely said 1 step higher, tablets and phones are, undoubtedly, THE device of choice for consumption computing now. But, professional work still is best on traditional devices.

Was Windows 8 a necessary move? Probably. Was it done well? No. Under-the-hood updates for Windows 8 carries lots of new things that are needed. But it was wrapped up inside a UI that no one could understand. It was reported this week that Lenovo and Acer are actually bundling Pokki in their Windows 8-images just so people can use they computers they buy from them. And unfortunately, Windows 8 will now be synonymous with Surface RT which made all the wrong moves and is now suffering from a $900-million write-down.

[mikeszekely]

Not to change the subject too much, but has anyone else tried Chromecast? My only other experiences with streaming devices are my PS3 and a Netgear NeoTV I got on clearance. (The NeoTV sucks, BTW, with an unresponsive interface and long loading/buffering times).

Chromecast was really easy to set up, and I dig the tiny form factor. Both my TVs have USB ports near an HDMI port, so I didn't even need the AC adapter.

Setting it up, I realized that Chromecast is basically useless by itself. There's no remote. You need to sync it with a phone, tablet, or computer, a process that involves installing an app or Chrome extension. In my case, I used a Nexus 7 tablet. Once synced, you start a Chromecast-compatible app, like Netflix, on the tablet. There will be a button, and tapping it will give you a choice to play on the tablet or on the Chromecast. Once the video is playing, the app on the tablet acts as the remote for Chromecast.

A part of me kind of wants to ding it for being functionally useless without another device to control it with, but honestly who doesn't have a phone, tablet, or at least a PC to use these days? Honestly, it was so simple to set up and the experience of controlling it from the tablet was so smooth that, for $35, I'd actually recommend it to anyone with a Netflix subscription.

[Chewie]

While I shouldn't have had to, I bought and installed Start 8 from Stardock and haven't looked back to Windows 7 at all. 8 is delightfully fast and lean and once MS releases 8.1, hopefully after a bit more polishing, there will be very few things to hold people back from moving into it.....except their 15 year old XP machines that "do everything I want it to, just make it go faster please."

As for Chromecast, I think its biggest problem is people who saw "$35 steaming dongle thing" and had no idea what the hell it was, but knew they HAD to get one. My store was sold until last Thursday and we were STILL getting returns on them because people thought they would just take them home, plug them in and they would magically just stream the things they wanted. The amount of returns we took because they needed a power source....it hurt my head.

It's a great device if you can control it though,(lol) and I think the implications of what it can do for $35 will force a lot of TV manufacturers to rethink "smart" TVs in the very near future. That extra $400 for a TV that has wifi, a browser and Netflix capabilities just became prohibitively too expensive compared.

[EXO]

Not to change the subject too much, but has anyone else tried Chromecast? My only other experiences with streaming devices are my PS3 and a Netgear NeoTV I got on clearance. (The NeoTV sucks, BTW, with an unresponsive interface and long loading/buffering times).

Chromecast was really easy to set up, and I dig the tiny form factor. Both my TVs have USB ports near an HDMI port, so I didn't even need the AC adapter.

Setting it up, I realized that Chromecast is basically useless by itself. There's no remote. You need to sync it with a phone, tablet, or computer, a process that involves installing an app or Chrome extension. In my case, I used a Nexus 7 tablet. Once synced, you start a Chromecast-compatible app, like Netflix, on the tablet. There will be a button, and tapping it will give you a choice to play on the tablet or on the Chromecast. Once the video is playing, the app on the tablet acts as the remote for Chromecast.

A part of me kind of wants to ding it for being functionally useless without another device to control it with, but honestly who doesn't have a phone, tablet, or at least a PC to use these days? Honestly, it was so simple to set up and the experience of controlling it from the tablet was so smooth that, for $35, I'd actually recommend it to anyone with a Netflix subscription.

How did you synch it without any controls?

Reading this makes me think it's useless unless you have a bunch of pay services...

http://gizmodo.com/google-is-crippling-chromecasts-best-feature-1200683643?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

I have a WDTV live and the only thing missing from it is a web browser but that's not something I was really looking for since I have my PC hooked up to my workstation but being able to stram media from my server would have been my main reason for getting Chromecast.

[mikeszekely]

How did you synch it without any controls?

Reading this makes me think it's useless unless you have a bunch of pay services...

http://gizmodo.com/google-is-crippling-chromecasts-best-feature-1200683643?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

I have a WDTV live and the only thing missing from it is a web browser but that's not something I was really looking for since I have my PC hooked up to my workstation but being able to stram media from my server would have been my main reason for getting Chromecast.

I did it with a Nexus 7. I just downloaded the Chromecast app from the Play Store, plugged in the Chromecast, turned on the TV, and started the app. The app was able to find the Chromecast, change the name from the default "Chromecast8573658" (or some such) to the more generic yet pleasing "Mikecast", and teach Chromecast my network settings. The app is awesome, because it seriously does all the work for you. It's kind of useless after that, because the actual "casting" is done from other apps.

I don't know if Chromecast is for everyone, or if it's good for you. I wanted one because I don't have cable, but I watch a lot of Netflix. In the living room, I use my PS3 for Netflix, but in my bedroom I was using a Netgear NeoTV. The NeoTV is slow in general and horribly unresponsive when it comes to detecting a button press on the remote, so I wanted to replace it, but I didn't want to spend a fortune on a Roku. Considering that I mostly use my Nexus 7 as an e-reader, and it's almost always in my bedroom, pairing it with a Chromecast for a mere $35 made sense to me (especially since Best Buy gave me the 3-months of Netflix credit, making the actual cost more like $11). It also makes Google Play movies slightly more attractive, since I'm not stuck watching them on a computer or Android device. Streaming local media would be great, but for me Netflix was my top priority. And the Netflix experience on the Chromecast is pretty great.

[VF-19]

So... My amp decided to release the mysterious smell and mysterious blue smoke... AKA... It's dead Jim. Looking at getting a new one some time in the future. I'm currently leaning towards the Onkyo TX-8050. For reference, this amp was connected to my TV, PS3, WDLive, and CD player (as well as a 2.1 setup). While I don't use HDMI to connect to my amp, I do have a L/R out on my TV, which is what I was using.

Is there any other options out there? I'd rather not get a surround receiver if I'm not going to use the other 3 channels. However, whatever I do get, must at least be able to drive a dedicated sub-woofer. I'm working with a budget of about $400.

[mikeszekely]

Well... this could be interesting...

[azrael]

Well... this could be interesting...

You know...conspiracy theorists are already running around saying that he went to Nokia, just to bring it down so that MS could buy out Nokia's phone business.

Me? This just sounds like a bad idea. If it were up to me, I'd look outside the Microsoft sphere-of-influence for a CEO.

[mikeszekely]

You know...conspiracy theorists are already running around saying that he went to Nokia, just to bring it down so that MS could buy out Nokia's phone business.

Me? This just sounds like a bad idea. If it were up to me, I'd look outside the Microsoft sphere-of-influence for a CEO.

Conspiracy theorists have been saying it since Elop's first day on the job.

I'm not saying that Elop did great there or anything, but I get his reasoning. Symbian/MeeGo was a dead end, no matter how much the supporters wanted to believe differently. And Samsung practically is the Android handset market, with no other maker cracking a double-digit share. Even players like HTC, which used to be major players and still make some of the best-reviewed handsets, have lost market share. Elop figured, probably rightly, that Nokia would have a hard time being a player in the Android handset market, and so they went with Windows Phone to differentiate themselves. It was a gamble that didn't pay off, but I'm not sure what he could have done better, short of focusing on dumb phones. I'm going to give him credit for trying something different and not giving up at the first signs of trouble. So I guess I'm not as inclined to automatically right him off as a bad idea, although I do agree that Microsoft would do well to look outside the company for some fresh leadership.

[jenius]

All this talk of dead operating systems makes me miss WebOS.

[mikeszekely]

All this talk of dead operating systems makes me miss WebOS.

WebOS was awesome. I picked up an HP Touchpad when HP mega cut the price. It's a shame it didn't have more apps, because I loved that thing more than my original iPad.

[David Hingtgen]

I need a new stereo (home/shelf, not car), but can't find anything like what I have. Short version:

I want a multi-disc changer, and aux inputs so I can play my TV/PS/XBX through it. This combination is nigh-impossible to find nowadays. I may have to get used----I just need to find one! Alternatively---convert my entire collection to MP3's----suggestions welcome on best program to use to create good file names automatically/easily.

Long version:

My awesome Sony "MHC-RX66" has been skipping all the time lately. Took it apart (metal case!) and gave it a heck of a cleaning. Lasted a day, now it skips on all sorts of discs/tracks again. I figure the main laser etc itself has issues. Repair is unlikely, but I would do it if I could. Replacement parts for a ~1998 stereo are hard to even research, much less find.

It has a 3-disc changer, and standard RCA input jacks. And a very cool multi-color graphic equalizer display. And good 'ol fashioned speaker connectors---just plug in the bare wires. No proprietary connectors.

Anyways, everything nowadays (what few there are) seem to come in 2 varieties:

$70-150 systems that are EITHER multi-disc or have aux input jacks (real ones on the back for long-term use, not a mini-pin on the front for a temp connection), and $800-$2000 giant mega-systems with gigawatts of power, and inputs and multi-disc changers. And many other things I don't want/need, and won't fit anywhere anyways.

I have spent hours and hours over the past few days researching what's out there, and frankly---nothing currently produced is what I need. They are either single disc, or don't have aux inputs. The only way to get both main features is to go WAY up in price and size---not an option. Used stereos on ebay are rare, for any model I can find/research----and shipping costs are insane, many are "local pick-up only".

I'm seriously considering starting a project to just make MP3's of every CD I own. It'd take a while, but it may be the only true option at this point. Then getting a single-disc one with aux inputs. (none of which have a cool multi-color display though---I do enjoy "watching the music" occasionally).

On that note----anyone have suggestions on CD-to-MP3 programs? As I have hundreds to convert, I'd like a program that I don't have to "fiddle with" much to get "stereo-compatible simple-short-file-names" for each track, but also want more descriptive ones than "Track 1". Are there any programs that can get track info off the net AND either access or "think up" short/simple names from that? A lot of players/stereos etc don't want the full-sentence-long names some songs have. But again, having 200 songs named "Track 1" would suck.

[areaseven]

Tired of throwing away an entire phone because one small component is obsolete? How about a Lego phone?

[azrael]

...On that note----anyone have suggestions on CD-to-MP3 programs? As I have hundreds to convert, I'd like a program that I don't have to "fiddle with" much to get "stereo-compatible simple-short-file-names" for each track, but also want more descriptive ones than "Track 1". Are there any programs that can get track info off the net AND either access or "think up" short/simple names from that? A lot of players/stereos etc don't want the full-sentence-long names some songs have. But again, having 200 songs named "Track 1" would suck.

I left the home audio system world long ago. But this part, I can help you with. I've used Exact Audio Copy with LAME to handle the encoding. EAC has some features for error correction for damaged discs which could be useful for ripping older or more worn discs. Otherwise, you can try CDex. It also supports LAME for encoding. EAC supports FreeDB for CD catalog lookups, which would help identifying CD tracks. CDex supports CDDB for catalog lookups. If you want to shorten the names,that you have to do manually since many players support tag information so shortening names isn't necessary.

[areaseven]

R.I.P. BlackBerry