Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know

Subject: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: catspaw49
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 04:38 AM

1---What color is an orange?
2---How long do you cook a 3 minute egg?
3---Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?
4---What MP3 type player gizmo shoould I buy Karen?

Okay, so fuck the first three and let's get to the MP3 thingy.

Everytime I research some new techno gilwhickie and then with great pride go out and purchase my selection, within about a week I feel like the dumbest ass in three counties. So let me just ask you whizzbangers out there what to get. There are obviously a few criteria and here they are now!

1--Said purchaser is not made of money. Nuff said.
2--It needs to hold a shitload of tunes. Some of these things seem to hold a gigabazillion and others a "paltry" 500 or so. 500 is fine, 5000 is outtasight and more is better but this isn't a big deal. I mean really when you consider the past...........
3--Don't tell me why anything is preferable to something else as in, "You definitely want the forfalator to ram 256K up the kazooderdoofle for the best response." I have no idea what you're talking about, don't want to know, don't even give the tiniest of shits. If you're one who is prone to this type of response, show some control and don't.
4--Small is great but again considering the past............What would be good is the ability to hook up to external speakers of decent quality. Hooking a midget device to midget speakers might look cool but if it sounds like an electric razor test center, I don't need it and we'll stick with headset. But if I can hook up a pair of decent sounding speakers, fantastic!!!
5--Ease of download and the source which I know is a big factor. If I can only get music from Cletus and Paw's Dunes of Tunes Internet Emporium and I need to buy only their player, I'll take a pass on the whole thing and buy an eight track.
6--Just give me your best selections, period. Brand, model, etc. .......seriously gang, tell me what I need to buy in terms of ease and sourcing of download, size, decent quantitiy of music held, best quality for the buck, of which we don't have many. What's your pick?

And of course you have my thanks in advance, for what piddling little that's worth.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 04:49 AM

Spaw -

I don't do MP3, so I can't help you there; but I do object to the trick question on #3.

It's Mr. AND MRS. Grant. (unless they've moved her 'cause everybody forgot she was there.)

Or maybe you were meaning Clyde Grant from Lower Holler Arkansas?

John

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Cluin
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 04:58 AM

I've got a RCA Lyra. I'm happy with it and the price has come down from last year when I bought it. So has the price of the SD memory cards that work with it. You can put up to a 2 gig card in it. There is some onboard memory on it without the card too.

Needs a USB connection to your computer to transfer songs to it. Drivers for that are already included in Windows XP. Runs for a long time on one regular AAA battery.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Cluin
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 05:11 AM

By the way, the number of tunes you can put on a player depends also on their bit rate.
A 128 kbps MP3 file (the lowest bit rate recommended by most users) takes up less card space than higher bit rate MP3s (like 160, 192, 320, etc.) therefore, you can fit more tunes on the same card or player. Some users claim you can use even a lower bit rate like 96, or 80 or 64 kbps on these little players without sacrificing quality. I don't agree, but you'll have to try it yourself. Very subjective what you'll live with.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 05:45 AM

you get a round thing that plays disks, so that you can play a regular CD, or one that YOU load with whole bunches of MP3s in any combination you want. Sony makes several. Rita & I each have a slightly different model. Unless you just want an MP3 ONLY player....my kid has one called Archos (sp) holds thousands of songs (10 GIGS..he loves it, but it is several years old....

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Mooh
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 06:35 AM

Replaced the old Panasonic discman with an RCA Lyra. Still prefer the computerless convenience of the discman but there's no arguing with the power of the Lyra, and it's compact, doesn't skip, fits in my fishing vest better, is easier on batteries, and the local RCA dealer gives great service. Sound quality is very good.

Lately I've been studying mandolin again and the tunes available from the Mandolin Cafe have been keeping me amused. Next up will be some "world" music of some kind (likely African), or whatever helps me walk the dog.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Mooh
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 06:40 AM

Forgot to mention that the Lyra sounds okay played through the auxiliary input of the home stereo, or the boombox, but haven't tried it with computer-like powered speakers. It should be better than most of those speakers are.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Peter T.
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 06:47 AM

When was the War of 1812 fought?
Who were the antagonists in the French and Indian War? forgot The British)
A 3 minute egg takes about 2:50 seconds, it continues to cook it its shell while you are taking it to the table.

No idea about MP3 players, though you may need to find one that an aging adult can play -- they all seem to be designed for people who can push little buttons, read tiny text, and have lots of time to fiddle.   I bought one and had to take it back for those reasons.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 02:51 PM

A three minute egg takes ages. Depending on the size of the pan and how much cold water I put in it - first the electric hotplate has to warm through, then it takes anything from 5 to 8 minutes for the water to boil before the egg starts to cook (okay - about 98 degrees Centigrade). So I would reckon anything between 8 and 11 minutes.
Of course that doesn't count the time taken for the trip to the supermarket, or searching round in the straw at the end of the field, where the hens lay the eggs instead of in the nice boxes in the hen hut.
In actuality it might be anything up to a couple of hours for a 3 minute egg.
Quack!
Geoff the Duck (we know about these sort of matters...)

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 02:56 PM

Get this

http://www.minidisco.com/mz-rh910.html

Don't look back!

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Sorcha
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 03:12 PM

Glad I don't want one.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 05:19 PM

And that input is to what end?

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 05:26 PM

Related current thread:

help with minidisc recorder selection

Might turn up something, although little to the specification here at present(?).

John

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Amos
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 06:33 PM

Man, get her an iPod. They do it all.   99 cents a tune downloads, plus easy free uploading of any CDs you happen to have.

And they are WAY fun to wear.

A

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 07:28 PM

I think Clinton may have the most versatile choice there! Now I'm jealous. It is 2 steps up from what I have. You 'can' get something cheaper, but one like mine will not record directly...(though it's not a big problem to fill a CD with MP3s)....

Ya' pays yer money, ya' takes yer choice.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 19 Nov 05 - 11:52 PM

iPods are for pansies, sissies and 11 year old girls...

You never saw an iPod in "The Matrix"

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 20 Nov 05 - 07:33 AM

I can't help with the MP3 player but as to your first three questions :

1---What color is an orange?
William of Orange, who became King William III, was a sort of pinkish flesh colour but he had blue blood.

2---How long do you cook a 3 minute egg?
The eggs in my fridge are about 70 cm long and stay that length no matter what time you boil them for.

3---Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?
There are lots of people called Grant in this world. Could you be more specific about the first name?


Hope this helps

DC

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: artbrooks
Date: 20 Nov 05 - 10:22 AM

And, to expand upon what DC said...there are a lot of dead people named Grant, and many of them have tombs. Or were you referring to some specific tomb?

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Nov 05 - 12:10 PM

Spaw, you might want to CLICK HERE if the player also will be used for audio books and other spoken/narrative material.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 20 Nov 05 - 12:18 PM

who put the bom in the bom bom bom?
when was the last time a pointer dog pointed out anything useful?
Desmond Lyneham on Countdown....why?
where did I go wrong?

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 20 Nov 05 - 12:58 PM

Fuck all that electronic shit. Give her guitar lessons.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Deda
Date: 20 Nov 05 - 01:07 PM

If you happen to live a mile above sea level, as I do, you have to boil an egg for a full four minutes to get what low-landers would recognize as a 3-minute egg. This is because we have less oxygen here, the air is lighter, and water boils at a lower temperature -- making it cook less efficiently. I'm sure you'll all be pleased to learn this.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Amos
Date: 20 Nov 05 - 01:25 PM

It's not it's weight, but its density which gives you slow eggs, Sis...the molecules are all being accelerated towards Earth with close to the same force, but they're fewer of them per cubic centimeter. 'Course that means a given volume of air will weigh less, but that's cuz there are fewer molecules in it...


A

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 20 Nov 05 - 04:28 PM

I know it said extra large on the box but I've just realised that my units of measurement for my eggs should have been millimetres not centimetres. Even dinosaur eggs would be going some at almost three quarters of a metre.


DC

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 20 Nov 05 - 06:59 PM

RE Hooking a midget device to midget speakers might look cool but if it sounds like an electric razor test center,

I don't know anything about mp3 players, but I know a good analogy when I see one. Well done, spaw.

Subject: RE: Tech: 4 Things I Need to Know
From: Mr Red
Date: 21 Nov 05 - 05:51 PM

One with a voice recorder to take notes on (pinch songs with)
a silicon one with the biggest memory you can afford (not a disk drive)
One that you can use as a mass storage device on a PC

all of the above are well served by manufacturers.

One with an FM radio might be useful. If it has a clock you can time yer three minute egg - well maybe that is over-egging it a bit.

small but with decent display (if you are in the shrinking arms part of life).