"Stimpy" wrote in message
...
Max wrote:
Hi All,

My goal was to 'eventually' use it as a slave drive being driven by a
PC with a touch screen in the living room, playing through my surround
sound system and using something like Media Player as the front
end...Sony confirmed that I could do this before I bought the player.
But it cannot be done. Yet Media Player is so much nicer to use and
fun. Also as the pc is permanently connected to the internet it seemed
like a good idea, especially that the player picks up all the track
listings for the ripped cd's at the gracelands site.


I'm confused? Why use the Sony at all? Why not just buy a big external
HDD,
attach it you PC and rip to that. A 250gb Maxtor will cost around £200,
add
a few quid for a new soundcard if you don't have a decent one already and
you're sorted. Use iTunes as a the front-end and the whole shebang is
easy
to use.

If you then want to make it 'look' good, network in a smart laptop or hush
PC with a TFT screen and use that as the 'client' next to your stereo

I suppose because it is a dedicated unit and doesn't sound too bad at all,
personally I hate the sound of MP3's
My intention once i get it loaded up was to use it upstairs away from all
the other gear
If I was to go the PC way i'd end up using shn's and they still eat up disc
space

Craig

Why didn't I use a pc option and a large hard disk in the first place?
Well that was due to cost. Storage is relatively cheap, but a 'decent'
sound card is expensive and so is the touch screen flat monitor that I
want in my setup. Would probably put it on a new server and network
into my exsisting pc. The idea was the have the flat screen in the
living room and the rest of the hardware upstairs in an office, well
away from everything. You must be looking at 1500 quid for a really
good setup like that perhaps a bit less.

So as an interim measure it was to use the Sony solution, where it
could be kept for now in the living room and to rip all the cd's onto
that. When I had the money I could then use the Sony as a slave drive
on the pc solution above...remember, Sony, said I could do this. I was
just not aware that:

a) There was no visible drive when connected to a pc..so no browsing.
b) I would be forced to use their own software which I had not
evaluated when I knew of other software that I prefered to use and
would do the thinbgs that I wanted it to do.
c) There was no backup solution available. At least on a pc setup I
could ghost or just copy onto more storage. This is a 'real' flaw in
my opinion. Tell me of a person that has not had a computer glitch and
lost everything. It does not happen often but it damn well happens
sometime. Hard disks are durable but not flawless.

I suppose I just feel a bit let down that the Sony solution is not as
flexible as I was led to believe, nor as 'easy to use'.

My ideal 'want' was to be able to create a playlist from my hard disk
recorder, be able to burn onto a cd when connected to a pc and then
play in the car (or that type of thing)...now thats what I call
flexibility!

Max

On 13 Jan 2004 03:43:00 -0800,
(Max) wrote:

Why didn't I use a pc option and a large hard disk in the first place?
Well that was due to cost. Storage is relatively cheap, but a 'decent'
sound card is expensive and so is the touch screen flat monitor that I
want in my setup. Would probably put it on a new server and network
into my exsisting pc. The idea was the have the flat screen in the
living room and the rest of the hardware upstairs in an office, well
away from everything. You must be looking at 1500 quid for a really
good setup like that perhaps a bit less.

I've used an old, slow PC with an external hard drive on USB. Wasn't
sure if it would be fast enough, but it is. Total cost was about £150
I think.

The on board sound is not brilliant, but with 256kbps MP3's it's quite
acceptable.

I don't have a screen - I control it from my laptop (or my wife's
laptop) using VNC, which is free.


So as an interim measure it was to use the Sony solution, where it
could be kept for now in the living room and to rip all the cd's onto
that. When I had the money I could then use the Sony as a slave drive
on the pc solution above...remember, Sony, said I could do this. I was
just not aware that:

a) There was no visible drive when connected to a pc..so no browsing.
b) I would be forced to use their own software which I had not
evaluated when I knew of other software that I prefered to use and
would do the thinbgs that I wanted it to do.
c) There was no backup solution available. At least on a pc setup I
could ghost or just copy onto more storage. This is a 'real' flaw in
my opinion. Tell me of a person that has not had a computer glitch and
lost everything. It does not happen often but it damn well happens
sometime. Hard disks are durable but not flawless.

I suppose I just feel a bit let down that the Sony solution is not as
flexible as I was led to believe, nor as 'easy to use'.

You and me both. The fact that it occasionally deletes some or all of
the files is more than a slight drawback.


My ideal 'want' was to be able to create a playlist from my hard disk
recorder, be able to burn onto a cd when connected to a pc and then
play in the car (or that type of thing)...now thats what I call
flexibility!

You can do this with the MP3 software I'm using, although I don't have
a CD writer in the old computer I'm using. I can copy the files to my
laptop and burn them from there though.

I should have mentioned the £30 to register the full version of my MP3
software in the costs above.



--
Tim Hobbs

Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Land Rovers? http://www.seriesii.co.uk

On 13 Jan 2004 03:43:00 -0800,
(Max) wrote:

Why didn't I use a pc option and a large hard disk in the first place?
Well that was due to cost. Storage is relatively cheap, but a 'decent'
sound card is expensive and so is the touch screen flat monitor that I
want in my setup. Would probably put it on a new server and network
into my exsisting pc. The idea was the have the flat screen in the
living room and the rest of the hardware upstairs in an office, well
away from everything. You must be looking at 1500 quid for a really
good setup like that perhaps a bit less.

I've used an old, slow PC with an external hard drive on USB. Wasn't
sure if it would be fast enough, but it is. Total cost was about £150
I think.

The on board sound is not brilliant, but with 256kbps MP3's it's quite
acceptable.

I don't have a screen - I control it from my laptop (or my wife's
laptop) using VNC, which is free.


So as an interim measure it was to use the Sony solution, where it
could be kept for now in the living room and to rip all the cd's onto
that. When I had the money I could then use the Sony as a slave drive
on the pc solution above...remember, Sony, said I could do this. I was
just not aware that:

a) There was no visible drive when connected to a pc..so no browsing.
b) I would be forced to use their own software which I had not
evaluated when I knew of other software that I prefered to use and
would do the thinbgs that I wanted it to do.
c) There was no backup solution available. At least on a pc setup I
could ghost or just copy onto more storage. This is a 'real' flaw in
my opinion. Tell me of a person that has not had a computer glitch and
lost everything. It does not happen often but it damn well happens
sometime. Hard disks are durable but not flawless.

I suppose I just feel a bit let down that the Sony solution is not as
flexible as I was led to believe, nor as 'easy to use'.

You and me both. The fact that it occasionally deletes some or all of
the files is more than a slight drawback.


My ideal 'want' was to be able to create a playlist from my hard disk
recorder, be able to burn onto a cd when connected to a pc and then
play in the car (or that type of thing)...now thats what I call
flexibility!

You can do this with the MP3 software I'm using, although I don't have
a CD writer in the old computer I'm using. I can copy the files to my
laptop and burn them from there though.

I should have mentioned the £30 to register the full version of my MP3
software in the costs above.



--
Tim Hobbs

Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Land Rovers? http://www.seriesii.co.uk

On 13 Jan 2004 03:43:00 -0800
(Max) wrote:


Why didn't I use a pc option and a large hard disk in the first place?
Well that was due to cost. Storage is relatively cheap, but a 'decent'
sound card is expensive and so is the touch screen flat monitor that I
want in my setup. Would probably put it on a new server and network
into my exsisting pc. The idea was the have the flat screen in the
living room and the rest of the hardware upstairs in an office, well
away from everything. You must be looking at 1500 quid for a really
good setup like that perhaps a bit less.

You're kidding, right? These prices are 'first found in google/ebuyer/whatever, no real digging:

Via VE5000 (fanless, aka silent) mobo inc. processor... 60ukp
Case to match... 60ukp (or much less if you dont care about the size)

60W fanless PSU (external) and internal ATX distribution board: 40ukp

Flat panel monitor... 120ukp

Total: 280ukp.

The Via boards have acceptable onboard sound. That said, if you want something that will blow away any prepackaged solution, simply add a DAC to the above (which has SPDIF coax out). a 2nd hand one will cost 200ukp ish at most (I payed 135 for mine).

So, with DAC, thats 415ukp.

add (to both prices) the cost of whatever harddisc you choose. (if you need it - you might boot it without a disc from your other PC for example)

and you can even use the PC to play movies on or games, or...

If you can live with a fan or two, a machine with a lot more 'grunt' would be a shuttle XPC, which are also very quiet if you pick a good harddisc like a seagate barracuda.

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

On 13 Jan 2004 03:43:00 -0800
(Max) wrote:


Why didn't I use a pc option and a large hard disk in the first place?
Well that was due to cost. Storage is relatively cheap, but a 'decent'
sound card is expensive and so is the touch screen flat monitor that I
want in my setup. Would probably put it on a new server and network
into my exsisting pc. The idea was the have the flat screen in the
living room and the rest of the hardware upstairs in an office, well
away from everything. You must be looking at 1500 quid for a really
good setup like that perhaps a bit less.

You're kidding, right? These prices are 'first found in google/ebuyer/whatever, no real digging:

Via VE5000 (fanless, aka silent) mobo inc. processor... 60ukp
Case to match... 60ukp (or much less if you dont care about the size)

60W fanless PSU (external) and internal ATX distribution board: 40ukp

Flat panel monitor... 120ukp

Total: 280ukp.

The Via boards have acceptable onboard sound. That said, if you want something that will blow away any prepackaged solution, simply add a DAC to the above (which has SPDIF coax out). a 2nd hand one will cost 200ukp ish at most (I payed 135 for mine).

So, with DAC, thats 415ukp.

add (to both prices) the cost of whatever harddisc you choose. (if you need it - you might boot it without a disc from your other PC for example)

and you can even use the PC to play movies on or games, or...

If you can live with a fan or two, a machine with a lot more 'grunt' would be a shuttle XPC, which are also very quiet if you pick a good harddisc like a seagate barracuda.

--
Spyros lair: http://www.mnementh.co.uk/ |||| Maintainer: arm26 linux

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are tasty and good with ketchup.

Max wrote:
Why didn't I use a pc option and a large hard disk in the first place?
Well that was due to cost. Storage is relatively cheap, but a 'decent'
sound card is expensive and so is the touch screen flat monitor that I
want in my setup. Would probably put it on a new server and network
into my exsisting pc. The idea was the have the flat screen in the
living room and the rest of the hardware upstairs in an office, well
away from everything. You must be looking at 1500 quid for a really
good setup like that perhaps a bit less.

Pre-owned Dell laptop - £250 off ebay
External Maxtor 250gb HDD - £200 from Dabs
External sound card - £50 off ebay
iTunes as the 'front end' - free
+ a bit of wire and some plugs

Max wrote:
Why didn't I use a pc option and a large hard disk in the first place?
Well that was due to cost. Storage is relatively cheap, but a 'decent'
sound card is expensive and so is the touch screen flat monitor that I
want in my setup. Would probably put it on a new server and network
into my exsisting pc. The idea was the have the flat screen in the
living room and the rest of the hardware upstairs in an office, well
away from everything. You must be looking at 1500 quid for a really
good setup like that perhaps a bit less.

Pre-owned Dell laptop - £250 off ebay
External Maxtor 250gb HDD - £200 from Dabs
External sound card - £50 off ebay
iTunes as the 'front end' - free
+ a bit of wire and some plugs

Why didn't I use a pc option and a large hard disk in the first place?
Well that was due to cost. Storage is relatively cheap, but a 'decent'
sound card is expensive and so is the touch screen flat monitor that I
want in my setup. Would probably put it on a new server and network
into my exsisting pc. The idea was the have the flat screen in the
living room and the rest of the hardware upstairs in an office, well
away from everything. You must be looking at 1500 quid for a really
good setup like that perhaps a bit less.

So as an interim measure it was to use the Sony solution, where it
could be kept for now in the living room and to rip all the cd's onto
that. When I had the money I could then use the Sony as a slave drive
on the pc solution above...remember, Sony, said I could do this. I was
just not aware that:

a) There was no visible drive when connected to a pc..so no browsing.
b) I would be forced to use their own software which I had not
evaluated when I knew of other software that I prefered to use and
would do the thinbgs that I wanted it to do.
c) There was no backup solution available. At least on a pc setup I
could ghost or just copy onto more storage. This is a 'real' flaw in
my opinion. Tell me of a person that has not had a computer glitch and
lost everything. It does not happen often but it damn well happens
sometime. Hard disks are durable but not flawless.

I suppose I just feel a bit let down that the Sony solution is not as
flexible as I was led to believe, nor as 'easy to use'.

My ideal 'want' was to be able to create a playlist from my hard disk
recorder, be able to burn onto a cd when connected to a pc and then
play in the car (or that type of thing)...now thats what I call
flexibility!

Max