Posted 04/06/2008 at 08:35:00am

D'oh! An oversight on my part. The 2GB model sells for $200; I've updated the review. Mike

Posted 03/20/2008 at 10:27:23am

Speaking of free alternatives, I really like the free, open-source Audacity for ripping tracks from vinyl. I haven't tried it with cassettes, but it's the same concept so the results should be the same. Mike Michael Brown Executive Editor

Posted 03/12/2008 at 11:20:49am

The purpose of this article is to explain the methodology we use for testing wireless routers. Each time we publish a review, such as the Linksys WRT600N , we'll link to this story so the reader can gain an understanding of how we got our numbers. Here's a link to the WRT600N review

Posted 03/12/2008 at 11:11:38am

We use each manufacturer's companion adapter in our tests. When I tested the dual-band Linksys WRT600N, I benchmarked it using the dual-band Linksys WPC600N adapter.

Posted 02/05/2008 at 11:21:00am

Good point. We've been reluctant to put prices in the online reviews, because they change so frequently and it's not possible for us to police old reviews to make sure we're presenting current information. We thought people would check their favorite online retailer for up-to-date street prices, but it looks as though the Mako still hasn't hit retail in volume. So, to make an already too-long answer short, Razer's press release says they expect the system to sell for $400. Michael Brown Executive Editor

Posted 01/09/2008 at 08:00:04pm

Apple is number one in digital media players and everyone else (Creative, Sandisk, Microsoft, et al) is fighting it out to be number two. I don't think that will change for the foreseeable future, so Creative is exercising good business sense by developing peripherals for the iPod before they create them for their own products. Of course, that strategy could backfire if Creative doesn't eventually deliver similar products for its own product line. Michael Brown Executive Editor

Posted 01/02/2008 at 10:20:38am

Broadband Internet access was my biggest concern when I moved into my new house, because Comcast (the "in-town" cable provider) didn't offer service outside the city limits, and AT&T didn't provide DSL. I was about to subscribe to a Wi-Max service (ClearWire had just started operating in the area), but I thought I'd check with AT&T one more time. As it turned out, the company had decided--in response to ClearWire, no doubt--to add a few more central offices outside the city limits. One of these was less than 100 feet from my driveway (although my house is set back about 300 feet from the street). In any event, I now have 6Mb/sec DSL service. It's not nearly as fast as Cable, but I'm satisfied. Michael Brown Executive Editor

Posted 12/15/2007 at 06:56:00pm

You don't have to load this player with losslessly encoded tracks--it supports lossy MP3 and WMA files encoded at up to 320Kb/sec, as well as music from subscription services (Rhapsody, Yahoo, etc.). The virtue of losslessly encoded music is a matter of taste and opinion--there is no "right" file size for music. But I'll always award higher praise to devices that provide the user with the choice of using either type; provided, of course, that it sounds good in the first place. But just to be clear, the Gigabeat does not support FLAC. It supports MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, and WAV. It supports MP3 bit rates ranging from 32- to 320Kb/s and WMA bit rates ranging from 32- to 192Kb/s. Michael Brown Executive Editor

Posted 11/20/2007 at 10:49:40am

This program will do something like that. I review it here: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/radiotracker RadioTracker doesn't work with Rhapsody or iTunes, but it will find and download music for you based on your preferences. You can then sync your MP3 player to the folder on your hard drive containing the downloaded tracks. But the key differences are that Slacker does their own radio programming, versus monitoring other Internet radio streams; and the Slacker hardware downloads the tracks automatically, you don't need to do anything other than tell it about your musical tastes. I'll check out the battery life issue as soon as I get an eval unit--they won't be shipping the product for another few weeks.

Posted 11/20/2007 at 10:30:12am

In my opinion, 128Kb/s is low fidelity; but that's the bit rate at which most Internet radio stations stream, so this isn't a limitation that RadioTracker imposes. When I rip tracks from CD, I use FLAC or WMA Lossless to obtain the best quality I can. I buy very few tracks from download services other than Music Giants, which is the only service I know of that supports WMA Lossless. But I'm not a true audiophile: I also "rent" music from Rhapsody (typically, songs from artists that I don't follow as thoroughly). I like music-rental services because I can listen to an extremely diverse collection of music without spending a fortune on CDs. But there's a definite trade-off in terms of audio quality. In any event, the "right" bit rate is in the ear of the beholder.