Bose Sound Dock
 

I have the Belkin, no problems, but I'm really hear to plug Griffin's iTrip FM Transmitter. Easy to use, attaches nicely to the iPod, and it transmits flawlessly to my car stereo. The only trouble I have is if I drive through a town that has a station on 87.9, and then I can easily change the transmitter frequency.

Bose Sound Dock
 

If you think more about the Creatures, buy them on E-Bay from the JBL overstock store.

I recently bought a pair of Harmon/Kardon (same company) speakers from them and couldn't be happier. Including shipping, I got them for about 1/5th MSRP.

For people looking for bigger sound system speakers (and recevier/amplifiers), I also recommend taking a look.

Bose Sound Dock
 

Not to rain on your parade, RT, but I find that RF transmitters sound like complete ass compared to most other formats, even a cassette adapter. If you have any other means of getting the sound in (aux in, Dennison ICE-Link, etc.) I highly recommend it.*

I currently run a simple sheilded monster rca-to-miniplug cable to the aux-in on the back of my head unit, and it sounds terrific.




*RF solutions also typically cut your battery life in half when in use.

Bose Sound Dock
 

I've got the cassette-with-plug-for-the-earphone-jack thingy. It's about 10 years old but works great.

Do you use the Belkin in your Audi or BMW?

Bose Sound Dock
 

Not to rain on your parade, AdL, but I find that cables from the miniplug-out sound like complete (well, at least partial) ass compared to using a line-out adapter, such as the .Sik imp. I plug this baby into the bottom of my iPod (other end to aux-in), and don't have to worry about readjusting volume, EQ, or anything else.

Bose Sound Dock
 

Agreed, but they've been backordered for quite some time...

Bose Sound Dock
 

Ford explorer with no audio cassette. I don't have any other choice if I want to listen to it in my car.

Bose Sound Dock
 

Yes you do. The Denison ICE-Link plugs into the changer port on the back of your head unit and allows you to control the ipod using your head unit's controls. Some head units can even display track info. If you click to the Denison store, there's a link for Ford products: they seem to have many, and likely one that will match your headunit.

Bose Sound Dock
 

Timmy-time (correcting a mistake I've kept making)--the company is actually Dension

Bose Sound Dock
 

I have an aftermarket Pioneer head unit. They haven't made one yet for Pioneers.

Bose Sound Dock
 

This week (at CES in vegas), Pioneer released an interface that is backward-compatible with many of their older head units. I'd check that out...

Further question
 

Well, those settings are crap. Not much of a difference and the Sonys still sound screechy. And I don't want anything that goes IN my ear.

And there's a saying in the industry that bears repeating....all highs no lows, must be Bose.

Mine's bigger than yours
 

102" Plasma from Samsung at CES.

http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/ima...3034735447.JPG

Mine's bigger than yours
 

If someone shows Sidd this picture, he's going to cry.

Further question
 

Thank Fucking God. After a couple of days, I was laying low, thinking I'd broken this board for good.

Further question
 

CES gave us some nice fodder. Also, Macworld starts today, and there are plenty of rumors about what we might see in tomorrow's keynote.

My wishlist: a headless imac in a stereo component form factor that will slip into my component rack. Would love if if had the following:

-DVD R/W (superdrive)
-80gb HDD minumum (smallest drive currently available in the iMac is 80GB)
-Airport Extreme (802.11g) for streaming audio (not yet enough bandwidth for streaming video)
-Bluetooth (for use with the apple wireless mouse)
-HD out (component, DVI, HDMI) in 720p
-Full OSX with an optional UI layer specifically designed for display on the lower resolution of a tv screen

A superdrive at this pricepoint (rumored to be $499) is unlikely, I know. Still, if anything like the rest of these specs materializes, it will replace my DVD player and CD changer, making a tidy home server for both music and video.

If apple does something like this right, they won't be able to make enough of them.

Further question
 

Aren't these two separate products?

1) A low-cost Mac box for PC converts. Bring your own monitor

2) An home audio/video center with Mac panache that allows full integration with current itunes/iphoto/imovie.

On the latter, which I'd love (Tivo doesn't have it quite right), why not a much larger HD? I suppose FW ports would be enough--my entire CD collection, ripped in lossless format, could reside on a couple of HDs in my stereo cabinet.

Further question
 

Why clutter the product matrix with 2 devices? I think you could serve both markets with the same box. A base system for your #1; a media center config for #2. Sure, a much larger HDD would be terrific, but I was trying to stick to the $499 price point floating around on the rumor sites.

Further question
 

Because it seems that you're tailoring the machine to do two different things. I suppose you could have a single box, but a low-end mac would have different features than a media server, it seems.

Further question
 

I'm not sure that they would be all that different at the most basic level (form factor, HDD, firewire, optical drive). The differences might be wrapped up in a BTO "home media package" or something similar, which could give you the tv-specific features and bumped-up HDD and RAM.

Life Is Random
 

www.macrumors.com seems to believe that the big announcement at the macworld show will be the iPod micro. A 1G device with no screen. 4 buttons on a little white device that can play the songs only in one set order or in a random fashion. Hence the slogan.

aV

Life Is Random
 

An italian fanboy site posted pics yesterday but then took them down. I think there must be something to the headless mac idea, or Apple would not have gone after ThinkSecret the way that they did.

Life Is Random
 

No surprises.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Co...2p.vmedium.jpg
SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Computer Inc. Tuesday said it would begin selling a stripped-down Macintosh computer without monitor, keyboard or mouse for $499 and new iPod digital music players costing as little as $99.

As the good folks at Gizmodo said, it's the iPodPregancyTest.

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/image...uffle_all3.jpg

Further question
 

The specs look pretty sweet. Price is reasonable, but not great, considering the optional pricing:

512MB SDRAM - +$75
1G SDRAM +$350

Superdrive +$100

Bluetooth +$50

Airport +$75

Matching wired keyboard and mouse +$58
Matching bluetooth keyboard and mouse +$99

I like the approach, I think. You can get a sweet component computer system, totally wireless, pretty quick, all necessary goodies, for $1000. And it's tiny and looks awesome. But, it's pricey for a non-Mac crowd. This might be my first Mac since an 8100/110, but it doesn't seem like as much of a homerun as the iPod. Still, they'll make money. Apple is strong, and Jobs has clearly shown himself to be a true visionary. Fuck, I wish I had bought AAPL when it was languishing in the fucking teens for several years.

Further question
 

Yeah, but I think they figure you already have some of those bits, like a monitor and keyboard, and that you don't really need bluetooth, at least if you're just starting out. Making the price even lower.

Further question
 

Agreed. If this has digital audio out I would have already ordered one. With a bluetooth wireless mouse, this would be a cool home media server

Further question
 

ETA: here is a solution for the optical audio out...

Further question
 

Have you ordered one yet?

Further question
 

:-) No, not yet.

JBL Creatures
 

FYI - JBL Creature II's are in the latest macmall catalog for $69.99. I couldn't find them at Overstock and the ebay sellers had a confirmed address shipping requirement.

Continuing research is nudging me toward the Creatures. Just need to figure out the placement of the three pieces.

Anne
Maybe THIS weekend I'll make it to the Apple store for a comparison listen.

Further question
 

I want to see the Mini used in the field a bit before I buy one, especially when it comes to heat disipation. I would be using it in my AV stack where heat *could* be an issue. I do love that it has a DVI port, though, which, if I understand correctly, can drive my HDTV LCD tV. Nice...

Further question
 

That's what I'm thinking about it for, too. I may have to get one in a few months. What's the minimum acceptable ram for OS X? Can I get by on 512MB? 256MB seems too small. Assuming that the HD size is not a big deal to me (but is nice), will the faster processor be a noticeable performance increasue? Desirable, necesary, worth the extra money?

I think a nice config would be the aforementioned digital audio adapter, 512MB, airport, bluetooth, wireless keyboard and mouse, for about $1k. I had been kicking around the idea of getting a component-style computer for my stereo setup. Will it really make sense to use it as a DVD player, though? What sort of true remote control options are available under Bluetooth for the Apple DVD player?

This also might be getting to be a but much for machines lying around. Still run the personal Dell desktop and Dell laptop, plus the work Dell laptop, plus still have several cannibalized PCs lying around, not to mention a ten year old PowerMac 7100 I am going to give away as soon as I pull the drive and get my old porn, er, data, off there.

Further question
 

I would use 512 MB at a minimum.

As for the remote control issue, I see two solutions right away: 1) no remote, just use the BT mouse as you normally would, only sitting on your couch; 2) Salling Clicker

Further question
 

Is is optical? Too lazy to check right now...

Further question
 

Yup. It's single button, though. Not a big deal if you're used to a mac, but most PC people are turned of fbit that.

Wireless router with cable
 

OK, I have heard that if one uses a wireless router (or maybe just a wireless cable modem gateway, I forgot) the cable companies ask for a second static IP address so they can charge you for a 2d computer.


Anyone know if I can beat this with one router and multiple wireless computers?

Wireless router with cable
 

That's BS for most of them. If you plug the router into the cable modem, the router will take the IP address from the cable co., and assign internal IP addresses to each computer in your house.

The only way they'll know is if they check the MAC address on the router (a unique identifier). If they're stupid, you can tell them you got a new computer, which explains the new MAC address. If they're smart, you can tell them you got a router, and they likely won't care. Tell them it's a router with a firewall, and you installed it for the firewall only (they have no way to tell if you actually have a net setup behind the router). If they're annoyingly persistent, you can get a router with MAC cloning, which will display the MAC address of your old computer, so they think you have your old computer connected when you actually have your router connected.

Wireless router with cable
 

I have this type of setup at home and have had no trouble from m ISP (Comcast).

Wireless router with cable
 

Same here. Comcast. AirPort Base Station that assigns dynamic IP addresses for the wireless net side. No trouble from Comcast.