Personal Tech: Online Music Stores

The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro was online to field personal tech questions and discuss developments in online music sales. In his latest column , Rob wrote that if you're going to buy more than a few songs a month, you may find yourself in the kind of long-term commitment associated with inking mortgage documents.

Rob's column was part of a special report on digital music/radio that also included articles on satellite radio and digital music players . A chart also lets you compare four MP3 players.

A transcript follows.

Want to know what upcoming topics are being covered? Sign up for the Fast Forward e-letter -- get updated information on personal technology news and product demos. Read past editions of Rob's e-letter online here .

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Rob Pegoraro: Good afternoon, gang... between my last two columns, about digital photography and online music stores, we should have plenty to talk about. On the other hand, I'm competing against Wilbon *and* that David Segal punk, so I might just be talking to myself today.

Either way, let's get started!

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Washington, DC: Enjoyed your column yesterday, although I'm still a fan of CDs. I like the portability and maybe the notion of buying something I can actually hold on to.

Question: Isn't there a quality difference between a downloaded MP3 or WAV that of the CD I purchase?

In your column yesterday, you didn't mention the easiest way to feed your computer into your home stereo: take the output of your sound card and plug it into one of your receiver's inputs other than the phono (turntable). Works great!

washingtonpost.com: Fast Forward: Priorities for the Store-Shopping List

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the comments. All the music sold as downloads comes in one compressed form or another, such as AAC, WMA or MP3, but these file formats are designed to preserve all the parts of the song that you (or most people) will actually hear. There are still differences, but in practice--meaning when I've played the same song back over good speakers in CD and downloaded form--I've had a hard time hearing a significant difference.

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Washington DC: Hi Rob,

Your column and the related articles this week couldn't have come at a better time. I'm not a big music person but am finally considering an MP3 player for use on the Metro. I've asked friends for their opinions but they're not too helpful because they aren't using online stores because they've got thousands of CDs that they've just converted.

So for a person who doesn't own a lot of CDs, doesn't listen to music much would an iPod mini be the best bet since the iTunes store is the best?

Rob Pegoraro: Seems like a reasonable conclusion to me; you don't need to buy the extra storage a regular-sized iPod offers, but an iPod shuffle would be too small altogether.

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Arlington, Va.: Thank you for sharing your knowledge. In your last chat, you advised a person having a bad wireless signal to "boost" the signal by adding another WIFI port. Here's my problem: I live in an extension off a main house. The main house is wired for DSL. We set up a Lynksys to transmit a wireless signal to my laptop, in the extension. The signal must pass through two rooms (three walls) to reach me. There are several places where the signal is low (or nonexistent) and the signal is generally weak. Without paying the phone company to wire a DSL jack in the extension, which will cost at least $100, is there anything I can do?

washingtonpost.com: Discussion Transcript (August 15, 2005)

Rob Pegoraro: It sounds like you only have that one access point, so I'd try adding a second Linksys device to act as a repeater. Or you could try one of the MIMO category of WiFi access points, which offer much greater range (and now don't cost quite as much as they did when I tried them out several months ago).

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Alexandria, Virginia: Hi Rob:

I'm thinking about getting an MP3 player to use when I exercise, but want one with enough memory to carry lectures and not just songs. I've heard certain people swear by the Ipods, particularly the ones with more memory (20 GB or more) and I've read great reviews in PC Magazine about the Ipod Mini. (I have no interest in the Ipod Shuffle.)

On the other hand, if you talk to others, particularly some in the computer business, they'll tell you that the Ipods aren't ideal for a host of reasons: they're proprietary and therefore offer less music choices and you also can't replace the battery when it runs out.

There's also a debate aboubt whether you want to have an MP3 player that relies on the hard drive memory or one that uses the flash memory and is more mobile.

Finally, I'm concerned that my computer, a 1999 Emachines with Windows 98, Celeron chip, and 160 MB memory, isn't powerful enough to work with a modern MP3 player.

Could you provide your candid thoughts about (1) the shortcomings and pluses of the Ipod versus non MAC competitors (Rio, etc.), (2) pluses and minuses of hard drive memory versus flash memory, and,

(3) what kind of minimum level computer you need to have use an MP3 player.

Many thanks. Don

Rob Pegoraro: 1) The iPod is no more or less proprietary than any other music player out there. Their batteries can be replaced, but you have to pay Apple (or somebody else) to do the job. But I have heard from very few people who've needed this servicing so far. (IPods use the same type of batteries as everybody else; they don't wear out any slower or faster than what's in competing players).

2) If you want something with a lot of memory, you need to buy a hard drive-based player. Durability should not be a concern unless you routinely drop the thing on the ground.

3) Correct, your computer's no good for this kind of work. Any new machine will be, however, since they all offer vast hard drives, USB 2.0 ports and sufficient memory (at least 256 MB, preferably 512 MB).

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Washington, Dc: Rob, Why haven't car audio systems caught up with music technology? I'm buying a new car, and most manufacturers are still hyping MP3 compatible cd players like they are cutting edge.

How technologically difficult for the manufacturers would it be to include a memory card slot, or a USB port?

These options are few and far between even in the aftermarket systems.

What gives?

Rob Pegoraro: I wish I knew. It's taken manufacturers years to get around to including even a simple RCA input jack in the stereos built into cars, much less anything as fancy as a USB port or memory-card slot. Dumb, dumb, dumb...

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Fairfax, Va.: I've been watching and waiting for the right time to spend some money on good-quality point-and-shoot digital camera. Your shopping guide was very helpful, but it didn't answer the one big question I have.

Every time I've tried a friend's digital camera, I've found a noticeable lag between when you click the shutter release and when it takes the picture. This makes is just about impossible to "capture the moment" when taking un-posed photos. Has this started to improve yet? It's hard to tell when camera shopping because most stores don't bother keeping the display cameras charged so that you can test something like this.

washingtonpost.com: Fast Forward: Be Camera-Ready When You Shop (August 21, 2005)

Rob Pegoraro: You're experiencing what's called shutter lag--a problem on many older cameras, but one that's much improved on recent models. Ask your friend how old his camera is; if it's 2003 or earlier vintage, it's not going to be very representative of what's out there now.

We do take note of the lag of cameras when we review them, as do most other reviewers. FWIW, the most detailed reporting of shutter lag that I've seen (as in, timing down to the hundredth of a second) can be found at a Web site called the Imaging Resource: www.imaging-resource.com

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Washington, DC: Do any of the subscription services work with Macs? From what I can tell, they only work with Windows PCs.

On a somewhat related issue -- any update on Fairfax County libraries making books on mp3 available for iPods? The last report in the Post was that only WMA-compatible mp3 players work. That's stupid considering the iPod market share.

Rob Pegoraro: Correct, all the rental options are Windows-only. So are all the ebook-loan programs offered by libraries. The same reason explains both situations: Apple has not yet released any sort of copy-control software that would make a downloaded track unplayable after a certain date and time--without that, any sort of rental or loan system can't work.

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Rockville, MD: Hi Rob, After taking and deleting hundreds of pictures on my digital camera, I was wondering if the memory card ever wears out. Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: I can't say "no," because I'm sure that eventually it will suffer some low-level electrical malfunction--or perhaps somebody will simply whack it with a hammer by mistake. But since these cards don't have any moving parts and don't rely on magnetic storage, they're really hard to damage.

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NY: Hi Rob -

Is the wireless signal a lot more prone to disruption? I never had a problem with the wired network at home...but since I got the laptop a month ago, the wireless connection would be impaired once every week or so. The diagnostics on the laptop couldn't repair the problem. So basically I'm pressing a little button on the back of the router to reset the system. How should I go about fixing this problem?

Rob Pegoraro: Check the Web site of your access point's manufacturer for any firmware updates. If you see one that's been around for more than a few weeks, install it; they often fix these reception problems. You should also try changing the parameters of your wireless network--for instance, switch the channel it occupies, and see if any options labeled "interference robustness" (or words to that effect) are enabled. If not, switch 'em on.

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San Francisco, CA: I recently purchased a Dell Jukebox, and had no problems loading onto it the MP3 files that I had on my hard drive (mostly music files others have given me).

I'm new to digital music world. I have LOTS of CDs with tracks that I would love to covert into MP3 files, but I don't know how, and I can't be the only person in the "over 40's" club who is clueless on the "mechanics" of converting CD tracks into MP3 files and need some advise..

I have a 24X CD RW/DVD Combo Drive on my Latitude D505. I have Windows Media Player (version 9) on my computer, and I have installed onto my computer the MusicMatch Jukebox (version 10) software and the Dell DJ Explorer software that came with the Dell MP3 player. How DO I go about converting CD tracks into MP3 files? Is there any particular software program that you would recommend? (People have suggested the Roxio program, but it seems to be for copying DVDs, which I can't do on my computer's 24X CD RW/DVD Combo Drive.)

AND I know this must be REALLY basic to you. But if I download files from websites like RealRhapsody, am I getting MP3 files?

Thanks for your help.

Sign me "Clueless in SF"

Rob Pegoraro: Dear Clueless:

If you're running Windows XP, download Windows Media Player 10 (a free update from Microsoft) and get rid of MusicMatch. WMP 10 includes built-in conversion of CDs to MP3 files, and it doesn't do this in slow-motion unless you pay for a "plus" upgrade, as is the case with MusicMatch. (Yahoo, which now owns MusicMatch, says it plans to merge that software and music-download service into its newer Yahoo Music offering.)

Rhapsody sells and rents Windows Media files, not MP3s. But they should all play fine on your Dell DJ.

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Clifton, VA: Digital downloads just don't sound as good as a CD on my home system. An a CD even SACD doesn't sound as good as vinyl. A good ole Lp played on my Linn Sondek turntable through Conrad Johnson tube pre and power amps via Magnepan 20's. A CD played through Ayre CD transport just cant compete. A digital download is a distant 3rd and sounds no better than the music channels from Directv. Now my Ayre transport cost over $10k as does the Linn turntable and total system cost is about $50k. Cheap when compared to my $400k home theater system.

Front projector CRT still rules with 9in tubes. 1080p.

Rob Pegoraro: Clifton, with all due respect, you're off your rocker if you've spent 400 grand on a home-theater system... is this post some kind of parody of audiophile extremism?

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Rockville, MD: Rob:

Please explain to me what is so horrid about SonicStage (Sony Connect). I have only used this product and have nothing to compare it to. What am I missing out on? I happen to think it is pretty decent Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Sonic Stage has a horribly confused and cluttered interface and it's completely geared towards Sony's proprietary, unloved-by-every-other-company ATRAC format. Try iTunes or WMP 10 and you'll see what's possible when a company (even one with its own proprietary music-download format) opens itself up to the rest of the world and pays some attention to basic usability principles.

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Olney, MD: Hey, Rob. I'll actually be in a meeting during the discussion, but I'm hoping you can give me some advice on iPods.

I recently acquired an iPod Shuffle and a 20GB color iPod. I find iTunes REALLY annoying, especially when it erases everything on the Shuffle every time I plug it in. And I would like to use it on three different computers that I use quite often (one at work and two at home), but it seems to only want to be associated with one computer.

Do you have any suggestions for third-party software? I tried Anapod, and found it pretty kludgy. Any hacks or add-ons you recommend in general?

Rob Pegoraro: iTunes shouldn't be erasing any kind of iPod every time you plug it in. That's one way it can act with a Shuffle, but it's easily changed: when you plug in the Shuffle, click the little iPod icon in the bottom-right of the iTunes window to change how it reacts when the shuffle is connected.

If you'd just rather use another program, period, try XPlay, a $30 download from www.mediafour.com.

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Washington, DC: Any details on Google's recently-announced IM service? And on a related question, why does Google still insist on referring to Gmail as a beta test? The only "new features" these days seem to be making Gmail available in langauges I've never heard of, and the once coveted invitations can be obtained by anyone with half a brain (and failing that, they can be found on Ebay for a penny).

washingtonpost.com: Google to Launch IM Service (August 24, 2005)

Rob Pegoraro: When I saw the announcement about Google Talk, I thought I might devote an entire column to this. But after seeing the ho-hum reaction to it so far, I don't think there's enough news here. Google Talk's feature set is pretty limited, and I'm certainly not seeing any kind of widespread move to it. (One possible reason: While lots of office firewalls permit AOL IM traffic, ours, and I suspect many others, doesn't seem to accept Google Talk, which I guess is because it uses a different port than AIM.)

I share your disgruntlement about Google's cop-out behavior of calling the publicly-available Gmail "beta" for, what, a year and a half? So I'll throw this question out: Now that Gmail is open to anybody--you don't even need an invite, just a cell phone to receive this text message authenticating your new account--should I just review it already and be done with it? Or would that just ensure that Google would add a bunch of new features and declare Gmail to be past beta testing the week after my review ran?

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Alexandria, VA: I'm disappointed that www.emusic.com does not get more publicity. The pay-per-track sites are great if you know what you want, but too expensive to encourage experimenting. The rental places let you experiment, but you don't get to keep the songs if you quit. If you can live without major label artists, Emusic gives you the best of both worlds. There is a lot of great music out there that you would never hear unless you had a satellite radio or "that guy" to give you tips. Emusic makes it a lot cheaper and easier to find it.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the comment...

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Herndon, VA: Rob, I have quite a bit of music on my mini-ipod. is it true that eventually, the battery will not hold a charge and I will lose it all? Is anyone working on a replaceable battery? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: No, even if the battery mysteriously loses every last erg of energy tomorrow, your music would be fine--the hard drives and flash memory used in all MP3 players doesn't need a trickle of current to preserve your data. Batteries in iPods can be replaced; Apple charges $60 for the service, while third parties charge less. Future iPods might allow you to do a battery swap on your own, but nobody really knows what Apple's got up its sleeve.

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Bowie, MD: A couple of basic questions from a MP3 moron (as many of us born before 1980 are....)

I own a 2MB iPod Mini and use iTunes. What happens if I rip more than 2MB of music into iTunes?

I recently saw a performance on "Rockstar:INXS" that I'd really like to own--and CBS makes it possible to download...from MSN. From your Sunday article, it looks like those files are not compatible with iTunes or my iPod. Is there a way to get it onto my iPod?

Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: 1) You'd have to choose what portion of your music collection got copied over to your iPod (BTW, iPod minis hold 4 or 6 GB of music, not 2 megabytes).

2) If you've got a Windows PC, or have access to one, buy that INXS track there, then burn it to an audio CD. Then pop that CD into your computer and use iTunes to copy that song in MP3 format.

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Sarasota fl: Some sites ask whether I want them to remember my password so I won't have to reenter it. Is this safe, or will their remembering my password reduce my security?

Rob Pegoraro: Kinda depends on the site in question, and what your password provides access to there. I don't do that with sites where I check my e-mail or engage in financial transactions; I do allow that with many others (for instance, newspapers).

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Silver Spring, MD: With Tivo being a success (or at least being a media success), I can't understand why there aren't any decent equivalent devices for radio. I understand that we have XM & Sirius, but nothing beats a good radio program on NPR such as Studio 360 (or the Canadian program As It Happens). Can you recommend an easy to use, device for radio so I can listen my favorite radio program whenever I have the time instead of huddling around the radio during weekends?

Thanks!;!;

Rob Pegoraro: Try Griffin Technology's Radio Shark (www.griffintechnology.com)

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McLean, VA: Hi Rob,

Great column, but it looks like there's an issue with the inventory numbers. There are two references for Napster and none for Sony: "Apple and Napster both claim inventories of more than 1.5 million songs. Real's stores stock a bit more than 1.2 million; MSN Music, Napster and Yahoo cite catalogues of more than 1 million songs; and Wal-Mart carries about 600,000 songs." Could you please provide a correction. Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: The first Napster reference is correct, not the second one.

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Krishna, Bel Air, MD: You referred to "software that would make a downloaded track unplayable after a certain date and time," in connection with eBooks from libraries. I guess this will deter some folks. But it still would be possible to take the analog signal, capture it as a wavefile, and then as an MP3. Is it not? And how long do you think it would take (if it hasn't happened already) for this system to be hacked?

Rob Pegoraro: These systems have already been hacked in one way or another. But that's not the point; these copy-control systems are only there to deter casual copying, not professional theft. Both downloading some obscure program or making a real-time recording over a line-in jack fall into the category of "too much work" for the vast bulk of customers... so long as the copy-control regime is not itself unreasonably restrictive.

To the extent that companies like Napster, Real and Yahoo draw a reasonable number of paying customers, these rental systems can be said to work.

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Washington, D.C.: Sorry to ask an off-topic question. I am debating between the body of Nikon D50 or Canon Rebel XT. However, I have a hard time searching what lens to buy. I am new to digital camera. Could you recommend some web sites that have this kind of information? Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: I thought that these digital SLRs could only use lenses from the same manufacturer as the camera body. (If that's not true, please let me know.)

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Atlanta, GA: Last year I burned all my cd's to my computer as MP3's (about 13K songs) and play them through my stereo using a Lynksys media server, which plays only WMA and MP3 files. Buying online requires me to download, burn songs to a RW disk as an audio CD then re-burn to my HD as MP3. Too much work. Is there a utility available that reliably will perform this conversion and eliminate these wasteful steps?

Also, will this problem eventually require legislation to resolve or not?

Thanks

Jay

Rob Pegoraro: There are some applications that are designed to record whatever sound is produced by a given program and save it in the format of your choice (see, for example, High Criteria's Total Recorder). But this requires playing each song in real time; with an entire album, you'd spend less time going through that burn/re-rip cycle. Another option would be to get a new media receiver that supports your online store's formats--almost all of the newer ones can play files bought at the Windows Media-based stores.

Legislation would help, but do you really think that this Congress is going to engage in such obviously pro-consumer behavior when it will only upset a lot of very wealthy companies?

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Anonymous: Speaking of that punk Segal, when I saw both your stories yesterday it occurred to me that they could have been combined, showing how several aspects of popular music have changed so significantly in just the last few years. Did the two of you get together and yak about this stuff once in awhile? Did you have common ground, or was it more like the Odd Couple?

Rob Pegoraro: That timing was, in fact, a coinky-dink. Segal and I chat on and off, but it's almost always been electronically--even when he covered music from downtown, he was in Style and I was in Financial, which are at opposite ends of the newsroom. (Those who have seen The Post's cubicle farm can attest just how far it extends--at least half a city block, now that I think of it)

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Dupont Circle : Hi Rob, I'm a new subscriber to your weekly email and am learning a lot. But I think this question will demonstrate that I still have a long way to go:

I'm about to change ISP's (yet again). How can I save (and retrieve) old emails sent to me?

washingtonpost.com: You can sign up for Rob's weekly e-mail here .

Rob Pegoraro: That depends on what provider you use now. If it's a company that uses a standard mail system--usually, Post Office Protocol (POP), what most ISPs offer--there's no conversion to be done. Just replace your old provider's mail server settings in your program with the new firm's data, and off you go.

If you use AOL, things are a lot messier. I may try to explain that in a future Help File item.

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Alexandria, VA: I've downloaded all of the CD's to iTunes and my iPod, and even downloaded a few songs from the iTunes site. However, I have a lot of music on vinyl and cassette. How do I copy that? The multi-media computer has RCA inputs in front and I assume someplace on the big audio/video receiver in the living room is some compatible outputs. So what kind of software do I need?

Rob Pegoraro: This is one the most frequently-asked questions about digital music, which is why we ran a how-to piece on the subject in March. Here's the link .

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Rip Speed: I just ordered a 20 gb iPod last night--my entire music collection which I preloaded was about 9 gb--(toughest part was finding the cover art at another site--Amazon actually and copying/pasting --could not figure how to drag drop from iTunes) but --my question-- I ripped it all at AAC 128-and my work techno nerds are saying I should have gone higher --thoughts?

af in Alabama

Rob Pegoraro: Can you hear any difference between those files and the originals over the best speakers or headphones you own? If not, then you're fine. If you do, yes, re-rip. This time around, however, you might want to save your music in MP3 format, which will play on anything you might ever own. To get the best quality out of that, I suggest using a "medium-high" variable-bit-rate encoding option in iTunes. (You can change all these details under the Importing tab of iTunes' Preferences window, accessible under the Edit menu.)

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Rockville, MD: Hi Rob,

My 13 year old nephew will be going on a scuba diving trip and I would like to buy him a digital camera that he can use underwater. Can you tell me what I should be looking for? Is a "waterproof" camera enough? I understand you can buy a special waterproof case for Canon cameras, for example. Do those work? Others you can recommend?

Rob Pegoraro: I haven't taken any digital cameras diving (not even unintentionally). There are some models advertised as waterproof, like Pentax's Optio WR, as well as those waterproof cases, but I've yet to try either. Any recommendations?

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Washington, DC: Regarding the question about memory cards: they may not wear out, but you should be careful with them. I had a large memory card that died right after Christmas, along with all my Christmas pictures. I never figured out exactly what happened, but my only guess was that my partner's mother had zapped it with static electricity. I've been wary ever since, although it's never happened again. Just a note of caution.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the comment. What type of card was that (Compact Flash, SD Card, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, xD, etc.)? I ask because some of these feature exposed metal contacts, which could be a target for those jumps of static electricity.

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Norfolk, Va.: Great column, Rob. How about information on the Olympus M-Robe MR 100 and the Mr 500? They look cool. Can they hang with these joints you reviewed today? Also, for some reason I can't access the comparison chart. Best, Brian F

washingtonpost.com: Digital Music Player Comparisons

Rob Pegoraro: From what I've read about these combination cameras/music players, they... stink.

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Washington, DC: Re the password question--you should have noted that in most cases your password will be stored as a cookie on your pc, not in some remote computer at the web site's ISP. So the real question to ask yourself is whether it matters if someone else is using your PC could access the site.

Re iPod batteries--PC Magazine has instructions for changing them yourself. It doesn't look too difficult, but would probably intimidate a non-geek. Also, the case is almost certain to be scratched while you're prying it open. They point out that this is probably one of the reasons that Apple doesn't return your actual iPod when they change the battery--they copy the music onto a "reconditioned" iPod.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks, D.C.

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Washington, DC: A follow-up to my question about subscription music services for the Mac.

Is it possible to use some of these on the Mac with some sort of Windows Media Player -- do they exist for the Mac? -- as long as I don't want to download to an mp3 player? Basically I would just listen on the Mac.

Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: Microsoft does make a Mac version of Windows Media Player, but it's yet to build in support for the copy-control systems used by the music stores.

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Washington DC: Got some questions about XP. What's the difference between Home and Pro?

The folks are looking to replace their 95 machine with an XP system. They would like to get XP Home, but I'm concerned that one can't log into/create/etc virtual private networks with Home. It's my understanding that corporate systems frequently use VPN for remote access.

Could you confirm this analysis? Or, to phrase the question more succinctly: can one create/log into a system via a VPN using XP home?

Many thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: Your concern is well-placed--this is one of the few occasions where a home user should get XP Pro over XP Home. (Technically, the difference here is a matter of support for different types of networks; XP Home can only join a workgroup network, while Pro can log on to a domain-based office network.)

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Arlington, VA: I like iTunes well enough. But am I the only one that thinks 99 cents a song is too much? Purchasing via download an entire "album" is still 12.99 for a lot of new CDs, the same price I'd pay for actually buying a copy in a store. They should be giving us discounts based on the fact that they are not pressing or distributing anything. It may not be a ton of money, but surely it's worth something?

Rob Pegoraro: Most albums on iTunes still go for $9.99, and sometimes a little less--not that Amazon, WalMart, Best Buy and others can't sometimes beat those prices with discounts and promotions.

In general, though, I agree that not all songs should have to cost 99 cents. Many minor and independent record labels have proved that they can make a profit at a lower cost (look at what indie labels like D.C.'s Dischord Records charge for entire CDs), but the 99-cent-pricing requirement in effect at most major stores denies these folks the chance to compete on price.

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Brooklyn, Iowa: All weekend I've had trouble with hotmail, google, and avantgo. (Pages won't load - hotmail after enter email address & password). I've looked in tech pages for info, but nothings is said. Is it just me/my computer or are they having trouble?

Rob Pegoraro: Think it's just you and your PC, unfortunately.

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Alexandria, VA: I think the person asking about SLRs was asking about what focal length lens they should get. They can talk to someone at a camera store, but a basic 25-100mm (or something in that range) will give a decent wide angle and telephoto function, and is the standard starting lens for most people. They're also usually cheaper. They might also want to get a telephoto zoom for long-range and sports photography.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks, Alexandria

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Fairfield, Conn.: Rob, I finally did the deed and bought a G4 iBook. The wife has a laptop PC. Both are bluetooth enabled. I'm now looking for a lightweight color/b+w printer that we could move around the house with the laptops. Or is there a better way of printing wirelessly? Thanks, Gil

Rob Pegoraro: Yes, there is a better way. If your WiFi access point has a USB port, you can plug the printer right into that. You can also buy one of the handful of printers that have WiFi networking built in ( see our recent review ), or pick up a WiFi add-on called a wireless print server.

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Chattanooga, TN: I'm amazed at this point that there aren't more out-of-print records available for download. It would seem to be an easy way for labels to eek some $$$ out of albums that aren't necessarily popular to merit a full re-release.

Rob Pegoraro: You just can't overestimate the recording industry's collective ability to pass up a good business opportunity through short-sighted mistakes.

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Chevy Chase, Md.: I'd like your opinion: what is the best defense for adware and Spyware?

Rob Pegoraro: In three words, Mac or Linux.

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Bethesda, MD: One irritating (and depressing) thing about the current online music scene is that all the participants claim that they're on the side of consumer-- but, in fact, they would all control the market and drive out competition if they could. Econo-nerds note that it's a variation on classic "rent-seeking behavior". Why can't some of the energy, imagination, and capital that's devoted to developing novel strategies for creating monopolies be used for something productive?

Rob Pegoraro: Wish I knew, but I fear you're correct in this analysis--which also applies just as well to the movie industry. Folks would rather try to strip-mine an extra few bucks out of every current customers' wallet than take a chance on getting a much wider customer base.

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Washington, DC: I read your article on Sunday about online music. I subscribe to Yahoo! Music and think it's better pricewise than Napster or Rhapsody. My question is about moving manually created audio files to an audio Jukebox. I have an IRiver H340 Jukebox. How can I manually move MP3, OGG, and other non-DRM audio files to the player and have it show up under the player's various navigation categories like Artist, Album, and Genre? Yahoo! Music Engine, of course does this automatically. Do I move any manually created audio files to "My Music" folder and go into Yahoo! Music Engine and run the synchronize program? Is there an ID or tagging program I have to use? Thanks for any help.

Rob Pegoraro: Correct, make sure the Yahoo Music Engine program has your files in its own track listing, and it'll handle the rest.

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Annandale VA: Rob,

For the readers looking to entertain themselves on Metro or while exercising, consider non-music audio. I bought an iRiver MP3 player a couple of years ago. No hard drive, only 256MB of memory but I can put in about 24 hours of old radio shows. Shows like The Shadow, Suspense, Jack Benny... stuff from when your parents were young, Rob.

It's available on Usenet or through radioarchives.org as well as other sources and thousands of hours are available. Heck, I probably have 10,000 hours in mp3 on CDs and DVDs.

Not only is the non-disk player light, a single AA battery lasts 20 or more hours.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the note. There's also podcasting as a source for non-music audio...

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McLean, Va.: I see renting songs as a competitor to radio more than to owning songs. I'm not even sure how much of a market music radio still has, after losing a local alternative station like WHFS. I think it's well worth it to pay $10 or so per month for custom radio programming. One can always buy the songs one wants to keep longer term.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the observation (and sorry you live just too far west to pull in WRNR's signal...)

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Columbia, MD: I'm biting the bullet and buying an iPod (my current yellow Sony Sports Walkman just isn't cutting it anymore). Is the FireWire cable (that's extra of course) worth it? I'm buying directly from Apple to get the free engraving/shipping if that matters. They also offer the extended coverage -- I'm guessing that's probably not worth it.

Rob Pegoraro: You don't need the FireWir cable if your computer has a USB 2.0 port available; otherwise you do. It's unfortunate that Apple has elected to price-gouge so obviously on that item... $20 is just a bit much for a simple data cable.

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Laurel, MD: Hi Rob - Verizon Wireless here. We offer several phones and PDAs that play mp3s and have flash memory slots. How do you think wireless devices that can download and play music will stack up against dedicated music players?

Rob Pegoraro: If wireless carriers charge $2 or more for a download to the phone, as I hear they plan to, then a phone's going to stack up extremely poorly against a standalone music player. How many people can't just wait until they get home to download the song? (OTOH, look at how many people pay more than that for a stupid ringtone... some things, I just don't understand about kids these days.)

Also: MP3 players routinely ship with 20, 30 or 40-gigabyte hard drives, while the most storage I've heard of in a cell phone is 8 gigs.

And finally: When I buy an MP3 player from an Apple or a Dell, I know I won't have some third party arbitrarily turning features, as many carriers--that means you, Verizon Wireless--are so fond of doing with their cell phones.

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Washington DC: Rob: Safari or Mozilla - which is the better browser for the Mac? Both seem to work well but I wanted your professional input. Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Do you mean Mozilla or Firefox? Firefox competes very well with Safari; it works with a few more sites and feels faster. On the other hand, it doesn't integrate all that well with Mac OS X. Mozilla, however, is really kind of old and slow and doesn't look at all like a real Mac program these days.

The browser to look out for is Camino, which is a Mac-only, browser-only offshoot of Mozilla. It's fast and a good Mac app; however, it's still in development, at about the .9 state.

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Arlington, VA: DSLR lenses are just like regular SLR lenses. There are lots of third party manufacturers that make lenses which are compatible with the lens mounts which are standardized for the most part across each manufacturer's line of camera bodies. So, if you have 35mm SLR lenses sitting around, you can use them with your new DSLR in most cases as long as the lens mounts are the same. So, all Nikon lens mount lenses fit all Nikon camera bodies, but they won't fit Canon's bodies. But the third party makers all have the same basic lens with the appropriate mounts for whichever body you have. I have a Nikon D70 and I use Tamron lenses which I really like. The key with DSLRs is that the image sensor generally introduces a magnification factor, on Nikons it is 1.5. So, a lens that is 50mm in the 35mm SLR world is really a 75mm lens in the DSLR world. So, if you're buying a zoon lens for example you need to make sure that it goes down far enough to get reasonable wide angle shots. I have the Tamron Di 18-200mm lens which offers good wide angle with plenty of zoom.

Rob Pegoraro: Many thanks, Arlington...

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Tysons Corner, VA: I'm 34 years old, and woefully out of touch with online music. Only in the past year have I figured out, sort of, how to stream online music from my work computer. I usually use ITunes, or whatever RealPlayer offers me, although I think I used Spinner until they made me do some registration stuff that I deemed too much of a hindrance.

As for downloading songs, and storing music, I remain mysteriously disconnected from it all. I have little desire to make my computer a destination spot for music listening, although I do enjoy streaming talk and music while surfing the Net or doing other things. But if I want to pay attention to the MUSIC, the computer would probably be too distracting.

I understand that I can use stored music to burn CDs or to download the songs onto other portable media, but even CD-burning seems out of reach for me.

Like the guy quoted at the beginning of the larger story on online music that ran alongside your story, you'll find me browsing at Olsson's, picking up tangible discs that I can hold, take home, and put into my car's CD player. I like whole albums, not just individual songs, and am not so attracted to a la carte music. One big upside of CD purchases not discussed in yesterday's articles is the dustjacket and/or liner notes. Yeah, I don't look those over more than the first one or two times I listen to a CD, but I like the quick, easy access to session players, songwriting credits, and other details that might be buried, or not even included, with online downloads.

Also, your piece's mention of the lack of compatibility of the several competing music-download services reinforced my hesitancy to dive into the new technology.

Is it mainly my age that puts me so far behind the curve?

Rob Pegoraro: Not necessarily; if you generally listen to artists who take the idea of the album/record/CD as a single artistic work seriously, then obviously buying and rearranging single tracks won't appeal to you much. But in my experience, increasingly few people listen to music that way. It's becoming more of a remix/sample/mash-up culture.

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Fairfax, VA: Hi Rob, I have a 2 month old Canon Powershot S2, and I noticed that pictures ever since a specific date have a red spot, all in the same location. I guess this is a dead or stuck pixel. The camera is still in warranty, but out of the 30 days to return it to the store (Walmart). In your research of cameras have you ever come across dead pixels? Is it worth getting fixed (and thus being sans-camera for a period of time?) Other than that one pixel, I love the camera.

Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: You mean photos as seen on your computer? Yeah, that's gotta be a busted sensor. But you'll now have to go through Canon's warranty system; I suspect they'll just ship you a replacement camera, then refurbish your old one and re-sell that to somebody else.

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Easton, MD: Hi Rob,

I'm a jazz guy. Are there any services that have a large selection of jazz, particularly older jazz selections or do they primarily carry more current music?

Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: I don't know that any of the major stores have a particularly good or bad selection of jazz, but the simplest way is just to run a few sample searches at each store and see if they can locate what you need.

If most of the tracks you're looking for come off of minor or indie labels, don't forget to try out the smaller stores that sell MP3 downloads.

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Herndon, Va: Dear Rob, I ran into a situation the other day where I was unable to move songs that I had bought and downloaded legally from my PC to my MP3 player, also bought and paid for. The music files aren't coded to play on my MP3 player. Why do they make it so difficult to use the music that you pay for? And they wonder why people go the illegal route (not that we're condoning that, of course.)

Rob Pegoraro: That's the issue the music business--actually, every company selling recorded entertainment in a copy-controlled digital format--has to deal with. It's all well and good to try to come up with technological locks that stop people from uploading purchases to the nearest file-sharing network, but the instant these locks get in the way of people's exercise of fair-use practices (like, y'know, listening to a paid-for song), customers *will* find ways around, even if that means returning to peer-to-peer file-sharing.

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Twin Cities MN: I am wondering who owns XM and Sirius satellite radio?

Rob Pegoraro: Themselves; each is a separate company. XM's based in D.C. and Sirius is up in NYC. (You can see XM's HQ every time you drive into town on New York Avenue or roll into Union Station.)

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Wash: Do you still think an iPod with an FM capability is a stupid idea? It seems like there's demand for this kind of stuff and I don't see how Apple thinks this is not wise while considering other options, such as Video playback, which would be impossible to use as you walk and jog.

Rob Pegoraro: Perhaps not stupid, but I also don't think it's something I'd be inclined to pay for. Nor do I think most other people are that anxious to have this capability. If anything, to me it's less appealing than it was a year ago, since the vast bulk of radio content that I'd like to hear on my own time--features on NPR--is now available as free podcast downloads.

The one exception would be baseball games, but even then you'd also need AM reception, something that almost no MP3 players include.

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Washington, D.C.: On the digital SLRs -- I've found Amazon.com to be a great way to learn what's available to match with digital SLRs. Often, the sellers are local camera shops that list their inventory online and provide additional details. However, because of the conversion ratios from regular to digital, Canon's best lens, a 50mm, becomes a short telephoto (70mm) when placed on the digital SLR. The same is true for other brands as well.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks again. Hope the original poster is still around to see all this...

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Fairfax, VA: Hi Rob,

Related question to the articles in the paper this week. Which MP3 player works best in a car? My CD player doesn't play MP3 and buying a new radio doesn't seem to be feasible at this point.

So I'm trying to figure out if its feasible to use a portable MP3 player in the car. I've read mixed reviews about the converters that use unused radio stations but I was hoping either you or someone reading might be able to offer commentary both good and bad?

Thanks so much!

washingtonpost.com: Digital Music Players: Non-iPods Build In the Extras

Rob Pegoraro: Here's the review we ran of a bunch of different iPod/MP3 player car adapters earlier this year. Hope that helps... hope this chat did too, as I've gotta sign off.

Thanks for all the questions--didn't think I'd have enough to keep me tied down for the usual hour and a half in August, but you all came through. Enjoy the rest of the summer, and if you're reading this while hunkered down somewhere in Louisiana, stay dry!

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