DoubleTwist: new sync app May 29, 2009
Posted by jphebert in Music, technology.Tags: 8900, aac, blackberry, curve, doubletwist, ipod, itunes, mp3, psp, sync
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I just gave a whirl to DoubleTwist, a new sync package which can sync up your media to any device (iPod, PSP, etc.). While this is an interesting package, I’ll stick to my trust told iTunes until they release a feature lacking in iTune which to me is a holy grail: dynamically downscale files when sync’ing. All my rips are in MP3 @ 256Kbps, so files are fairly large, and I manually convert to AAC 96Kbps prior to the sync.
I’ll also give it a whirl (DoubleTwist) on my wife’s Blackberry Curve 8900 since its much simpler/ligher than the Roxio one.
Good online discount stores August 12, 2008
Posted by jphebert in Business, technology.Tags: discount, ipod, shop, shopping, wii
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Beyond eBay and Amazon, there are a bunch of good online retailers which provide what you might need at a more than reasonable price. This is especially true with computer/networking/electronics/gaming items, namely accessories. At the office we constantly buy from these places.
Here are a few favorites, ‘hope this helps!
- DealExtreme; they sell low-cost accessories for gaming like the Wii (16$ for 2 2800Mah batteries and charger, can’t beat that), iPod and much more. You’ll spend an hour there and spend few $’s for lots o’stuff. Shipping is included in the prices!
- FocalPrice: like DealExtreme.
- LedShoppe: worth a visit, more of a speciality place but has cool stuff.
- MonoPrice: Egad! They sell at low prices good cables (networking, A/V, HDMI, etc.) and shipping is cheap. Building an home theatre or wiring the office – go there.
- BookCloseouts: the title says it all. Good deals there.
- Abacus 24-7: decent prices, got a replacement cell phone battery (original Motorola)
iTunes Vs WinAmp 5.5 August 8, 2008
Posted by jphebert in Music, technology.Tags: aac, apple, ipod, itunes, mp3, Music, nano, winamp
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I’m sure some iTunes purists will be irked by my next statement: I’m starting to manage my trursty 2GB Nano with WinAmp 5.5.
Wha? Egad! Simple: there is a feature found in WinAmp which is absent in iTunes and I don’t know why, you can transcode on the fly track from one format/bitrate to another when syncing. It takes longer of course, but my rips at home are all in MP3 @ 256Kbps for universal use. Life is simpler that way.
But to save room on the iPod, I transcode to AAC @ 128Kbps to keep a high resolution enough so I won’ hear the difference and save up a ton of room.
So I’ve made the move, until Apple comes up with this I’m sticking to WinAmp. In my defense, I’ve recently moved to 5.5 from 2.95 which is still the best media player hands down ever made. There you go.
Comments welcome of course.
Refurb Apple Nano 2nd Gen! March 18, 2008
Posted by jphebert in Music, family, technology.Tags: family, ipod, kids, parenting
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My son’s birthday is coming up and we decided for an iPod for his present. He loves music and he’ll recognize bands like Rush and Jethro Tull when they play on the radio.
Now here is the fun stuff, Apple put some refurb’ed 2nd gen nanos (4Gb) on their site this morning so I jumped on it. According the the person I spoke to at Apple, inventory goes in & out almost on a daily basis.
Why spend the extra moolah on the iPod and not on another vendor’s product? Quite elementary my dead (add your name here)! The iPod can be set to a maximum volume setting and you can password that setting. You want to be a cool parent and get great toys, not hearing aids by the age of 17 to your offspring.
To complete the kits (my wife wanted one too so got her one too, 105$ cheap!), I ordered a bunch of cases, cables, chargers, dock, all for less than 40$ w/ shipping from DealExtreme (my favorite shameless plug).
