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My Pioneer (Premier) DEH-P730 came with an ability to hook something up to the head via a box that took two RCA jacks and turned it into their proprietary connector that they use to connect CD players to mutli-CD players and even the satellite radio service XM receiver. The connector box is the CD-RD20 and looks like it conditions the signal (although I would not know either way). I know that the newer models support MP3 and WMA discs and probably support the file name, if not the ID3 tags. The one I have supports CD Text. It's MSRP was $400 at the time, but I got it from one of those eBay stores for $200, new. I'm not exactly sure, but it looks like only the lowest level Pioneer CD player does not come with CD text. I know that this is not exactly what you wanted, but I hope it's somewhat helpful none the less.

-Peapod

Could you show me the dvd player you're talking about, where it'll let me listen to my iTunes library over the net?

Hmm, I wonder if that means you can't update an aftermarket drive in the latest PowerMacs, which supposedly do not boot natively to OS 9? Buyer beware, I guess.

Pioneer has a Pioneer Elite DVD, DVD-Audio, and SACD player with a firewire port (iLink). Its not a proprietary port like the Denon one. DV-47ai

No major manufacturer except for Sony endorses memory stick.

http://www.konica.co.jp/global/press/020924_8e.htm l
http://www.konica.com/products/digital/cameras/kd4 00z_features.htm
http://www.konica.com/products/digital/cameras/kd3 10z_features.htm
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/news/digital_med ia/com_news_1042258148609_001300.html
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/news/digital_med ia/com_news_1042258779765_001300.html
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/camcorder/digita l_camcorder/b_scd590.html
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/camcorder/digita l_camcorder/g_scd87.html
http://www.brother.com/usa/fax/info/mfc5200c/mfc52 00c_ove.html
http://h30015.www3.hp.com/products/detail.php?prod num=Q3000A
http://h30015.www3.hp.com/products/detail.php?prod num=C8443A
http://h30015.www3.hp.com/products/detail.php?prod num=Q1605A
http://www.lexmark.com/US/products/overview/0,1224 ,MzM1NHwx,00.html
http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/products/printer/ink jet/pm860pt/pm860pt1.htm
http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/products/printer/ink jet/pm850pt/pm850pt1.htm
http://www.kenwood.com/j/products/home_audio/digit al_avino/sj_7ms/index.html
http://www.pioneer.co.jp/catalog/sys/x-sv7dv.php
http://www.pioneer.co.jp/av-sys/hd1/index.html
http://www.sun-denshi.co.jp/scc/bb/index.htm
http://www.sharp.co.jp/sc/eihon/wahp1/text/index.h tml
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/CarP roducts/CarProductDetails/0,1429,21417,00.html
http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/mobile/mova/d2 51is/index.html
http://www.sharp.co.jp/products/sh712m/
http://global.acer.com/products/pda/s60.htm
http://global.acer.com/products/pda/s50.htm
http://www.global.acer.com/products/pda/n20w.htm
http://www.global.acer.com/products/pda/s15.htm
http://www.clevo.com.tw/products/images/8880.pdf
http://pr.fujitsu.com/jp/news/2002/10/8-2.html
http://www.nec.co.jp/press/ja/0210/1004-30.html
http://121ware.com/product/pc/lavie/200205/pro/spe c01.pdf
http://www.alpine.co.jp/alpine/navi02/n02.html
http://www.datatec.co.jp/sr/index.html
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_prod uct_lobbypage.asp?product=847

Shall I go on?

And yes, the memory stick format is much more expensive

I just paid $30 for 128 MB MS. Show me a better price for CF or SD/MMC.

not to mention has various confusing variations (e.g. magic gate)

You mean 2? Magic gate, non-Magic gate? Boy, that is confusing.

and is still proprietary

"Proprietary", eh? Guess what? All of the major formats are proprietary. Want to sell a CF device? You can if you ante up to the CF org. Sony has released quite a few specifications (http://www.memorystick.org/topics/eng/aboutms/for mat.html).

You might find prices on Amazon.com come close to CF or SD/MMC but I can walk into any camera shop and be offered compact flash cards by 3 or 4 manufactures where I'd be lucky if could find 2 for memory stick.

I count 6 manufacturers of Memory Stick: Lexar, SanDisk, Sony, I-O Data, Apacer Tech.

Okay, how about this then? I collect vinyls, and also I like to listen to music in my car, but playing vinyls in my car is not possible. Howver, playing MP3s in the car is (thank you, Pioneer). Making an MP3 out of a vinyl is difficult, time consuming, and doesn't sound very good, so I will often go onto P2P networks to get the songs in MP3 format. I own a copy of the song on vinyl, so I'm not breaking the law by downloading songs I already have a license for. I would hate to have my ISP account terminated because somebody suspected me of breaking the law, even though I wasn't.

That's called "bending the truth". For your friend to have had a possession of iDVD without having purchased a mac with a DVD burner in built, he must have pirated the software.

Um, no. iDVD is freely downloadable from Apple's Web site.

As for not supporting other DVD burners, there's two reasons for this. One is because Apple wants to propel sales of SuperDrive-equipped Macs, which is within their rights to do (after all, the iDVD software is completely free). Those who want to use external third-party burners may pay big bucks for DVD Studio Pro. The second reason is because Apple needs to support drivers for all those other burners, and they'd rather spend their time right now developing the software. iTunes followed the same curve: it initially only supported Apple-branded CD burners, then gradually expanded its support for third-party burners as the software matured.

However, it is possible to buy a SuperDrive (Pioneer DVR-105) direct from its manufacturer and install it in a G4 Mac. So upgrading isn't completely out of the question, it's just a very narrow range of options.

Pioneer is releasing the Elite series DV-47i (i for IEEE) that has the correct output to use in conjunction with their recievers. I'm just going to get the 47, instead of the the 47i, because i'd prefer to stick with my Denon reciever.

I have a sony in car cd player, the one that can play mp3s but not copy protected cds. I was a little annoyed until I found that my old pioneer 6 disc scsi cdrom drive drm624x that I used to run on my amiga (its 4.4x not 24x speed btw) could rip copy protected cds flawlessly when used with cdparanoia (linux cd ripper utill made by the same people as ogg vorbis). Ebay has these units for $15 each. They can be got elsewhere I suspect that Google may be able to help there.

I have a sony in car cd player, the one that can play mp3s but not copy protected cds. I was a little annoyed until I found that my old pioneer 6 disc scsi cdrom drive drm624x that I used to run on my amiga (its 4.4x not 24x speed btw) could rip copy protected cds flawlessly when used with cdparanoia (linux cd ripper utill made by the same people as ogg vorbis). Ebay has these units for $15 each. They can be got elsewhere I suspect that Google may be able to help there.

I can see the commercials now...

a DLP projector: $10,000.00

a THX-Ultra2 receiver: $4,200.00

a 7.1 set of THX-Ultra speakers: $10,700.00

Never having to go to the movies again: priceless

"There are some things you can't rent on DVD.
For everything else, there's home theater."

Note: Unfortunately, but this stuff is still a bit out of my price-range, and I'd also prefer to see movies in 720p or 1080i.

I like listening to good music. I also haven't ever had a real stereo or set of speakers. SO I decided to take the plunge and set up a good Music/Movie system. It will cost plenty (about 5000$) but the end result is a 7.1 system with quality components that I can listen to anything in my collection on (except my 3 LPs).

I am looking at the new Pioneer Combo Players. These babies will play both SACD and DVD-A and have an imprssive video feature set as well.

For those who say "blah blah.. I have my mp3s". I do too. I have ripped all my CDs and don't plan on having to swap discs out unless I want to listen to the high quality DVD-A or SACD stuff. TO accomodate this I will have a digital feed from my computer into the back of my receiver. I can play whatever I cue up in my playlist!

I may be different in that I don't have a lot invested in old technology, but it seems that these formats have a lot of multichannel love to offer in the near term for me. I'm not an audiophile.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/hs/

Dunno why that isn't posted in the article...

Here is the link to the Pioneer statement. This is only for the new 4X DVD-R and 2X DVD-RW discs that have just been approved by the DVD Forum. AFAIK these discs are not yet for sale. You can also get a free CD with the software update on it from Pioneer.

...is when you read Pioneer's press release on the matter. All they care to say is that "damage may occur" to your drive or media. No mention of implosions, explosions, melting, burning or other various hazards.

You can pick up an A04 (DVD-R) for $300 at newegg, that's actually not a bad deal.

You can try some of the pro level DVD players.
Pioneer makes an industrial DVD-player DVD-V7400 that sells for about $800-900.
It's badass in all the ways that it's almost wrong to have that much control and robustness.
It plays back both NTSC and PAL disks (region 1 only ... blah)

Has PS/2 port so you can used keyboard/ mouse for player control.

RS-232C terminal connection for deck control. (yeah hook it up to your computer, write a control program, forget just skipping the fbi warnings. Watch movies in a totally different way.)

Video black board support, with mouse connected, so you can draw on your movies.

It has S video, YC component, coaxial Digital and Composit BNC or RCA out.

Touch screen support.

Hell, it even tracks and stores user selections!

We have a few of them at work, I've never used any player that badass before, I'm thinking about buying one soon for an video installation project, where I am hoping to write a program that will do some fun random access video playback through deck control.

But then again all that just to skip 12 seconds of FBI warning is a little bit on the over kill side, but you asked, and here's an option.

>Can you make a backup? no

Yes :-)

The extremely popular Pioneer 7400 kicks ass. Redbook/mp3 CD/CD-RW + killer adjustments & looks. Oh, and I got mine for $300 installed (incl. wires & bezel). Pop an mp3 CD in, and I can put it on random and by the the time I hear a song again, I've forgotten I'd already heard it. Problems: no crossfade (1-3 second seek time) and no auxiliary in - not that I'm complaining!

I wanted the Pioneer Premier DEHP-740MP indash MP3 player for my VW Corrado. The radio was XM capable, and I got a super good deal (buddy in the business) on the XM tuner module and Terk TRK-SR2 antenna. I figured I might as well go ahead and get the XM.

I could have spent a buttload of time researching my choice, but I didn't. XM was already launched in my market, I got the hardware cheap, and the programming selection was varied enough that I was sure to find something to make it worth my $10. And, as I said, the Pioneer receiver basically locked me into XM.

I've had it a few weeks and I've already found that I use the XM tuner more than MP3's (This coming from someone who has hundreds of gigs of MP3 files amassed). I find that many times I listen just for news.

I've found that sound quality is good. The voice compression leaves folks sounding a bit tinny, but music is OK (It's not as good as CD, but it beats the pants off FM). I've had only one "unexpected" drop-out. It happened in a HEAVY storm driving under tree cover. It lasted less than a second. I do lose signal when I go underground in my parking garage (same place I lose FM signal), but have found that I can still listen when under bridges and even while my car was in a repair garage about 50 feet from the only overhead door.

The commercials are a non-issue. Most channels have a very limited number of commercials compared to broadcast FM.

My #1 complaint: No Howard Stern. They need to devote a channel to simulcast WLXO from Lexington, KY.

I think that if satellite radio in general is something that you want, then you probably can't make a bad choice with either XM or Sirius. You'd probably be most happy with your audio system overall by picking the receiver model that fits your needs and wants most closely and going with the provider that the vendor is aligned with.

-x

I've had XM in my Chevy C/K-1500 for about three months now and I've been very happy with it. If you listen to the radio a lot, or travel a lot in the car, or live in the boondocks, I would recommend XM Radio. Here are the basics; you need a deck that is XM ready, or a system that has an adapter, an antenna, and a receiver. The receiver is a boring box that goes somewhere out of sight in my case, the antenna is small and went on the roof, and the deck replaced my old crappy Delco built in 1987. The quality of the programming can't be beat, and it is very high quality sound. What I have preset on my deck. 10 40 41 42 44 65 The guts of the system My CD Player My Satellite Receiver My Antenna XM Radio Rock and Roll Very happy with the service and the programming.

I've had XM in my Chevy C/K-1500 for about three months now and I've been very happy with it. If you listen to the radio a lot, or travel a lot in the car, or live in the boondocks, I would recommend XM Radio. Here are the basics; you need a deck that is XM ready, or a system that has an adapter, an antenna, and a receiver. The receiver is a boring box that goes somewhere out of sight in my case, the antenna is small and went on the roof, and the deck replaced my old crappy Delco built in 1987. The quality of the programming can't be beat, and it is very high quality sound. What I have preset on my deck. 10 40 41 42 44 65 The guts of the system My CD Player My Satellite Receiver My Antenna XM Radio Rock and Roll Very happy with the service and the programming.

There is at least one, from pioneer. Pioneer Elite DVR-7000

Very good point... the unit would have to support DVD-R in order to be truly useful. Pioneer appears to have a nice unit that does CD-R/CD-RW, DVD-R/DVD-RW here: Pioneer DVR-A03.

Checking around a bit, it would appear that this model retails for around $399 USD. Not a bad price to pay, really.

Now, I'd probably go for that plus the $70 drive (playback/retrieval only) for a complete solution. Tack on a MySQL database and a couple of perl scripts (maybe even over a local web server) to control the playback operations, and you're set! :)

what about the new pioneer in-dash hdd unit?
pioneer press release

The current (as of Sunday) G4s have a DVD-R drive. If I remember right, it's a Pioneer DVR-A03 drive.

As Apple clearly points out that is a DVD-R drive and that it works in standard DVD players. That's really all the consumer cares about: will it work in the stuff that I have now.

I believe that this is the one bundled in the PowerMacs.

Since it burns DVD-R at 2x, DVD-RW at 1x, CDR at 8x, and CD-RW at 4x, and is available for what looks like a relatively cheap price right now, it looks like what I'd put on my christmas list. :-)

Especially since Nero now supports burning VideoCD (mpeg1) and MPEG2 DVDs.

Actually it's a Pioneer drive

At work I use a Pioneer DVR-A03 IDE DVD-R. Currently the fast spec DVD-R can write is 2x. That's roughly 16x CD-ROM speed-wise (2.76mb/s write). I have no problems with it, and I write a lot of files to each DVD. In the range of 40-60,000 small files. Occasionally I've burned large multi-gig files to it to, without a problem. I've had it 4 months and only had 1 disk not burn properly. I also use my pc while its burning, and that hasnt caused a buffer under-run for me yet

Before that I had a SCSI 1x DVD-R, and it was hell to configure it, what with ASPI and what not. It would easily take me a week to set it up right, but with the A03 it was literally plug it in, install the software, start burning.

Don't dismiss IDE, it has it's advantages and with such a low data transfer, it doesnt make much sense to go SCSI for this.

What geek wouldn't want this sweet little drive? You can DeCSS DVD movies and burn copies of them. Plus it burns CDs as well. About $450-$500 according to pricewatch. I want one of these.... and a T3 :)

I second that motion. We've used several diffrent DVD burners and by all means the Pioneer DVR-A03 has to be the best of em.

We where using one of their older drives that required the "DVD Media for Authoring". Those are 4-5 times more expenisve then the "DVD media for general use" the A03 supports. A 4.7GB DVD-RW sells for only 11$ over at CDW versus 25$ for the other, 4.7Gb DVD for Authoring.

...and I'm not really interested in 45" of computer display.

C'mon! Everyone wants at least a 45" computer display :)

Mike

PDR-W839 3 CD plus CDR-RW player/recorder [www.pioneerelectronics.com]

PDR-609 Single CD/CDR-RW Player Recorder [www.pioneerelectronics.com]

So is Pioneer going to be done for circumvention or does it only apply to individuals?

PDR-W839 3 CD plus CDR-RW player/recorder [www.pioneerelectronics.com]

PDR-609 Single CD/CDR-RW Player Recorder [www.pioneerelectronics.com]

So is Pioneer going to be done for circumvention or does it only apply to individuals?

There is an excellent white paper from Pioneer here. It's in pdf format.

A DVD-Recorder has been in the market for some time now. It uses the DVD-RW, and not DVD+RW. Can't tell you which is better but it the point is that HP didn't release the first DVD-Recorder.

More info on the pioneer drive can be found here: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Indu strial/IndustrialProductDetails/0,1444,796,00.html .

If you want a ~$600 DVD recorder, you already have a couple of other choices.

At $629 on PriceWatch, the Pioneer DVR-A03 that a number of posters have already mentioned writes DVD-R at 2X, DVD-RW at 1X, as well as CD-R and CD-RW.

At $535 on PriceWatch, the Panasonic LF-D311 writes DVD-R at 1X and DVD-RAM (1X for 2.6GB, 2X for 4.7GB), as well as reading the usual CD formats, but apparently not writing any CD format whatsoever.

Currently, to the best of my knowledge, the only Linux software that can drive DVD writes is proprietary (sorry, there really is no good link for it). I am not sure whether complete information on how to drive these DVD writes is given in the SCSI-3 standards on www.t10.org or whether some additional information is needed. Any pointers to this information would be appreciated, as I might get ambitious one of these days and try to hack cdrecord or cdwrite to control these drives if nobody beats me to it.

I read a review of the Pioneer A03 DVD-RW a couple of months ago. (Google's Cache of the page)

The review stated that most new DVD-ROM drives and DVD video players can read these DVD-R disks. A few can also read the DVD-RW standard.

I know what I want for Christmas!

Will it *really* play the DVD-Audio content, or is it actually playing the information stored in the video section of the DVD? Most DVD-Audio discs have Dolby 5.1 audio stored in the *video* section of the disc so that incompatible DVD players won't completely choke on the DVD-Audio only format.

As for where I retrieved those numbers, you can check out one of Pioneer's DVD-Audio player, the DV-AX10, at this URL: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Home Products/HomeProductDetails/0,1422,2092,00.html or you can check out their "Elite" model DVD-Audio (and video) player, the DV-38A at this URL: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Home Products/HomeProductDetails/0,1422,2060,00.html (and see prices via StreetPrices.com at http://www.streetprices.com/Computers/search.pl?qu ery=DV-38A, as of this writing, the price is $997, a fair shake off of the retail of $2,200).

And I was wrong, they want $6,000 for their first model right off the bat, but I'm sure the street price is probably half that (I can't find the first model I listed on StreetPrices though, so, shrug..).

Anyways, the reason I'm interested is 1) because I'm curious if DVD-Audio is possible on PC DVD-ROM drives and 2) I'm curious if there's cheaper solutions that still let you get at the real DVD-Audio and not the Dolby 5.1 stored in the Video area. Dolby 5.1 is probably a step above CD quality, but full blown DVD Audio (from what I've heard and read) is far better in quality than either of those alternatives.

BTW: To the other posters on this story-- thanks for your information, it's been educational and interesting. Thanks! =)

Will it *really* play the DVD-Audio content, or is it actually playing the information stored in the video section of the DVD? Most DVD-Audio discs have Dolby 5.1 audio stored in the *video* section of the disc so that incompatible DVD players won't completely choke on the DVD-Audio only format.

As for where I retrieved those numbers, you can check out one of Pioneer's DVD-Audio player, the DV-AX10, at this URL: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Home Products/HomeProductDetails/0,1422,2092,00.html or you can check out their "Elite" model DVD-Audio (and video) player, the DV-38A at this URL: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Home Products/HomeProductDetails/0,1422,2060,00.html (and see prices via StreetPrices.com at http://www.streetprices.com/Computers/search.pl?qu ery=DV-38A, as of this writing, the price is $997, a fair shake off of the retail of $2,200).

And I was wrong, they want $6,000 for their first model right off the bat, but I'm sure the street price is probably half that (I can't find the first model I listed on StreetPrices though, so, shrug..).

Anyways, the reason I'm interested is 1) because I'm curious if DVD-Audio is possible on PC DVD-ROM drives and 2) I'm curious if there's cheaper solutions that still let you get at the real DVD-Audio and not the Dolby 5.1 stored in the Video area. Dolby 5.1 is probably a step above CD quality, but full blown DVD Audio (from what I've heard and read) is far better in quality than either of those alternatives.

BTW: To the other posters on this story-- thanks for your information, it's been educational and interesting. Thanks! =)

other names are less recognizable like Arcam , Marantz, Rega , Rotel , NAD, and Nakamichi . But all make superlative gear for less than you'd think.

my habit has recently been Krell and Vandersteen

above all, any audiophile will tell you to listen, make adjustments, and buy and enjoy what sounds the best. all it takes is love of music

You want one of these?

OK, a little information:

Pioneer is releasing a consumer-level DVD-R this month. You can get it for about $800 once it's out.

The fact is, DVD-RAM is not taking off because, simply, it requires a ~$500 drive and is not compatible with DVD, and the average person does not need 5GB of removable storage.

miniDVD is a great idea -- DVD-quality MPEG2 video on a CD-R, but few DVD players are compatible. So even if you make that awesome miniDVD, chances are good that whomever you send it to can't play it in their DVD player (although any computer fast enough to decode the MPEG2 can).

VCD is a cool format (basically a special format of disc with MPEG1 video), and probably 2/3 of DVD players support it, but they are a pain to author, take a long time to encode, and quality is poor (VHS-quality at best).

SVCD is nice quality (not as good as DVD, but definitely better than VHS), but has far less compatibility than VCD in consumer DVD players. Then there's XVCD and XSVCD, a couple of esoteric formats that hardly work on any DVD players.

The final analysis: DVD-R is going to be big, not because it is necessarily the "best", but because it crosses over from computers to consumer electronics, has a large installed base of compatible hardware, and is suitable for a wide variety of tasks, which it will perform very well (data storage, video, etc). Just wait until the DVD-R MP3 players are out...
-----------------------

I work at Pioneer Electronics, the parent company to Pioneer Animation and I have seen the remastered version, it looks good, unfortunately I didnt get to see it on the big screen.

I can assure you that there will be a dvd version of akira. Infact its slated to be released in June/July.

My stereo uses OEL... Pioneer seems to already use this technology in their car stereos. Look here:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Comm on/ArticleDetails/0,1484,912,00.html

pioneer

It would be very hard to stay with those dimensions since you'd also have to fit at least a power supply, hard drive, dvd drive, and a couple PCI cards in there as well (audio, network). For a reasonably fast processor (such as would be requisite for good DivX/MP4 encoding/decoding) and the AIW card, a 300W power supply will be necessary. Again, ATX format PS is the most flexible so you've got another big chunk (roughly 5 1/2 x 3 3/4 x 6 inches - see ATX Specs). Also realize that you'll need a good heatsink for your CPU (I'd recommend a Duron or Thunderbird whose included heatsinks are 2 inches high). Using an NLX/Micro-ATX/FlexATX form factor (specs) buys some size, but limits peripheral/mobo choices. Also check out this quick form factor guide and comparison chart.

I haven't settled on a choice yet, but you might look at the following (these cases are typically about 17 x 17 x 6 inches, which is smaller than the Qbex you mention above). Key components are Abit KT7A, Athlon ~1GHz, ATI Radeon AIW, Pioneer DV-105S, IBM 75GXP HD, NetGear FA312, and Soundblaster Platinum.

• Lian-Li miniPC 31 - very spiffy aluminum case (black with silver) ... very pricey as well.
• SuperPower Landmark KS-699 - Small and decent looking, but will need to upgrade power supply and heat could be an issue.
• Palo Alto ATCX Convertible - Supports custom faceplates, buy without PSU (only 235W).
• CoolerMaster ATC 100 is similar to the Lian-Li, but slightly larger.
• Neoseeker has an interesting case listing, with collated reviews and rankings, but not a lot of independent data.
• If you get inspired to do a custom job, see HardOCP's article on case modding, which may be helpful.
• Slashdot has run many past articles on cool cases and quiet PCs (search for them, too many to link).
• Another tip: consider the Pioneer DV-105S or similar slot loading DVD drive, so you can orient horizontally.

Personally, I think the thing to concentrate on is the loudness of the unit, rather than its physical size (and, to a lesser extent its stylishness). I have a Tivo (Phillips HDR312 with 1 30G Quantum) and find it unacceptably loud when watching movies unless placed in an enclosed cabinet (its considerably more quiet than a PC). My focus on cases is just for something that can fit inside my audio cabinet and which can flow enough air (preferably out the back) to keep the system reasonably cool. If I get something really good together, I'll probably just build myself a custom case once its all settled out (but there is lots more important things to do for integration software, remote contol, DivX support, mp3 management, etc. first IMO). Remember you are also going to have a tangle of cables to deal with if you want good integration to an A/V receiver or multiple components.

Some other options to think about:

• Mac Cube, which is already compact, stylish, and quiet. Unfortunately, it lacks S-Video, tuner, and S/PDIF (digital audio) connections, costs quite a bit of money, and has limited software choices
• Laptop PC - compact and sometimes stylish, but may not have the horsepower for DivX and would probably require a lot more software to integrate functions, pricey (maybe buy used with dead LCD).
• Sony VAIO Slimtop or similar - small with many multimedia features, but you have to pay for LCD and don't have component flexibility.

Good luck, and please email me if you find anything else good or build software around the AIW and/or remote controls.

Regards, RJS

Check out this website... and especially the FAQ section...

It should answer most questions. It's liable to cost upwards of $10,000 (probably more like $15,000) to purchase all the hardware and software to take your LDs and transfer them to DVDs.

Laserdisc players are not gone yet -- maybe it's cheaper to get a couple backup players and forget the transfers?

The Pioneer DVL-919 is an excellent combo player.... streets for ~$1,000.

-sid

...are the best. Get a Pioneer DV-434. It does progressive scan, component video, CD/CD-R reading, etc.