[OT] Music CDs

and that is what can causes problems with the OS and why crashes and incompatibilities occur. Have yuo never been to the many PC help sites to ID a problem for yourself or someone else.

But I'd prefer not to buy a computer with a graphics cad that is not up to what I want and then have to go about getting one that does do what I want.

Which is why most people don't buy them. So why buy a computer that can have them installed, and even then those gamers yuo speak of just can;t noramlly upgrade the graphocs card they;'ll need a new PSU to replace the megree 350W with a 450W and they'll need two PC slots and then perhaps a faster mother board. Those higg end cards don;t run well on 5 year old PCs.

and the imacs came with a mid range decent sound system 17 watts IIRC compared with teh PC standard whicbh is much lower quality.

Macs' arent; at the botton of the PC range they are well up above half way, but people compare Macs with the cheap PCs and then say Macs are over priced. Find a PC with a decent sounds and graphics and compare like with like.

AFAIK there is no "standard" sound system for PCs. Mine all have decnet sound, for example.

That's a bit old, isn't it? DECnet hasn't been around much for years...well, except on OpenVMS! :)

And they all come with capable speakers too?

Power amps in a computer absolutely pointless. If you wish to drive decent speakers you'd already have them. And small dedicated computer speakers need a dedicated amp for best results.

Ho ho ho. You failed to sput rhe smelling misteak ;-)

BYW: Does anyone still use VMS?

What does decent mean though it slike having a decent screen or a decent car or decent house it;s pretty meaingless.

But I wanted more than decent.

More capable than I have seen on any low-mid range PC.

Hardly a power amp. It's for those that used to have to invest in sound cars and external speaker systems if they wanted to hear more than just the PC startup sound.

and that's what Apple have internally.

Not really capable as in hifi, but perfectly serviceable for listening to the radio, some games and system sounds.

I think it has a point - not an especially significant point, but it's a pretty tiny amp.

For you, yes, For many, cranking up an amp and placing speakers just to listen to the sounds from a PC while sitting at a desk is going a bit far.

I have a separate hifi for listening to music etc.

Commercially, yes. And I have three VAXes here that I play with.

"Here"? Does this mean for personal use or for business?

We used to use VMS but have now dropped support and only support *nix now.

For hobby use; I'm into old computers, although they aren't terribly old. I also have four PDP-11s. They are all in the house.

Not to mention an SBC6120 (replica PDP-8 with a real chip), and I'm building a PiDP-8 and a PiDP-11.

I use FreeBSD most of the time, but then I've been using UNIX since 1975. It gets the job done.

Does your mac compare price wise with a low-mid PC?

If you're talking a desktop, you have to site that where the speakers are in a decent position too? Sounds rather inconvenient to me.

Sounds like it's been designed for newbies.

You think radio a low-fi medium? Are you still using AM?

Mid-fi maybe :-)

I listen to the radio more than any other source but don't need the highest fidelity. Quite happy with a portable radio much of the time, in fact. And I use that over the computer for convenience. One button on, one off.

Demanding the highest quality available to your senses is a worthy place to be. Most of the time I either can't be bothered, it doesn't matter enough, or I'm too mean to invest. The rest of the time I have a decent hifi in the living room.

Or DAB?

I do too. But still want reasonable quality. Which can be done without having massive speakers. But not it they're pointing at your feet under the workstation as they would be if built into this desktop. ;-)

Even for speech only, a decent speaker etc makes a big difference to the clarity. Even on TV. ;-)

I see the logic of a PC user put a desktop on the floor.

of course it all makes sense now ;-)

You must have a lot of space for that kit. Perhaps special power supply too?

The replicas run off wall warts. VAXes are all small ones that use a 13 amp socket. PDP-11s likewise. And I dont't use them all at once!