[Telera]

Let me start at the beginning:

When I bought SWG to play it, I installed SP2 for XP. As soon as it was in, my PC proceeded to run slower than shit. Booting took at least twice as long as it once did. Shutdowns did as well, plus I was getting quite a few random stupid 'Ending program' errors. So when I quit SWG I ripped it out. Not to mention the upgrade to SP2 booted my Radeon off as the primary video card and I don't even remember how I finally got it back. I think I had to take the SP out. Because I did take it out, shortly after I quit/uninstalled Galaxies. And my computer miraculously began to run much better.

So, today, I was thinking of buying myself an iPod. Got a vacation coming up, tired of my old generic MP3 player, things like that. iTunes needs SP2. I do not have SP2, as it pissed me off way back then. I don't like it, it eats up ram like Vista or something on this machine.

Now, before anyone goes all sldkfjsldkfjasdfasdfsCOMPROMISED let me say first I've had nothing more than 2 trojans the entire time I've owned this PC. Keep scripts off, ads blocked, scan every two days, keep an eye on registry/processes, etc etc. I know how to at least *prevent* some of the virus influx.

My question to those of you savvy with this kind of thing is: is there a way to get SP2 in and it not rape my PC speed again? Playing LotRO in Bree or the Ettenmoors is already stutter-y. Ettenmoors is actually suffering from problems in general, and even people with ridiculously top of the line PCs can get slammed down to 4 FPS around more than one raid. So clearly, with my less than stellar PC, I don't want to do anything to kill my LotRO experience.

But I need iTunes. And AVG is going LOLVISTA/SP2+ ONRY soon. So are there certain things in the SP I can safely disable? Move? Suggestions plz. And no watermelons. :D

[Telera]

Awesomelope.

Thanks! I'll give all that a look over tomorrow when I'm more awake and less still-blah from anesthesia and pain pills.

[Feba]

I thought SP3 was out already, or soon at least? I remember hearing that it was supposed to be somewhat faster.

Anyway, I have to recommend against the iPod. They're really a hassle-- you can't just drag and drop songs to it, you have to sync them. If you don't want to run all the crap that iTunes accompanies (and given your situation, that would seem like a step backwards), it can be even more of a pain to deal with (there are third party syncing programs, but they can be difficult)

Also, iTMS is bad. Pirated by iTunes, Artist Turns to BitTorrent | TorrentFreak , one of many artists screwed over by it.

[TheGrandMom]

RockBox or Floola.....screw iTunes! I never use it.




Ovaries?? Placental Material? BLT anyone?











sooooorry...I'm baaaaaaaaaaad...

[Feba]

Have to agree with Rockbox, if you already have an iPod. I put it on mine yesterday, is big improvement. But going out and buying an iPod is a bad move.

[Telera]

Well, then maybe I won't. But I need something better than my old MP3 player. Not enough space for all of my junk and I need something snazzy. Vacation coming up, I don't want to drag around a CD player and upteen CDs this time.

Zunes don't strike my fancy, and I've not seen anything else 'neat' looking besides that.

[Feba]

Well, what kind of budget do you have for it?

[Telera]

Couple hundred. More if that other magical check from the government would show up. :D I'd say in the $200 range. Give/take.

[TheGrandMom]

Well my son started out with a iPod Mini. Then I got a 60gb video iPod and he just HAD to have one. So I bought him one like mine and he liked it but...... So he's finally found an MP3 player he totally loves now. He bought this one

Insignia® - Pilot 8GB* Video MP3 Player with Bluetooth Technology - Black - NS-8V24

He said to tell you to absolutely make sure you get Bluetooth tech in it because you can buy a really nice cordless headset for about $50 and you'll just love it. The headset he uses works with both the MP3 player and the Bluetooth on his phone.

EDIT: Ok these look like the ones he uses. Can't be absolutely positive though but the price and the look match and I know he bought them at Best Buy. He's asleep now or I'd ask him.

Insignia® - Bluetooth Wireless Behind-the-Head Headphones - Black - NS-BTHDP

[Feba]

I wouldn't go with bluetooth unless you already have a bluetooth headset you like. Also, I'm not sure if there are any ear bud style headphones that use bluetooth, so it would be kind of a waste if you use those more. They're usually more comfortable when you're moving around and such than a headset would be.

Anyway, Telera, what do you think of Newegg.com - Creative ZEN 2.5" Black 32GB MP3 / MP4 Player ?

[Telera]

Hmm.

Both of those look verah nice, indeed. I'll have to decide which one. Both suit me, price is good on both, too. Nar. Decisions.

[Feba]

You might also want to look into Nokia's N770/N800 products. They're internet tablets, so they're a bit bigger than you might be looking for, but since the newer model came out the price has gone down. Basically, they run an entire OS, a simplified (and tabletized) version of Linux, so in addition to using them to play media, you can also browse the web, play games, and so on. They use SD cards for storage (one internal, for system files, and an external slot), which are very cheap, so if you ever run out of space you could just buy another (and SD cards are rather small, you could probably keep a dozen of them in the space a single CD would take)

[TheGrandMom]

My son had a Creative Zen that did video too and one of the things he didn't like about that one and also the video iPod was the size. He loves the Insignia because its perfect pocket size but not too small (shuffle). He also likes the internet radio that you can listen to on the Insignia . I don't remember if the Zen has that. I know he also d/l's videos and puts them on memory cards in his Insignia. He hated having to convert videos for his iPod. There is probably little difference between the Zen and the Insignia.

[Feba]

You're going to want to convert video for pretty much any portable device. Either way, though, you probably won't be watching much video on it. Maybe some trailers, or a video podcast, but that's about it

[TheGrandMom]

Insignia plays quite a few audio and video forms. I know he did not convert a series he was watching and had d/l'd and he was one happy camper. I believe it was in wmv format but I'm not sure.