Amazon MP3 Store: Better Value, But Not the Best

26 September 2007 By Daniel 1 In Internet and Music

Amazon.com just opened what looks to be the most worthy iTunes competitor yet. Purchased tracks play on nearly every media player ever made, since they’re DRM-free MP3s. And at 89–99¢ (with variable album pricing), they’re occasionally more economical than iTunes’.

So let’s do a price comparison of some music old and new:

Song Name iTunes Amazon MP3 Amazon New CD Amazon Used CD
Steven C. Chapman / Greatest Hits $12.99 $8.99 $13.99 $2.45
Alison Krauss / New Favorite $9.99 $8.99 $13.99 $5.38
Chris Rice / Smell the Color 9 $9.90 $9.90 $13.98 $1.99
KT Tunstall / Eye to the Telescope $9.99 $8.99 $9.99 $6.15

I should point out that I’m motivated by three factors here: price, convenience, and audio quality. iTunes and Amazon MP3 are convenient, but a used CD still wins out in price and audio quality. Amazon’s 256KB/s encoding beats iTunes’ 128KB/s, and when iTunes does offer 256KB/s DRM-free downloads, they’re always more expensive than Amazon’s.

And I much prefer having physical media waiting in my closet in case I run over or otherwise destroy my iPod. That said, for any quick impulse purchases I do allow myself, I think I’ll go to Amazon before buying from iTunes.

Continue reading

The Tale of the Wireless Mighty Mouse

25 September 2007 By Daniel 1 In Mac

We spent last week in Maryland, visiting with my family. I planned to work some of time we were there, and when I pulled my Mighty Mouse out to use it, I discovered that it had been damaged in transit. Or at least it appeared to be; the side-squeeze buttons must have been messed up somehow, for they kept registering clicks over and over, zooming my Dashboard in and out quite alarmingly.

So off we trekked to the closest Apple store. I once tried to make my whole setup as wireless as possible (including sound), but found it impractical with the technology of that time. I thought I might start heading that direction again, so I used the opportunity to pick up a wireless version of the Mighty Mouse.

Either I completely forgot my prior experience with MacMice’ The Mouse BT, or else I figured Apple’s quality would be better. The Mouse BT was (and presumably still is, since I still have it somewhere) a two-button alternative to Apple’s then-current Apple Wireless Pro Mouse, it suffered from a slight, annoying lag which I suspect affects all Bluetooth mice to some degree. Plus, it ate batteries.

Back to the present: I was initially impressed with Apple’s new wireless mouse. It looks and works just like the wired version (which is still my favorite mouse, second only to my MacAlly iOptiNet). Except for the lag. The stupid, unpredictable Bluetooth lag. Like, when I move the Bluetooth mouse in small, tight circles, I don’t even get a consistent circle from the cursor. In my opinion, a wired mouse just feels Snappier™.

So I’m selling it, of all places, on Craigslist. It’s sort of an experiment. If you live in Upstate SC, or if you want to pay for postage to where you are, feel free to send me $60 for it — which is a $10 savings over buying it new, I might add. Enjoy.

Oh, and if anyone wants my old The Mouse BT, you can have that for like $30 ($70 retail in 2004). Same deal with the postage.

Update: As Doug points out, it could be my hardware. This time, I’m using a Belkin Bluetooth adapter, since my internal Bluetooth module is fried. However, I was using the built-in Bluetooth with my The Mouse BT back in the day. Coincidence? Maybe. Either way, I can’t use the mouse now. :)

Continue reading

Page 6 of 236« First...«45678»...Last »
prev posts prev posts