'Best' ripping format for CDs

[Robert]

thing is i can build a pc every bit as powerful as any metrosexual looking mac for a 1/3rd the cost.// same lifespan.

i dont HAVE to OC or any of that. i do it just because I have the ability. one PC i built just to run vortexbox...

but the thing is..if I WANT to OC/tweak I can. the option is there. not so with mac

macs are a collossal waste of money...and for no better performance

I have used macs and pcs both since they came out basically.

i stuck with PC. macs dont appeal to me at all.

macs change the way i use computers fundamentally too. they made me stick with PC.

That's like saying a BMW is a colossal waste of money as a town car over a Fiat Punto , or a Rolex is a waste of money over a Swatch. There is more to ownership than the basic function.

I do wonder if this is about to change though.
With Apple driving the portable market so aggressively, and notebook sales accelerating way faster than desktops, coupled with figures indicating Apple OSX use growing faster than Windows....... will we see things flip around?

If that happens, Apple will perhaps have to adopt a more open architecture and also improve basic VFM (aesthetic considerations aside).

It will be interesting to see how things develop.

Get ready Teddy

 

[Andrew.B]

I use Flac, as i'm quite sure i'll never have an Apple device (simply too expensive, I can't afford them) so no need for an apple format, plus I use flac files on my rockbox sansa Clip+, not sure apple works on it. Flac offers everything I need, so I plan to continue using it.

Coincidentally I built a new PC for myself yesterday, approx £800 worth of top quality components, I'm not sure why someone would get a mac, software I guess, (perhaps they make their own hackintosh?) but they do so I assume they know why and I move onto more important things.

 

[hammeredklavier]

yep, and thats my point..

there are loads of us who have no desire whatsoever to be part of the apple universe.

damn near ALL of the retailers who offer downloads do so in FLAC.

Foobars functionality (and media monkey and jriver and db power amp, so on so forth) makes Itunes seem even more shitty than it is by default.

Yeah, that's pretty much my position too.

 

[hammeredklavier]

With Apple driving the portable market so aggressively, and notebook sales accelerating way faster than desktops, coupled with figures indicating Apple OSX use growing faster than Windows....... will we see things flip around?

If that happens, Apple will perhaps have to adopt a more open architecture and also improve basic VFM (aesthetic considerations aside).

Fashions come and go.

This iNonesense will blow over in the not too distant future; Apple's long term future will depend on their ability to survive faced with alternatives that are clearly much better VFM; free software and operating systems are becoming more and more powerful and refined, and once the iFad has faded, I wonder whether people will really want to pay premium prices for a bit of casual music on the go and phone/'net access.

 

[Tony L]

ICoincidentally I built a new PC for myself yesterday, approx £800 worth of top quality components, I'm not sure why someone would get a mac, software I guess, (perhaps they make their own hackintosh?) but they do so I assume they know why and I move onto more important things.

Software, systems integration, build quality and general lack of hassle. Back in the distance of time I used to build clone PC as a side-line, back in the days when you could still turn a £120 or so profit from flinging together a 486 or whatever from parts bought from a trade account at the local supplier (I'd taught the local supplier his IT NVQ!). Windows 3.1, don't ya just love it!

These days I just don't want the hassle and faff. I want stuff to work out of the box. I never want to count BIAS beeps ever again in my life, let alone try to get some crappy plastic phone to integrate with some crappy plastic computer and yet another crappy plastic streaming solution or whatever. ! I want a joined-up turnkey home IT solution, I want a support contract, and I'm happy to pay for it so as not to have to waste my own time. The irony is it doesn't actually seem to cost that much more!

The TCO of the now 3.5 year old MacBook I use as my main computer is around £200 per annum. Even at this age it's still worth around £350, hence the low TCO. I'll be buying a new one in a couple of weeks, it's been absolutely faultless and a pleasure to own, so it's a no-brainer to replace like for like. A PC laptop would cost less in initial purchase price, would be lucky to even work at 3 years old, and if it got that far it would have negligible resale value. That's before you factor in my time getting the damn thing to do what I want it to do, which would no doubt be many hours, and I'm sorry, but I'd factor those hours in at a decent hourly rate against the TCO as it's tedious crap I really don't want to be doing!

 

[Brolic]

+ 1 for flac /foobar

 

[Basil]

Software, systems integration, build quality and general lack of hassle. Back in the distance of time I used to build clone PC as a side-line, back in the days when you could still turn a £120 or so profit from flinging together a 486 or whatever from parts bought from a trade account at the local supplier (I'd taught the local supplier his IT NVQ!). Windows 3.1, don't ya just love it!

These days I just don't want the hassle and faff. I want stuff to work out of the box. I never want to count BIAS beeps ever again in my life, let alone try to get some crappy plastic phone to integrate with some crappy plastic computer and yet another crappy plastic streaming solution or whatever. ! I want a joined-up turnkey home IT solution, I want a support contract, and I'm happy to pay for it so as not to have to waste my own time. The irony is it doesn't actually seem to cost that much more!

The TCO of the now 3.5 year old MacBook I use as my main computer is around £200 per annum. Even at this age it's still worth around £350, hence the low TCO. I'll be buying a new one in a couple of weeks, it's been absolutely faultless and a pleasure to own, so it's a no-brainer to replace like for like. A PC laptop would cost less in initial purchase price, would be lucky to even work at 3 years old, and if it got that far it would have negligible resale value. That's before you factor in my time getting the damn thing to do what I want it to do, which would no doubt be many hours, and I'm sorry, but I'd factor those hours in at a decent hourly rate against the TCO as it's tedious crap I really don't want to be doing!

dude, yer droolin...

 

[Teddy Ray]

A PC laptop would cost less in initial purchase price, would be lucky to even work at 3 years old, and if it got that far it would have negligible resale value. That's before you factor in my time getting the damn thing to do what I want it to do, which would no doubt be many hours, and I'm sorry, but I'd factor those hours in at a decent hourly rate against the TCO as it's tedious crap I really don't want to be doing!

ive never had a single problem, EVER with a computer. one computer is 13 years old, one 10, two laptops over 5, and one 15! my newest one is built with this years CPU /mobo, but itll be around in a decade like all my others have.

i have to wonder where all these "failures" and "time spent" figures come in.

I am an idiot and I can do anything I want on a PC, literally. from maintenance to modding to all points in between on the hardware or software side. ..with no formal training.

macs are just like uppity hifi. Jewelry that costs more and has hordes of zealots proclaiming blind allegiance , even though there are no benefits at all performance wise.

 

[Tony L]

dude, yer droolin...

LOL, I know I bang on a bit sometimes. The simplistic panning from a certain breed of Apple hater just annoys me - I've enough proper real-world IT experience, i.e. the type where one gets paid a lot of money to implement coherent IT systems and strategies for large userbases to recognise good kit that is logically thought-through and reliable. As an ex-IT guy I also see just how confused many get with buggy poorly designed software and barely compatible hardware, so yes, I do think some things are worth paying a little extra for!

 

[Teddy Ray]

LOL, I know I bang on a bit sometimes. The simplistic panning from a certain breed of Apple hater just annoys me - I've enough proper real-world IT experience, i.e. the type where one gets paid a lot of money to implement coherent IT systems and strategies for large userbases to recognise good kit that is logically thought-through and reliable. As an ex-IT guy I also see just how confused many get with buggy poorly designed software and barely compatible hardware, so yes, I do think some things are worth paying a little extra for!

the thing is... what you are saying isn't an issue. why does the DoD and virtually EVERY SINGLE CORPORATION AND Government AGENCY use PC??

Surely if all these things were so problematic, agencies would have been enlightened to the divine , life affirming, healing touch of the Holy of Holies, Apple??

 

[Tony L]

the thing is... what you are saying isn't an issue. why does the DoD and virtually EVERY SINGLE CORPORATION AND Government AGENCY use PC??

Surely if all these things were so problematic, agencies would have been enlightened to the divine , life affirming, healing touch of the Holy of Holies, Apple??

You are in many ways correct, there was a very distinct creative arts / corporate split with Macs and PCs in the workplace that in many respects still persists to this day. There are many reasons for this, though I'll let you do your own homework / history project. Hint: they are very different target markets.

PS Your upper-case usage make you look like a semi-literate 12 year old having a tantrum.

 

[Robert]

dude, yer droolin...

He's right though