jazzkrow

Reinier: I have their much cheaper regular CD player-A3.2CD. it is a very high quality unit. I have heard nothing but great things about their SACD player-Stereophile raved about it and it is built like a tank. I imagine you need to spend a lot of $ to get one of their limited edition SACD units! If you can afford it, then you can't go wrong.....

I recently bought a Toshiba laptop and in their literature with the laptop was info on their Gigabeat mp3 player. It comes in a 10, 20, 40, and 60 gb size. On e-opinions and other websites, the gigabeat got positive reviews. Any one here have or heard this player? Reviews I have seen have been positive against I-pod units. I thought it might coordinate well with the Toshiba laptop... some feedback?

PM set to you, Ken!

I lucked out after lots of leg work (and phone time). I found a Toshiba M45-S2653 with a Pentium M chip, (1.6 GB processor) 80 GB Hard drive, 512 RAM DVD/CD dual layer burner 15.4" wide screen monitor Centrino Price was $749.99 for a new machine ($300 off list price) Just about the price of a Celeron machine. I hope I did good-I had to drive 100 miles to find the last one that they had-and they fought me tooth and nail (Best Buy) since the store price was $1049 and their web site was sold out. Now how much will I need to spend on Virus/spyware protection? Any free downloads out there? I think I DID manage to find a good deal??

HEY, GUYS: I checked with 4 stores last night-Circuit City, Comp USA, Best Buy, Office Max. also Costco and Office Depot today. Not one of them indicated that they take more than $50 off any returned laptop when they put it out for resale. So there goes the theory of a major price break after the Holidays. I did see several Toshibas with Celeron M and 1.5 gz processors with 40-60 gb HD and 512 RAM for around $700-800 and 14 or 15.4 in screens. The Pentium M units were at least $250-400 more with similar HD and RAM. How much am I losing with a Celeron-when I will be doing no gaming and probably not more than 1-2 projects going at any one time? Is the extra $250-400 worth the extra $ for the Pentium M. That extra $ is a stretch for me-unless it is really a necessity to stay ahead of the curve. Advice? Thanks in advance!

I was an Apple user for years (and was a reluctant convert to VHS from Beta) so you can see where I was coming from. I always was behind the curve buying refurbs or used Macs, which usually became troublesome with costly reapirs and lack of compatability with programs only available on PC. I use a Dell Latitude D600 as a work computer but it won't let me add many software programs due to security issues. So I need a family computer and my wife wants a laptop for convenience of taking it to work. I've gotten used to Windows and now prefer it since I use it everyday. My wife has been told to learn MS Word and Excel to make her marketable after being out of the work world for years. So, for all these reasons, I'll go with PC for the first time. Strictly, due to economics and for what I need-see my first posting-I'll start the process this week of looking for a Toshiba. Many people have advised to go with a Pentium M instead of a Celeron. Is that about right? Any advice about purchasing used-say a 2-6 mos old model? Or am I just buying someone else's problem? I do have a tech guy that I've found who will check out whatever used model I am looking at for a reasonable service fee. Can a half hour check-out be sufficient to weed out a lemon? What do you guys think about buying a used laptop after the Xmas rush?

Thanks, Jim! That's some good advice! Never thought about post Christmas returns. Wonder if the computer has to be open-out of the box, before they offer such a steep discount!

Just got $700 from the inlaws for a new laptop. I'd like to limit total budget to $850 for everything-including a power cord. Thought about a Pentium M with 512 RAM, 60 gb Hard Drive, CD/DVD burner. My wife needs MS Word and Excel legal install so she can get some marketable computer skills. I'd like to save a get a decent (5gb+) MP3 player and a future digital SLR down the road. 15" screen would be OK? We are NOT gamers-and will watch few DVDs on the laptop. Portability and weight not super important-we'd seldom take it out of town. I'm not real computer savvy and dealing with craigslist sellers can be dicey-who do you trust? Will need firewall, and virus protection. Also wireless-but they all appear to offer that now. I've heard good things about Toshiba, and Fujitsu-but they seem too expensive as does IBM think Pad. Been told to stay away from Celeron units. Know little about quality of HP units/ and Athlon chips. Local computer outfits that build to order systems won't give me the time of day-and I wonder about their after market service.. Warrantee and service also an issue. I've heard good and bad on Dell-especially mediocre customer service. It seems as though I'm at least $150 short on budget for what I want, right? Any/help advice out there-in layman terms much appreciated. I can throw in a burn of an OOP Mosaic set-with booklet copied-as extra help/enticement. Can you folks help out a fellow jazzophile with NO computer savvy skills?

Hey,Matt: I'd like to find a copy of that book, too! Hope you don't beat me to a local copy. Once you start collecting jazz photo books you can't stop-believe me... BTW, Merry Christmas, Double M.

Those are very good prices-appear to be $8 per cd. If the box/booklets are in good shape and the cds are clean, then I'd recommend both. You can't go wrong with either-especially the Brownie.... Go for it! If you decide to pass on either one, I'm sure other Board members would be interested at those prices, myself included Let us know!

AMAZON'S price is $126 (not $119). Looks like the shipping is factored into their total cost of $126.

...what are you doing buying Roy Ayres???? ← WANNA hear some more Charles Tolliver, that's why.....

GOOD LUCK- They usually don't let you use their one day sales (55% off) to order box sets as they indicate that they are already discounted. Let us know if you DO get the discount. FWIW, you usually can do better than this Offer.... It's no huge bargain since their list prices are often inflated ($17-18 for RVG)

Just sent you a PM on the Blakey, Rollins, and Ayers cds near the bottom of your list... Thanks, Jeff

Oblique, Time for Tyner, and Boss Horn are ALREADY on Back Order. I ordered these yesterday-their first day on the YourMusic site. I'm sure new copies will come in soon-but it shows you how many copies they initially order.

(Just got back from Seattle.....) What Peter said times 2..... And the acoustics in the Benaroya Recital Hall The best venue for acoustics-like each instrument had their own mike system. Wow! Hope Gerald gets a commission to do more work for the Monterey Jazz Festival. He did themes for the 20th and 40th Anniversary Years. Just 2 more years till the 50th...

YES, a real dream show I hope to be there for the Thursday night show. I've been waiting many years to be able to see Benny Golson live. And with all those trumpeters (never seen Ponamarev live either) as an added bonus Now if we can just get Lou Donaldson to come out to the Northwest.....

Dr. Jeff: PM sent...

I heard some snippets tonight on e-jazzlines of the new One for All cd-"Killer Joe." One smoking set- Any leads on a site to find this cd at a reasonable price or does one have to pay a $20++ price to get a Venus label cd? Not even listed on CD Universe. Is the fidelity of Venus cds that exceptional-comparable to XRCD or K2??

I'd be most happy to take Disc #3 off your hands! Thanks!

Thanks, Claude: I'll buy the 2 cd Garden State cds thru the Bastards at Dusty Groove. Just like them to sell both items-but no mention of the cheaper version.

Hank: Just sent you an e-mail on the Basie Ocium "Octet Sounds."

Dem Bastards at Dusty Groove have a 1975 session (Japanese issue) Jazz Bank cd of Art Pepper with a band that includes my man Blue Mitchell as well as Buddy Collette and Harold Land. anyone heard this one? Worth a pricy $21.99?

PM sent!

Well, what's the word about how good this set has turned out to be? Inquiring minds wanna know..... Give us the scoop......