There are many reasonably priced audio components that produce great audio..As an example, the Grado SR60 headphones make great sound-and list for 80 dollars. Ebay has many hybrid tube/mosFET headphone amplifiers that sell in the 50-70 dollar range (including shipping). An example is here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Valve-Class-Tube-Headphone-Amplifier-pre-Bravo-V2-h-/250778333891?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a638db2c3. Or, for piortable use, this one is great-and also inexpensive: http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-Cmoy-headphone-amp-Opamp-2227-Amplifier-/250777688383?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6383d93f If you know how to, you can also roll your own pretty cheaply-start with the National Semiconductor LM4562 dual opamp.True audiophile performance for $1.10!

And for this anemic POS computer they charge something like 2 grand. What a RIPOFF!

I am a broadcast engineer with over 30 years of experience.

IBOC is a true joke. It's the FIRST broadcast service ever authorized by the FCC that actually CAUSES interference-mostly to your NEIGHBORS above and below you on the dial! IBOC is also an FCC sanctioned PRIVATELY owned system that costs broadcasters over $25K in upfront licensing fees-and then more in continuing royalty payments.

What most of us want (broadcast engineers) is for the FCC to authorize TV channels 5 and 6 for a dedicated digital radio band using DRM. Low band VHF is the WORST place for Digital Television (it goes in order UHF channels 20-40, UHF channels 14-20, UHF channels 40-51 , VHF channels 7-13 and finally VHF channels 2-6). Right now there are about 25 DTV stations on channels 5 and 6 in the entire country-and it's been proven that EVERY ONE can be accomodated on UHF (To accomodate the station in Philadelphia on channel 6, a station in Reading, PA would have to move to a different UHF channel and give Philly its current channel, OR Philadelphia can move to channel 3 if they insist on staying on low band VHF-a BAD idea!).

If the FCC got off their ever widening ASS and did this, every AM station that wanted a digital FM could have one-with enough left over for every FM station too-AND a nationwide FM frequency for the National Weather Service/Homeland Security to operate on!

This joke of a bill assumes you are guilty and punishes you until YOU prove yourself innocent-at THEIR timetable of course!

The RIAA can target anyone they want-the judge says: "yup yup yup" and POOF! you are out of business!

Of course you can have the order lifted-right? Let's see...your appeal date is is scheduled for six months from now-until then you REMAIN out of business! What do you mean you don't have enough money to operate without any business that long? TOO BAD!!!!.

Every day...every single day I see another one of these-taking away freedoms from PEOPLE and giving them to CORPORATIONS! We truly ARE fast becoming the Corporate States of America!!

We should let law enforcement decide what the 'proper balance' should be. After all they are 100% objective and have no ulterior motives....RIGHT?

He probably planned to use them on the engineer who designed the new iPhone antenna.

Agreed! I had a boss who was General Manager of a Boston radio station. He didn't know much about engineering or sales-but he was a great judge of people-and creative people WANTED to work for him! He hired the best people, gave them the tools they needed to do their jobs and then LET THEM! He didn't micromange. He knew that creative people occasionally pushed the barriers and let them-but was always there to pull back gently on their leashes if necessary. I enjoyed working for him-and let me assure you it was hard work. BUT you felt like you were part of a team-and he also shared the credit/spoils with all of the people who worked for him. One summer week the Tall Ships were coming to Boston, and it was my job to not only facilitate a weeks broadcasts from a pier on the waterfront, but also make sure the talent got there for their broadcasts-when half the streets were closed down. So I hired a reliable friend as station driver for the week-dressed in his best suit and with a daily freshly washed and cleaned station Jeep just to drive talent, clients and management back and forth. He had full press credentials so he could drive everywhere and since he kneew the area (and knew how to make friends with the Boston Police officers) got priority treatment from them. At the end of the week my boss told me: "when you came up with this idea I didn't like it, but decided to give you a shot-and it turned out it was one of the best ideas you have ever had". THAT'S the kind of boss he was-he made you feel great!

Today's colleges and universities are hopelessly out of touch with reality-and the students they graduate are too. My late mentor-a TV pioneer who associated with people named Sarnoff and Garroway, among others once told me that in many cases "schools get in the way of your education". He meant that no 'book' education can teach you "street smarts" and "people smarts"-only experience working with others can teach you this. Now today we have companies who think experience is a BAD thing-and are laying off their (older) competant workers in droves-replacing them with fresh out of grad school MBAs who don't know the difference between a AA battery and a tank-and don't CARE to know either! And we wonder why the USA is fast becoming a third world company technology (and many other ways) wise.

I hope that you sued that company into the ground for a crack like that!

Again, this proves just how utterly clueless judges (and politicans) are of how the Internet actually works.

Jazz in NYC-WBGO 88.3 FM. www.wbgo.org They stream too.

I've had one of these for over a year, and it works very well. It also receives AM and FM stereo, has 512 megs of memory for audio record/playback and also will play files off a USB drive. It doesn't do AAC, but does do Real Audio. It has a headphone output and sounds quite good. It works with an Internet portal. It also has personalized weather forecasts, an atomic clock, alarm, and works with Slacker, etc.

83 dollars including shipping and also comes with a wireless access point.

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-RIR205-Infinite-Tabletop-Internet/dp/B0016OI1BY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273383534&sr=8-1

They also sell an RCA branded one for the same price:

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-RIR205-Infinite-Tabletop-Internet/dp/B0016OI1BY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273383900&sr=1-2

The FCC should DENY the transfer of NBC's broadcast licensees to Comcrap (which is the approval that Comcrap is seeking). Giving the largest cable operator and ISP in the country ownership of network TV stations that cover 2/3rds of the population, and control of a major TV network (and all their cable channels and retail) is monopolistic. It's bad enough that Comcast has the pure arrogence to challenge the FCC's control over them-now they want it ALL, with NO oversight whatsoever!

Or tried to spray Paraquat on pot fields in Mexico knowing full well the pot would be smoked by Americans.

And in other news, the tooth fairy gave me a blowjob last night....