Grahame

You'd never know that looking at your smiling face

One of these ? [url=http://schiit.com/products/valhalla/]Valhalla

Lets not forget the Gummy Bears, and the ever popular Spunk

It's a Birthday Jim, just not as we know it.

You mean take the innards from a laptop, package them in a small form factor case, and charge a premium for them, then yes

Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (U.S.) Student Discount - Apple Store (U.S.) How To Buy Discount Apple Computers – Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat dealmac.com: The best deals on iPod, iMac and MacBook. Find sales on Macs, new and refurbished Apple systems.

So you politely refused, claiming that, as a lawyer, you demanded the original contract you entered into them with should be honored, and you would accept no substitute? No? Enjoy the leg room. What did they recommend to accompany the Salmon Cakes?

Hence the need for VPN's

^ we've had this conversation before Apple's Steve Jobs calls Blu-ray "a bag of hurt" -- Engadget 'stretch commented on it , I seem to recall EDIT: Here you go http://www.head-case.org/forums/goredwings19s-computer-help-hotline/6452-ye-macce-threade-21.html#post299794 Or this http://www.techi.com/2010/07/big-steve-j-says-no-to-blu-ray/

Have you considered a CDJ?

Happy Birthday, youth!

^ No hurry, next week is fine. You'll have longer to find your backup source material.

^ So with the right files and one of the "lucky" external HD's you could use the Touch and the built in coax / toslink ports. Or get a low cost netbook with a USB port (even better with an internal SSD ) . Built in screen, quiet, low power consumption , quick wake from suspend. Add external HDD of your choice. Result. You could event get a hackinstoshed one, if thats the way you want to go.

Aha, now we have your requirements ... Low cost, noiseless easy to use way of driving USB Dac ... (which one by the way ?) This may be a way to go. But its early days yet Instructions for connecting USB DAC to Touch - Squeezebox : Community : Forums No doubt someone may be able to bundle this capability as script / app some point to make it easier to use. Player is separate from server (but player does have touch screen I/R remote) . Server can be remote, and wake-on-lan to reduce energy cost further. Or you could just use a CD Player

Even the above servers seem overpriced compared to say, the SheevaPlug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (5W!) or say Howto: Building a Squeezebox Server for under $100... Yes, it can be done... | Crazy Hawt Drives are commodity items and declining in price. How good does the server have to be to be good enough? What other control devices do you need to make a functioning system Or devices that you already have can be reporposed (smart phones, laptops, ipads etc). We live in interesting times.

Horses for courses, so many independent variables, and the onward march of technology. If the built in DAC (operating in the electrically noisy EMI/EMF environment ) in a system with moving parts is what you want in your listening environment, then the one box solution may be exactly what you want. Other people have commented on the fact, its not just the dac, but the power supply and the analog output stage that are determining factors in audio quality. Add to that the mastering of the source material, over and above the container features (bit depth, sampling rate) . It strikes me that the inbuilt DAC is a sunk cost if you want to upgrade later to something "better" , or e.g. you have an external parasound DAC you prefer. Competition is good. Choice is good. What can you change, what can't you change? what's likely to change in the future .. In the absence of "Magic" these are deterministic systems. What's the lowest cost way to achieve the desired result? Note: Desired result may vary by persion wrt. user experience / complexity / appearance / cost. This may indeed be the "Best" system for you. Based on your requirements. Assuming they don't change over time

Could he "install" it now, and then make a "minor adjustment" / "service visit" when he has time , next year?

You know how it goes [post|jack|pussy|willow]*2 . You decide to get something, then look what happens. Quad Hifi - Performance Series - Elite Series Quad's new Elite range - hi-fi news - whathifi.com Quad Elite Series Audio Components - eCoustics.com Interesting that the CD player/DAC now uses a top-end Crystal 24-bit/192kHz DAC, (Crystal CS4398) which replaces the older 24-bit/96kHz one PDF brochure here http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/downloads/QH10-BR0002%20-%20Elite%20Series.pdf Not all manuals are out yet, but some are Quad Hifi - Downloads Why, they are even doing their own cables! Interesting to see what the US prices will be, and when the Quad Platinum system will be available! Duggeh, care to comment on the new aesthetics?

Condolences to all grieving for their loss.

Does seem expensive when you compare to vortexbox.org Especially the pre-built ones. Small Green Computer This is commodity stuff, why pay more (and its only likely to get cheaper)

Spooks S09E01. Interesting .... And Al, when should I come over and help you with your backups? and start season one?

Funny you should mention that, it just made the local SF paper website. Be grateful: Jerry Garcia's former Nicasio home for sale : On The Block - Real Estate I'd think the more hard core elements might be interested in the place they listed yesterday Clam it up / Shell-inspired home offers resort-like amenities Check our the "tasetful" interior design elements. Clam it up / Shell-inspired home offers resort-like amenities Interested, Justin?

Ah, so you're the person who bought the DVD-A discs! Did you know it's now possible to Back them up should you need to. Still, must be fun feeding them to your shiny metal monster.

^ Give in to your unspoken urges then? You know you want to

why not Buy one from Audiogon. That will give you something to listen to, while you send the other off to get a quote for repair. When you know how much that will be, you can then decide if its worth it to you, to have it repaired/refurbished. If you do get it repaired. you can then compare the repaired unit, with the agon unit, keep the one you like + sell/re-cycle the other. If the repair is not worth it, you've saved yourself the expense, and could still sell it with disclosure of possible repair costs .. Either way you end up with a known good system that makes you happy, the value of which should not be dismissed lightly. Unless of course, you are coming down with a bout of audio nervosa, and you are relying on your fellow co-dependent enablers for permission to scratch that itch. Life is short. Do whatever makes you happy. Sometimes we forget that.