Take all of your music on the road
Kim Komando Show Tip of the Day -- Monday, Nov. 21, 2005
Q. I recently purchased a 160 GB external hard drive, on which I plan to store most documents, etc. from my laptop. I also would like to add my collection of about 600 CDs to this drive, and be able to play them when we travel without having to haul around my CDs. Is this possible? And if so, what process/ program do I use?
A. Sometimes it's just not practical to take your music collection along when you travel. Many people now have several hundred CDs' worth of music. An external hard drive can make that collection much more portable.
Don't worry about your weighty collection of CDs. Computers are masters of repetition. If you can transfer one CD's worth of music, you can transfer 600. But you should be smart about it by taking advantage of compression. It saves a lot of hard drive space.
The most common compressed audio formats are .WMA and .MP3. Windows Media Player automatically converts CD audio into .WMA format. .WMA music files sound fine at 64 kilobits per second. The average one-hour CD will take up about 28 MB after it's converted.
That means 600 CDs will need less than 17,000 MB (or 17 GB) of space on your drive. That's a hefty amount, but it's not a problem for your new hard drive. You should have plenty of room for your documents as well.
To copy a CD in Media Player, click Tools>>Options. Then select the Rip Music tab.
Media Player 10 can convert CD music into .MP3s as well. They should be converted at 128 kbps. So they take more space. .MP3s can be used on more types of music players than WMAs. But you don't have to worry about that if you're keeping music on the hard drive.
The only drawback to hard drives is that they need computers to tell them what to do. That means you'll have to take your laptop with you to access the hard drive. Then you can use whichever music player program you prefer on your computer.
If your car stereo accepts audio input, you can connect it directly to the laptop. If not, there are other ways to make the connection. One option for many cars is a cassette adapter. It's basically an ordinary audio jack plug wired to a cassette shell that fools a car's tape deck. These typically cost $10, and are popular as "iPod adapters."
Another option is an FM modulator. This type of adapter uses an audio jack plug wired to a radio transmitter. The signal can be received, like other broadcasts, by a car's FM receiver. These adapters can cost $30. But they're more useful as most cars include at least an FM receiver.
A hard drive is an effective way to bring along your entire music collection. But it's not the most efficient, because it can drain your laptop's battery. You can alleviate this problem using a power adapter that plugs into a car's cigarette lighter. Prices on these can range from $25 to $40.
If you're traveling by air, you may not have to worry about battery power. Some airlines offer laptop power outlets on first class seats. United, Continental and American Airlines are a few that I know of. Each also offers a limited number of "power" seats in economy class. Remember to bring headphones!
Q. I recently purchased a 160 GB external hard drive, on which I plan to store most documents, etc. from my laptop. I also would like to add my collection of about 600 CDs to this drive, and be able to play them when we travel without having to haul around my CDs. Is this possible? And if so, what process/ program do I use?
A. Sometimes it's just not practical to take your music collection along when you travel. Many people now have several hundred CDs' worth of music. An external hard drive can make that collection much more portable.
Don't worry about your weighty collection of CDs. Computers are masters of repetition. If you can transfer one CD's worth of music, you can transfer 600. But you should be smart about it by taking advantage of compression. It saves a lot of hard drive space.
The most common compressed audio formats are .WMA and .MP3. Windows Media Player automatically converts CD audio into .WMA format. .WMA music files sound fine at 64 kilobits per second. The average one-hour CD will take up about 28 MB after it's converted.
That means 600 CDs will need less than 17,000 MB (or 17 GB) of space on your drive. That's a hefty amount, but it's not a problem for your new hard drive. You should have plenty of room for your documents as well.
To copy a CD in Media Player, click Tools>>Options. Then select the Rip Music tab.
Media Player 10 can convert CD music into .MP3s as well. They should be converted at 128 kbps. So they take more space. .MP3s can be used on more types of music players than WMAs. But you don't have to worry about that if you're keeping music on the hard drive.
The only drawback to hard drives is that they need computers to tell them what to do. That means you'll have to take your laptop with you to access the hard drive. Then you can use whichever music player program you prefer on your computer.
If your car stereo accepts audio input, you can connect it directly to the laptop. If not, there are other ways to make the connection. One option for many cars is a cassette adapter. It's basically an ordinary audio jack plug wired to a cassette shell that fools a car's tape deck. These typically cost $10, and are popular as "iPod adapters."
Another option is an FM modulator. This type of adapter uses an audio jack plug wired to a radio transmitter. The signal can be received, like other broadcasts, by a car's FM receiver. These adapters can cost $30. But they're more useful as most cars include at least an FM receiver.
A hard drive is an effective way to bring along your entire music collection. But it's not the most efficient, because it can drain your laptop's battery. You can alleviate this problem using a power adapter that plugs into a car's cigarette lighter. Prices on these can range from $25 to $40.
If you're traveling by air, you may not have to worry about battery power. Some airlines offer laptop power outlets on first class seats. United, Continental and American Airlines are a few that I know of. Each also offers a limited number of "power" seats in economy class. Remember to bring headphones!
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