PC to Stereo

for example

Plug laptop earphone socket into line-in on the stereo. Play MP3s on laptop.

Apple airport.

Barry ===== Home page

I use a Netgear Wireless Media Player (MP101) for this purpose. Although it lists for almost $150, CompUSA was running a sale on it when I bought it, for $50. CompUSA has had it on sale again, recently. Netgear has a newer, more expensive model that can play more media types (video, for instance), but since it was only MP3's I wanted to play, the MP101 is perfect for me. Has its own remote control, and the unit which connects to the stereo has a very legible 4-line display, which I can easily see from my couch .

John Jones, Detroit

That's actually pretty nasty sounding. I do that with an MP3 player, and that sounds fine, but the laptop audio is full of extra noises.

There are USB "speaker" devices that are recognized as Windows audio devices and have RCA line outputs. These provide superior sound.

(Thought this was already answered in another thread?)

Yes, I do exactly that all the time. It couldn't be simplier.

1. Connect the PDA's headphone output to stereo's line-in
2. Use Windows Media Player for Pocket PC (allows remote streaming)

Yes, using Windows Media Player on the PDA to stream audio over-the-air from a remote PC will make the PDA a "remote control". You'll need to use the AC adapter for the PDA while streaming over-the-air. PDA batteries drain so quickly while streaming media over-the-air that its not practical without external power.

Oh, another "cool" thing you can do a with a PDA and media, is to have the PC with all your MP3's accessible from the internet (well, at least the necessary ports). While out in public in a hot spot, you'll be able to grab MP3's from home. I do this all the time while traveling. As previously noted, streaming audio over-the-air isn't very practical on battery power but downloading (whatever transfer protocol you prefer) them completely for playback works fairly well. I just enable the wireless, grab what I want from home, disable the wireless, begin playback of the files, and then turn off the PDA's screen. Not only do I do this with MP3's, but also Audible "books" from home. Playback with the screen off lasts for a few hours on battery power. Usually driving while listening to "books", so using a car cigarette lighter power adapter though.

'That' varies very, very significantly. Some laptops do a convincing impression of a beach with mosquitos humming around, and some are utterly silent, and just play your music.