Help me buy things- win up to 100$!

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First off, I would’ve posted this in CTH but I figure there are more people here that want to make a quick 50$.
Anyways, I just bought an alienware m9750, and it is going to arrive next week. I'm going to be using it for gaming, music, and a ton of poker of course. (mostly 5/10nl HU) There are a lot of things right now that I'm not happy with in terms of my "setup" on this computer. I've been spending way too much time surfing the web comparing different products and joining random forums instead of playing poker.

So, I'll give 50$ to whoever best answers my questions, and if they do an excellent job I will give an additional 50$. If I see a reply with a suggestion for one or two items on the list and I decide that it is an excellent suggestion I’ll ship 10$ your way. If people don't believe me or something, I'll ship to a reputable poster I guess. I have Full Tilt and UB money right now.

Ok, here we go.

I currently use an iPod and iTunes. I am looking for higher quality music, I've got the money to buy CD's and burn them onto my computer if this is the best option. A suggestion for a good CD purchasing site is needed as well. Recommendations for certain "lossless" programs as well as what basic music media center I should be using are appreciated. I have heard good things about Rhapsody, especially it being compatible with some of the better decoding programs. Also, I currently have a pair of Shure SLK4's (~350$, in-ear headphones) and I also want to buy a pair or regular headphones, and am willing to spend quite a bit on them. What should my complete music "setup" be?

Next, I am thinking about getting a TV tuner for my new laptop. I want to be able to watch TV on it, and I've seen these tuners going for anywhere from 50-150$. Is there any way I can get a PCI card and install it myself? Or do I have to go with one of the USB cards, or something like that. What's my best bet?

I've been getting into mixing a little bit, strictly recreationally. What DAW (digital audio workstation) is best for someone who just likes to mess around with one?

I got Windows Vista Ultimate on my Alienware. Recommended by a few friends. What can I do with ultimate? Where can I learn more about its nuances?

I need a new mouse, last one broke. I’ve been looking at the Logitech MX Air. So I need recommendations for this as well.

Computer speakers. I haven’t even looked into different brands, but again am willing to pay for a good set.

Anything else you recommend for me to do/get for my computer, please let me know.

[JSmith2007]

I'm not sure what you all want, you want basically every accessory for your computer?

For music - try Rhapsody or music.yahoo.com (emusic.com is good too)

TV tuners here - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...asp?CatId=1427

DAW - MixPad audio mixer is what I use.

No clue about Vista Ultimate..Vista itself is crap IMO.

Mouse - any wireless optical Logitech is by far the best there is. Been using Logitech for years and will continue doing so.

Speakers - Altec Lansing are what I use.

Hope this helps and/or is what ya wanted.

[chopsticks]

Im too lazy to read all that and use my free time to advice you but that mouse thing catched my eye. I recommend razer mouses. I've used about 5 different "hi tech" mouses during last years and since I moved to razer theres no turning back. They are comfortable to use, they look good and are simply amazing.

Right now I have razer pro|solutions 1.6. It's great but the side buttons could be better.

Check these razer gaming mouses: http://www.razerzone.com/index.php?m...amp;cPath=2_17

Although they are designed for gamers, theyre not like logitech gaming mouses with tons of buttons and support for counter strike etc but just a mouse with side buttons and great controllability and accuracy.

[StrictlyStrategy]

Buy CDs.

If there's a 1990 version that you can get used, and a 2004 version that is "re-released"(Note: Not remastered) get the 1990 version.(Loudness wars make newer cds sound worse than older ones)

Anyways. You can rip to Apple Lossless. I'd rather just rip to .wav because storage is extremely cheap nowadays and a 750GB drive is like $300 or something. From there you can put your music on your Ipod in Apple Lossless quite easily.

I say for a second pair of headphones go with Sennheiser HD600s or HD650s. You can get the 650s used for less than the price of the 600s new ($300ish) It depends on what kind of music you're in to.

What's your Ipod like now?

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/

Good luck ever having money again EVER now. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Arp220]

I mainly listen to classical music (yea yea i know) so sound quality is obviously pretty important. I suggest:

1 - If you want good sound quality, probably the simplest thing to do would be to stick with itunes and mp3's, but up the bitrate to at least 320kps. I tested this against flac encoding, using a pair of etymotic ER4p's (which are excellent by the way) and couldnt tell the difference.

2 - I love my Logitech MX revolution. Highly recommended.

3 - Speakers - for under 500, and assuming you want 5.1, the Klipsch promedias are by some margin the best. If you want audiophile quality and don't care about surround sound then they're not a good choice thopugh (to be fair, neither would any gaming speakers, the klipsch are the best of that lot)

3 - Laptop - get a 'cool pad' to slot in underneath it. Newegg sell them and theyre an excellent idea.

[Steroid Boy]

if you want to watch tv on your computer i would buy a slingbox

www.slingbox.com

[Ajahn]

Itunes/mp3s @ 320kbps versus CD/flac is completely unimportant unless possibly the rest of your setup is worldclass (and I mean worldclass).

Those in-ear earphones seem very fine. Next step is a good DAC and a good AMP. What do you have now?

[pbx]

If you are properly into gaming (fps mainly, some fast paced rpg's) then you should stay well clear of wireless mice. The reason for this is that the wireless transmitter can only update mouse movements at 125hz, whereas most decent wired gaming mice (i.e. logitech mx518) can have the usb port overclocked to give a refresh rate as high as 1000hz. You might think that 125hz is by far enough but trust me as a serious fps gamer there is a HUGE amount of difference between the two and you'll notice the difference almost immediately. I would suggest looking at http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=1265679 for a very comprehensive review of all gaming mice as of last christmas. There have been little to no advances over the last year so it should be up to date still. It might not be as balla as your $100 Logitech mx revolution mouse but the mx518 still > all other mice imo

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chopsticks- I have never owned a razer mouse but have heard about them. How are they quality-wise vs. Logitech mice? The simplicity is certainly nice but since I will be doing more than just gaming, would going with a Logitech be smarter?

Strictly- Apple Lossless and CD's? FLAC encoding is not supported by iTunes, correct? And for higher quality CD's, where's the best place to look? Interesting tidbit on 90's CD's being of higher quality.

I've got an iPod nano 8gb and an iPod Touch 16gb. I've heard great things about those Sennheiser's. I'm mostly into classic rock music, with a bit of hip-hop and rap. And thanks for the forum link.

Arp220- Upping the bitrate to 320kbps- what are you using to do this, apple lossless? Also, I'm evenly split in desiring surround-sound and audiophile quality in terms of my speakers, FWIW.

Ajahn- You're saying the difference between the two is very minimal, correct? My setup is by no means world-class, as this price jump is not within my budget. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Recommendations for a good DAC and AMP?

pbx- I realize cordless mouses are pretty much out of the question for gaming but I didn't realize there was this much of a difference, thank you for clearing this up. Thanks for the linky, saw it last week and it's a great review of the top gaming mice.

[pbx]

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pbx- I realize cordless mouses are pretty much out of the question for gaming but I didn't realize there was this much of a difference, thank you for clearing this up. Thanks for the linky, saw it last week and it's a great review of the top gaming mice.

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np, now if you are going to play ut3 when it comes out on your rig then we should do a couple 1v1's (LOLOLOL GAMING HU FOR ROLLZ) for a few hundos or smth. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]