Chris The Rock Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 As I've mentioned in another thread, I'm building a new PC. Anyone have opinions on what are the "must-have" pieces of software for a XP-Pro based machine? Besides that, are there any apps that I should definitely NOT install/use? In particular, what are your favorite apps for: DVD playing DVD ripping (mods...delete if you want) Video playback Music playback Music ripping (if I get an X-Fi sound card, is the included software any good?) Photo Editing I may already have some of what might be suggested, but I'd appreciate any thoughts from the experience of the fine folks on this board. (Now that I've just typed all this, there may already be a thread like this. Time to go look...:hmm) Man.....I really need to learn about BitTorrents, too. Any n00b-friendly resources? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Help with BitTorrents: http://www.slyck.com/bt.php I like MediaMonkey for playing my music library. I use CDex (it's free) to rip with LAME at aps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 DVD playing - I Like Power DVD, although it's not working for me lately so I've just been using WMP, which is servicable, but not good. DVD ripping - DVD Shrink is what I've used, but only a few times. Know a few people that use it quite a bit though. Video playback - I just use WMP for videos usually. Music playback - Winamp and Itunes Music ripping - Exact Audio Copy with LAME. CDEX is good too, but I had some troubles with popping when I used to use it (quite awhile ago though) Photo Editing - Photoshop (Now that I've just typed all this, there may already be a thread like this. Time to go look...) There is a thread somewhere about apps people use and recommend from awhile back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan FB Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 DVD Ripping - DVD Decrypter (Macrovision "bought" them then started claiming the software was illegal to distribute, so you might have trouble finding this now) Video Playback - Media Player Classic with DefilerPak handles all my video needs Music Playback - Media Player Classic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orpheus Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Let me add Dvd Shrink as a needed partner to DVD Decryptor. I'm a big fan of Media Player classic for playing jsut about everything except dvd's. I use RealAlternative and QuickTime Alternative ao I can play back those formats in Media Player rather than pollute my pc with their software. Add another vote for Exact Audio Copy and LAME for ripping. If you looking at using bittorrent might I also suggest you look into using the Newsgroups. The site Robot Monkey linked to has a great tutorial on getting up and running with newsgroups and there is much fun to be had there. I'm a fan of Agent for newsgroup use, jsut make sure whatevwer reader you get is yEnc capable (outlook express isn't). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Oh, that's right, Slyck's newsgroup guide is very good. I like how it even gave specific setup information for various newsreaders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainl Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Usenet is far, far superior to Torrent if it has what you're after, as it usually saturates my entire bandwidth, rather than about 10% of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlucci Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Usenet is far, far superior to Torrent if it has what you're after, as it usually saturates my entire bandwidth, rather than about 10% of it. edit: didn't read Orpheus' post first. I also understand Usenet to be more anonymous than torrents, is that right? Carlos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orpheus Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 in general yes usenets big advantage is speed, i can get things many times faster over usenet than via torrent. it's big disadvantage is that it's a bit more chaotic and you may have to check multiple groups to find something you ar elooking for, if it's availalbe at all. but i like the randomness of it so i continue to use it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJames Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 it's big disadvantage is that it's a bit more chaotic and you may have to check multiple groups to find something you ar elooking for Or use it with Newzbin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Daisy Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 The $3 bucks that I pay every 8 weeks for newzbin pays for itself many times over. Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Daisy Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Oh, and for video playback look at VLC. I use that quite a bit now and really enjoy it. Other musts? IZArc for freeware unziping. Grabit for Newsgroup downloading. Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris The Rock Posted December 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Great suggestions. Can anyone suggest a software for regular backups? My mom-in-law is asking me about it, and I realized I could use something, too. I'll be scouring google too, but I trust what I hear on this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 I use something that came with Nero (Nero BackItUp) and burn to DVD. I don't back up my entire HDD, only certain things, so this isn't onerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrJames Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 The $3 bucks that I pay every 8 weeks for newzbin pays for itself many times over. Glen FYI to those who use this... Newzbin has a 50% off holiday special that ends tomorrow morning (Noon GMT). I topped off with one year for $11.28. http://www.newzbin.com/news/view/?nw_id=150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orpheus Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Thanks for teh ehads up, I'll give ti a try at that price. BTW, should we maybe split off into a usenet thread since we seem to have jacked Chris's thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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