HP Officially Announces 40g MP3 Stereo Component

jspectre writes "HP announced their new de100c "digital entertainment center." Containing a 40g drive and a built in CDRW drive it will store "up to 750 CDs of music" or 9000 tracks. You can make your own playlists and burn them out to CDR/CDRW's. All of this for $999.99. No mention of any digital management controls on the device." I totally need a review model! I saw this thing at the last LinuxWorld and it looked good, but only really playing with it for a few weeks will let me know if it's better then the audiotron that I've been using in my home system.

40 Gigabytes, not 40 grams...

[Ecyrd]

For a moment I thought this was interesting: A 40 gram MP3 player. But then I realized someone had gotten their units mixed up again.

Seems to happen a lot in the US. [cnn.com] *evil grin*

(G = Giga = 10^12, g = gram = 1/1000 of kilogram.)

Re:why?

[Reality Master 101]

<GeekBashingJoke>Because some of us live in homes with TWO rooms, where we want to use our computer in our office AND let someone else (like this thing known as a "wife") listen to music. Not everyone lives with our mom and just has to worry about his own room.</GeekBashingJoke>

In any case, you would want it for the same reason you might have a "dedicated" CD player on your stereo stack. Sometimes you want your computer to be your computer, and stereo equipment to be stereo equipment on the rack.

Re:why?

[BitwizeGHC]

This is a consumer-entertainment device aimed at a market that's not as adept with computers as the usual /. crowd. It's intended for someone who needs Steve the Dell Computer Kid to tell him what to look for in a PC.

Re:When will it be $300 bucks?

[CmdrTaco on]

As long as it's Linux CmdrTaco will jixx in his pants over it. When the iPod came out he called it lame at $400. This thing costs $1000, is not portable and is basically a PC. I mean you can build one for far less. And I doubt HP will release the software. CmdrTaco is a whore of the worst kind. And I bet it looks like shit.

Re:why?

[dillon_rinker]

Oddly enough, this is not being marketed at people who can build a superior solution, in the same way that the Ford Festiva was not marketed at automotive engineers who owned a machine shop that they used to design and build their own engines...

Mp3 Network Player with ALARM CLOCK

[Anonymous Coward]

Any ideas what would be a good MP3 network player with an alarm clock feature? Any links or posts I would really appricate.

Re:why?

[JWhitlock]

Oddly enough, this is not being marketed at people who can build a superior solution, in the same way that the Ford Festiva was not marketed at automotive engineers who owned a machine shop that they used to design and build their own engines...

Sorry, my subtlety detector is in the shop... Are you ragging on the Ford Festiva? I'm a proud owner of one, that my family gave me back in college (for free!). Amoung the many features:

Great gas mileage (30+ some weeks)

Self-changing oil (Self-draining, just add a quart or two a month!)

Simple radio system (No CD or tape player)

User-provided cronometer (the backlighting for the stereo's LCD display is out)

Ample trunk space (For my laptop and the 12-pack of oil)

Simplified air conditioning (no cooling, only heating)

Multi-terrain capability (roads and sidewalks!)

Daily excercise (no power steering, so your arms get a workout.)

Seats 5 uncomfortably (I'm the only one that rides in it these days...)

I'm sure there are other benefits. It has a few annoyances, but still runs. I can afford a better car, but I can't bring myself to change until this one dies. The thing simply lasts forever without needing maintainace work, so I'll probably have it for another 5-10 years.