You can modify almost everything.
Plugins: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=21105
Gallery: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=30988
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=31027
http://foobar.nub4life.net/columns/pafiledb.php?action=category&id=10

It's not really easy though. I just got the Indietorrents Foobar:
http://webreakstuff.com/stuff/itfoo/
and modified the playlist look. 

Itunes is nice for sharing you're music over a local network, lots of people use it at my work, and it's nice to browse around their playlists without actually configuring anything, not sure if that's easily possible in winamp...

But still, I think winamp is the best player, the interface is so nice, as are the keyboard shortcuts, I love the 'jump to' option, and the queuing stuff, I use it alot. 

iTunes sux. it is recourse hog. And all hype is just annoying. Sharing music? what a novelity
Just open the folders: all the albums in neat folders. Neatly sorted by the filename.
Again Apple making big deal feature out of nothing.

Winamp is handy and sounds fine with MAD plugin
foobar is still better sound for audigy/2 cards
Apollo sounds ace aswell (best sound Q imho) 

is a bloody resource hog. 

iTunes - good for playlists and collections
Winamp - good for quick or moderate listening 

Don't forget you don't have to use the latest version... Winamp 2.x was much faster, that was back before it all turned to shit (performance wise). 

2.x is fast and lean, but it doesn't have any Library functions whatsoever. 

Shoutcast (internet radio) and BASS module (_correct_ mod,s3m,xm) support besides mp3 and wav.

Winamp5 hogs yeah. :C
It seems less so with old skins tho.

Happy new year etc, I'm off for many days. Don't drink alcohol just for the sake of it. :) 

and it works.

Just missing shoutcast and my german Gotham Radio (Mainly uninspired mass for teenagers with black makeup, but there's occasionally good stuff.) 

I know there were/are winamp plugins although the ones I tried were a bit buggy (a couple of years ago)... 

what sort of stuff would they be considering ?

I havent bought a new compy in 2.5 yrs so I'm sure there's tech out that I've never even heard of. It'll primarily be a gaming machine but should be able to do regular stuff too.

Also, bear in mind, that oz wont have the latest tech stuff that's available in US/UK (or if they do, it'll be ridiculously expensive). 

I bought :

3.06ghz Intel Pentium IV
128MB Radeon 9800 PRO
160GB Seagate HDD
74 GB Western Digital HDD
Abit IS7 motherboard
Altec Lansing 2.1 Speakers

+ generic Case, taxes, PSU, etc.

= ~1400 USD in 2004

It runs Far Cry at 1024x768 + details high with no issue

Runs Doom 3 at 800x600 medium/low detail with some hiccups.

I bought from Newegg, so I don't know if you'd be able to find a comparable system, but I suggest it because it's been a year and some months, and it seems to be keeping up just fine...so factoring in time and geography, it shouldn't cost you too much more to build a similar system. 

I bought :

3.06ghz Intel Pentium IV
128MB Radeon 9800 PRO
160GB Seagate HDD
74 GB Western Digital HDD
Abit IS7 motherboard
Altec Lansing 2.1 Speakers

+ generic Case, taxes, PSU, etc.

= ~1400 USD in 2004

It runs Far Cry at 1024x768 + details high with no issue

Runs Doom 3 at 800x600 medium/low detail with some hiccups.

I bought from Newegg, so I don't know if you'd be able to find a comparable system, but I suggest it because it's been a year and some months, and it seems to be keeping up just fine...so factoring in time and geography, it shouldn't cost you too much more to build a similar system. 

It told me it timed out before I made the second press of the submit button!!! There's no way it got through if my connection timed out!! Fuck it. 

I don't know if you have considered a laptop, but they are exceptionally convenient. The prices aren't too bad these days, and neither is the performance. You can get hard core graphics cards like the GeForce 7800 go in a laptop, for example.

I have a Dell XPS 2, which wasn't exactly cheap, but was definitely worth the money I spent.

Your comment about oz being behind with tech makes me wonder if you are prepared to order from the US. I was going to get my XPS from Dell US, since it was a fuckload cheaper (and another 512mb of memory was 1/4 of the price quoted by Dell UK! �400! HAHAHAHAGOFUCKYOURSELFHAHAHA!) but since I have a cousin who has a business I was able to get my machine tax free in the UK, which evened the price out a little... didn't get the stupidly expensive memory upgrade though.

Wireless networking is unbelievably awesome if you have a laptop, btw :)

Anyway, with a laptop you will get less performance and pay more than you would with a desktop machine, but they are just so handy! 

...I bought my system from Infinity Computers in Brunswick about a year ago... they've got a store in Dandenong near you.
http://www.infinitycomputer.com.au/
Click on the download greenguide ad link to see their latest stock systems. There was no problem taking one of their stock systems and getting the RAM upped (I think I doubled it to a Meg for around $100)... delivery time was not delayed because of it.

Software is not included in their prices.

I suggest them because I had no trouble with their sales interface and have had no problem at all with the system. Also, because of their site, I was able to walk in and ask for exactly what I wanted, knowing exactly how much it should change the bottom line.

As to new things you should be looking for, I heard a rumour that having PCI (-E)? compatible components means you can do things like run dual graphics cards etc. But perhaps someone more technically savvy might want to comment on that.

Cheers! 

I listen to CDs. They tend to play music quite well. 

I thought you would be one of the vinyl hardcore :)

I have cds of most of the music on my pc, but I listen to mp3s purely because of convenience. Can't move hundreds of cds around with me very easily. 

a few more specific questions now that I've had a little look myself :

- how much RAM is needed for newer games (say d3 and q4 and other more resource intensive games). Is 512 mb sufficient or do you really need 1 gig ?

- anything specific feature wise I should look at in terms of motherboard ?

- intel or AMD ?

- graphics card wise, I'm ok to splurge a little since it's been a while. So Radeon X800, X850, X1800 or Geforce 6800,0 Geforce 7800.

I know's there's reviews out there but if anyone has any of those graphics cards, what's their experience with them, especially compatibility with older stuff and performance with newer stuff. 

a question about WS monitors.

I'm just going by me experience of WS tv's and movies where if a movie is not WS, it shows with black bars on either side.

Is it the same for games ? If a games is not WS compatible, does it show on WS screens with bars on the side ? 

Get as much ram as you can! It's fairly cheap (with the exception of the notebook ram at dell for XPS systems, which is/was bizarrely extortionate) so get lots. 1gb minimum, but why not just get 2 and not worry about it ever again (until HL3 comes out and needs 4gb to run without stuttering on level loads, yet still appears to run on much the same tech as Half-Life 1).

I have Intel Pentium-M, which is their good notebook processor. It's rated at 2ghz (HL2 rates it at 700mhz...), but is more efficient than a desktop processor due to less wasted cycles and is supposedly compareable to a 2.5ghz desktop processor.

However, I've heard lots of good things about AMDs current desktop processors, and I've had no probs with them in the past so you might want to check them out. I think they are still cheaper than Intel chips, and supposedly outperform them in most games (though not rendering scenes in Max, multimedia or multi-tasking.) You might also want to have a look at dual-core chips, such as the pentium D, and it's also worth noting than AMD have the only 64bit x86 chips at the moment.

I don't really have a clue when it comes to gfx cards, but I currently have a Geforce 6800 ultra Go (256mb). There are newer models (7800) of the GeForce cards out at the moment, which are supposed to be quite nice, but I don't know how they compare to ATIs stuff. I think it depends largely on which games you play the most, as the Doom 3 powered stuff is supposed to run better on Nvidia, whilst Source powered games run better on ATI. However, I doubt there is much difference if you are buying a new PC as anything should run nicely :)

As for Widescreen, my drivers allow me to configure how to display non-wide images. You can set the image to stretch to fill the screen, keep the correct aspect ratio (4:3) and stretch to fill it vertically, or leave it at normal size and have a black border.

I just have it stretch to fit the screen vertically if it is too small. However, since my display has a native resolution of 1920*1200, this gives me a few minor headaches, as I have to run at either 1920*1200 or 1600*1200 to avoid picture distortion associated with stretched images (this is common to all LCD/TFT displays afaik, not just laptop screens). Older games don't always support high enough resolutions, and there can obviously be performance issues when running modern games at ultra high resolutions. 800*600 is not too bad looking, since it's half of 1600*1200, but it's not ideal :(

Some screens handle stretched images better than others, so it is worth checking this out before you get a new monitor.

Also check how fast the monitor updates if you are getting an LCD/TFT screen. If it doesn't update fast enough, games can blur a bit. I notice this a bit when playing games with dark foreground objects and a light background - monsters often blur against the blue sky in some Quake levels, for example. It's a fairly minor trail, and I can still make out what's going on perfectly well - it's not like the whole screen goes into bullet time or anything. 

how is the 6800 for you ? any issues ?

I dont like LCD's, i was going to go with standard CRT flatscreens. Are the TFT's betetr than LCD (for gaming) ? 

No issues with the 6800. Everything seems fine, although I haven't yet tried the Quake 4 demo, so I don't know exactly how well it performs with the Doom 3 tech. HL2 seems great aside from the stuttering problem on level loads, which is not a graphics card issue.

Quake runs REALLY nicely at 1920*1200 widescreen (thanks Metl... I love you).

Oh yeah, make sure you get a 256mb graphics card! 512mb is perhaps overkill, and a bit expensive atm. There are also only a handful of cards with this much memory.

I don't know the difference between LCD and TFT. I think TFT is an acroynm for both CRT flatscreen displays (Truer Flatter Tube) and also for the current type of Laptop monitor displays (Thin-Film Transistor - which I just looked up on wikipedia). It's all a bit confusing for me.

I think LCD means current flatscreen TFT technology these days, since no modern laptops use LCD displays.

Anyway, yes, CRTs are better for gaming, but LCDs are really light and thin, sometimes easier to look at for long periods of time and can be good enough for games that there isn't really much difference between them and a CRT. If you don't mind 10 tonnes of monitor cluttering up your desk and want to save a small amount of cash for ultimate image quality, then a good CRT might be better for you, but personally I'd find a good LCD (short update time, good at resizing images, clear, low reflectivity etc.) and get that instead.

Anyway, I just had a quick look on http://www.overclockers.uk (hardware site) and they barely have any CRTs these days... just two. They have tons of LCDs though, and the prices are not too much higher, unless you want Apple 23" screens*.

Also, when buying a new monitor bear in mind that a 19" CRT has only an 18" visible area, and that a 19" LCD should be 19". Also, you don't need to fuck about configuring a new LCD (width, height, refresh, trapezoid, moire etc.) as they should pretty much just work out of the box.

Finally, I know this isn't much help, but I really would have a look at reviews on the internet once you get a rough idea of what you want, since they can tell you a lot more than me or probably anyone else on this board. Once you have read some reviews and have found what you want, definitely check comments on reviews and forums on hardware sites to see if there are any probs you are likely to have with your chosen kit. It might also be worth letting us all know what you are going to buy, in case anyone here happens to have graphics card X and it turns out to be a piece of shit for game Y.

*you probably need to be a serious Apple fanboy, as they cost a shitload more than other brands. Whether they are better or not, I don't know. 

game Y is Quake :) 

i'm not completely up to date, as I bought my PC a year ago, but I thought I'd go through the parts I chose and say whether I'd do the same thing again.

I built the PC myself, if I bought one now, I'd probably go pre-built with Mesh Computers or Evesham Computers, but they're both UK companies. The value you get with some companies is amazing really, as long as you know exactly what you're getting and all the parts are above-par.

I tried to build a system where I could keep as many parts as possible when I next upgrade, and chose as high quality components as i could afford.


Processor: AMD Socket 939 (64-bit) processor
Would definitely go for the 64-bit AMD again. I checked loads and loads of benchmarks at the time, and the performance was/is much better than the Intels for Doom 3 engine games. It wins in most graphically intensive games it seems. The Pentiums are more suited to office apps / photoshop / video editing, so if thats your main concern then maybe you'd go intel. That said, I do paid graphic design work on my system and it hasn't let me down.

RAM: 1 gb Crucial Ballistix
I went for a gig of really fast ram, which cost the same as 2 gigs of normal ram. Love it, plus I can always upgrade later. If you're deciding between 512 and 1024 megs, get the full gigabyte. It'll only cost you �70 for normal ram from crucial.

Sound: Audigy card and Creative Megaworks 550
Load of wank really. The way the reviews went, you'd expect a pretty nice surround sound setup. It was loud I guess, but completely lacking in any sparkle or impact, especially in the mid-range. The volume control thingy is fucking shit.
If I had to buy PC speakers now I'd go Logitech, or Klipsch if I could import 'em. If I was doing this all again though I'd put the money towards a decent amp and speakers. Buying second-hand from the right places, I could have got an amazing hifi sound for maybe �100 more. It would be an investment; speaker technology moves pretty slow.

Monitor: Viewsonic 19" 910(?)
Winner. 19" is a great size. I don't need higher resolution. Response time is great, don't notice any blurring, and the new ones are better than mine. I'd get this again.

Mouse / Keyboard: Wireless Logitech Mx700
Good stuff. Didn't really know if i'd care about it being wireless, but I'm a convert. I think the equivalent model today would be the MX3000, and that looks even more sexified.

Graphics Card: Leadtech Geforce 6800 GT 256mb
Man. The 6800 series was expensive when I bought this. It still kicks major ass, and it was a good choice. I don't know what an equivalent choice would be today: 512mb cards are too expensive right now. I haven't checked the benchmarks but I imagine the difference is huge though. Ultra setting in doom 3 looks amazing, but it's just a bit too jumpy with a 256mb card.

Hard drives: 74gb Western Digital Raptor, and 250gb WD drive
Loving it. The raptor runs at 10000 rpm, and you put your operating system/games on there; movies and mp3s etc go on the bigger data drive. This also makes windows a lot more responsive. I'd definitely go for this again.

Case: Coolermaster Wavemaster in black
Excellent: spacey, well designed, looks great.

I hope something in there was helpful to you, reading it again it looks like I think most things are great, but I researched it a lot and those things I chose were quite well suited to me at least. I really wish I'd gone pre-built and spent less money to be honest. Good luck with whatever you go for.