If you're looking for a super-simple way to convert your CD collection into
MP3 files to be played on Book Port, Windows Media Player 10 does a
marvelous job and is a snap to navigate. Earlier versions of Windows Media
Player don't have nearly the flexibility in this area that you'll find in
the new version, which can be downloaded quickly and easily. if you don't
have it. You'll have to click on "Options" and set a few parameters, but
after you've done that you'll have a super-neat CD-ripping program at your
disposal which is stable and easy to use--and it's free.
One program which will do the same thing but is more streamlined and,
therefore, much easier to use for the novice, is Smartsoft's Smart CD
Ripper. Just open the program, pop in a CD, and all the options are already
set for you. What's more, the choices which have been made are pretty good
ones, and you may be happy just to install and run the program with no
modifications. It's available online at Smartsoft.com and costs $29.95.
I'd recommend it highly if you aren't comfortable with Windows Media
Player's vast array of user-definable options which can be daunting if
you're just getting started. You can download a trial version for free, but
it will only convert five songs from a given CD, just enough to give you an
idea of how it works.
David Bennett
