Well, I don't "must have" a CD player in the darkroom, but I must have some music in there. Working without it is driving me nuts. If it were a simple matter to run a wired set of speakers from the stereo system to the darkroom, I would, but to do so would involve running a wire from the family room, up through the ceiling to the master bedroom, and then and then through or past two rooms to the darkroom. Unsightly, lots of holes drilled through floors and walls, and, by a quick estimate, about 75 feet or more of wire.
I figured that I could tape over the lighted display if it were a problem. The nice thing about a small unit in the darkroom is that it can be moved to other areas. It would certainly be welcome in the garage or the office. I don't know anything about MP3 players or Smart Media. I think I'd have to upgrade the computer somehow to use MP3. Rob Studdert and I discussed this recently, but I've not actually looked into doing what he suggested in order to use MP3 on my computer. Even if I could figure out how to get the MP3 set up on the machine, I don't believe I could transfer it to any other media, Smart or otherwise. It's an older, early Pentium machine, and would probably need a lot of upgrading or modification or accessories to use some of these new things, and frankly, I don't want to put money or time into it - I'd rather use those dollars to help pay for a scanner or a new computer, neither of which will happen soon. So, it seems that the simple, low-tech solution is to find a small, self-contained CD player to put in the darkroom, and buy a roll of tape to tape over the display if needed, or put the player in the small cabinet that's already there. IR remote radio transmitters in my family room and electron beams bouncing around my house and through its walls does not seem like my kind of technology. Those small footprint office systems seem like what I'm looking for. Slap in a couple three CDs, push play, and off I go. Thanks for all your suggestions, though, Tim. Perhaps you now have a better idea of the situation. Tim Engel wrote: > If you "must" have a CD player in the dark room, there are a lot of small > "executive" systems meant for office use. Small, minimal footprint, but > decent sound. I've got a Sony "CMT-CP1 Micro HiFi Component System", and > it's a nice unit. Not good enough to be my main sound system, but good > enough for a desktop. > > However, just about any personal sound system (including this Sony) has a > lighted display that's inconsistent with a "dark" room. If you put it in a > light-tight cabinet you can't access while working in the dark room, what's > the point of having it in there with you? > > In that case, IMHO, you're better off just stringing speaker wire from > your main entertainment center to the dark room. Load up the CD changer > and hit "random play". Don't have a CD changer?? You could buy one for > the cost of the stand-alone CD player you're thinking of buying for the dark > room and enjoy it throughout the house.... money better spent. > > If "random-play" doesn't work for you... if you're a control freak... > then go for the RF to IR remote that Brendan mentioned. Typical remotes > are IR (infra-red) and line-of-sight... they don't work through walls. The > RF (radio frequency) remote uses a radio signal transmitted to a IR repeater > unit positioned in the room with, and in line-of-sight to the stereo unit > being controlled. There are a number of them on the market, but I can't > name names off the top of my head... check with your favorite electronics > store. Hmmm... well, actually, I believe (?) Radio Shack sells one. > > Have you considered an MP3 player that uses Smart Media? They're smaller > than a deck of cards (fit in your shirt pocket) and use light weight ear > pieces. Use your PC to load it up with MP3 files. Depending upon the > size of the Smart Media card you install, it can play all day without > repeating a song. Then you can take your tunes along when you go on a > photographic walk-about. -- Shel Belinkoff mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.earthlink.net/~belinkoff/ - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
