I realize this is off topic, however this board has been slow. Many of us are very fatigued due to illness, so we are limited in what we can do. Lately I have been watching plenty of tv, spending plenty of time on the net, playing plenty of chess on my pc, and reading about the latest mp3 players.

A few weeks ago I bought the Chessmaster 9000 program for my pc. It was only $10. It is the most liked of the Chessmaster series, and also the least expensive. The program is great and has many features including tutorials. It has a 2857 rating so it will beat you all the time in its highest mode, but can be set to play in weaker modes so the games will be exciting. If you are interested in chess, this will be the best $10 you will ever spend.


When I have the energy, I love to walk. I like to listen to podcasts or music while walking. I also like to take photos while walking around town. My mp3 player is over 3 years old and only holds one gig, so I have been planning to buy a new one. I have studied what is available, and have come to the conclusion that there are 4 mp3 player models worth focusing on. Two are made by Sandisk, and two are made by Cowon(a very small young Korean company that makes very high quality products). These 4 have great sound quality. The Sandisk players are the least expensive, but have less battery life. The Fuze has a micro SD card expansion slot and is listed as having 24 hour battery life(figure around 20% less than stated battery life for an mp3 player with real world usage. The stated battery life is like the mpg rating for a car. You will never achieve that much under real world usage). It is $87 in the US for the 4 gig version. The Sansa Clip is very tiny and is listed as having 15 hours battery life. It has a small screen and no expansion slot. The 2 gig version sells for $50. The Cowon D2 is listed as having 52 hour battery life, and has a full sized SD card slot. It has a 2.5" screen and puts out plenty of power, to power even most large sized headphones. A 4 gig D2 is $145. The Cowon i7 also puts out plenty of power, but has a 1.3" screen, no expansion slot, 60 hour battery life, and sells for around $130 for the 8 gig version($100 for 4 gigs). All 4 of these also have an FM tuner. They come with low quality headphones though, so figure on buying headphones separately if you don't have a high quality pair.

No comments about mp3 players? Do most people reading this thread already have an iPod? I guess there aren't many people here interested in chess.