Apparently I do need a CD drive after all :-)

[briarwood]

My audiobook of Swallowing Darkness arrived...and I realised I actually do need a CD drive *headdesk*

After much mucking about, I have determined that the CD drive does work...but not too well, and only if I don't have the second HD hooked up. Which is no damn good at all. I'm beginning to suspect it's the cable at fault, rather than the drive, but I don't think that helps me fix it.

Anyhow, I borrowed Sis's laptop to rip the CDs into iTunes (the MP3 CDs from Audible were so much more convenient, darn it), and I now have Swallowing Darkness on my iPod. So far I'm three chapters in and no one has had sex yet. I'm...almost impressed.

Claudia Black's reading is wonderful. She gets the humour of the character in a way most audiobook narrators don't. I don't mean just for LKH's novels, I listen to a lot of books and there's often a sense that it's not very rehearsed, so that occasionally the narrator gets the emphasis in a sentence wrong. It can make lines meant to be funny fall very flat. Okay, I'm only three chapters in, but I have the feeling Claudia "gets" Merry; either that or she really read the book properly before recording, because so far - no stumbles. And I actually laughed out loud at one point.

Cool. Though I'm beginning to worry for my poor PC. Perhaps it's time to start shopping around for something new. I ought to do that while stores are still allowed to supply XP. No freaking way am I using Vista and I'd rather get it pre-installed than have to reformat and install it myself. I can do that...I'd just rather not.

Comments

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

Sucks about the drive. Dell is offering XP still on most models AND also offers Linux, which is a HUGE bonus. Seriously, not missing the bullshit that comes with Windows.

It's easy enough to change a cd drive or even the cable, but it depends on how old the computer is and if you want to take the time to do it (considering drives really aren't too expensive either).

[morgan32.livejournal.com]

I know. My problem is I don't want to waste money. I could do this the logical way: replace the cable first and tinker with the drive jumpers, then replace the CD drive if that fails. But if that doesn't do it, I'll be stuck with buying a new PC anyhow and I'll have wasted what I've already spent.

When it gets to the point where I'm thinking I need a new motherboard, it's simpler to buy a new PC and upgrade motherboard, processor and graphics card all at once. Not cheaper, but I can get credit that way, which I can't on the components.

It's always money, isn't it? *groans*

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

*nods* I hear ya. I'd made every repair possible to the old computer before it finally died and stayed dead this spring - when the power supply unit went and did take the motherboard with it. In theory, I could have replaced the mother board, but why? I needed more Ram, hard drive space, etc anyway and it just wasn't worth it.

So yeah. I hear you completely. ;-)