volumes

Partition like a pro, but for free

One of the best new tools that Windows Vista came out with was a built-in partition manager. Last fall, one company began offering a freeware remedy for Windows XP users. Easeus Partition Manager brings a robust and diverse set of drive management tools to users of both operating systems, and is poised to compete with Partition Magic and other pay-for-play programs' most basic features.

Unlike the excellent, but CD-based, Gparted, Easeus Partition Manager can run from your current XP or Vista 32-bit installation. EPM's basic features handle the biggest and most important partitioning tasks. You can resize, create, format, … Read more

MP3 Insider 123: Girls, girls, girls!

When the cat's away, the mice will play! Or something to that effect. Donald is taking some well-deserved vacation this week, which gives Jasmine the perfect opportunity to run amok, spouting off on anything her little heart desires (within the confines of the MP3 player/headphone topic, of course). She opts to invite fellow female tech editors Bonnie Cha and Nicole Lee on the show to tear down or shore up stereotypes about gadget-conscious ladies and just generally gab about all things portable audio.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 123

SanDisk announces 8GB Sansa Clip

MP3 players with dedicated volume controls… Read more

Very, very loud speakers for those who listen at '11'

Designed by L. Paul Hales to produce concert-level sound in the home, speakers from Professional Home Cinema dare to go where no audiophile manufacturer would: PHC speakers play loud enough to duplicate live concert volume levels. For real, no kidding.

Take the SCR-12 ($4,000 each), it's a medium format "Screen Channel" loudspeaker capable of reproducing the awesome dynamics and unrestricted volume levels of a commercial cinema or concert PA system in your home theater. It uses digital signal processing (DSP), high-resolution frequency response shaping, and time-alignment to produce a maximum output exceeding 130 decibels. That's really, really loud! … Read more

Dolby Volume: The cure for uneven volume from TV, movies, and music

Thanks to Dolby Volume, too-loud commercials, inaudible dialog, overly loud special effects, and inconsistent volume will all be a thing of the past, says Dolby spokesman Craig Eggers.

Dolby Volume improves the listening experience "by leveling the volume across channels and programs while preserving the listening experience at any volume level." To hear Dolby Volume, you'll need to buy a new receiver, like Harman Kardon's AVR 7550HD or Arcam's FMJ AVR600. They're the first two A/V receivers that feature Dolby Volume, but we expect to see it appear in a wide range of … Read more

TrueCrypt now available for Mac OS X

Anyone who has shared a computer with a roommate, family member, or co-worker knows it's pretty hard to keep everything organized. But beyond having separate user accounts or personal folders, some data you have on your hard drive just isn't meant to be seen by other users. Whether it's your personal account numbers, journal entries, or other private files, a secure place to store items on your shared computer is necessary for your privacy.

A while ago I found a great Windows app for creating secure volumes called TrueCrypt. This open-source (free) program offers up multiple levels … Read more