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other things to do with your PC

music recording studio | GPS navigation | movie editing studio | DVR

music recording studio / MIDI

If you play an instrument you can create your own little recording studio. With a couple connection adapters you can be on your way.

helpful tools (not required):

links to recording software and hardware

keyboards

what you'll need:

Keyboards are the easiest to hook up since they are pretty much computers. Get your hands on a MIDI cable and plug it into the MIDI / gameport on your computer's sound card. There's software out there that can print sheet music while you play it.

electric guitars and basses

what you'll need:

To plug a guitar into a computer you'll need an adapter to convert the 1/4 inch plug into a 1/8 inch plug. 1/8 inch plugs are the same type that you have on a set of earphones for iPods and Walkmans. You can find these adapters at Radio Shack and possibly musical instrument stores. Make sure you purchase a 1/4 inch mono to 1/8 inch mono adapter (not stereo). To get the best sound plug your guitar into a preamp and then run a cord from the preamp into the line-in of your sound card. You can plug the guitar directly into the mic port, but it sounds terrible. I plug my bass into my amp and then run a cord from the amp's 1/4 inch headphone port into the 1/8 inch line-in on my computer.

Be careful when using electric guitars and amps around computers! Computer hard drives are based off magnetics and CRT monitors are also affected. Guitar pickups are magnets that translate the vibrating metal strings into sound. Amp speakers emit a heavy magnetic field from the rear. It's not likely you'll affect anything, but don't push your luck.

microphones and acoustic instuments

what you'll need:

navigation unit / GPS

If you own a laptop you can purchase a simple GPS receiver that can be plugged into a USB port. Couple it with some GPS software and you'll know where you are and how to get where you're going. I recommend software by DeLorme.

You can purchase the "mouse" GPS receiver for around $50 and the software around $40 at . Cheap GPS on a 15-inch screen versus a car GPS with a 3.5 inch screen that can cost between $300 to $1,000.

movie editing studio

You can hook up a video camera to your computer and transfer the video for editing. Create special effects, clean up quality, or other things and burn it onto a DVD or send the video off to the Internet.

digital video recorder (DVR) / home entertainment

Make your computer can act just like TiVo. Record TV shows and play them back later.