European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 29, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Home fronted players easily adapted for life on Road sound advice the Best sound in a car comes from compact disks but a cd player does not have to be installed in the dashboard to obtain it. A personal portable player can be installed by hooking it up to a car radio or tape player. As a matter of fact Sony says a third of All cd portables Are used . Permanently installed cd players Are the most convenient to use and usually have the Best sound Quality. But they Are also expensive in dashboard models that take one disk at a time Are Only now beginning to appear for less than $500. Trunk mounted disk changers controlled from the dashboard Cost even More not to mention the Cost of installation and usually external amplifiers. But portables Are commonly available for less than $300 and sometimes show up for $99.95 during special sales. And they can be taken almost anywhere. They can even be plugged into a Home i i system if it lacks a cd player or to a Small amplifier and speaker system set up to turn a portable into an Ultra compact Home system. Many in dash am pm cassette units and a few equalizers which control and tailor a systems frequency response have front panel jacks made for use with portable cd players. Still other stereos have cd input jacks in their rear panels behind the dashboard. A competent car stereo installer can put a Small Jack about u Inch in diameter into the dashboard and wire it up to the stereos rear inputs. An easy Way to play a cd if no jacks Are available is to use a Dummy cassette. Several companies make these under-$25 adapters that look like tape cassettes with cables attached. To listen to cd plug the Cable into the portable and Load the Dummy cassette into the stereo As with a Normal tape. The sound passes from the cd player through the Dummy cassette into the Auto s stereo system. Some adapters also come with cables that plug into the car cigarette lighter socket to use the autos Power and save the batteries. For convenient operation it is Best to have the player mounted firmly where it is easily reached with its controls toward the Driver. Strips of velcro and mounting brackets can be used to hold the player to a Center console or other convenient spot. Locking swivels on these brackets help position the player and built in suspension systems can help it handle Road bumps without Mist racking. The new York times a compact disc player Arrow is hooked into the autos tape deck and cigarette lighter. S8lsstart simple and build from there Jerry Kidder computers Are hot. Everybody has one or uses one or plans to buy one. In every crowd there san expert. Everyone has an opinion about which computer or which system is the Best. Quot of so Here a to All those people a stars and stripes computer column. This column will not be directed Only at those experts out there although we Hope that they will find some interesting Reading. It will also be aimed at the beginner who is looking for his first Home computer. We wont argue about which system is Best because opinions Are like noses everybody has one. What we will try to do is give the new kid on the Block some tips on buying computer number one. We have contacted some of the companies that Supply cafes and the Randio video clubs and asked them to Supply us with information about what is available and where it will be available. Cafes will also Supply us with the same Type of information. A a we will also try to get answers to some of the questions that readers might have if they could go one on one with the company reps. We will research alternative markets and pass on what we find out. We will review books being offered at the stripes bookstores and when possible look inside some of the shrink wrapped boxes on the computer Section shelves. Now lets say you want to buy a computer. Off to the local computer Section of the Exchange. Some Are big some Are Small some have people there to help some leave you on your  the first thing you see is a variety of names. There standy Commodore atari and on and on. Then there Are numbers and letters and floppies and monitors and programs and printers and input output devices and. It really Isnit bad when the parts Are taken separately and explained in Plain language. Too Many computer experts have written too Many things that Only other computer experts understand. We will try to use a Down Home language and hopefully help some poor soul understand the comp Terese. We will try to introduce some of the companies that Supply computers and computer related equipment and to explain some of the services which they provide. Almost every Community has at least one computer users club and we would like to hear from those organizations and pass on the information which would be of interest to others. The after Sale service and support is just As important As the initial Choice. If you have been thwarted in getting info or help through the Normal channels let us know. Also if you have been Given Good help and advice let us know Well Tell everyone and they can go there too. Help us make this column useful and we will do our Best to keep it rolling. Next time we will get Down to explaining some of the individual parts and Start the process of selecting the first computer. A because of a change in company philosophy Apple and macintosh computers disappeared from Exchange shelves during the past year. They Are still available though from am extra. A extra Sells macs and apples to the following retail outlets Canadian forces exchanges in Lair Baden and Grilc Kirschen the French forces exchanges in Germany and audio video photo clubs in Stuttgart and templehof Berlin. More locations will be announced shortly. For those Apple owners out there am extra also has a service department which takes care of warranty work. Jerry Kidder is a computer technician at the stars and stripes. April 29, 1990 sunday Page 5