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Remember when adding memory or extra storage to your computer meant having to take out a loan to upgrade? When it was a big deal for Macs and PCs to come with 128KB or a 250MB hard drive? Hey, even my first iPod came with a whopping 5GB of storage inside.

Well, now La Cie has an affordable solution. They’ve just announced their 1TB Rugged XL external drive. They’ve also announced it’s selling price: $159.99.

Inside there’s a 3.5-inch drive protected by internal and external bumpers. It’s also physically large. OK, granted: the outside is aluminum and orange – but that’s a lot of storage at a good price.

For the record, there are two interfaces: Hi-Speed USB and 3Gb/s eSATA and all the software you need for both PCs and Macs.

Despite what audio “flat-earthers” believe — that all types of interconnects sound alike so why spend more than a pittance on them — audiophiles, and now it seems some computer geeks believe there are definite differences in how audio cables handle the signals passing through them — and ultimately sound.

Here is the interesting Gizmodo article.

Even more important, I’m glad to see that non-audio people are spending time on listening to music and reporting on the way music sounds — not just touting new hardware because it’s new.

Maybe they’ll also tackle MP3-file-size-versus-audio-quality. HINT: Its’ true — bigger is better!

Despite what audio “flat-earthers” believe — that all types of interconnects sound alike so why spend more than a pittance on them — audiophiles, and now it seems some computer geeks believe there are definite differences in how audio cables handle the signals passing through them — and ultimately sound.

Here is the interesting Gizmodo article.

Even more important, I’m glad to see that non-audio people are spending time on listening to music and reporting on the way music sounds — not just touting new hardware because it’s new.

Maybe they’ll also tackle MP3-file-size-versus-audio-quality. HINT: Its’ true — bigger is better!

Lefties and righties should apply ASAP.  Microsoft has just announced a mouse for everyone.  They call it the Sidewinder X3 and it has some impressive specs.

It’s an eight-button(!) gaming device, usable with either hand and sports a 2,000 dots-per-inch laser-tracking engine with “on-the-fly” dpi switching between high, medium and low sensitivity and a single thumb button.

Best of all is the price.  The X3 will retail for $39.95 when it officially ships in May.

But, if you can’t wait that long you should soon be able to pre-order your X3 on Amazon.com.

Lefties and righties should apply ASAP.  Microsoft has just announced a mouse for everyone.  They call it the Sidewinder X3 and it has some impressive specs.

It’s an eight-button(!) gaming device, usable with either hand and sports a 2,000 dots-per-inch laser-tracking engine with “on-the-fly” dpi switching between high, medium and low sensitivity and a single thumb button.

Best of all is the price.  The X3 will retail for $39.95 when it officially ships in May.

But, if you can’t wait that long you should soon be able to pre-order your X3 on Amazon.com.

That depends on who you’re listening to. 

There are some insiders that hear Palm’s next-generation smartphone will be available by the last day of this month.  Those in-the-know folks say that the handset will retail for $299 with a two-year contract with Sprint.  I can’t believe either of those rumors are true.  Especially the price.  Palm shouldn’t price the phone more than the entry level iPhone – no matter how revolutionary they think Pre is.

There are other “experts” who say the phone will be released in the middle ot May.

And there are one of two who think release day is coming at the end of June (rivaling Apple’s previous iPhone update time frame).

I don’t have an accurate prediction.  I do know that Palm will release the phone when they (and the phone) are good and ready.   But, they might start pre-sales soon to keep interest high.

I’m sure they’re getting a kick out of all the free Pre pre-PR.

Even discounting the fact that Microsoft’s portable music player – Zune – has never been able to really compete with ant of Apple’s trend-setting line of iPods, the Redmond, Washington giant continues trying to get people interested in buying these devices.

Some blogs are touting a next-generation player about to be unleashed called the Zune HD.  No one is sure what makes the new device HD other than the name.  I know one thing for sure – if Microsoft follows previous tendencies this new device shouldn’t have HD in its name.

Zunes do not play totally uncompressed files.  Yes, 128K, compressed Windows Media files sound better than Apple]s 128K AAC files – and yes, both computer giants offer barely-compressed (but incompatible) “Lossless” formats.  But iPods let you store uncompressed AIFF/WAV files.  For some reason Microsoft won’t let you use these larger, better sounding, higher definition music files on their devices.

Unless that changes with the new model, Microsoft shouldn’t use HD in its name.  It’s totally false advertising.

If you haven’t seen this yet you should take a look at Sprint’s terrific, new TV commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-tRHNElTo4

First of all, this commercial is in color! 

More importantly, it is the first of what I’m guessing will be a number of clever videos and print ads promoting the upcoming Palm Pre smartphone — and the all new WebOS software inside.  The ad is incredibly well done and well worth 60 seconds of your time.

Seems like Palm and Sprint are building interest for this handset the right way.  I’ve seen the phone in action and although I wasn’t allowed to touch the beta model I believe this could be a true Apple iPhone killer.  We’ll see.

The NY Auto Show opens at the Javits Center on Good Friday.  I hope the show is better attended that the press preview. 

Tough times translate into very little that is revolutionary on the show floor except for a spattering of new cars, trucks and SUV/crossovers.

Best in show: high-milage, 4-door mini-boxes like the Nissan Cube and Kia Soul.  Think in terms of a Scion xB done right (like the original): lots of interior space, great handling and parking, 30+ MPG, priced under $20K.

Shouldn’t leave out Ford’s amazing concept car: the Lincoln C.   It has suicide doors, modern chaise seating, great design (the back reminds me of a Renault Megane), a turbo-charged 4 and super-high gas mileage (30-40 MPG).  It’s a luxury car we could all fall in love with.

A few weeks ago Apple began a verbal war with Palm over who owned the rights to multitouch technology – as popularized on the iPhone and the then, just-announced, Palm Pre smartphone.

Today, a small Taiwanese company, Elan Microelectronics, announced that they own two patents on multitouch technology that Apple is using on the iPhone, iPod Touch and MacBook Air. Elan is best known for supplying the touchpads on those fabulous, little Asus Eee PCs.

For the record, last year Elan and Synaptics battled it out over a similar patent. That case was settled out of court. Elan reportedly is looking for Apple to agree to a similar deal.