Double Up on Audio
I'd like to listen to music through my external speakers and use my Skype headset for VoIP calls at the same time, but Windows doesn't support such simultaneous audio channels. Is there a quick fix?
Jan Holt, Tampa, Florida
Click Start, Control Panel, Sounds and Audio Devices (in Categories view click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices first). Choose the Audio tab. To play MP3 files through your speakers, which use the sound card, and to simultaneously use a VoIP headset, which uses its own audio processor, launch your MP3 player, select the sound card as the playback device under 'Sound playback' and 'Sound recording', and then launch your VoIP software and change the playback device settings again. For both, make sure 'Use only default devices' is unchecked. This also works to switch playback between your headphones and speakers.
A USB/Firewire Hub With Plenty of Flexibility
Sometimes thinking outside the box means getting rid of the box altogether. That's what LaCie has done with its $80 Hub, a spherical combination USB/FireWire hub. It looks like a large white onion that has sprouted four USB 2.0 ports and two FireWire 400 ports, each sitting at the end of its own inches-long tentacle. The device's rounded shape makes it easy to tilt in any direction. This hub is a great solution for anyone who has struggled to plug a gadget into an overcrowded conventional hub.
Send your tips and questions to kirk_steers@pcworld.com. We pay $50 for published items. Kirk Steers is a PC World contributing editor and the author of PC Upgrading and Troubleshooting QuickSteps from McGraw Hill/Osborne Press.
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