I have a Toshiba Satellite [notebook PC] and I would like to download and play podcasts. Do I need a separate MP3 player or iPod? David Hough
You already have what you need to play almost all podcasts, which are nothing but plain old audio files. Download the file to your hard drive, double-click it, and it will play in your default software, which may well be Windows Media Player. You can, of course, copy the audio file to a portable device, such as an MP3 player, PDA or mobile phone. Most podcasts are MP3 files, and most devices will play those. You may need to look at compatibility issues if the podcaster uses a different audio file format, but usually you can convert files on your PC.
The trick with podcasting is to have audio files downloaded and transferred to the mobile device automatically, rather than manually. However, this does not need an iPod, so the name is somewhat misleading. Some people are now calling it netcasting instead, prompted by letters from Apple Computer's lawyers claiming that the terms "Podcast Ready" and "myPodder" infringe on Apple's trademarks.
