A device to load vinyl LPs into a PC

Setting up the LPDock is easy. So is installing the software that does the actual conversion from analog to digital. The bundled CD includes two Windows programs - MixMeister's crude but foolproof EZ Vinyl Converter 2, plus a powerful but geeky open-source audio editor called Audacity that can eliminate clicks, pops and background noise. Mac users get Audacity only.

EZ Vinyl Converter lives up to its name: All you have to do is cue up a track, press an on-screen record button, wait till the track is through playing and click a stop button. If you're online, the software will analyze the track and try to find artist, album and title information from an Internet database. Finally, it will automatically register the new MP3 track with your iTunes software. For tracks the software can't identify, EZ Vinyl prompts you to enter the information manually.

This is undeniably easy, but there are limitations. Unlike "ripping" tracks from a compact disk - a near-automatic, high- speed process with iTunes or Windows Media Player - EZ Vinyl Converter works in real time. It can't sense the end of a track, so you have to babysit and press the stop button each time. Nor does EZ Vinyl Converter offer any way to clean up the sound.

My first conversion attempt ("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" from Bette Midler's eponymous 1973 album) was disastrous. The music was scarcely audible.

The troubleshooting guide suggested tweaking the "gain" knob, which is the equivalent of a volume control. For some reason, the unit had arrived with the gain turned all the way down. Worse yet, Ion's designers put the gain knob on the bottom of the turntable - the most awkward possible location for repeated tweaking. That's one of my few complaints about it.

Most users will probably try this routine a few times and then switch to Audacity, which will record a whole side of an album and then do its best to separate it into tracks before converting them to MP3 files. If that fails, you can do it yourself. The program also has filters for eliminating noise, scratches and pops, most of which worked well.

Now for the magic. If your iPod has a voice recorder function, you can plug it into the dock - with or without a computer attached. The LPDdock takes control of the player and puts it into voice recorder mode.

Cue up the song, press the record button on the turntable, then wait till it's done and press the stop button.