The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro was online to discuss the 2005 Tech Gift Guide and answer your questions.

I that annual special report, Rob offered ground rules for buying digital cameras , mp3 players and home computers . He also filed three audio reports on the same topics. Listen to shopping tips for: digital cameras ; mp3 players and home computers .

A transcript follows .

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Read today's e-letter here . Past editions of Rob's e-letter are online here . Rob Pegoraro: Good afternoon, and welcome to the Rob's Holiday Gadget Shopping Question-o-Rama (first in a series). Yesterday, I wrote about things to consider when shopping for a home computer, a digital camera and an MP3 player, so we've got plenty of queries on those topics--and a lot more. Let's get started...

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Indianapolis: Indianapolis: I am thinking of a new camera for a point and shoot photographer who ants to be able to carry the camera in a pocket. Are the Canon SD models a good choice, and if so how would you chose the right one, if you weren't going to shop by price alone?

washingtonpost.com: Fast Forward: Ground Rules for Buying on the Cutting Edge: digital camera

Rob Pegoraro: Mrs. Fast Forward got a Canon SD-series camera for her birthday from yours truly, so, yes, I can endorse that particular line of cameras.
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If I were shopping now, I'd go by the guidelines in yesterday's column (of course). Once I'd narrowed down the selection to a handful of models, I'd also set aside time to read the reviews at the two enthusiast sites I cited in that piece.

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DC: Hi Rob.Can I use my old firewire adapter from my old iPod mini for a new iPod? I'm not sure if my 12-inch, 1.33 ghz powerbook has USB 2.

Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: No, the new iPods can't transfer songs via FireWire at all. However, you don't need to try that--your model of PowerBook (you got it in 2004 or later, right?) has USB 2.0 on board.

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Chattanooga, TN: After all this recent Sony CD DRM craziness, do we need to be fearful about any similar features they might have planned for their Bluetooth discs?

washingtonpost.com: Security Fix: Texas Attorney General Sues Sony (Nov. 21, 2005)

Rob Pegoraro: I think you mean Blu-Ray, not Bluetooth :)

Yes, this Sony DRM fiasco--in which it turned out that the copy-control software embedded on some Sony audio CDs acted as bad as some of the worst spyware in installing itself on Windows PCs--is EXACTLY why you should be skeptical of all these copy-"protection" schemes. When somebody at a movie studio or record label says you'll never notice them in effect, you're wise to watch your wallet.

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Strasburg, Virginia: Hey Rob, would you know if the PS3's hardware is going to be any better quality than the PS2's?

Rob Pegoraro: I would hope it would be, since Sony's had five years to work on a successor the PS2. But not having seen, much less tried out, a PS3 in any form, I can't tell you that for sure.

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Vienna: I've got an iPod mini and I'm trying to burn some CDs from the songs in my iTunes library. When I do, the volume is signicantly lower than other CDs. There doesn't appear to be a way to adjust the volume within iTunes. I understand there are some complementary software products that can do this. Any recommendations for safe, legitimate choices for my PC? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Actually, iTunes does have the feature you're looking for, but it's a little hidden. Open iTunes' Preferences window, click the Playback tab, and make sure "Sound Check" is enabled.

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Mt. Lebanon PA: How about telling your online java script guru dude/dudette to slow down the delay on the Weekly Schedule popup. It comes and goes so quickly that it doesn't hang around long enough for the user to hit the Printed-Friendly Schedule link. It's not governmental affairs - it's supposed to be consumer friendly.