iPod, Anyone?

[Ross]

OK, I ain't teck-no-logical, and I admit it. Dawn wants an iPod for Christmas, and neither of us has ever had one. She wants to go through her old CD's and upload favorite songs off of each one without having to load and listen to the entire CD. We have a new computer at home, so I imagine it has the right software to do all of this stuff.
I assume that Apple makes all iPods, and none are licensed out to other manufacturers, right? Any suggestions? I figure it's probably going to be about a 300-500 dollar price tag, so I want to get the right one.
Thanks
EDIT: OK, now I'm really confused. I looked on the Circuit City website, and the iPod 8GB were more expensive than the 80GB. Why would the one with less memory be more expensive? There is obviously a lot I don't know about electronics.

[MercOut]

To help you out i need to know what size HD to suggest. How many songs/CD's is she going to upload to the ipod?

[Dr Caleb]

Just use iTunes. Set it up so all you have to do is stick a CD in your computer, it will 'rip' it and organize it for you. Then connect your iPod, drag and drop your tunes. Use the 'lossless' AAC format to rip the tunes - sounds much better than MP3.

[Egon Spengler]

Go to the apple website, I have the one that can hold 500 songs and I have yet to get to that much. I bought it awhile ago and I am sure they are cheaper now. I recommend the iPod NANO. I have one and I also bought the car set up and I love the thing. I'd say $200 or less... They make one that is 1000 Songs for a little more and then they have the ones that play video that are rediculous. Like I said I recommend the NANO... it is compact and hold a bunch of songs and the sound is very good... GOOD LUCK BUDDY

[sailsmen]

Nano Silver for $150, my 12 year old uses hers. U can buy just about any song for $1 on the internet and paly on computer, Nano or burnd a CD.

Just remember its not audiophile quality, good for car and back ground music.

If you think it is I have a $200 record player using quality records that will put to shame any $8,000 CD player ever made.:D

[Ross]

OK, another question that goes along with this. Once I've decided on one, and she has loaded a bunch of music, it would be nice to play it through the car stereo or home stereo, not just through earphones.
I've looked at some accessories which do those things, but they have greatly mixed reviews. Neither of our cars has the direct mp3 plugin to the stereo, so we would need some device to play it through the car stereo. I know that Bose makes a special player for the house, but I don't want to pay several hundred dollars for that when we have a perfectly good stereo and just need some way to play the iPod through it.
Any suggestions on these accessories from personal experience?

[sailsmen]

As per above so long as you are looking for background music quality s/b fine.

As respects the home she can upload to IPod software from CDs and then burn CD w/ Hit list from her IPod Music Store.

I use a 200CD Carousel to store CD and for back ground music. She can load the CD's and even customize a hit list. Other option is to buy a docking port that is compatible w/ home stereo.

Before U buy make sure you know exactly what computer and stereo equip U have and review w/ salesmen before U buy. Also find out about return policy.

[Ross]

I get the feeling that I should just write a check for about 1000 bucks to some teenager who knows about these things, let him go to the store, buy everything, and set it all up for us. Damn electronics!

[sailsmen]

U can do it. U post on here, U have an Avatar.

I am only a couple of years younger then U.

If the teenager sets it up U won't know a thing and end up not using it out of frustration.

Put aside 4-6 hours to buy it and set it up yourself.

If I can do it U can.:D

[Ross]

Sigh...sometimes a little encouragement is all we need! Thanks, buddy. :beer:

[Egon Spengler]

They make a direct plug in from the iPod to audio inputs on home stereos and as for cars, I had the auxillary port hook up and it is crystal clear... They make a charger / FM override which can broadcast over a blank FM station, but I don't recommend it... I have one and I get the high pitch ringing that gets higher as I accelerate... There are some frequency issues I think.... I have yet to find a way of hooking up my iPod to my MM, but my girlfriend just bought me Sirius radio so I am waiting for that to show up and then I can try to figure out how to hook that up too!

[SHERIFF]

I would recommend the iPod Touch 16G, $379 at Best Buy right now, $377 at Circuit City. Just bought my
daughter one for Christmas. It does much more than just play music. I kinda like the wifi feature it has. :D

And like many have said, download and use iTunes. Makes everything so easy.

[Ross]

Isn't iTunes a pay per song service? I'm trying to figure out why to pay to download songs if you already have a hundred CD's to load music from for free? If the iPod holds hundreds of songs, pretty soon you will be paying more for the songs than you paid for the iPod itself. Unless I misunderstand the system, which is why I started this thread in the first place.

[Egon Spengler]

You can upload songs from cd's for free.... iTunes makes you pay $1 for any song you download from their service... there are other site that you can download music you want for free and then drag it from that service into iTunes but that is pirating... Kinda not recommended I guess... IF you want to do fancy $400.00 stuff go ahead, but for just music I say stick with the nano

[grampaws]

itunes (free)software will convert CD's to MP3 format for you works great.
You can buy tunes from the store which can still be good cause
you only buy the song you like not the whole CD.
The RF transmitters work reasonably well but occasional
buzzing and High pitched whistles disrupt the
signal. Direct connection from headphone jack
to Aux input on stereo works best.
I use mine daily and wouldn't part with it..
Won it with Tim Hortons Roll up the Rimm contest.
and use the aux input through the DVD player
in the Freestar(when it isn't playing the DVD's).
I recommend the 4 or 8 gig Nano-they use chips.
no moving parts to wear out..
The larger ones use small hard drives that can wear
and be damaged by shock(being dropped-Likely to happen).
The software and unit are really easy to use.

[offroadkarter]

Isn't iTunes a pay per song service? I'm trying to figure out why to pay to download songs if you already have a hundred CD's to load music from for free? If the iPod holds hundreds of songs, pretty soon you will be paying more for the songs than you paid for the iPod itself. Unless I misunderstand the system, which is why I started this thread in the first place.


Itunes can play any audio file, not just ones from the itunes store. I just take my songs either from albums, or from limewire.

To awnser your question "why would an 8 gig be more expensive than an 80 gig" you saw the ipod touch compared to the ipod classic. you can get a classic up to 160GBs.

If you dont need the fancy features, look at the classic or nano, they both play videos, mp3's, and so on, and hold plenty of songs, pictures, moives and such.

if you want a custom one, check out www.colorwarepc.com


I have 2 different gen's of ipods, and have become quite fimalar with how to set them up. If you have any questions about using itunes or "sharing ;) " songs, feel free to PM me.


good luck!

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[Ross]

Thanks for the info, guys. Why couldn't she have asked for a shotgun instead? :confused:

[offroadkarter]

Thanks for the info, guys. Why couldn't she have asked for a shotgun instead? :confused:


thats what asked for this year, double barrel :D

[MM03MOK]

Screen size is another big thing to look at. I have a Creative Zen Nano and I practically need a microscope to read the LCD screen. Creative is another manufacturer of MP3 players.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=12720

Good example of screen sizes from ORK:


http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e185/offroadkarter/PB240056.jpg