iPods

[mookie75]

Ever since I discovered the wonder that is iTunes a few weeks back, I've been considering picking up an iPod of some kind. My portable CD player is over 10 years old and has definitely seen better days. I'm thinking it's time to enter the modern age. I know there are other brands out there as well, but I've been looking mostly at the iPods because -- since they're made by the same company -- they wouldn't involve as much hassle in getting them to communicate well with the iTunes program (into which I have uploaded much of my music already).

I'm curious who has an iPod and what kind you have. What are the pros and cons for each model? I've been eyeing the iPod Shuffle because it's not as expensive and it offers more than enough room for my needs (since I don't have a monstrous collection of CDs). On the other hand, I've also considered the iPod Mini since it looks like it would be better for navigating to specific songs you want to hear (since the Shuffle doesn't appear to have a display of any kind).

I'm not really considering the original iPod since it's more than I really want to spend and, despite being smaller than any walkman or portable CD player, it still seems bulky to me as far as mp3 players go.

So, talk amongst yourselves. Keep in mind that I already know all about the "iPod's Dirty Little Secret" website and don't really care. :anime: Also, since I'm certain it will happen anyway, feel free to put in a plug for whatever non-iPod device you feel is superior. I haven't ruled out other brands, but I primarily want to hear what people think about the iPods in question.

[Red]

Well, I just got the iPod Nano. Its smaller than the Mini, heck its replacing the Mini! I got the 4GB. The only downside to getting the Nano is if you have $250, you could buy a 6GB, but for the Nano, only 4GB. Same with 4/2 on $199. So I'd suggest you get the 2GB Nano if you don't have too much music. Don't get the shuffle. No screen, no control, no fun.

[Had something longer but server went down :sad: ]

[purplehairedwonder]

I have an iPod mini and, though it's been acting up lately, I love it. It's really convienent to have all your songs in one place, though sometimes with all the choices I never know what I want to listen to. The headphones broke a few months after I got it, but I bought another cheap pair and they work fine. It also has a few games on it which can be fun as a time waster. Not a whole lot else I can say, other than my iPod is my baby :p

[Failure]

Movin' this over to the cafe... i think it's a better fit.

[Andy Mancini]

I bought a Creative Zen Xtra for $190 at Best Buy. Sure it's from the last "generation," but it's 30 gigs and sounds great. While it doesn't take AAC files, a CD-RW and two minutes work quite nicely. That's what I do when I buy from iTunes.

[Stuckey]

Well, I just got the iPod Nano. Its smaller than the Mini, heck its replacing the Mini! I got the 4GB. The only downside to getting the Nano is if you have $250, you could buy a 6GB, but for the Nano, only 4GB. Same with 4/2 on $199. So I'd suggest you get the 2GB Nano if you don't have too much music. Don't get the shuffle. No screen, no control, no fun.

[Had something longer but server went down :sad: ]

A 4GB Nano is $250? For some reason I thought iPods were alot pricier than that. I think I may get one of those. I've got a 1GB Sony Flash something, and it's not even close to full, but I really don't like how it's set up or the controls.

[True Noir]

I have an Ipod photo currently but I'm really willing to spend some mula on the Nano. That things looks tight! My Ipod currently has been through too much, including the war of Iraq (I let my cousin borrow it) and so it's pretty scratched up. Nano looks really nice. I saw someone at school with it. Very pencil-thin and nice.

[90'sCartoonMan]

I need an iPod so I can take it with me when I run outdoors (frankly, I've gotten sick of my CD player skipping and stopping and whatnot).

How exactly can you put music onto iPods? Do you need a program from a computer? Can you take it directly from a CD?

And how can you program it? Do they have, like, playlist functions where you can set up a bunch of songs in the order you want to listen to them?

[Mary_mari]

I bought a Creative Zen Xtra for $190 at Best Buy. Sure it's from the last "generation," but it's 30 gigs and sounds great. While it doesn't take AAC files, a CD-RW and two minutes work quite nicely. That's what I do when I buy from iTunes.
Anything Creative is awesome quality. Sadly, though, I despise all things "mini". iPods make me shrink back in disgust, but I don't own one and I've never played with one, so my opinion is based soley upon personal preference. I've got a lot of music but I'd never have enough to make me want to buy something I'll probably just end up sending through the washing machine. I'm quite favourable to mp3 cds right now. That's my content~

But if you have the opportunity to snatch one of those kooky little guys, go for it. And for the love of God, don't leave it in a coat pocket!! $200+...gone... :crying:

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Full disclosure time: I am an Apple Computer stockholder, so it's decidedly in my best interests if you buy an iPod. However, I own stock in the company because I believe in them, not the other way around.

I own an original 5GB iPod and a 15GB 3rd generation model (the one with the buttons above the scroll wheel). I love both of them, and gaze with envy at the larger, photo models now. Seeing as the 15GB model is almost full, I've never seriously considered any of the smaller models, but they are very cool for people who have smaller musical needs.

Personally, I'd tell you (and just about anybody) to go with an iPod Nano of some kind over the iPod Shuffle. For the extra money, you get a screen, far more control over what and how you want to hear (or the ability to go totally random that the Shuffle gives you), and at least double the capacity. It's pretty easy to justify that to me. It also offers more for less than every other Flash-based player on the market.

If you have invested substantially in the iTunes music store, then an iPod of some kind is about your only option unless you want to re-encode your music in MP3 format (whichi is not hard but time consuming). No other player on the market works with the iTunes Music Store.

The "iPod's Dirty Secret" video is also flat-out wrong. My 5GB iPod still holds a charge for a week. The 15GB iPod gave me some grief early on, but I changed its battery for one of larger capacity on my own. I wouldn't recommend doing this for any but the most determined and careful hobbyist, but it is definitely possible to do (http://www.newertech.com/support). Apple lets you replace the batteries for $50 or so nowadays anyway, and there are lots of other companies out there who will be happy to replace your batteries should you need to.

(EDIT: One other thing about the Nano: apparently, you practically need kryptonite to break the things (http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/3).)

-- Ed/Ace

[Drachentöter]

How exactly can you put music onto iPods? Do you need a program from a computer? Can you take it directly from a CD?

And how can you program it? Do they have, like, playlist functions where you can set up a bunch of songs in the order you want to listen to them?
A CD with iTunes will come with your iPod if you don't have iTunes on your computer already. iTunes can search your hard drive for any and all music files and add them to your database or you can add folders one by one. So any music that's on your computer hard drive can be placed onto your iPod. You plug in the iPod through a USB port and your computer and iTunes will "recognize" it.

There are two settings for iPod music uploading. It can be "automatic," which means your iPod will automatically reflect your iTunes music library. Whatever songs appear in your library will upload/stay on your iPod. Any songs that you've removed from the library since last you plugged in your iPod will be automatically deleted.

I use the second option which is manual uploading. You click and drag music files onto the iPod icon or iPod playlist. To delete, you highlight the iPod icon, find your song, and delete with your mouse or keyboard. One thing that kind of bugs me is that you CANNOT delete or edit songs from your iPod interface. Everything has to be done through iTunes. All your iPod does is store and playback data you put into it. It's a sexy looking storage unit.

I have a 30GB iPod photo with about 1112 songs on it (almost 5GB). It's in full color and it cost about $350. I've never been interested in a mini and I'm not interested in the nano, because I have so many songs to upload now and for the future. I stupidly never got the case and after about dropping it about five times and rubbing it up against walls and such, it's really scratched and ugly-looking. But it's still my baby.

Is there anyway to replace a scratched iPod screen?

[Elven Moon]

I have a 4GB iPod Mini. I only have to charge it maybe once a week, and I have yet to fill it up all the way with songs. It's a cute little thing and I like it :)

[90'sCartoonMan]

Thanks for the info, VortexInfinite, I'm looking forward to getting one whenever I can afford it. And you guys heard Ace, buy Apple products!

[mookie75]

Thanks for the info, VortexInfinite, I'm looking forward to getting one whenever I can afford it. And you guys heard Ace, buy Apple products!
Well, I may go Apple for my iPod and iTunes, but as far as my computer and my computer gaming goes I'll continue to steer clear of Apple computers. I used them up until the beginning of college, but since then I've been a die hard non-Apple PC user (especially now that I've entered the wonderful world of building your own computers). :anime:

Thanks for the info on iPods though everyone. I'm leaning toward a Nano at this point. The shuffle seems almost TOO simplistic and a regular iPod would have waaaaay more storage space than I'll ever need.

Now I just need to part with the dollars. That's the funny thing about me: even when I know it's a good purchase and I have the money...it's still hard to part with any dollar amounts over 30 bucks or so. You should have seen my torment when I bought my first computer back in 1998. That was the biggest expense I had ever had up until that point in life. lol :sweat:

[Boy Wonder]

My Ipod has been running nice and clean lately.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Is there anyway to replace a scratched iPod screen?
A lot of iPod owners swear by Brasso metal polish to remove scratches, and someone else sells some gunk out there that is specifically aimed at fixing and polishing iPod screens.

There are vendors that sell parts that you can use to replace the screen, but the difficulty in the work involved and the ease with which you can break something internally would make this something to do if you're bored and don't mind possibly breaking other stuff in the iPod, IMO. You can also always bring it to an Apple Store if one is nearby to see how much it'll cost to replace a scratched up screen, but unless the scratches make the screen unreadable, I'm going to guess that the expense is not worth it.

For the record, Ace Recommends XtremeMac's leather iPod cases (http://www.xtrememac.com/ipodgear/leather_case.shtml) for all your carrying needs. It's got an awesome belt clip that won't drop your iPod by accident and is still easy to get on and off, and you get full access to all the ports and controls without having to take your iPod out of the case. For regular iPods, but they sell cases and armbands and such for Minis and Shuffles (and probably Nanos eventually) that look pretty good.

-- Ed/Ace

[atf487]

I think people don't really understand the shuffle. For instance, the mini was essentially made to just be a way for everyone to buy an mp3 player. They were small, and most people didn't have too big of collections to warrant spending 300 dollars. Personally, I don't really get the appeal of them. They aren't totally anti skip like flash based players, but dont hold a huge amount like the normal iPods. Back to the shuffle, it's not for someone who wants a hd player, obviously. It's to throw around at the gym, listen to on the bus, etc, and just forget about it. Or something to make a large mix with.

Also, with the larger iPods, they're just too expensive and if you dropped it, it could disrupt the hd. You can't be anything but careful with it, which for some people (like me) may be hard. With the shuffle, you're ok with treating it like crap. And the screen argument is sort of odd, it's a flash player, a screen is nice but not a necessity. Oh, and what's cool about the nano is that it also is flash memory, which explains the higher price. This means no skipping, ever. And it's overall an improvement over the mini; smaller, and more features.

Anyway, uh, for you, what are you going to use your mp3 player for? If you want to keep all your cds digitally in real cd quality, from now till a few years later, I'd suggest getting a 4th generation 20 gig iPod with a monochrome screen, they go for 230 on amazon now (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002OZXHO/ref=pd_ts_e_1/103-3715493-3600636?v=glance&s=electronics&n=493964), compared to a new 300 dollar 20 gig iPod with a color screen/pictures. If you want a mini, try to find a good deal on them, like on ebay or from a friend, because they're kind of overpriced for what you end up getting. Same with the nano, although they're damn cool.

Essentially it all comes down to price.

Oh, and if you don't care about having an iPod, you can get other mp3 players at better prices. I'd only get an iPod cause I love the AAC music format, but creative makes some good players, like the Creative Zen Touch (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00028DJTY/ref=pd_ts_etk_ce_av__4/103-3715493-3600636?v=glance&s=electronics&n=172630) that is 200 dollars, and holds 20 gigs also, which would fit all your cds for the price of a mini. Minis are like $180-220 or so depending on how big they are, the cheapest being 4 gigs, or 1/5 of the space of the two players I linked to.

Anyway, hope that helps.