Thinking about buying an iPod

[Styles 0]

Have shuffle songs turned on.. Music->Artists (choose your band here)->All (should be listed atop all that artist's albums)

 

Thanks, just had to go in to settings and see that option. This just makes me love this thing even more.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

If you absolutely MUST have OGG on your player, look up the Rio Karma. They aren't making new ones anymore, I don't think, as Rio appears to be in it's death throes and their site now shows a vastly shortened selection of players and perhaps a new owner (Denon?)

 

With the right extension, you can convert an OGG to AAC or MP3 in iTunes and then send it on to your iPod without leaving the program, but if you'rse an audio nerd who wants to play a real, genuine OGG file, you'll have to find Karma or that expensive multi-purpose iRiver.

 

Basically, OGG is a format for computer and sound geeks right now. It's not a real high priority on many players except a few players that are marketed towards computer and sound geeks. If you can give up the need to play them, your options go up exponentially.

[Styles 0]

OK, I'm pissed. I was almost out of space on my computer because of all the songs saved to iTunes. So I deleted them off my harddrive since they've already been copied from my CDs to my iPod. I got a new CD, and went to put that on my iPod and to my horror, because I apparently erased the songs off of iTunes, now they've been erased off my iPod too.

 

Now it looks like I have to go through the damn long process of copying my CDs all over again.

 

Now, this still leaves the problem, that I simply don't have enough room on my computer to be storing all these thousands of songs. Is there anyway to get around this? Do I have to have my complete collection on my iPod also on iTunes, lest they all be erased every time I just want to add one new CD?

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

IIRC, when you delete songs from your hard drive, they still show up on your iTunes library. Or, at least, that happened for a couple song files I deleted. Maybe just delete them from your hard drive, but not from your iTunes library? Would that work? Or would the same thing still happen? Maybe give that a try w/ 1 CD to see if it works.

[Guest Angrycole]

Just turn off the automatic updating and add songs manually. then they wont dissappear when you add new songs

[bobobrazil1984 0]

yeah. to set it to manual, right-click on the ipod icon in iTunes (when its plugged in) and go into options. The option should be right there. it doesn't auto-sync if you have to manual.

 

Right now i've been doing auto-sync but I'm getting close to filling up my harddrive so i'll end up switching to manual soon and deleting a buncha mp3s off my hard drive.

[Styles 0]

OK, so I guess I'll just have to start from scratch again. But, to make sure this doesn't happen again, if I switch to manual mode, I can delete the songs off my harddrive and it won't delete off the iPod when I plug it into the computer, correct? And what happens when I want to add a new CD? I assume I can manually drag the tracks to the iPod without losing my already saved songs?

[bobobrazil1984 0]

yeppers

[Guest Smues]

I've been looking at Ipods and I had a quick stupid question. I know the Ipods don't come with the dock connector. Do you need to buy the dock to use the Ipod? I can't imagine that being the actual case, but from looking at the ipod at apples website I can't see how you would connect your pc to it except via the dock.

[Styles 0]

No you don't need a dock. The iPod comes with a charger that plugs into a power outlet. The docker is most useful if you want to use the iPod with external speakers.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

iPod comes w/ an AC adapter, as well as a 1 USB and 1 Firewire cable to connect to your PC.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Now, this still leaves the problem, that I simply don't have enough room on my computer to be storing all these thousands of songs. Is there anyway to get around this? Do I have to have my complete collection on my iPod also on iTunes, lest they all be erased every time I just want to add one new CD?

That's part of the reason why iPods come in such large sizes (60GB!? Ye Gods!!!)

 

However, if your iPod isn't that big, a CD or DVD burner can help. You'll have to burn the MP3s to the CD/DVD as data files, though. Make especially sure of it if you're using a CD, since if you burn it as an audio CD you'll only have an hour or so max of music fit per disc, where as with a data disc you can fit about 700MB of files onto one CD.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

I've been looking at Ipods and I had a quick stupid question. I know the Ipods don't come with the dock connector. Do you need to buy the dock to use the Ipod? I can't imagine that being the actual case, but from looking at the ipod at apples website I can't see how you would connect your pc to it except via the dock.

The dock is nothing more than a cute way to stand the iPod up and show it off in a little holder. The same connection that connects the dock to the computer is the same connection that connects your iPod to your computer or Dock. So instead of having it in a little stand, you have it lying on something and wired directly to your machine.

 

Also, Apple is phasing out FireWire for the newest iPod models, as only the original iPod and it's U2 clone have the FireWire. The new Minis and Photos don't. This isn't really a problem since nobody really uses Firewire anymore except for people with older Macs.

[Styles 0]

Jobber, I have a 30G which is plenty of room, I'm just saying I don't want to store the same list of songs on my hard drive too and after I erased them from my harddrive, as soon as I plugged in the iPod to add a new CD, I realised all my songs were erased off the iPod too. I'm turning it to manual mode which will hopefully correct the problem (well after I spend days reloading all my CDs again...)

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Yes, turning AutoSync off will certainly help files from being inadvertantly deleted. I was talking about solving your full hard drive issue, though. One option is to throw all your favorite songs onto the iPod and take them off your computer or put them on a CD. When you hook your iPod up to your computer, you can play songs on it through your computer.

[pochorenella 0]

I've been reading this whole thread since I'm also at the crossroads or either getting an Ipod mini 6GB for $236 at amazon.com or a Creative Zen Micro 5GB for $200. The Ipod seems the favorite around here, although I've never been an Apple user in my life, and the $0.99 cents a song thingie doesn't sound that good. The other is $30 cheaper, has a longer-lasting battery, seems more PC-friendly(?) and supports WMA. How's WMA compared to AAC in terms of sound quality, bitrate size, etc?

Either way I have to make up my mind this week. So, a little final input from you guys, helping me make my final decision? Thanks.

[Mike 0]

First, apple is a first class company with first class products, so you are paying extra for that. Their products seem like a genius engineered them, compared to other companies its some kid or person in a 3rd world country sometimes.

From personal experience, with me owning an iPod, and have for sometime now, and also owning an Photo and a 4th Gen Mini, have found their battery life is quite accurate compared to their competitors. I would find someone who has the other product and see what they think of the battery life.

 

Second, Apple has the NICEST and EASIEST interfaces, I seriously think they design stuff for handicapped people sometime, because compared to learning windows, I think a newborn could figure it out in a few days!

 

Third, DO NOT USE WMA, I personally prefer MP3 or the AAC from apple is nice too. WMA promises the same quality at half the bit rate, but as most people know Microsoft. When they say, "Seriously, Windows XP is really secure, especially using Internet Explorer..." I often times wonder what they actually use in their labs to lock down their source code besides a sheet of paper in a vault.

 

Forth, Apple has this things called "Apple Care", their warranty is great, if anything goes wrong their policy is, "Here is a new one, sorry for the problem." From personal experience, I dropped my iPod, and tried taking it apart to see if I could fix it, which actually destroyed the audio jack plug in the process. Popped it back together and took it in anyways, approx 1½ months AFTER warranty expired. Yes, I actually left the store with a NEW (Refurbished Probably) iPod!

 

Last, This is a somewhat biased opinion leaning toward apple, but I think ANY apple product owner would probably agree with me.

 

 

Go for the iPod MINI! If we are lucky, the google ad words will pick up iPod and you can maybe find a cheaper place to purchase the iPod through.

[Mystery Eskimo 0]

Yeah, I had to change an ipod twice and each time Apple sent me a new one quickly with no questions asked. Useful as the 2nd time I broke the ipod it was my own fault.

[Styles 0]

OK- surely someone knows of a good way to get scratches out. I stupidly had it in my pocket with I'd guess my keys rubbing against it and now there's a small, but noticable spot of like several small but deep scratches clumped together (so it looks like there's something wrong with the pixels on that part of the screen but if you run a finger nail over it and look closely its actually many little scratches). I've tried rubbing it out with various glass cleaners with no luck. I've heard brasso is effective but haven't got any. Any suggestions?

[pochorenella 0]

Just so you guys know, I finally decided on an Ipod and I just bought it from the amazon.com Marketplace for $215 including shipping, which I think is a pretty sweet price for the 6GB model. Hopefully it'll get to me in a few days so I can start downloading music to it right away and stop listening to the crap they play at my gym. Thanks for all the advice.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

From personal experience, I dropped my iPod, and tried taking it apart to see if I could fix it, which actually destroyed the audio jack plug in the process. Popped it back together and took it in anyways, approx 1½ months AFTER warranty expired. Yes, I actually left the store with a NEW (Refurbished Probably) iPod!

Just for future reference, fucking up your own hardware is not a valid reason for a repair or replacement, under warranty or no.

[Slayer 0]

OK- surely someone knows of a good way to get scratches out.

Get a protective cover

[yankovic fan 0]

On the subject of WMAs.... When I rip my CDs to my computer, they are always saving as WMAs.

 

Is this a byproduct of using Windows Media player for ripping? Would a different program rip them as MP3 ?

 

I just bought an IPOD, and the constant "converting file" thing for WMA is time consuming.

[Guest Smues]

On the subject of WMAs.... When I rip my CDs to my computer, they are always saving as WMAs.

 

Is this a byproduct of using Windows Media player for ripping? Would a different program rip them as MP3 ?

 

I just bought an IPOD, and the constant "converting file" thing for WMA is time consuming.

 

Use itunes and set it to rip as mp3.

[AndrewTS 0]

That's not bad for a new model, although you can get refurbs from the online apple store (under the Special Deals section in apple.com/store), and you can find stuff like a 20 gig for $170, and it comes with a 1 year warranty.

 

I did tech for iPods for a few months, and that replacement seemed to be total luck. Out of Warranty means out of warranty, and without an APP Apple typically won't do anything unless it's simply a battery replacement.

 

"surely someone knows of a good way to get scratches out. "

 

GIYF-

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ipod+scratch+removal

[Hoff 0]

If you get an iPod mini, make sure you properly charge your battery or it'll go south. Also, DON'T RUN WIHT YOUR IPOD. Except Nanos. Run with those all you want to.

[AndrewTS 0]

Nanos and Shuffles are both flash-based, unlike every other iPod, which are hard-drive based.

 

Don't rapidly skip through tracks, either. The cache on harddrive based models can only hold about 23 minutes of music at a time. Rapidly skipping tracks can cause hard drive spin-up and kill it sooner.

 

If you have a Nano, do not charge it while it is in a casing. That seems to be the reason that the screens are blowing out--it's overheating.

Apple will replace nanos that have the screens blow out (when the screens have dark black markings under the screen and are unusable), for the time being at least.

[Guest Coffey]

I have a 30 gig video iPod. I've yet to use the video feature. Also, it's a hassle to use as a storage device. For example, it's easy to put songs onto the iPod, however it's a struggle and you have to use alternative programs to get the songs back onto your computer thanks to anti-piracy.

 

It's still better than a CD player though.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

I have an ipod but i dropped it the screen is broken and i have to memorize the menus to navigate through them .

[JJMc 0]

If you get an iPod mini, make sure you properly charge your battery or it'll go south. Also, DON'T RUN WIHT YOUR IPOD. Except Nanos. Run with those all you want to.

 

 

I wish I would have known that. I run with mine quite a bit and depending on where I clip it, it will stop right in the middle of a song and go back to the main menu. But, what can you do?