The New Ipod

[Senator]

Well, I am going to go ahead and get one. The one thing I hate is buying something expensive, and then have it be totally obsolete in a few months, (such is the tech world), but I think I can make 7500 songs last a little while. Anyone have one? Reviews?

Here is the one I am getting - I don't have a PS2 or an Xbox because I don't have the time, so I can justify the cost.




$499.00

6.2 ounces
2.4 x 4.0 x .73 inches
Apple Earphones
AC Adapter
FireWire cable
PC FireWire adapter
Wired remote
Carrying case w/ belt clip
New iPod Dock

http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/2041/361/store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/specialproductimage.jpg

[ice4277]

I have one of the old ones a 10GB beauty, and it works great; I don't think mine is even filled to half capacity so there is plenty of room for expansion. The new ones are really cool because they are about half the weight of the old ones. The only negative I've heard about the new ones is that the software is not as good for Windows-based machines as the old software.

[Subby]

Can you hook iPod up to your stereo system?

Have you guys checked out iTunes? Does that work well? What is the selection like?

[ice4277]

The IPod I have only has a headphone jack, so there may be a way to do it but I'm not sure. From what I've heard iTunes is pretty good, you pay a buck a song, and they have a pretty good selection.

[Senator]

Subby,

I am the king of overkill research, so while doing so found this awesome 35 dollar gem.

iTrip (http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/itrip/index.html)

http://www.griffintechnology.com/images/products/prod_itrip_a.jpg

[Subby]

Originally posted by Senator
Subby,

I am the king of overkill research, so while doing so found this awesome 35 dollar gem. Very nice! Thanks guys!

[Radii]

I have the 30 gig iPod, and I absolutely love it. I'm going through the process of putting my entire CD collection on it, and so far I have 1900 songs on it. I expect to have 2500-3000 by the time I'm done. I also have a fair number of comedy albums, some Dennis Leary/Chris Rock/Lewis Black stuff that is an hour or two long, and I'll put those on there as well. I think I am going to have a VERY hard time filling this baby up.

I'm not sure about the software. I use MusicMatch to rip my CDs to mp3, and then I downloaded a free program called EphPod that I use to actually sync to the iPod.

http://www.ephpod.com

This program works great for me. I set up my "music root directory" and put all my music in folders underneath this. I use the "Sync and Quit" option and it makes sure my ipod has all the music underneath my music root dir. Extremely easy and it's been very reliable.

The earphones are solid, as is the carrying case, I enjoy both and don't plan on buying any accessories to replace them.

I did of course have to buy a PC Firewire card, I think I spent $40 on it. There were two available, and one of them the guy at CompUSA told me was getting returned a lot b/c of problems specifically using it with the iPod, so I got the other one... I can check the brand, etc, tonight that I got if you'd like.

One of the main reasons I wanted the iPod was for my monthly drives to my parents(7 hour drive), I don't want to have to flip thorugh my CD case 5 or 6 times for new CDs. The FM Transmitters currently available aren't so good according to everything I've read, but SUPPOSEDLY the iTrip(is that coming out today?! WOO) is much better, I will definitely be picking one up as soon as possible.

I think that's about it. I absolutely love mine, it was totally worth the price :)

[ice4277]

FYI...I have an FM adapter that came with this 'IPod Travel Kit' thing, and it sucks, I never really use it anymore. Hopefully iTrip will be better.

[Radii]

Originally posted by Subby
Can you hook iPod up to your stereo system?


If you have an auxillery input on your stereo, yes, it'll hook up directly(I'm not sure if you have to buy an additional cable for this or not). A friend of mine had a new stereo system installed in his car for this reason(he also wanted an XM ready stereo but that's a different story). If you don't have that, then the FM Transmitters such as the iTrip that Senator found is the way to go.

[Draft Dodger]

I won an iPod (15 GB) - getting it an a couple of weeks. This is the 2nd one I won, but the first one (a first gen model) went to my wife.

I'm pretty stoked - using a 6 GB Nomad right now which is ok, but I haven't changed the songs on it for a while, because I didn't want put Creative's buggy software back on my machine after my last reformat. Looking forward to replacing it.

[Easy Mac]

I'll take it off your hands for free :)

[cthomer5000]

so there is no standard headphone jack or audio output on an iPod?

[ice4277]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
so there is no standard headphone jack or audio output on an iPod?

There is a headphone jack and a firewire port but no line in/out capability.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by ice4277
There is a headphone jack and a firewire port but no line in/out capability.

well, headphone basically equals line out, since there is a million ways you can adapt that. All you need is a headphone to RCA and you can hook that up to a home stereo easily.

I guess the hooking it up in the car issue is only an issue for those without tape decks or auxillary inputs.

[Radii]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
I guess the hooking it up in the car issue is only an issue for those without tape decks or auxillary inputs.

That's me, and yeah, the tape deck thing works w/ the iPod.

[Hurst2112]

I used to have a second series 10GB ipod for a mac. I also bought the accesory pack for it which included:

A tape player adaptor
A Y cable for hooking up 2 sets of phones
An 8th inch to rca cable for hooking up to a home stereo.
A car charger that hooks up to the cigarette lighter and to the firewire port of the ipod

I forget what I paid for it but i got it off of apple's store site. It was around 30 dollars or so. A very good investment.

I was very pleased with the ipod. I am probably going to purchase another one soon.

I maxed out my storage with my library. I ripped all of my songs at 320 kbps (best quality itunes and musicmatch have i believe). This greatly reduces the amount of songs you can hold, but, I chose quality of mp3 over quantity. I can't stand listening to low resolution music. Even at 320 kbps, high frequencies sound crappy, fade outs and ins are stepped instead of smooth. Oh well.

By the way, anybody know how to gather cddb info for songs already in musicmatch? I can't figure out how to do it. In i tunes you just select all and if you are on the net, you choose "look up cddb info" in a menu. There isn't a like command in musicmatch that I am aware of. Any ideas?

[wbonnell]

I just picked up the Archos Jukebox Recorder the other day. 20GB hard drive, open source operating system (that interfaces with windows, linux, and mac), built in mic, and supposedly the best fidelity of the bunch. Oh, and it has a digital out to connect to my stereo system. All this for $199. Nice!


I do and always will prefer function over form.

[nilodor]

How is the ipod for running?

[wbonnell]

Just like any portable hard drive- not a good idea.

[nilodor]

That's what I thought. Anyone had any luck with any portable devices for running?