The Whole iPod Thing

[cct1]

Ipod all the way. Don't know what problems one of the above posters had with Itunes; Itunes is fantastic--you can micromanage your music incredibly well. And the Itunes music store is pretty darned cool too.

Personally, I think you have to be a bit careful with the HD based ipods--currently the 30 and 60 GB versions. They are HD based, and if you're taking with you out and about, are somewhat fragile. Unless you need video, I'd stay away from these. The smaller nano's, however, are flash based, and should hold up very well over time (no moving parts). There is a rumor that the nano's capacity memory may increase substantially in the near future (as high as 10 GB total) but these things are highly unpredictable. With Itune's flexibility, you can get by just fine with a smaller player--although I'd recommend the largest capacity nano you can afford; it makes life a little easier.

If you're a music lover and you get an ipod, you'll be wondering how you ever got along without one--it's that big of a deal.

[RobinofOakley]

Personally I like the playlists, I can create soundtracks fo the car.

Don't really care about not being able to see the screen or having to concentrate on the iPod screen to select what you want as I would probably hit a tree before long, wanting to hear track 5 from Radioheads the Bends or maybe I want to listen to Paranoid Android no hell i want cre....... crash

My biggest problem with the iPod is the self scratching plastic surface. Seriously mine has only ever been in a case in my pocket or glovebox or sat on a desk and it's scratched to hell.

[irrationalcat]

Quote: Originally Posted by cct1

Personally, I think you have to be a bit careful with the HD based ipods--currently the 30 and 60 GB versions. They are HD based, and if you're taking with you out and about, are somewhat fragile.

Not as much as you might think - I had a 10gb 2Gen and I dropped it many times, kicking it across the parking lot on one occasion, and you would never know it. I used that thing for better than 3 years (on the first battery, btw) before upgrading to a Nano. The only real reason I upgraded was cause the Nano was cool, and I am a geek. My parents now use my old one.

Quote: Originally Posted by RobinofOakley

My biggest problem with the iPod is the self scratching plastic surface.

I actually use the Write Right screen covers - designed for the PalmPilot or other PDA and have wrapped my screen and chrome back with them. When it gets dinged up, I peel it off and the iPod is scratch free, and apply a new one. Works great.

Teri

[Olly.]

Have ever sat in the car thinking of a song you would like to hear but didn't have that particular CD with you? The iPod eliminates all of that, you have every song you own sat in your car

I have upgraded from a 4th generation iPod to the latest Video iPod. Apart from how cool the video is, there is a marked improvement in sound quality, so try and get the latest one. Also you can buy radio remote so you can listen to FM radio on your iPod in case you run out of your own music

It works really well in the car. Mine is wired in using the Alpine connector to my Alpine headunit. With this solution you control it all through the stereo rather than the iPod, one advantage to this is you can lock the iPod away so it isn't noticeable to thieves. One disadvantage is that it can take a while to select through your music list. You soon get used to it though.

By far and away the best piece of technology I have ever bought

[GBMINI]

I have an iPod / iTunes question - when you rip music from a CD to the iPod through iTurnes, does it "volume level" the music? Or do you get variations of loud and quiet when switching from one CD to another?

I have a 20GB Kenwood Keg right now and it's great to have all my music available - but after ripping I have to use another utility to level the volumes between different CDs so it's not too shocking when going from one track to another in random play.

[mikeythemini]

I love my ipod - only a Mini one (full) so getting a video one next
In he car I normally just hit random if I don't like what I hear I just hit track up on the mfsw
For the house I have pre ordered the new griffin home dock - it links to the hi fi & the TV, you can browse the ipod via remote control on the TV screen while the music comes from your TV or hi-fi , it will even play videos from the video ipod's. It also has wifi so you can browse internet radio.

[DeadCanDanceR]

A friend of mine got one of the new 60GB iPods and gave me his two-year old 10GB iPod. When the iPod craze started I wasn't too sure about getting one, but now after four months of using this old one, I have to say that I really love it, even though I am able to store only a fraction of my music collection there!

I had plans to buy a 60GB iPod too, but after loading all of my CDs (58GBs) on my iTunes I realized that I'll wait for a higher capacity iPod to come out so that I'm able to store all of my music there! I really like the idea of being able to listen whatever I want from my music collection, wherever I go, whenever I want! I remember going on vacation and taking a bunch of CDs with me, only to find me longing for the ones that I had left at home! I don't want that ever to happen to me again!

My friend also gave me his iTrip adaptor. It works fine, although I use it mainly for long road trips. The sound quality is not fantastic, but I really don't care that much about having outstanding sound quality while driving. As for everyday city driving I prefer to play any of the MP3 discs that I've recorded to be played exclusively on my MINI.

I've also found that the iPod is quite handy at home. If I will have guests for dinner or a party, I simply prepare a couple of playlists with a good variety of music (depending on the mood and the guests), then I plug my iPod to my home stereo and voilá, I stop worrying about changing CDs (or about careless guests messing around with my CDs or my stereo).

Battery life is a problem with all current (and previous) iPods. I just hope that Apple will do something about it when they come up with the next generation (60GB+) iPod. And I hope that happens soon!

[cct1]

Quote: Originally Posted by irrationalcat

Not as much as you might think - I had a 10gb 2Gen and I dropped it many times, kicking it across the parking lot on one occasion, and you would never know it. I used that thing for better than 3 years (on the first battery, btw) before upgrading to a Nano. The only real reason I upgraded was cause the Nano was cool, and I am a geek. My parents now use my old one.



Teri

You were lucky, very lucky. If you drop a HD ipod with the HD spinning, it's gone. The nano, with it 's flash based memory, is a better option for frequent moving about. The 60 or 30 gb ipods need much more TLC--and while they are portable, you need to be careful with them.

[cct1]

Quote: Originally Posted by GBMINI

I have an iPod / iTunes question - when you rip music from a CD to the iPod through iTurnes, does it "volume level" the music? Or do you get variations of loud and quiet when switching from one CD to another?

The answer is yes, sort of. You do have the option to volume level--and it works pretty well, but it's not perfect. You still get variations here and there, but they aren't usually bad enough that you actually have to change the volume.

[k m s]

Mine stays in the car all the time, I've got a 4GB Nano which has about 3.5GB on it at the moment. I love it for the car, being able to flick through all those albums without having CDs everywhere is brilliant I find

And having the artist/trackname up on the display is cool as feck

[SiBradbury]

Having a 30Gb iPod and having ALL my music with me wherever I go is great! Its the ultimate convenience. Not a single CD in my car, just 3023 songs in a little holder plugged into the back of my car radio.

I have rarely plugged headphones into my iPod, maybe just a handful of times, I use it almost exclusively in my car and even with this in mind it is money well spent! And its cool to store your pics on too!

The only downside I can come up with is that if your connection to your headunit is such that you control your ipod via the ipod conrtrols, and not via the headunit as some aftermarket units (Alpine etc) allow you to, the controls are a little sensitive to work in a moving vehicle, even for a passenger. But I can totally live with that!

[SiBradbury]

Autoleads do a lead which will charge your iPod and plugs into the CD Changer plug on the back of your head unit.

ps, iTunes is so easy to use, it's like Fisher Price. I've even got my mum using it and she can't even set the video to record stuff!

[AdirondacksRob]

I have the 30 Gb Video iPod and I absolutely love it. If I had the money to do so, I would buy one for everyone of my friends and family.

I have it nearly full and I trade out music every so often (I have about 70 Gb of music total) so that it keeps pretty fresh.

At home, I listen to while I'm cleaning the house or mowing or anything really.

In the car, my only option at this point is via a monster FM transmitter...while I do so enjoy my music in the car, the quality is not great all the time.

But why an iPod? Simple, no other MP3 player (that I know of) has as many accessories made for it. Car manufacturers making factory stereos just so one can hook their iPod to it??!! Awesome! Product after product is being tailor made to fit ones life around the iPod.

Brilliant!

[BIGMINIBAZ]

I've a 30gb ipod video linked with the factory adapter. I have it as load as my speakers and ears can tolerate without problem and can even control it from my steering wheel, volume, track control and all. I'm not really sure how it does this but it does! I have to connect it with the radio turned on and the ipod turned off. Only thing is it's full now! so musical much choice!!!!!

[MarcusCT]

My ITunes analyzes the song volume after importing music to ensure that all music is the same level. I think there is an option in ITunes to set this up.