[AidenL]

Ok, as a total innocent in relation to this topic, I’d like to ask a few questions which no doubt the more knowledgeable among you will be able to answer straight away:

Here we go:

1. Is the Ipod the best solution for storing digital music on the move, or should any of the other options such as Creative Labs etc be considered? Does the Ipod still have the old ‘battery replacement after a finite period of time’ problem?

2. I understand music can be downloaded from the Net alright – what format does it download in, and is this directly transferable to the Ipod? There are different formats, which is the preferred one to use?

3. Regarding existing CD collections, I understand these can be transferred to the Ipod? What software is needed for this, is it free, or does it need to be purchased? Also, how long does it take to transfer music from a CD to an Ipod, and what format / data conversion needs to be applied?

4. What are the best official and free sites for downloading music from? I'm PC based, so I assume that rules out itunes?

5. I have a CD changer in my car – can I integrate an Ipod with the CD changer, or is the best solution to remove the changer, and go with an Icelink?

6. Buying an Ipod – what other cables etc are needed to effect transfer from / to a PC? I understand when you buy one, cables aren’t included?

7. Playlists - whats this? On transferring music over, do you have to type in the name of the album / artist / track and save as in folders on a PC ?

I understand some or all of these questions may have been asked and answered before, but I must admit, I find the whole thing a vast field of differing opinions, and just wanted to get a few direct answers to a few , what I assume will be simple questions to anyone who is familiar with the process.

Thanks in advance.

[Coopergeezer]

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

Ok, as a total innocent in relation to this topic, I’d like to ask a few questions which no doubt the more knowledgeable among you will be able to answer straight away:

Here we go:

1. Is the Ipod the best solution for storing digital music on the move, or should any of the other options such as Creative Labs etc be considered? Does the Ipod still have the old ‘battery replacement after a finite period of time’ problem?

2. I understand music can be downloaded from the Net alright – what format does it download in, and is this directly transferable to the Ipod? There are different formats, which is the preferred one to use?

3. Regarding existing CD collections, I understand these can be transferred to the Ipod? What software is needed for this, is it free, or does it need to be purchased? Also, how long does it take to transfer music from a CD to an Ipod, and what format / data conversion needs to be applied?

4. What are the best official and free sites for downloading music from? I'm PC based, so I assume that rules out itunes?

5. I have a CD changer in my car – can I integrate an Ipod with the CD changer, or is the best solution to remove the changer, and go with an Icelink?

6. Buying an Ipod – what other cables etc are needed to effect transfer from / to a PC? I understand when you buy one, cables aren’t included?

7. Playlists - whats this? On transferring music over, do you have to type in the name of the album / artist / track and save as in folders on a PC ?

I understand some or all of these questions may have been asked and answered before, but I must admit, I find the whole thing a vast field of differing opinions, and just wanted to get a few direct answers to a few , what I assume will be simple questions to anyone who is familiar with the process.

Thanks in advance.

I am no expert, but I have an Ipod and will attempt to answer your questions the best I can

1) I personally feel the Ipod is the best option, from all round weight to sound quality and ease of use. However, in terms of price, the Creative will give you more GB's of storage for your money. I decided to get the Ipod because it looked better, was lighter and smaller, and because I got a good deal on one in Canada.

With regard to the battery issue, as far as I know the issue was on early Ipods and is now resolved.

2) Well, most stuiff downloaded from the Web is MP3. Whilst the Ipods support this, there is better sound quality in AAC (Apples proprietry format), which sounds CD quality to me and you can't hear the compression. I tend to use ITunes (downloadable from Apples site), to encode my CD's into AAC format. It is quick and easy and when you plug your Ipod in, it will automatically synch with it.

3) As mentioned in question 2, you can use Itunes to do encodeing/transfer etc. If you have Firewire on your PC, you can transfer to th Ipod via this method. It is very quick and takes between 1 and 2 seconds to transfer a 4 minute song across.

4) I must admit, I don't tend to download any music as I just encode music I own.

5) Not sure on this one, I don't think you can use Ipod and CD Changer. I think it''s one or the otherr and you would need to remove the changer and use an adapter. There's an install guide in this months Go Mini.

6) Ideally you will need a PC with Firewire, and all the cables for this will be in the box. You can also charge the Ipod from the Firewire connection. If you don't have firewire, you can use USB 2.0,

7) If you have an Internet connection, Itunes will look up the name of the Cd when encoding and will automatically find the Artist, Song, year etc for you.

The playlists are for you to be able to make your own "compilations". For example, you may want to make up a compilation with all your favourite tracks on. So you just drag and drop all the tracks you want into a playlist instead of keep navigating to them manually. You can have loads of playlists, and they are really easy to set up.

I hope this helps

[Texy]

Another set of answers

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

Ok, as a total innocent in relation to this topic, I’d like to ask a few questions which no doubt the more knowledgeable among you will be able to answer straight away:

Here we go:

1. Is the Ipod the best solution for storing digital music on the move, or should any of the other options such as Creative Labs etc be considered? Does the Ipod still have the old ‘battery replacement after a finite period of time’ problem?

As he said.
As for the battery - nothing lasts for ever. The myth concerning the ipod battery also comes from the fact that it is not designed to be removable - ie you need to de-solder it before soldering in the new one. Definately do-able, and 3rd party companies offer a better battery at a better price than apple. Don't worry about it - it'll last for years with careful use.

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

2. I understand music can be downloaded from the Net alright – what format does it download in, and is this directly transferable to the Ipod? There are different formats, which is the preferred one to use?

MP3's are the most common and at a decent bitrate, you will not tell the difference between an mp3 and a cd - especially driving in you Mini.

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

3. Regarding existing CD collections, I understand these can be transferred to the Ipod? What software is needed for this, is it free, or does it need to be purchased? Also, how long does it take to transfer music from a CD to an Ipod, and what format / data conversion needs to be applied?

The software required is supplied free with the ipod, called itunes. This software will do all of your ipod maintainence, including ripping cd's, creating playlists, and transfering music to your ipod.

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

4. What are the best official and free sites for downloading music from? I'm PC based, so I assume that rules out itunes?

Never used any,so can't comment. Usually, if its free it aint worth having (waits for flames ).

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

5. I have a CD changer in my car – can I integrate an Ipod with the CD changer, or is the best solution to remove the changer, and go with an Icelink?

Can't comment.

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

6. Buying an Ipod – what other cables etc are needed to effect transfer from / to a PC? I understand when you buy one, cables aren’t included?

If you buy a brand new 4th generaqtion ipod, it will come with both usb and firewire cables.
If you buy a 3rd generation ipod it will come with a firewire cable, but you can buy a usb cable for extra.
Coopergeezer forgot to tell you that you CAN still use USB1.1, but it will be a bit slower than USB2.0,
for example an album would take a couple of minutes or so.

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

7. Playlists - whats this? On transferring music over, do you have to type in the name of the album / artist / track and save as in folders on a PC ?

What he said.
Note that prior to the new 4th gen ipod, you could only add to a single 'on the go' playfrom USING the ipod.
Itunes can make all the playlists you like.
With the new 4th gen ipod, you can make multiple newplaylists USING the ipod.

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

I understand some or all of these questions may have been asked and answered before, but I must admit, I find the whole thing a vast field of differing opinions, and just wanted to get a few direct answers to a few , what I assume will be simple questions to anyone who is familiar with the process.

Thanks in advance.

Hope this helps - the ipod will totally change the way you listen to music

Texy

[dinger]

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

5. I have a CD changer in my car – can I integrate an Ipod with the CD changer, or is the best solution to remove the changer, and go with an Icelink?

Aiden I'm sorry to have to say NO to the changer as I asked the same thing to Mikey and his recommendation was to go with the icelink.

[stryder]

There's a battery replacement program through Apple now. I think its still $99 to replace the battery. I suspect a similar thing exists around the world at different prices.

The best site (and only site) that really works with the iPod for legal songs is the itunes music store. Its integrated into iTunes, so if you download iTunes (which is free, and does work with an XP PC, so you should do that) you can browse around and see. The problem is, there's an itunes music store for the US, UK, France and Germany. I have no idea if you can get around this being in Ireland, one would think Euros are Euros, but there's always the legal problems. Check http://www.apple.com/itunes/ and see As mentioned earier, iTunes Music store (iTMS) songs are downloaded in an apple specific format called AAC. The iPod will play either MP3 or AAC files. AACs allow for the small amount of rights control required to sell legal songs. MP3s anyone can do anything with, and they were the first popular song format.

You can integrate an iPod using the Aux input and keep your changer, but you don't get full control over it. You just output to your head unit + control with the iPod. If you want one of the things (like the Ice link, or the BMW iPod link, when it shows up) I think you need to get rid of your changer, unless someone like mikeythemini has a switching solution.

Transferring songs is quick (if you have firewire or USB 2, its a matter of seconds to transfer 1 cd, or a few minutes to transfer a large amount). If you need to convert (known as ripping) your CDs to a format (either use MP3 or AAC, personal preference) it can take a while for each CD, since your computer needs to read all the data off the CD (650 megabytes) and compress it into the format. If you have a fast recent computer, its probably a few minutes for each CD.

Playlists are an organization tool. When you have 5000 songs, you don't want to scroll through them all the time, so you can organize them (through itunes) however you want, then you select the playlist, and have say 100 songs that your iPod goes through. The track information (names/artist/etc) is almost always automatically retrieved off the internet by iTunes, especially if you have normal CDs. If you try and convert the CD of your neighbor's Polka concert, you'll have to type in the names yourself, but if its a Beetles Album, it will be fine.

[AidenL]

Thanks for all the info guys, very comprehensive replies, and most helpful............

[Texy]

You must be an expert by now - I see your thread originally asking about mp3's 2 years ago!!

Texy

[AidenL]

Still, a fair bit changed in 2 years.........

[Mini_Blake]

One thing to note is that if you do have an older computer, you can buy a firewire card that will fit into a spare pci slot in the back of your computer for around £20. This is what I shall be doing.

[Rakey]

Do I sense a purchase Aiden?

Go on you won't regret it

In fact down loads Itunes now from the Apple site and start tranfering you music onto the PC, so you are all ready when you make the purchase and you can see how it sounds and what is available from Itunes store

[Texy]

[quote=Mini_Blake]One thing to note is that if you do have an older computer, you can buy a firewire card that will fit into a spare pci slot in the back of your computer for around £20. This is what I shall be doing.[/QUOTE
Or a USB2 card, which could be more usefull, but note that you don't have to have usb2.
In fact you can get a dual firewire/usb 2 card quite cheaply.

[Aqualung]

To add something on the battery life....the latest iPod announced a few weeks ago by Apple claims the longest battery length so far (but note that it's usually estimated at songs encoded at a very low bit rate, no equalizer, etc).

I have a 3rd gen from summer of '03 and what I have to do for long transatlantic flights is use my Belkin battery pack...this takes 4 AA batteries and usually adds 5-8 hours of listening pleasure.

In my MINI, I use the Belkin car charger...it supplies power to the iPod and charges it, but best of all, it provides a powered line out which I then plug right into my AUX input on the H/K. This is a "cleaner" signal than what comes out of the headphone jack on the top.

I think the BMW/iPod hookup mentioned above, and another one coming from Alpine in late Sept will also provide power, so the Belkin unit is extraneous.

Also, I think that iPods sold in the EU are sound level limited...if possible get one in the States, it will work fine in Europe. Or, perhaps, if you reflash the ROM on the iPod it will eliminate the limit. Sniff around http://www.ipodlounge.com for some great forums and assistance.

Some pics of my mounting are in my gallery as well...

[Rakey]

Go on Aiden, you too could have 4000 songs in your car

[AidenL]

Itunes doesn't sell in Ireland yet.............

[Rakey]

you just down load it for free from the apple site

[AidenL]

Yep, but they don't sell the music here yet............

[Rakey]

shame, oh well you can still use it to start storing your Riverdance CD's on the PC in readiness for the Ipod when you order it

[AidenL]

Yep, I must practice that again, that bugger Flatley stole my dance routine, fecker...........

[warped]

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL

Itunes doesn't sell in Ireland yet.............

I suspect that there are easy ways around that

Since iTMS is internet based the only way that they localise a purchaser is by the billing address of the credit card information required to establish an iTMS account (at that's how it worked for the US version of iTMS) ... I would imagine it wouldn't be too hard to get a credit card with a UK billing address in Ireland the issue gets a lot more complicated though when you're in Australia

[AprilWhine]

Aiden, I just bought an Ipod Mini and love it. Got the green one of course.

For a comprehensive list and review of music download sites, go to After Napster

If you need a US based credit card, the easiest way is to rent a Post Office box here, to get a US address. I know of retirees living abroad who do that.