iPod-dery

[maytagbear]

Well. My sister has given me an iPod for Christmas.

I'm very lucky, though I would have preferred a digicam of comparable value. Oh, well.

Haven't opened it yet, saving it (and my AW things for Christmas Day...thank you, though, Ben!)

Anyway, she included a card for the iTunes store.... and one of those very cool AppleStore bags.....

No idea which model it is, I am hoping it's the red one, but time will tell!

My guess is that she thought it would be easier to use on the bus than my Philips CD portable. I don't currently drive, so I am on the bus a lot.

Anyway, I have some questions for those of you with iPods, and I know some of you here have them.

1) Do you have the protective aftermarket "skin" on yours?

2) Most of what you have in yours...is it from iTunes, or from your cd collection (or library, or friends?)

3) Has it ever crashed so badly the files couldn't be salvaged at all?

4) What's the battery life like? I have nickel metal hydride (NiMh) rechargables in my portable cd player, and get more than 30 hours when they are freshly charged.

5)-JOKING, JOKING-- I'm still on dialup here. When I do use iTunes, could I use your connection?

Thanks,

Love and laughter.....

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[petek]

I certainly can't help you LOL I've seen them in stores and fiddled around but I just never got into walkmans, discmans etc. I still prefer the full rich sound of a good stereo sitting in a comfy chair here at home. Which btw is what I did last night.. I de-packed all my stereo stuff, set up the speakers, wired it all together, on the floor mind you cause I don't have a stand at the moment and sat and listened to all my Verve cd's. My niece tells me that both her kids want an I-Pod for Christmas. Well they're gonna be here Xmas day and my stereo is gonna blow my newphew away when he hears it. I don't think he's ever heard tunes from an excellent stereo and high end speakers. (even though they are nearly 30 years old now lol)

 

[hydralique]

30 year old equipment . . .

Nothing wrong with old stuff! I recently discovered audiokarma.org from a link here and have really enjoyed it, lots of info on older electronics.

I hope you have my favorite Christmas album of all time, "Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas". It's on Verve, recorded in the summer of '60. What a great album, with Ella backed up by Nelson Riddle ripping her way through Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, and all the other classic American Christmas songs.

One thing about Verve, though, regardless of the particular album it's probably pretty good, 'cuz they just didn't issue bad stuff!

 

[petek]

oh geeze here we're hijacking Lawrences thread LOL
Love Ella, love Sarah and maybe most of all I love Dinah Washington.

 

[frigilux]

Lawrence, once you get going with your iPod you're going to love it!

I bought mine thinking it was an extravagant little toy; Now it goes everywhere with me. Depending on the model, you can walk around with your whole CD collection on it!

I imported many of my CDs onto iTunes and have also purchased a fair number of albums from the iTunes store. But watch out, it's so convenient you'll wind up maxxing out your credit card---I know this from experience, LOL.

I have a rubber 'skin' for mine, but I usually just keep it in the little 'sock' it came with. Mine came with a plastic film over the front of it. I cut mine so the screen is still covered with it. Keeps the screen from getting scratched.

Again, depending on which iPod you have, you can buy a little accessory called an iTrip, which allows your iPod to be played through any FM radio---in a car, through a boombox, etc. I even play mine through the clock radio in hotel rooms.

Let us know which model you have. What a great Christmas gift!

 

[exploder321]

I want an Ipod, but not sure of model etc.

 

[frigilux]

Chad--- Get a video iPod. I don't have a lot of video content on mine, but it's nice to have that option. I have a 60 gig video model. It has 9,985 songs on it and a few videos and TV shows. Haven't bought a movie at iTunes, yet. Anyway, I still have 17 gigs free, which is nice.

The new high-capacity model is an 80-gig. I highly recommend it if you plan to buy movies. You'll have plenty of space.

I used to have a 20 gig model and I filled it up in no time. It's always better to have more capacity than you'll need.

By the way, you'd better pin a medal of honor on Jason since he didn't get scared during his tour of AW, LOL! We're all used to each other, but it can be quite an unsettling experience for the uninitiated.

 

[mixedup]

1. Yes, I've got the Invisible Shield on my 30 gig video iPod.
2. My content is from my CD collection and allofmp3.com. iTunes is too expensive.
3. It has never crashed or malfunctioned in any way.
4. the battery life on mine is about 8 hours, but I use mine while in charging cradles most of the time. (I have a dock connected to the home stereo, it charges while in that. At work I take my Altec Lansing InMotion speakers, which also charge the iPod.

Virginia

 

[exploder321]

Jason was quite facinated.. I found a man who isn't utterly disturbed by washer videos etc...

I am going to look into.. Finances don't permit me to spend oodles and oodles on things right now, but in a few months i might get one..

 

[jonv112]

I have a 1GB shuffle, an 80GB iPod(thats the correct way to capitalize it) video, and I had a 4GB nano. All of them met their expected battery lives, and the shuffle even exceeded by 1.5 hours. The new iPod shuffles/nanos come in a smaller packaging, which is about half the size of a CD box, but thicker, and the iPod video comes in a CD-sized box about 2-3 cm thick. If it's from the Apple Store, it could be a red nano, since only Apple distributes them exclusively.

I started by adding my current CDs into my iTunes library, then added from then on. If you have the patience, the iTunes store offers free music every week, tons of free Podcasts, and the pilot episodes of the hot TV shows for free, so check that out as well. I used about 30GB of my 80GB capacity, but I still have a ton of TV shows and movies to put on it still.

If your iPod ever does crash, you can reset, or restore it. If it's beyond the point of help, bring it to ANY Apple Store nationwide, book an appointment with the Genius Bar, then you may be able to walk out with a brand new iPod the same day.

I use hard cases for my iPod video and shuffle. I don't really like fiddling with the skins much, and I still like the feel or holding something solid in my hand. There are also a TON of accessories out there exclusively for the iPod, like cases, speakers, microphones, docks, remotes, camera connectors, and more, so you can be free to make it your own.

Chad: Depending on how much music you have or listen too, its mainly up to you. The shuffle is great for beginner users with less than 240 songs that they actually listen to.

The nano adds the flexibility of individual playlists, photos, Podcasts, and a screen for looking at what you want. It can store up to 2000 songs, depending on your library.

The iPod video is great if you have a ton of music, or alot of videos. I don't really use the video alot, but it's a nice feature to have if you are really bored.

HTH!

 

[Cybrvanr]

iPod tips

Here are some tips to get you the most longivety and performance out of your iPod:

-When you make CD's from your own collection, use 192 bit rate. Yes, at this bit rate you will store a little bit fewer minutes of music, but the fidelity is considerably better. At this bit rate, there are almost no compression artifacts in the music. Music downloaded from i-tunes are typically at 128 bit rate, so don't stop buying CD's.

-iPods have great fidelity. Go to Radio Shack or any other electronics shop, and buy a stereo Y-cable that has RCA plugs on one end, and the mini headphone plug on the other. This will allow you to connect your ipod's headphone out to your full-size stereo and really enjoy it at home. Better yet, buy a charging stand that has a line out to connect to your stereo too! Yes, there are i-pod docking stations with speakers but they still don't exploit their full sound capabilities

-Ditch the included headphones. The little white ear buds that come with them SUCK! Spend a minimum of $20 on a good set of headphones. I prefer the Radio Shack Pro 25's that are made by Koss on mine, but there are many other types and styles from earbuds, to the old style headband type, to the fullsize "cans". If you really want to splurge, I've heard the Bose QuietComfort headphones are excellent with iPods.

-From a security standpoint, a set of bigger, old-school looking headphones are better too, because a crook will think you are listening to an old cassette player or something, and not an iPod, plus they will sound better and be more comfortable than the stupid earbuds.

-Get a leatherette carrying case. This will allow you to clip it to your belt, and it will absorb some shock if you end up dropping it. Shuffles and nanos that don't have hard drives are the most durable because they don't have any moving parts.

NEVER deep-cycle your battery. Lithium ion batteries are not like NiCad batteries, they are more like the lead-acid batteries in cars, and will last the longest the less you cycle them. Recharge your iPod immeditely whenever you get an opportunity to maintain maximum battery longivety.

- There's really no need to import EVERY song on your CD collection...that is unless you enjoy every single song on every single CD. I imagine however that there are some unappealing songs on many of your CD's. Just don't copy those over. This will not only save space, but it's more enjoyable when you put your iPod into shuffle mode. It's also good if you just want to let it play, it will require less attention to find a song you enjoy.

This past weekend, I had my ipod shuffle connected up to my high-end AdCom, and my Crown Macro-tech amp. It powers a set of 15 inch Cerwin-Vega speakers. The fidelity is incredible with CD's. Playing 192 bit rate MP3's on this system sounds INCREDIBLE!!! What is so ironic about this combination is that the signal source barely weights a fraction of an ounce, but it's playing through an amp that weighs in at 40 pounds, and a set of speakers that weigh about 50 pounds each!!! You can't beat classic, old-school HiFi stereo gear though!

 

[exploder321]

Oh heavens... I would only need 100 or so songs..The little cheesy 512mg bit thing i got from napster free works well enough on that aspect... I wouldn't wanna watch videos on it either (i am not a movie person, only if its of adult content)..

The shuffle feature i would like, but not worth paying huge money for

 

[petek]

I don't think I'd have any use for anything that held more than say 100 and that's being generous. I have perhaps 40 CD's and out of those I may play 10 of them on a very irregular basis..the rest seldom ever. Most CD's I've bought for perhaps 1 or 2 songs at the most, the other cuts I skip so I certainly wouldn't record them over. Can't stand videos either.. don't even own a DVD so there's no way in H I'm gonna watch anything on a 1 inch screen..lol
Geeze I sound like an ornery old cuss LOL

 

[whirlcool]

Clarification please...

Doesn't the Ipod only play MP3 format sound? And the spec for that is something like 100-14K Hz. Not exactly high fidelity. But maybe someone here knows more about the Ipod than I do. I certainly like the way they look and the convenience of them. Fly on any airplane and walk thru the passenger cabin and see how many people are playing/listening to Ipods at any given moment. It's amazing!

 

[Cybrvanr]

Here's a good site where a person has run some fidelity tests using the various enconding formats and bit rates. Using the 128 bit rate, frequency response falls off just like you mention, but using higher bit rates will get you response up to 20Khz. This is one of the many reasons I recommend using a higher bit rate

MP3' Tech - Tests

 

[mixedup]

Clarification

The audio formats supported by the iPod from Apple.com:
AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV

Virginia

iPod touch - Official Apple Support

Learn how to set up and use your iPod touch. Find all the topics, resources, and contact options you need for your iPod touch.

www.apple.com

 

[frigilux]

I don't watch videos on my iPod screen---I generally run it to the computer or the TV. There's a new portable iPod video player that's calling my name. It looks like a portable DVD player but uses the iPod as its source. I think it's $159 at Sam's Club.

I noticed the compression when I first started using my iPod, but I also remember noticing that when I first started buying CD replacements for albums I'd listened to on vinyl records for years. I got used to the sound of CDs. Now that I never touch my CDs anymore, I can't say the additional compression of AAC bothers me at all. I don't use my full-size stereo system much anymore, either. I have 2 Bose Sound Decks in the house and use those. They have great sound quality if you're just trying to fill a room and not the whole house.

I rarely use headphones with my iPod----sometimes when I'm out for a walk, but that's about it. I already have tinnitus issues from many years of playing in rock bands so I'm much more careful about volume than I used to be.

Bottom line, I chose to just adapt to the sound of AAC (a casual listener will probably not even notice the difference) and gain the extra space on the iPod. It would bother me more if the CDs I imported sounded different (and by that I mean better) than the music I purchased from iTunes.

 

[scott55405]

Guess I better do some more research into all this. I've got mega gift cards here and kind of want to get one, but what's all this skins and socks and cases and invisible shields. Gah. Sounds like I'll be spending another time the amount of the unit on extras?

I want it for walking, on the plane, in the car for occasional long trips (can connect by cord to my Alpine stereo) and maybe the gym if I can figure out a way to not have it always getting in the way or falling, etc. The gym has satellite radio, but it is so repetitive that I think I hear the same song at the exact same time every afternoon! LOL

Whirlcool, why does your thing say Lake Forest, IL. I thought you live in TX. You're going in the WRONG direction!

 

[jonv112]

I encode all of my music a 128kb AAC, and it sounds fine to me, but then again, I'm not a audiophile. The old iconic headphones sounded muffled compared to the new redesigned ones that came with my 80GB iPod, and the old ones sounded pretty good to begin with.

HTH