Hello all ...... I'm afraid that I know nothing about IPODs but I have decided to get my hubby one as he is going through a horrible time in hospital at the moment. Any advice on the best one to get?

Also (and yes I know this is a dumb question but please bear with me - not thinking too logically at the moment) - IPODs are compatible from one country to another aren't they??

J

I think it depends on what you want to use your ipod for. I have the nano that holds 1000 songs. Its smaller that the normal ipod so easier to carry around with you. I would suggest a nano if you don't need more than 1000 songs. Some of them can hold photos, music and play videos.

The larger the iPod the more songs you can, spend hours downloading to your computer to, put on it. I believe the new iPod's do not come with a mains charger so have to be charged via USB or firewire/IEEE1934 port on a computer. The power supply is available as an optional extra and it is multi-voltage so with the right adapter should work anywhere in the world.

Dozzzzy

I've had an iPod for over a year and I still don't know anything about iPods. Well no, SirTainly (who doesn't post here much anymore) tried to explain to me how there's a hard drive in them as opposed to something else... which I can't recall . Ok, I should shuddup because I really have no clue.

My iPod has a 20 GB capacity and looking on the iTunes info thingy that you use with it on your computer, I've used just over 5 GBs, or a quarter of the space, 1181 songs. I mainly use it when I'm working out or veggin' out - so it only has two types of music on it really. But honestly I don't think I'd need much more than 20 GBs.

I took mine to Canada last year and with an adaptor, it worked/charged up fine... though I mainly charge it up via my computer.

And don't set the language to Korean characters! I thought that would look cool but... duuuuh! Sometimes I don't understand why I do certain things.

There are other (cheaper but just as good/better) alternatives to iPod as well. Apple have brainwashed us all into thinking theirs are the only MP3 players on the market!
In truth, while it looks and sounds great you can get more for your money (and I hear the battery life on iPods is still suffering - but maybe someone who owns one can disprove that).

I've got a Creative Zen Xtra which still after 2 years gives me 14-15 hours playing time/battery life on a single charge. I just upgraded the hard-drive from 40 to 60 gig as well cos I ran out of space. They don't do the Xtra any more though I think but it's fantastic, if a little bulky. Currently up to 7,000 tracks with 25GB left!!!

Here are some alternatives on Amazon:
Creative Zen Touch 20GB
Sony NWA3000B 20GB
Creative Zen Sleek 20GB
or at the expensive end of the market, this i-River is a belter

I was wondering!
I have a similar dillema!... My 15 year old son has told me he would still prefer a MP3 with USB. While my daughter would love a IPOD. There is a bit of a teenage discussion in the home right now as my son seems to think that the ITunes site brings in alot of viruses. I would not have a clue about any of this or if he is correct.
He said you can buy a MP3 that you can download from anywhere and not just this itunes site.
help please? this is mind boggling for a humble women. (just needed to stroke the guys ego's)
Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

If you feel very brave - it might be a good idea to start this thread in the Lounge - lots of people there with considerable knowledge that may be able to help you!

There is also a thread called "ask bob". Bob is very knowledgeable and very helpful!

I've just got my 3rd one the other day, can't help myself! 3rd gen 20 Gb, 4 Gb pink Mini and now a white 60 Gb video iPod.

No probs with charging, all Apple stuff has been dual voltage since day 1 You don't get a charger or dock anymore but if you have old chargers and docks, they work just fine. Also no more Firewire Apple wanted to keep the cost down and since they have so many PC iPod users, it didn't make sense to keep doing Firewire. If your computer hasn't got USB 2.0 it'll be slow to transfer but still do-able.

The video is a nice feature but it's painfully slo-o-o-w to convert video to the iPod suitable format (slightly over 2hrs to convert a 45min TV show). The screen isn't bad at all, I've watched a few TV shows and home videos and it's fine. You can also store photos too although I haven't transferred any.

Accessories that used the old "remote" port no longer work...such as the Apple headphones remote and FM transmitters for the car. That's irritating but no doubt there will be plenty accessories available soon.

I've just got the Altec Lansing speakers as my stereo hasn't worked since it arrived in Canada, and they're not bad at all - again, dual voltage and they even come with euro/north american/UK adaptor.

Anyway, happy shopping. http://www.iLounge.com/ is a great place for help and reviews.

Sympathy from someone who had to look up the menu steps on the internet so she could get it back to English...

Older ipods did both USB and Firewire, newer ones just do USB, looks like Apple is killing off Firewire not sure why. It was a lot faster that USB 1.0 or 1.1, but slower than USB 2.0. 40meg/sec as opposed to 48meg/sec. The newer Firewire standard up'ed the speed to 80meg/sec, all under optimum conditions.

I don't know off any problems with itunes apart from the DMR the use to encode the suff you by from there in an attempt to stop the illegal trade in music, but as with anything time and perserveriance can get round most of it.

MP3's are obtainable from many locations, both legal and illegal. All the legal sites have some form of DRM that will try to stop you from sharing the tracks with out some effort and charge some where from 70c to over a dollar per track, the illegal sites will still ship music in MP3 format, and many others that can be a pain to convert to the format your MP3 player understands, but if you get caught downloading or worse uploading you could find your self on the wrong end of a law suit by the music copyright owners. There is something about it not being a problem in Canada, but I have to say I haven't followed all the ins and outs of the case.

There may be alternatives out there,but they have taken their own sweet time getting to be as good as the iPod for music. If you want to watch video and or pictures I wouldn't personally get an iPod as the screen is, although very nice, way to small IMO. The review a while a go were still saying the iPod is the benchmark by which all the other MP3's should be judged, admittedly I haven't read any MP3 player reviews for a while so that may have changed.


Dozzzzy

I don't know about iTunes and viruses but a lot of the peer-to-peer sites - limewire, kazaa-lite, warez, etc - seem to have a lot of viruses and trojans on nowadays. As long as you've got decent anti-virus software you shouldn't have a problem, but it is wise to be cautious and scan everything you download.
My Creative uses a USB cable - although some of the newer Creatives - the Sleek for example - seems to have a multi-pin data-socket instead of USB.
My partner has an i-River which uses USB and most of the smaller capacity players do as well.
Another thing as well -if your PC doesn't have USB 2.0 it may be best to get it upgraded (you can just buy the sockets to plug in) as the upload speeds to your player will be twice as fast and there's nothing more boring than transferring music to a player at incredibly slow speeds.

I couldn't agree more. The Ipod has a few draw-backs that I couldn't live with.

I bought a Zen Neeon and couldn't be happier. Volume wise it is marginally bigger that the Nano. However it has 5G of memory (as opposed to 2G on the Nano) and has an FM radio. It also has voice and line-in recording. All this for the same price as the Nano!

Don't buy into Apple's marketing (aka brainwashing) and consider the alternatives.

I never understood the point of that in an mp3 player - for me it's all about listening solely to stuff I like and excluding someone else's taste, but maybe you're more adventurous than me

Thanks everyone .... loads of advice to read through (which I will tonight) and thank you for all the links and other suggestions .... really appreciate it.

J

It's all about choices, Biiiiink. You can listen to your own stuff or you can listen to some music that somebody else picks on the radio. You pick the radio station that plays the sort of music you like. Also remember that if you only listen to the stuff you already have how do you discover new stuff??

I like to have the opportunity to listen to the radio while I am on the move. There are some programs that I just love listen to, so having that on my player is important to me.

Having said that I am somewhat concerned about the quality of radio in the area where I hope to live in Canada (Canmore, Alberta.) While I was there I tried to find a station I could listen to for longer than 10 minutes. I found it impossible. I am so thankful that the station that I like to listen to here n Oz does a web-cast. A broadband connection will be a priority when I get to Canada...