(no subject)

[hackthis_archive]

I am considering procuring a 20GB iPod in the immediate future, however, as someone who doesn't have a particular fast connection at home, and doesn't have an Apple interface at all, I am rather skittish about the entire business, and so I turn to you lot. Tell me everything you think I should know.*

[Poll #589083]

*I have also been told that once you set up one computer as your base, you can't use other computers to upload your music without losing all the contents of your iPod. I have also been told there is a way around this. Educate me kids, because my base will not be a consistent thing, like, ever.

ETA: Thank you, all of you, for your assistance!

Comments

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

I have also been told that once you set up one computer as your base, you can't use other computers to upload your music without losing all the contents of your iPod. I have also been told there is a way around this. Educate me kids.

There is software that will download music from your iPod to your harddrive but I don't have the link here at work. It is kind of a pain in the ass if you have a lot of music because it takes forever, but it's nice to be able to back it up or change computers.

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

This (http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/software/podutil.php) is the software I use. :)

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd known that there is no easy way to move music back onto your hard drive from the iPod. At least, if there is, I don't know what it is.

you can't use other computers to upload your music without losing all the contents of your iPod

Leave it unsynced, so you manually update it. That's what I do, and I load music both on my laptop and from my dad's PC. As long as the version of iTunes you have is up to date, it should be fine. I think.

Of course, I've never even read the instructions, but I've had mine nearly two years now, and I love it.

[babyofthegroup.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd known that there is no easy way to move music back onto your hard drive from the iPod. At least, if there is, I don't know what it is.

There is! I promise! Email me with what OS you're using and I'll tell you how to get your music off your iPod.

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

I have a 15GB iPod, which I don't think they make anymore. Also, there's the new iPod Nano, which is replacing the mini.

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

Um. Also, iPods are apparently psychic (see item #1). zeplum and I will both attest that the randomizers on our iPods seem to have their own unique personalities. And a nasty an interesting sense of humor.

[babyofthegroup.livejournal.com]

I adore my 2nd-generation iPod (way back when there were separate versions for Windows and Mac, and my Windows version came packaged with RealJukebox... ::shudder:: ) and it has served me well. The new iPods aren't formatted for a particular platform, so that's one worry down.

Like musesfool said, you just have to set your iPod up to not sync automatically; then you should be able to easily move songs onto it from whatever computer you're using.

There is also software to take your music from your iPod and put it on your computer; contrary to what amberlynne says, I don't think it takes that long, especially if you're doing it over USB 2.0 or FireWire.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, when the first iPods came out, waaaaaay back in the day I'd planned to get one, but that whole separate versions/interafcing issues thing put me off. And then two years ago, I said, "Okay, this year," and that was the year of the battery issue.

[afrikate.livejournal.com]

I wish someone had mentioned that sometimes downloading programs will screw up the ipod somehow. I downloaded one of the LJ updating programs and my ipod crashed and I had to reboot the whole thing. THis hasn't happened since when I've downloaded programs like realplayer and flash, but it did happen once and it took a while on the phone with the apple support tech to sort things out.

[bozaloshtsh.livejournal.com]

I have also been told that once you set up one computer as your base, you can't use other computers to upload your music without losing all the contents of your iPod. I have also been told there is a way around this. Educate me kids.

Um. Well. My computer in Missouri is my "base" and I just used my roomate's laptop to upload music two weeks ago. Everything's still on mine, so not enitrely sure of the validity of this.

[corialis.livejournal.com]

To explain the 'erasing itself' bit: Apparently it's not an uncommon problem because the people at the Apple store seemed unfazed and described the symptoms exactly. To their credit, if that ever happens they just give you a new one.

[rhienelleth.livejournal.com]

I did serious research before committing to my iPod a month ago. Hands down, it the best mp3 player on the market. No other brand offers all the same features or close to the same style, and nor are they appreciatively less expensive than the a similar size (in GB) iPod to make them the better buy.

Yes, it is true that you need to pick one computer to be your 'base'. There are ways around this, but I'm very leary of hacking my $300 I-can't-afford-to-replace-it 'pod. Also, I haven't found any need to use another computer with my iPod, other than my laptop, so this really isn't an issue for me. iTunes does it all, so it doesn't matter whether you have an Apple or PC, though a slower internet connection will mean slower update times.

My advice, for what it's worth - get the 20 GB version, and invest in a nice pair of $30 Sony earbuds or similar headphones. The ones that Apple includes suck.

[twistingflame.livejournal.com]

The ones that Apple includes suck.

True. Though the apple in-ear buds with varying sizes (somewhat pricey, but better than anything I've tried except for the huge dj style headphones) are awesome.

[fatema.livejournal.com]

I'll explain my answer for the "I don't know why I bought this thing." Truly, I love it because it's my best companion when I exercise. I LOVE it then and I have no complaints. But as far as everyday use, I just don't like something right in my ear, LOL. But for exercising, it's awesome and so I love it. But without that context I don't use it much. But according to my brother, it's the best thing in the universe and HE'D have it's kids if he could. :D

[chicklet-girl.livejournal.com]

Random thoughts:

1. I have the 40GB, which I will never ever fill, and they don't even make anymore. But I like having that space. *g*

2. Video iPods are coming shortly, and ABC has announced you'll be able to buy downloads of programs like Desperate Housewives.

3. If you put it on Shuffle, don't always use the >> button to fast-forward to the next song. My battery was running out all the damn time, so I brought it to the store, and had a huge V8 Moment. The techs were really nice, and didn't condescend to me at all, but I felt like such a dumb-ass. Make lots of playlists. *g*

4. Nothing can beat the iPod for looks, and I am shallow.

5. Your computer will want you to name the iPod. Choose wisely. *g*

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I think, perhaps a 40GB may be the way to go for me. I thought the 20MB would be it, but maybe not.

p.s. I think I will name him Neville.

[madame-d.livejournal.com]

I have a Perception Digital 1.5GB Jukebox. I didn't want an iPod for two reasons: 1) I *abhor* iTunes and didn't want to deal with it, no way no how and 2) I don't *have* the number of mp3s that can fit onto the smallest non-shuffle iPod.

1.5GB fits about 350 songs, uses plug'n'play interface via USB cable (no programs to deal with) and, after I'd applied for Amazon.com visa and got my rebate back, cost me $40 from Amazon.

One drawback (and I'm not sure if this is an issue with large-volume iPods, as well) is that hard-drive (non-flash) mp3 players are slower (than flash memory ones) in accessing songs: if you press 'skip/next' it won't jump *immediately* to the next one. But, at this point, I'm used to this 'quirk' of my minipod.

}:)

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I have the 30-gig, which they no longer make, and I handed down my comparatively-ancient, comparatively-thick 5-gig one to my husband, who is still using it without any trouble. I haven't tried to use multiple computers as my base, so I can't help with that, but I love my iPod -- even just a bit more than my TiVo.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

When they first came out, many many moons ago, I'd planned on getting ther 30GB one, but there were all those Window/Mac issues, so I said no. And then there was the battery issue, but now that everything is resolved, I'm rethinking yet again.

[jassanja.livejournal.com]

I would never get an Ipod myself... there are just so many players out there, and almost all can do a lot more for less money.

My first player was a very early IRiver model, I miss it

The second was a noname model that broke too fast

My third and current.. well, I only have it a few weeks, but all is good so far, which is a lot better then the second, who already started acting up after two days

[manynames.livejournal.com]

I have had round about every make of MP3 player under the sun and so far the one I love most is my iPod Nano.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about the Nano, but it doesn't have enough memory for me.

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

I have 2: a Zen Creative Muvo, which is the size of a cigarette lighter, and I want to have its babies. 512 MB so a bit weeny, but the most intuitive lovely interface. It's essentially a Flash drive, and it's battery operated.

However, because it's a bit small I know have a Creative ZEn biggie, which is Napster-compliant, because I subscribe to Napster not itunes. I love Napster with a deep love. Anyway, they have Napster to Go which works with certain MP£ players, and means you can fill and refill your mps player for a slightly higher subscription.

Although you can quite cheerfully download tracks, I think Napster and Zen are a bit more album-orientated, cos that's the way I play my stuff.

I don't like the big Zen interface nearly so much, as it's a bit oversensitive. However, I have Napster on 2 computers, though I synchronise my player on just one.

What I wish I knew: big players need to recharge so when the juice runs out you're totally stuck.

Research, baby.

[cirakaite.livejournal.com]

iPod (I said 40gB on the poll, but it's actually 60). I love it, love it, love it- I seriously couldn't live without it. I use it as a secondary harddrive as well as music storage- currently have an entire season of BSG stored on there, waiting to be burned to disc.

There's programs to upload music back to your HD as well, and there's an option to turn off the automatic updating (that's what wipes your music off, so the horror stories can be avoided!). Really, the biggest thing is to make sure you have a USB 2.0 port, which most newish computers have. And if not, ask at the shop- I bought a USB card for $20 in order to use mine.

[missdeviant.livejournal.com]

I've had a 15 GB Dell DJ for three years now, it's mega-huge and clunky (bigger than a cassette tape - ye gads!), and yet I love it all the same. The buttons are easier to grope at than the iPod, and, when driving from Illinois to Texas, got 19 hours of battery life out if it. Its only bad quality is that this version does not have a shuffle feature. I've never had any of the problems with it that I've heard others have had with iPods, like the erasing/battery going kerfutz, etc.

I know nothing about their current generation of mp3 players, but I've always liked Dell, both for the DJ and their computers.

That said, when the video iPod comes out? I am so there.

[missdeviant.livejournal.com]

er, I meant to say that the DJ does not have a full LIBRARY shuffle feature. You can shuffle any playlists that you create, but unless you make a separate full library playlist, it doesn't just randomly pick and choose.

[amber9245.livejournal.com]

I have also been told that once you set up one computer as your base, you can't use other computers to upload your music without losing all the contents of your iPod. I have also been told there is a way around this. Educate me kids.

*************

I don't know if there's a way around that but my sister uploaded all her songs onto her ipod at home, and then tried to load more at once she got back to her dorm room at college and it erased everything off her ipod. And Apple customer service you get one free phone call, and then it cost you 50 dollars for any more help.

I have a Dell Jukebox but dell's customer service sucks, and I've had to have the thing replaced twice cause the battery wouldn't last more then 2 hours. I think I finally have a good one. But yeah I wouldn't recommend either, guess that wasn't much help then huh? :)

[folk.livejournal.com]

Apple have actually just updated the iPod to take video. I am in the process commonly known as 'lusting' right now.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

*laughs*

I don't necessarily need a video iPod, but I wouldn't mind the one with the Slytherin logo on it.

[zoniduck.livejournal.com]

I have the 30G iPod photo, which I love, but which I have to reformat every time I want to update it. I'm almost positive that it's because I have a bootleg version of Windows XP that I can't update with SP2. It makes my PC not recognize the iPod when I plug it in.

One other thing, it scratches really easily. If I could go back and do it over again, I wouldn't use it at all until I got a skin for it.

I rarely buy anything through iTunes, simply because it bugs the shit out of me that I can't share the files with other people except by burning them to disk. It's awesome for organizing your music though, and it doesn't give a rats ass whether you bought it from iTunes or not.

[murklins.livejournal.com]

I was reluctant to buy things from iTunes because only one computer I use can run it and neither of my mp3 players is an iPod. However, I love the ease of iTunes purchasing. It makes it so simple and economical to legally obtain quality music downloads. So I dug around a bit and found a really easy to use program that strips the restrictive encoding from iTunes files and turns them into clean mp3s. It is glorious, allowing me to play music that I payed for on any of my players and computers, just as I should be allowed.

[dorrie6.livejournal.com]

I have also been told that once you set up one computer as your base, you can't use other computers to upload your music without losing all the contents of your iPod. I have also been told there is a way around this.

This is not even a little bit true. Yes, you can set up your iPod to automatically sync with your computer so that you always have the same playlist on both, but this is a feature you can turn on and off at will. As long as this feature is not on, it will not do this with your computer or any other. You can add and subtract music at will, from any source.

[tazical.livejournal.com]

I have a 20GB Sony NWD3 player, which I chose after months of research. I was very quickly put off an iPod after talking to 2 dozen+ people and finding that well over three quarters of them were disatisfied with theirs. Main reasons included: very short battery life (8-12 hours on continuous play- much shorter if you skip tracks, change volume etc which, hell, everyone does- compared to 30 hours battery for the Sony), plenty of cracked screens, which seems to be a notorious fault, a tendency of crashing or freezing for no apparent reason, expensive replacement batteries that seem to need replacing on average every 1-2 years by a repair agent only. Since I wanted to use it for backpacking I wasn't prepared to risk any problems while on the road and far from a service centre.

I've been on the whole very impressed by the Sony, although they have a lesser name in the market, having only brought out a range this year. It's a metal case- much more durable, the sound quality is excellent, battery life good, has g-shock drop protection, nice features, plays wma, mp3 and ogg files, looks fantastic and is incy wincy cute. Downsides: the software is very difficult to use (I use iTunes and transfer files to Sonic Stage when updating only) and the random play has an annoying tendency to repeat some tracks often and ignore others. Also you can't create a playlist without importing the tracks again for each playlist, which doesn't bother me much as I usually keep it on random. That's about it.

I'd recommend getting as big a capacity as you can afford, though. I didn't think I'd ever fill up 20GB, but it took me a mere four months :o)

[svilleficrecs.livejournal.com]

Muvo TX FM.

There are two types of MP3 player. The sort where you put, like, all the music you've ever had on it, or the couple mg type where you have, like, 6-10 albums worth of stuff that you swap out easily.

I love mine, because you pop it out, plug it straight into your USB port and drag and drop folders of MP3s as easily as if it were a random drive.

[janet-carter.livejournal.com]

To add to your pile-o-comments, I'm happy with my 30-gig Creative Nomad Zen Jukebox Xtra (I think I remembered all the words in that). It was $200 on Amazon last February, I think they have the 40-gig version for something similar now, and I'm cheap and don't care about clunkiness (clunkiness in size and lack of spiffy features; it's easy enough to use).

[krystalshay.livejournal.com]

I'm on the lookout for a new mp3 player, and am currently being seduced by the black 60Gb iPod that's just been released. To be honest, I couldn't care less about video, especially since the UK iTunes music store won't sell TV shows (eg Lost) at the moment (not surprising really), plus the screen really is too small to watch anything more than clips and trailers. Fun, but not the main selling point. I do like the ease of use of the actual iPod (although I don't find iTunes as easy as other people seem to).

I did have a Sony 20 gig NW-HD5, which are about to come off the shelves in favour of the new NW-A1000 and NW-A3000. I did like the Sony player a lot, but the build quality was not very good and unfortunately, within a few days of purchase, cracks appeared on the buttons. Within two weeks, the buttons were useless and the device was unusable. This isn't a rare problem, either, unfortunately. I'm not sure what the new NW-A1000 or NW-A3000s are like (6 gigs and 20 gigs respectively), but since I need a higher capacity player anyway, I am considering the iPod. What has made me hesitant is reports of battery problems (in those two weeks I had the Sony player, I didn't have to recharge the player once) and also stories of Apple's dodgy support.

As others have recommended, I would definitely go for the highest capacity possible on your budget, because it does fill up quickly. Estimates of how many songs a player will take is based upon low quality bit rates and short songs, but you would ideally want files of at least 128kbps and preferably 192kbps.

One other point of note is what you actually want the device for. If it is to go exercising, hard drive players can be vulnerable to shocks and system errors and you would probably be better off with a flash player. Skip protection will only go so far. A friend of mine used to use her iPod at the gym, until it kept freezing up on her when she went running. But there should be no problem with walking or low-impact exercising. I have a cheap mp3 player (256MB) which I use for exercising, and which I purchased off Ebay for £15.

I hope some of this is of help to you. I can't make any real recommendation, but I've done a lot of research on them in the past few weeks, and thought some of these points may help!

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

See, now *this* is what I have been waiting for someone to tell me -- I just didn't know that this is what I wanted to know. I couldn't care less about the video aspect either since the iPod is about the same size a Galaxy bar and I can't imagine straining my eyes for anything that much. I wanted the mp3 player for running and travelling, beyond that I'm not really that bothered, but I didn't know about the flash thing. Maybe I should buy a cheap one for running and then use the iPod for travelling?