I'm clueless - tell me about Ipods

[luvmyfam444]

and MP3 players - why you'd buy one & not the other.

What's user friendly for clueless folks? I bought an MP3 for dh a year or 2 ago but couldn't figure out how to get music on it so its never been used.

The music that I'd want to put on there would be Chrisitan artists & CD's we have here - not sure if that matters like certain artists are easier to find or not...

And will you tell me a specific one to buy?

 

[My2Cinderellas]

I would say go for a real apple iPod, not another mp3 player. apple products and itunes are really user friendly and fairly intuitive.

If you have an ipod, you must have itunes on your computer. this is a free download at apple's website. you can choose to purchase music thru itunes, you can import .wma files already on your computer and itunes will convert them into the form it uses, and you can rip actual cd's that you own (or borrow -sshhh!). so if you already own the music you do not have to re-purchase it.

I don't recommend getting a Shuffle - because there is no way to see the selections. I would start with a small iPod Nano. if you don't have to have the latest and newest version, apple sells refurbished ipods thru their website. I've bought a few of these and have had no problems.

8g nano $99
16g nano $129
8g iTouch (2nd gen) $149

I love my touch, but if you are only wanting to play music stick with a basic ipod.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

before you get an iPod, put your entire music collection onto your computer or external hard drive, and download the latest iTunes. That way once you get the iPod you'll be ready.
The main advantage other MP3 players have over the iPods is apple restricts what you can do with it, where other mp3's you can use as more of a portable drive, uploading and downloading from it. The iPod will not let you take music form your iPod and download that onto somebodies computer. Also, say you have some music on your iPod and you want to add some from yur friends computer. Well you can't just add more from another computer, it has to be added to your iTunes library on your own computer before you can safely add it without wiping everything else from the iPod.

 

[DrCavin]

before you get an iPod, put your entire music collection onto your computer or external hard drive, and download the latest iTunes. That way once you get the iPod you'll be ready.
The main advantage other MP3 players have over the iPods is apple restricts what you can do with it, where other mp3's you can use as more of a portable drive, uploading and downloading from it. The iPod will not let you take music form your iPod and download that onto somebodies computer. Also, say you have some music on your iPod and you want to add some from yur friends computer. Well you can't just add more from another computer, it has to be added to your iTunes library on your own computer before you can safely add it without wiping everything else from the iPod.

Yeah hate that Apple doesnt allow you to steal music....

 

[bicker]

I would be sure to choose an MP3 player that supports a subscription service. The way subscription works is that you pay a monthly fee (about $15) and you can download as much music as you wish, from the literally millions and millions of tracks available, for as long as you keep your subscription. You can listen to any of it, on up to three computers and three mobile devices. My wife and I have downloaded about 13,000 tracks since we got subscription service. We listen to whatever we care to, check out as many new releases as we wish, and if we don't like them, just delete them. Some songs, you know, you like when they come out, and then tire of them a few months or a year or two later, and so you can just delete them at that time, without any concern that you had wasted any money. You can go off into discovery of different genres, again with no risk of buying something that you're not going to like, or will lose interest in.

With our subscription service, we can actually also download 10 tracks each month, to keep forever (instead of just for as long as we keep our subscription).

Last time I checked, iTunes/iPod didn't offer subscription service and that's one of the main reasons I advice against the iPod. If Apple ever gets their act together with subscription service, that'll be great deal.

We have Zunes and get our subscription service from the Zune Marketplace. I am pretty sure that's the only place that offers the 10 included "forever" tracks each month. Other subscription choices include devices that support Rhapsody service. Here's a LINK to devices that support the Rhapsody service.

 

[jrmasm]

before you get an iPod, put your entire music collection onto your computer or external hard drive, and download the latest iTunes. That way once you get the iPod you'll be ready.
The main advantage other MP3 players have over the iPods is apple restricts what you can do with it, where other mp3's you can use as more of a portable drive, uploading and downloading from it. The iPod will not let you take music form your iPod and download that onto somebodies computer. Also, say you have some music on your iPod and you want to add some from yur friends computer. Well you can't just add more from another computer, it has to be added to your iTunes library on your own computer before you can safely add it without wiping everything else from the iPod.

Pretty sure that's not true. I think an Ipod can be recognized by up to 5 computers.

 

[bicker]

Really? How do they do that? I'm not aware of any encryption key generators for DRM that works across workstations. You need an internal cross-certifier (or something akin to that) for that to work.

EDITED: I just checked... Phil is mostly correct. You can hook your iPod up to any number of computers you'd like, but when you do so it will erase the iPod and sync it to the library of the current computer. So effectively, you cannot pull secured content from multiple libraries together onto the same iPod.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Really? How do they do that? I'm not aware of any encryption key generators for DRM that works across workstations. You need an internal cross-certifier (or something akin to that) for that to work.

EDITED: I just checked... Phil is mostly correct. You can hook your iPod up to any number of computers you'd like, but when you do so it will erase the iPod and sync it to the library of the current computer. So effectively, you cannot pull secured content from multiple libraries together onto the same iPod.

I've never asked my husband how he does it but I know he has gotten music onto his Ipod from several others Itunes libraries without ever syncing to that library. He also helps people that come to our house share our library with that Ipod.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Op, I really like my Ipod. I have a 16g and I will never fill it up. I like certain kinds of music and I have my favorite songs and that is it.

I find the Ipod to be very easy to use and I LOVE using the auxilary jack in my car. I plug into the jack and don't have to struggle finding a channel on the radio.

My husband has some kind of big Ipod and he loves all kinds of music and plays videos and movies and I don't know what else. I'm not that high speed and don't have that need.

 

[maelstrom]

I have a 30gb iPod photo (white), 4gb iPod nano (pink), and 1gb iPod shuffle (silver). I love them all. I'm hoping to get a 32gb iPod touch for Christmas. I wouldn't go with anything but an iPod, personally.

 

[LuvOrlando]

We have 2 kinds of MP3s here. I think I tunes only work with I pod technology. We have another MP3 and like it except we had to go any rebuy everything for the kids Ipods

I'm not technologically literate either so and needed to look-up how to turn my kid's Nano off last week... don't tell anybody I did find directions on you-tube so maybe you can find directions on there for your own MP3. If not look for a manual. When my DH works with the MP3 he attaches it to the computer with a special cable that came with the MP3. Then he opens up the service, Napster for our non-IPOD MP3 which he pays for with Pay Pal I think. Once he buys the song he just clicks and drags it to the device. The computer seems to recognize the device. It doesn't seem hard but I've never dared to do it.

The process is the same for the Ipods but Napster doesn't work so they go through I tunes.

 

[luvmyfam444]

I can't imagine ever needed more than like a 4gb....I don't think we listen to THAT many different songs!

Actually I'm looking into it for dd (11) but of course I'll use it quite a bit as well....

I don't want something I have to pay for monthly - I'd like to burn from the CD's we have & then buy whatever other songs there are - hopefully cheap - of course I know nothing about prices of songs either...I told you I'm CLUELESS! But I did go & price them @ WM a little while ago so I can @ least comparision shop.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Ahh thanks Orlando - I had it hooked up once but it went into the site for the MP3 player & all their info was confusing - I so don't even remember the brand or anything - need to dig it out & check it out...

 

[jrmasm]

Really? How do they do that? I'm not aware of any encryption key generators for DRM that works across workstations. You need an internal cross-certifier (or something akin to that) for that to work.

EDITED: I just checked... Phil is mostly correct. You can hook your iPod up to any number of computers you'd like, but when you do so it will erase the iPod and sync it to the library of the current computer. So effectively, you cannot pull secured content from multiple libraries together onto the same iPod.

That's only if you sync. If you drag and drop, you don't erase or override anything.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I would hate to have a montly subscription. More bills and who needs that?


Get an iPod. Even I can use it. I can burn my CDs into iTunes and listen to music I've already purchased and I can also buy new music as it comes out. I can store stuff in iTunes and rotate as needed...we're putting together the new Christmas playlist for this year and that will go up the week before Thanksgiving.

 

[jen0610]

What do you do, if you don't have internet at home. One of the girls I work with is getting her granddaughter one and I know neither the gradma nor the family have internet at home. Cost issue. She thought she would be able to download from the CD's they already own.

I would really hate for this girl to get something that she can't use.

 

[chicagoshannon]

If you get the new iPod touch it has built in WiFi. So if she goes anywhere where there is free wifi she can download directly to the iPod from what I understand.

 

[jen0610]

If you get the new iPod touch it has built in WiFi. So if she goes anywhere where there is free wifi she can download directly to the iPod from what I understand.

I know she said something about 8gb and was $145.00, but Target has them on sale right now.

so I don't know if it is this one or not.

She also said something about one she was looking at, not at Target...Best Buy? and said that it had a camera??

I know she was looking at iPods because that is what her granddaughter said.

 

[browneyes106]

What do you do, if you don't have internet at home. One of the girls I work with is getting her granddaughter one and I know neither the gradma nor the family have internet at home. Cost issue. She thought she would be able to download from the CD's they already own.

I would really hate for this girl to get something that she can't use.

The same thing happened to a friend of mine a couple of years ago. She had just moved to a new city and had received an iPod as a gift from a friend. The house she moved into was being fixed up and she was told to wait a month to install Internet and cable. Luckily a coworker lent her a installation CD that used to come with iPods years ago. She was able to get iTunes on her computer right away instead of waiting for her Internet to be installed. I don't think you could use an old iTunes disc anymore.

Another option for people without Internet would be to go to an Internet cafe and download iTunes onto a flash drive and then put then contents of the flash drive on their home computer.

 

[browneyes106]

I'm an iPod owner. I have a iPod Classic. Everyone has given some good tips. Here are couple of tips from me if you choose to buy an iPod

-buy a protective case soon after or at the same time you buy an iPod
-buy an extra cable and charger in case something happens to the cable that comes with the iPod

I still buy CD's and rip those onto my iTunes library. I do occasionally buy downloads from iTunes and I'm ok with their prices.