IPOD opinions

[sk!mom]

Both of my kids want an Ipod for Christmas. I'm thinking of the shuffle for DD because she is only 9 and doesn't need anything too expensive at that age. I'm unsure which would be best for my DS20.

I will be looking them up on Consumer Reports but would appreciate any advice anyone has. I don't know anything about this technology. I would appreciate any bargain tips, also.

 

[hmgolden]

If you are willing to spend the money, I would get your DS the ipod nano. Its the latest and greatest (and smallest, other than the shuffle) iPod from Apple. We saw it at the Apple store this past weekend and DH (25) was drooling over it. Granted it holds less songs than the traditional ipod, but I unless your DS wants his entire music collection on his ipod, the nano should have plenty storage for him.

 

[iggbees]

my suggestion... since i'm around that age... is either a larger nano, 4 gb one, (look on apple.com, they are spiffy... my boyfriend bought himself a black one and it's gorgeous!) or get him a smaller gb ipod. it really depends on how much you want to spend and how many songs your son has. a 4 gb can hold up to about 1,000 songs, while a 20 gb can hold up to 15,000 songs or can be used as a backup hard drive (which is what i use my old one for).

i personally can't wait to buy myself a 4 gb nano, i've got the shuffle and while it's nice to have while i'm walking around or whatnot, i really want one with a color screen and a lot of features in it.

bargain tip: if you are an educator or some how you can get your son to go with you and show is student id (or just buy it online, as long as you put that it's for him) you can get a student discount. it's about 20$ off of the nano and about 30$ off for the 20 gb ipod. other than that there's no other way to get around paying a lot of money for one. also, you could check on amazon, they sometimes have discounts, but most likely nothing more than what you'd get for the student pricing.

 

[sk!mom]

bargain tip: if you are an educator or some how you can get your son to go with you and show is student id (or just buy it online, as long as you put that it's for him) you can get a student discount. it's about 20$ off of the nano and about 30$ off for the 20 gb ipod. other than that there's no other way to get around paying a lot of money for one. also, you could check on amazon, they sometimes have discounts, but most likely nothing more than what you'd get for the student pricing.

Actually I'm a teacher so I'll check that out. Thanks!

 

[MrsPete]

I just bought one for my husband's Christmas present from ebay (brand new). It still wasn't cheap, but I got it for about 30% off the best prices I've seen anywhere else. I had to bid on several before I won one at "my price".

I ended up going with the 20G, and I paid $220. The 4G minis seem to be going for about the same price, which makes no sense! The teenagers are crazy for the 4G and 6G minis (that's all I see kids carrying at school), and they are cute with the colors but if you compare space vs. cost, they don't make sense.

I agree that I'd go with the shuffle for the younger child, but I wouldn't venture to make a suggestion for the 20 year old.

 

[jekjones1558]

Shuffle will be great for your 9 year old. An advantage of the Nano over minis or other regular iPods is that it (like the Shuffle) is more rugged because it is flash drive based, not hard drive based. I love both my Shuffle (for walking or exercising) and my mini for other times, including during car trips when I can use an FM transmitter to play it over car radio (so I don't need to bring any CDs). Unless you think your 20 year old intends to also use it for storing lots of photos or data, I would go with a Nano. It is the newest and coolest.

 

[PA DISNEYLOVER]

I just got my husband an apple shuffle to take with him to Iraq. He really likes it and it is easy to use.

 

[MyGoofy26]

I don't have an ipod yet, but I'm waiting on a shipment from Apple any day now from a promotion I did for a free Shuffle at judysbook.com. I decided to ebay the Shuffle and put that money towards something better and have a couple options in mind that I found on Slickdeals. I'm toying with the idea of taking the Shuffle into Apple and seeing if they'll let me return it with my Apple packing slip towards a nano but I think the second deal I'm about to post would me better.

Anyway, here are two deals that are floating around:

For a 4G mini, since they're discontinued apparently (I guess the nano is replacing them in the low gig model) Office Max has them on sale and there's a coupon making them $149 + tax for store pickup (if your local store has them in stock) The details of how to get this deal is here: Slickdeals Ipod Mini Deal


The second deal is for a 20 gig Ipod from Amazon, that coupled with an FM transmitter you can take advantage of coupons to get it further discounted to $207 shipped. That deal is here: 20 GB Ipod plus FM Transmitter

Hope those help!

 

[klj27]

I don't have an ipod yet, but I'm waiting on a shipment from Apple any day now from a promotion I did for a free Shuffle at judysbook.com. I decided to ebay the Shuffle and put that money towards something better and have a couple options in mind that I found on Slickdeals. I'm toying with the idea of taking the Shuffle into Apple and seeing if they'll let me return it with my Apple packing slip towards a nano but I think the second deal I'm about to post would me better.

Anyway, here are two deals that are floating around:

For a 4G mini, since they're discontinued apparently (I guess the nano is replacing them in the low gig model) Office Max has them on sale and there's a coupon making them $149 + tax for store pickup (if your local store has them in stock) The details of how to get this deal is here: Slickdeals Ipod Mini Deal


The second deal is for a 20 gig Ipod from Amazon, that coupled with an FM transmitter you can take advantage of coupons to get it further discounted to $207 shipped. That deal is here: 20 GB Ipod plus FM Transmitter

Hope those help!

I just got my shuffle from Judy's book today!! I submitted on the last day of the promotion so yours should be coming soon. I was going to give it to my 9 year old for Christmas, but I have decided to keep it for myself. It is so rare that I ever buy myself anything so this is a real treat.

 

[MyGoofy26]

I swear I think I'm going to be the last person from Judys Book to get theirs, haha. I submitted the last day as well, had confirmation a week and a half later and now just waiting. When I mentioned that I might sell it my aunt was like, "give it to me! You won't have to buy me a Christmas present!" which is actually not a bad idea. Guess I have some time to think about what I'm going to do.

 

[klj27]

I swear I think I'm going to be the last person from Judys Book to get theirs, haha. I submitted the last day as well, had confirmation a week and a half later and now just waiting. When I mentioned that I might sell it my aunt was like, "give it to me! You won't have to buy me a Christmas present!" which is actually not a bad idea. Guess I have some time to think about what I'm going to do.

You have to sign for it when they deliver it. Who knows... maybe they are trying to bring it to you! I am sure you will have it soon.

 

[MyGoofy26]

Well I work in the evening and weekends and commute an hour and a half to my University, but even that's only 2 days week (and I rock at scheduling and don't have class til 1:30 as my earliest, hehe) But even those days I'm gone, there's someone home if they'd show up. But since people who finished on the last day are just starting to get theirs, I think I can give it a few more days before I start worrrying.

I'm not really getting impatient yet, just wondering when. Nothing I can do right now. I just paid off a LOT of bills to get out of debt so I'm not really wanting to plunk down the money to upgrade right away (want to give my bank acount time to recover, LOL!), and I can't use it if I wanted since I have to get my computer fixed and the one I'm on for the time being wouldn't be compatible with the thing - it's just something VERY basic that my neighbor threw together from old parts.

Just wanting to make sure it didn't get lost in transit, or my info got lost in the order, or anything like that. I just want to know that I actually have it so I can decide what to do with it.

 

[Brina]

I agree that the mini or the nano is the way to go. I have two - a 20 gb model and a 4b mini. I have 665 songs on it - so not even filling the mini, which will hold about 1000 songs. I heard a report on tv recently that says the average user has under 200 songs on their ipod and somethng like fewer than 5% of all ipod owners are using over 80% of their capacity.

 

[dthogue]

bargain tip: if you are an educator or some how you can get your son to go with you and show is student id (or just buy it online, as long as you put that it's for him) you can get a student discount. it's about 20$ off of the nano and about 30$ off for the 20 gb ipod. other than that there's no other way to get around paying a lot of money for one. also, you could check on amazon, they sometimes have discounts, but most likely nothing more than what you'd get for the student pricing.

How do you go about getting the student discount online? Is there a code that needs to be entered?

Thanks,
Tammy

 

[momoftwins]

you might think I live in the Dark Ages with this question, but here goes (no laughing!)

With the shuffle, can you only download music to it? Can you tape music to it? Is there a variety of sites from which you can download to the shuffle? Can you only listen to the songs through headphones or can you also hook it up to a set of speakers?

Ok, now for the really roll on the floor question? Is the Ipod the same thing as an MP3 player? I read an article a few months ago and the MicroZen (?? name) MP3 player is ok. My DD is only 9 and I don't want to spend a fortune.

Any primer that anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated. You know, this is embarassing but I am never going to learn unless I ask.

Thanks for your help.

 

[WonderWomanDC]

you might think I live in the Dark Ages with this question, but here goes (no laughing!)

With the shuffle, can you only download music to it? Can you tape music to it? Is there a variety of sites from which you can download to the shuffle? Can you only listen to the songs through headphones or can you also hook it up to a set of speakers?

You can only get music onto anything iPod/Nano/Shuffle by a computer (PC or Mac). You download the free program - iTunes - from the website if you don't already have it. You can then buy music from iTunes for 99 cents a song. If your computer has a CD drive, you can take cds that you already own and import the songs into iTunes. It is pretty easy to do this, and iTunes will have a help file if you need it.
You can hook up the iPods and the Nano to a variety of speaker types/sizes. (check apple.com store for details). The shuffle though is only compatible with a few via its headphone jack, you'll find options on the website under speakers.

Ok, now for the really roll on the floor question? Is the Ipod the same thing as an MP3 player? I read an article a few months ago and the MicroZen (?? name) MP3 player is ok. My DD is only 9 and I don't want to spend a fortune.

I bought my nine year old nephew a Shuffle for his birthday. He LOVES it. And the downloading and iTunes are so easy he can do it on his own.
As for whether it's the same as an MP3 - well, yes and no. The concept is the same. However apple uses files called AAC which are smaller in size and better in sound quality to compress music to play on an iPod. You can play mp3s too I am pretty sure, but it doesn't really matter. iTunes converts the songs you import from your cd collection to AAC files for you.
As for buying just a standard MP3 player, I would not do it. Instead, get the Shuffle for $99. The iPods have something like an 80% market share and they are fantastic. I had a regular iPod and now I have the new Nano. The song selection is much larger on iTunes than in other services, and once you buy the song it's yours - meaning you don't pay a subscription fee like other services where if you stop subscribing your songs no longer play. Even Madonna broke down and put her music on iTunes because "I got tired of not being able to download my own music." LOL!!

Any primer that anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated. You know, this is embarassing but I am never going to learn unless I ask.

Thanks for your help.

You're welcome! I hope it did help you.

 

[foolishmortal]

if you are looking for something to "RECORD" music too I would recommend an IRiver. That is what I have. Just like the Ipods you can get different sizes and the cool thing about it is you can record from any ol cd/tape/radio player. So in reality you do not even need to have internet access to get music. So what I did with mine is put my fav cd's on it (straight from my sons boombox), and then I found a really cheap website to get the music from. $.10 cent dl's. I can't believe more people dont have this has it is more compact than alot of other mp3's a little cheaper, but you have more ways to gt music ither than the traditional downlaod...and it also has plays fm stations as well.

 

[CalvaryMike]

I just picked up a nano. It's waaaaaaaay cool. I also have a ipod mini. The nano is more rugged in one sense because it's solid state and doesn't have a hard drive. BUT, the nano is very small. I definitely would never put it in my back pocket for the fear of bending and breaking it. I also need to be very careful that I don't leave it in a pocket and throw it in the laundry basket. DW warned me that she is not responsible if I leave it in a pocket.

 

[iggbees]

How do you go about getting the student discount online? Is there a code that needs to be entered?

Thanks,
Tammy

if you go to the apple store. there is a section on the right hand side that says "more stores". under that, there is the education store. if you click on that, it will ask you what school you attend or work at. i think you have to find the state and town first, then the name of the school. once you find you school and click ok. you are in the education store. it should have a green banner on top with the name of your school under it.

hth

 

[kkaisu]

My DD13 wants a stereo and an MP3 player for XMAS. I liked the IPOD NANO, but no FM radio, so I am going for the Creative Zen Micro + they make a holder with speakers so it can also be her bedroom stereo. They have these for IPODS too, but IPOD Nano does not have FM radio.
The Creative Zen Micro has good reviews on www.cnet.com, as does the IPOD line of course.