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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
OT: iPod, uPod, wePod, ?Pod
Wes Hope, Photographer
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Maryville | TN | USA | Posted: 6:08 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> This is not too far OT since iPods seem so popular with SportsShooters. Here's my dilemma/question:
I've got some Christmas cash burning a hole in my pocket.
I want some sort of portable audio device to tote around my tunes. Something that will fit in my bag when at a game and be able to drown out the knuckleheads I work with while I'm in edit mode.
My tune collection consist of ~100 CDs. None of it digitized.
I've been researching and found there are several formats, several player options, and a ton of file formats.
I figure you transfer the song or songs from your CDs to your hard drive. Use some sort of program to convert to digital files. Then download that file to your portable audio device. Right? Wrong?
So, for the newbie who doesn't have massive files of digitized music, what's the most economical, easiest, most durable route to take? iPod+iTunes? iRiver? Creative Zen? iAudio? Sony? Features like FM radio, audio recording, photo storage would be nice, but not necessarily needed. I just want to listen to my music.
What works for you? What might work for me? And why do all these things have "i" in front of their names?
Thanks for the help. - iWes |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 6:23 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> If you you use iTunes, when you import your CDs into it, you choose which format you want to store your music. You can go for better quality, or more compression.
As far as what device to buy, the iPod is the cream of the crop. As for which model? Think hard about how much you will use it, how you will use it and for how long.
If you are going to use it during strenuous activity: jogging or mountain biking, then look at the shuffle or the Nano which are solid state while the other models have a moving hard drive and after a lenght of time you may see some skipping.
As for as HOW you will use it, think hard about it. Yes you can buy a model that will hold every song in a 1,000 CD collection. But do you need that much?
I've got a 4gb iPod Mini and while it holds about a 1,000 songs (not even a third of my digitized music) I find myself listening to just a couple of playlists most of the time. So I could get by with a 2gb Nano (which was not available when I bought) or even a 1 gb shuffle. I rarely run across a tune I really want to hear that isn't on it. And if I do, next time I sit at my computer I add it.
Having the screen to scroll through songs is a huge plus and a reason against the Shuffle. But do you need 2gb, 4gb, 10gb or 60gb and video capability? Really, before you spend the money think hard about how you will use it and then make your selection. You may figure out you don't need to spend all your money for a music player and can buy some other fun stuff as well.
As for the "i" It started with the iMac which was aimed more at the casual user rather than the heavy-duty graphic-intensive pros and was sort of the "internet" Mac. At leat that's my best iGuess. |
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Jason Smith, Photographer
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Charlotte | NC | USA | Posted: 6:24 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> Ipod works for me. I have the Shuffle, Mini, and Nano.
I have always used itunes bec/ of how easy it is to purchase and download new music. Transferring music to the portable device is important and iTunes makes that easy.
CDs are indeed d/l'd to your hard drive and then transferred to the portable device. But CDs get scratched over time and then you have a clean backup on your hardrive that you can use iTunes to burn a duplicate.
But I haven't used any other method. |
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Craig Peterson, Photographer
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Michael Hickey, Photographer
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Kokomo | IN | United States | Posted: 7:11 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> "My tune collection consist of ~100 CDs. None of it digitized."
Uh, actually...you probably didn't mean to say that. |
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Francis Specker, Photographer
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Riverside | CA | USA | Posted: 7:26 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> The thing that makes the iPod so great is not really the hardware, which is very good, but the software. Itunes makes your CD conversion into mp3's or aac's very easy and then makes the transfer into the ipod simple. Make sure you have an internet connection available when you do it as iTunes will search an archive that will label all your tunes as they are converted.
Itunes also has great podcasts you can download for free from the itunes store. Itunes will even check for new podcasts and download them automatically.
You can use other software/hardward packages other than itunes/ipod, but they are not as intergrated.
Itunes makes organizing your library quick and creating playlist easy.
The nice thing is that iTunes supports windows and OSX platforms, a thing that other combos might not do as well. Itunes is also updated regularly, unlike other programs that can be obsolete in a few years. |
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Doug Holleman, Photographer
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Temple | TX | USA | Posted: 7:42 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> I've been shopping around for these things for quite a while. It seems like Creative gives you more bang for the buck, and equal or better quality sound and controls as any iPod, according to all the reviews. Of course, if money is no object, the iPod Photo would be pretty sweet. But otherwise, I'd definitely go Creative.
My personal fave is the Creative Micro Zen. The new model is 6GB flash memory, it's tiny, and has great features. That's probably the one I would get for myself, unless I talked myself into getting one of the bigger ones with huge storage.
Currently, I use a Frontier Labs Nex Ia MP3 player that uses CF cards, which is really handy. I keep albums burned on my older and slower 256 and 512mb cards. I can switch out the tunes through a card reader, rather than having to hook up the unit to the computer. It's a little quirky, but sounds really good, and even has an FM tuner and voice recording. It only costs about $59 without the card. I've dropped it about a hundred times in the last two years and it still works like a champ. |
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Wes Hope, Photographer
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Maryville | TN | USA | Posted: 9:57 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> You got me there Michael. But you knew what I meant.
So iTunes will convert the songs into either a MP3 file or an acc file. Which is better, and which is more compatible?
I'm a Windoze abuser, so the Apple stuff has had me a little jittery. But what I've seen/read about/reviewed, I've liked. I just didn't know about compatibility issues with all the different file types the tunes can be converted to.
I read a few reviews about Creative Zen Doug and too found good stuff. Any other users out there want to toss their opinions out? Is there anything else that just blows the iPod away?
And you know, if I get the Nano, I'll have to go with the black one. Being a Nikon guy, I just can't bring myself to use anything white (which makes finding underwear difficult). |
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Wes Hope, Photographer
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Maryville | TN | USA | Posted: 10:02 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> Oh, one other thing Jason Smith mentioned that I hadn't thought of... if you do copy your disc to your iPod/whatever, and then later decide to you want to burn a new CD from the tunes on the iPod, does the file type matter? Won't CD players only play a certain type of file CDA or something like that or MP3 if you've got a newer player? That's something I need to know in case I need to make my girl a mix tape or something. You know, 80's Techno-Polka 3.
I've got so many questions I should have named this post iDunno. |
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Amir Gamzu, Photographer
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Ann Arbor | MI | USA | Posted: 10:23 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> As I'm about to buy some kind of music player for my wife, I found this thread very handy.
I'm wondering about how the different music players handle rights management on files? What issues arise? Are there different limits on files depending on their source (iTunes, other online stores, file converted from CD)?
As we all know around here, files are not archival. If you buy music from iTunes, or any other source, what happens if you lose the file? Do any of them offer some kind of archive for this? |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 10:30 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> can't say about other models, but if you can import it into iTunes then an iPod can play it, no matter the format. Others are marketed as an mp3 player, so I would venture a guess that it is the only format it will read.
Most new CD players will play disks burned in mp3 format. Not all, but most. I note a lot of home players today advertise they are mp3 compatible and I can play them in my car which is a 2002 model. |
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Francis Specker, Photographer
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Riverside | CA | USA | Posted: 10:33 PM on 12.26.05 |
->> Burning a CD from iTunes is no problem, iTunes will convert any file it can read into a Audio CD or a MP-3 CD if your CD player read MP-3 files.
The only problem with iTunes/iPod is that if you download a song from the iTunes Music store, which is an AAC file, a non-iPod, like a Sony or iRiver player, will not be able to use it. So if you have a mix of mp-3 players that are non-apple, you might have a few problems.
All players can read and play a regular mp-3 file, which is universal. You can set the prefs in iTunes on importing songs from your CD collection to convert them into mp3's instead of the default AAC files.
AAC files have great sound, some same better than regular old mp3's but most people can't tell the difference unless your outputing your sound into a high end stereo.
There is an incredible amount of hardware support for the iPod. A cottage industry of third-party products for the iPod to attach your stereo, car, whatever. The iPod being the leader in digital music players, has the most options, just go into any big box store. |
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Doug Holleman, Photographer
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Temple | TX | USA | Posted: 11:55 PM on 12.26.05 |
| ->> Wes, one other thing I would add as a note of caution. A friend of mine, a computer tech who has had several iPods and uses both Mac and Windows, complains that iTunes sucks on Windows. He says it's painfully slow compared to use with the Mac. I would look into that if it's an important issue to you. |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Louisville | KY | USA | Posted: 12:06 AM on 12.27.05 |
->> iTunes on Windows
Not sure about Doug's friend, but I use iTunes on a less-than-1GHz Windows box and it is very zippy. Doug's friend might have a configuration issue.
Another thing to mention - there are services available that will take your existing CD collection and digitize them for you. You ship them your CDs, they return you CDs/DVDs with all of your music converted to MP3 format. Check locally to see if you have any in your area. Wasn't that expensive if I remember (like maybe $1 per CD or something). |
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Josh Thompson, Photographer
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Ontario | California | USA | Posted: 12:19 AM on 12.27.05 |
->> Doug,
I got my IPod today, and I use Windows. It doesn't seem slow at all, only a minute to transfer from CD to computer to IPod. But then again, I've never used Mac, so I have nothing to compare it to. |
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Ruth Faison, Photographer
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Clarksburg | MD | USA | Posted: 12:53 AM on 12.27.05 |
->> I use my ipod with Windows and wouldn't describe it as "painfully slow" at all, though it does take a few long moments for iTunes to mount and eject. Other functions don't strike me as unusual, though i don't use iTunes to rip CD's.
It all may well be faster on a Mac, but it works OK on Windows - IMHO. (which is not to say iTunes is perfect - there are other more powerful music/media management apps - but for syncing with the ipod, iTunes is the easiest way to start. Then if you find you want more, you can explore other options - back before there was iTunes for Windows, there was quite the cottage industry of apps and many of them still live).
The worst thing about iTunes may be that it tends to be 'aggressive' - pay attention to the checkboxes when installing and syncing the ipod for the first time [this may be TMI for a novice ... sorry].
.mp3 file format is sort of like jpg in that you can choose the amount of compression when you rip a CD. It's the same tradeoff - more compression = smaller files (and more tunes will fit on a portable player), but the sound quality suffers since more data is thrown away.
The .aac format is said to provide somewhat better quality at the same or slightly smaller file size - this is the format of tunes purchased from the iTunes store. You can rip CD's into AAC or mp3 format - and I believe there are a few other options as well, but have no experience with them.
The standard mp3 setting is 128kbs - may not have the right unit letters - but you can choose higher or lower. When I was getting into all of this, somebody suggested that I rip a favorite tune at 3-4 different settings between 128 and 320 and find out if I could hear the difference between them. That was helpful for me.
Here's a link to the iLounge site which can be quite helpful -
http://www.ilounge.com/ - look for the ipod 101/201 tutorials (think that's what it's called). |
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Greg Ferguson, Photographer
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Scottsdale | Az | USA | Posted: 1:48 AM on 12.27.05 |
->> "... you do copy your disc to your iPod/whatever, and then later decide to you want to burn a new CD from the tunes on the iPod, does the file type matter?"
No. If iTunes can read it, it can burn the song back to a CD.
"As we all know around here, files are not archival. If you buy music from iTunes, or any other source, what happens if you lose the file? Do any of them offer some kind of archive for this?"
Apple is careful to say it's up to us to archive the files once they're downloaded. You'll see a dialog saying so after downloads from iTunes.
You could burn them to an audio CD - kind of a working backup - or actually backup the audio files to data CDs. The first method results in loss of quality if you burn, rip, burn, rip because of the way the audio is stored. The second preserves the audio quality but isn't as fun.
"The standard mp3 setting is 128kbs - may not have the right unit letters - but you can choose higher or lower. When I was getting into all of this, somebody suggested that I rip a favorite tune at 3-4 different settings between 128 and 320 and find out if I could hear the difference between them. That was helpful for me. "
The higher the better if you intend to reburn it at a later time. CDs are the original source, but compressed sound files are a lossy archiving - bits are thrown away during the ripping process and compression, and can't be recovered, even though it sounds the same when listening casually (in the car or in a noisy environment).
I can hear a difference between a 128-bit MP3 and the original CD when I'm listening with good headphones so I rip at a higher rate for my iPod. With good headphones the iPod sounds awesome.
The digital-rights management Apple uses works fine for me - I've got all our Macs enabled so we play songs on any of them. I move the files to my main machine eventually and share that to all the others.
I bought an iPod for my daughter, then bought one for me because it sounded so good. It's great because we trade music back and forth. She's listening to all my classic rock and eclectic stuff like Anushka Shankir and Les Miserables, and she passes on the latest alternative rock. And, a year ago I'd have a couple CD carriers in the car all the time, just so I wouldn't get bored listening to the same 6 CDs in the car's changer. Now I load the iPod with the same amount of music and plug it into the stereo.
And, be sure to check out the podcasts available. There's some great listening available. |
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Brian Light, Photographer
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Pennsville | NJ | USA | Posted: 6:18 AM on 12.27.05 |
->> I would suggest the iPod video, the current 30 or 60 gig unit starting at $299.00. The reason I tend to suggest this is because as others stated the hardware/software combination is hard to beat. iTunes is very easy to get from the CD to the iPod and to manage all your music, video, photo needs. I suggest the full size iPods for the larger hard drives which in a pinch make very good external hard drives that you can use while on the road to have a backup of images you shoot. The smaller iPods don't offer the kind of capacity for this to be useful.
Francis... the iTunes AAC limitation on purchased music is easily overcome in that you have the ability to burn a Music CD of purchased music form iTunes which you can then import to load to a third party player. Of course having the rights to do this for music you own through a purchase is always important.
Another cool iPod feature is that many car companies and car stereo companies make products and head units to easily integrate iPods into your home, office and car stereo environments offering ease of use functionality not delivered with other mpeg units. There is almost always an advantage to using the premiere unit for this extra functionality which often makes the premium price easier to justify in your mind. |
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Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 9:24 AM on 12.27.05 |
->> You guys might find this helpful:
My last car had both a cassette player and CD player in the factory head unit, so playing the ipod was always easy through the cassette adapter. My new vehicle only has CD, so I tried some of the FM radio adapters for the ipod, but was really disappointed with the results.
I did some research and found several products that can actually be installed that connect the dock plug to your factory radio behind the dash and allow you to use the ipod with your normal radio controls. The downside: you lose some of the functionality of the ipod menus, and are pretty much limited to playlists and forward/backward commands. All I really wanted was a miniphone jack on the front of my car's head unit.
Most newer cars come prewired for a CD changer or even a DVD player in the back. I found a product (USA.Spec Aux. Interface from LTI Enterprises) that did the trick. It is basically a small box with an adapter cable for your make/model of car, that plugs into the 12 pin cd changer cord prewired in the back of your car, and then converts that to two audio out cables, which you can then run under your seats to the front of your car.
Select the CD changer or auxilary channel on your head unit and your car stereo thinks your ipod is a CD changer. It sounds great, and it was only about 59 bucks. |
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Chris Williams, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Rancho Cucamonga | CA | USA | Posted: 12:19 PM on 12.27.05 |
->> Robert, that's exactly what I did for my truck and I couldn't be happier. Do a little ebay searching and you can find that part cheaper for those who want a deal. If you can't wait (like myself), it's still $50 well spent. It doesn't charge your iPod like the others, but that's what power inverters and/or the cigarette lighter adapters are for :-D
Oh, and for all you audiphiles, I've found that the Jazz EQ setting works best in cars to enhance the sound a bit and not have the pottential to overdrive the bass like the Rock setting does.
Chris |
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Doug Holleman, Photographer
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Temple | TX | USA | Posted: 7:05 PM on 12.28.05 |
->> I just discovered this new model, Creative Zen Micro PHOTO!
http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&pr...
Looks very impressive for such a tiny unit. This is the one I would want for carrying around all over the place. FM tuner, voice recorder, Photo LCD screen, address book and calendar, 8GB storage, 15-hour removable battery, all crammed in about the size of a zippo ligher, less than 4 ounces! DANG! |
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Leslie Billman, Photographer
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Annapolis | Md | USA | Posted: 8:47 PM on 12.28.05 |
| ->> Does anyone know: will an ipod nano and itunes allow a copy FROM the ipod TO another computer? I've tried to figure out how to do that, and guess it's in the Import menu, but can't get it to work. The goal would be to transfer all the music that's on one computer in Itunes to another computer with Itunes, but with no music stored on it at all, using the updated nano as the transporter/go-between. The message I get when I start the process leads me to believe that all the music on the nano will be wiped out as the itunes on computer 2 wants to replace the tunes on the nano with whatever tunes are in its itunes folder. In this case, there are none, which would leave my little nano empty. I've been too chicken to try it. What's the deal? |
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Kevin Novak, Photographer, Assistant
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Bel Air (Baltimore) | MD | USA | Posted: 9:20 PM on 12.28.05 |
->> Leslie,
I think I read on these boards that Photo Mechanic will recognize the I-Pod as an external drive, allowing you to drag and drop into your I-Tunes folder.
I've not tried this, so buyer beware.
Kevin |
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Greg Ferguson, Photographer
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Scottsdale | Az | USA | Posted: 10:08 PM on 12.28.05 |
->> I haven't tested with PhotoMechanic, but no other application can see the appropriate folder when using the standard (built-in) file-open dialogs, so I doubt PM will be able to. The MacOS hides the iPod's music folder from the Finder by some sleight-of-hand tricks that are well below that interface.
You can navigate to the appropriate folder using the command-line in Terminal and copying the files manually, but it's ugly because the folders and files are named using numbers; Finding the desired file is tough.
Periodically I do that for one of our iPods - my daughter wanted to burn some CDs from her iPod the other day so I copied the files over, pointed iTunes to that folder while she worked, then pointed it back to our normal music library when she was done.
Older versions of iTunes would allow us to moves files back and forth via the iPod - in effect it acted like a miniature drive - but they took that away when the DRM issues got hotter. I think it was a concession made in order to get some of the music companies to sell their tunes on Apple's store. |
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Chris Large, Photographer
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Okotoks | AB | Canada | Posted: 12:57 AM on 12.29.05 |
->> The only problem with the ipod is that is just way too cool. I bought one for my windows pc, loved the way it worked and looked, so I ended up selling my pc and making the switch to a 17" G4 powerbook. And I'm happy I bought the ipod.
Chris |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Louisville | KY | USA | Posted: 8:41 AM on 12.29.05 |
->> will an ipod nano and itunes allow a copy FROM the ipod TO another computer?
Although your application might be perfectly legal and legit, the iTunes/iPod software does not specifically allow this because it could be used to transfer your music to someone else's computer...which would be piracy. It is not impossible to do (3rd party software can let you do it), but it's not built-in to the Apple software. |
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Ricardo Lopez, Student/Intern
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Ventura | CA | United States | Posted: 8:58 AM on 12.29.05 |
->> Everybody gave excellent information, and I just want to add a couple more things.
If you are going to use iTunes to trasfer your CD's to digital files, I would recommend you to use the MP3 format. The quality is less than AIFF format, but you will be able to fit more songs into your iPod. Apple says you can upload up to 10,000 songs in your iPod, but that's on MP3 format. I have my iPod almost full and I have nothing close to 10,000 songs.
Also, I've heard a lot of people say they use their iPod as a storage device, although storing photos is fine, I've read it is not recommended to work FROM the iPod. (meaning, don't edit your photos in PS from the device) It has something to do with the number of RPM's of the internal drive. Doing this would reduce the life of your iPod.
So, if you are going to use the iPod, make sure you don't use it as a regular drive and that you import your files as MP3 to fit more songs. |
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Ron Holman, Photographer
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Visalia | CA | USA | Posted: 4:35 AM on 12.30.05 |
->> I was born into the iPod (30GB video) world on Christmas day. I love it. It has been very user friendly. Importing my CD's has been VERY easy- even on my Dell PC with USB 1.1. I just plug it in when I go to bed and let it charge and update. Burning CD's is also a snap.
My only challenge has been importing to the Contacts folder. The automatic upload sees some but not all of my Contacts in Outlook. Some it sees mutliple times (probably because I have more than one list and a few people are on more than one list.) In auto mode it does not transfer the "Notes" portion of the contact. Perhaps this is different with a Mac.
If the Notes field is important to you, you can manually save Vcard files (.vcf) to the iPod's contact folder. You must check the box in iTunes "enable disk use" to do this and some other things. Just know that it only sees E-mail #1. So put other details in the Notes field.
A similar method allows you to store text files (.txt) in iPod's Notes folder. In Outlook "Notes" click on the note and then goto File/Save As and navigate to the iPod's Notes folder.
While you can go between different Mac's or different PC's, you can NOT go from Mac to PC without iTunes clearing everything. I haven't tried it. That's what Apple says.
Battery tip- Use it, but do not feel compelled to drain it. The battery has a finite number of charge cycles. But partial charges are just that- partial. Charging it from 80% to full only counts as 1/5 of a charge. So if you do that every day for five days, you have only used about one charge cycle. Apple's web site goes into detail about it. My nephew's experience with friends who bought theirs about the same time seems to confirm this.
I agree with the Podcast comments above. There is a free one for Photoshop as well. Also, iTunes has a freebie song once a week.
The video thing gets more complicated when trying to make your own. I haven't mastered this yet. Of course Apple offers software to convert most anything to an iPod compatible format. But the larger screen is nice for slideshows of my favorite pics.
I also have the Universal Dock. A handy thing. Reduces desktop clutter. Allows remote use via IR port in front. Has Line-Out and S-Video jacks in the back as well as the USB jack. So if I master video, I can move the dock back and forth between the computer's USB connection and the stereo's S-video connection very easily. I read that the optional remote does not navigate the menus even though it has a menu button. That function is for other Apple products.
I also bought DLO's Transpod for use in the car. Works well. Takes a little effort to find the ideal frequency. Target has them on sale for about $75.
One thing I probably won't buy- the splitter to go from my iPod to the home stereo. A discussion thread on Apple's site tipped me off that many such plugs exist for other products. Sure enough the splitter/adapter that came with my portable DVD works perfectly.
So now I'm wondering how many iPod newbies my age uploaded Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (one of my first CD's) into their new toy...
-Ron |
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Wendi Kaminski, Photographer, Student/Intern
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La Mirada | CA | USA | Posted: 11:15 AM on 12.30.05 |
->> Ron-
>>>So now I'm wondering how many iPod newbies my age uploaded Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (one of my first CD's) into their new toy...>>>
That would be me! Pink Floyd rocks and you know that went right in immediately!
I love the Ipod and can't imagine life without it. It not only drowns out the "knuckleheads" while you edit, it also drowns out the kids yelling at their video games in the background at home.
The only problem that I have seen with Itunes is I can't rip a CD and have it play in my suburban. It's a newer model so I thought it would be fine, but it's not. There is nothing that plays from the CD I ripped. It plays on my computers just fine (all macs). Just a little confused. |
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Kevin Novak, Photographer, Assistant
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Bel Air (Baltimore) | MD | USA | Posted: 12:30 PM on 12.30.05 |
->> Wendy,
Check under Edit--Preferences--Advanced--Burning
Make sure that the "Audio CD" button is checked. You might be burning MP3's, which many stock automotive CD players cannot read. |
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Chris Williams, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Rancho Cucamonga | CA | USA | Posted: 12:38 PM on 12.30.05 |
->> :If you are going to use iTunes to trasfer your CD's to digital files, I would recommend you to use the MP3 format. The quality is less than AIFF format, but you will be able to fit more songs into your iPod. Apple says you can upload up to 10,000 songs in your iPod, but that's on MP3 format. I have my iPod almost full and I have nothing close to 10,000 songs.:
I would recommend using AAC vs, the AIFF format. It's a smaller file size and my audiphile ears can't distinguish a loss in quality. Sounds just like the CD to me. MP3 on the other hand is a different story and I can usually always tell. I do however use AIFF for the stuborn borrowed disc from a friend that is scratched and has a problem importing. AIFF just seems to work better in that respect. But in that case I would still convert it back to AAC after it has imported. When you wonder why all your hard drive space has "disapeared", check your music folder and see the size of a non AAC file.
For what it's worth, I have 1,318 songs on my iPod taking up only 7.23 GB of room. (plus some pictures) It's everything I own currently and I have the 20GB version. In my opinion, MP3 is one of the poorest quality formats to use. I mean, if you really have THAT much music, get the 60GB iPod.
Chris |
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Chris Williams, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Rancho Cucamonga | CA | USA | Posted: 12:41 PM on 12.30.05 |
->> :So now I'm wondering how many iPod newbies my age uploaded Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (one of my first CD's) into their new toy...:
I'm not sure of your age (I'm 20), but that was one of the first albums I downloaded off of iTunes when I replaced my iPod.
Hey, I see you're in Visalia. I lived in Tulare for 14 years!
Chris |
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Wes Hope, Photographer
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Maryville | TN | USA | Posted: 10:10 PM on 12.30.05 |
->> Alright boys and girls, I'm getting closer to a decision, but I have just a few more questions.
Songs purchased from iTunes can or can't be burned to CD? Are they all protected or just some of them? As long as the songs are in a compatible form, you can load tunes from other online music stores (eg. Napster) right?
About photos (tell which I'm leaning toward?), do you have to use iPhoto or Photoshop Elements to get the pics or is there another way? Will the iPod recognize RAW files or simply .jpg?
Any accessories that are "must haves"? (Dock, power adapter...)
Thanks for all the help so far... I just want to make sure I get the right player for me so I'll actually use it and my wife won't have something else to yell at me for.
Happy New Year's Eve eve. |
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Ron Holman, Photographer
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Visalia | CA | USA | Posted: 10:55 PM on 12.30.05 |
->> Wes,
-Songs from iTunes can be burned to CD. iTunes will also convert other files for the iPod. An average album takes about 10-15 minutes to convert to AAC.
-Storing photos- I use iTunes to import them from a specific folder on my PC. It "optimizes" them on the way in and updates everytime I connect the iPod. You can have it draw from multiple folders. As I recall, if you save the photos directly to the iPod, they can not be seen. They just sit there in memory until you download them elsewhere. You can also import with Adobe Elements. I haven't tried RAW files.
-Accessories- depends on your planned usage. If you're in the car frequently, I'd strongly suggest something to relay your tunes to the car's stereo(FM transmitter or cassette tape adapter) and a power supply. I went with a combo of these two ideas to minimize clutter among my other 12v devices. There are lots of third party solutions. Check out Target's sale this week on DLO's transponder ($75, regularly $100. Best Buy will match with ad in hand.) Taking some load off the iPod's battery will extend its life.
For home- Apple's Universal Dock looks neat. But the iPod comes with USB cord that works just fine. It also charges the iPod. For stereo hook up you may already have a splitter that works. The uni-dock works here too.
Come on in, the water is fine... :-D
-Ron |
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Randy Chow, Photographer
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Long Beach | CA | United States | Posted: 12:09 AM on 12.31.05 |
->> Any accessories that are "must haves"? (Dock, power adapter...)
Get a hard case!!!
I just bought my iPod video 60GB yesterday. The main reason I waited so long was for a hard translucent case to come out for that model(usually 2 months after the model is introduced). A company called agent 18 has cases for all current iPod models. I bought the 60gb case with the iPod and the first thing I did was install the case. iPods are notorious for trying to keep that mirror shine on the back, and there have been issues with the current models regarding the front being easily scratched. I have bought hard cases for all my iPods and they have been very good at keeping them clean and protecting them the few times I've dropped them. I am not into the soft 'skin' type covers, because those can move around slightly and if dust gets between the skin and iPod, it scratches. |
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Aric Becker, Photographer
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Olympia | WA | USA | Posted: 12:53 AM on 12.31.05 |
->> Wes,
I have loaded Raw files on my ipod with no problem. You won't see the image just the file. I went on vacation with three 1 Gig cards and my ipod, put four gig of Raw photos on my ipod. When I got home down loaded them no problem. I used the Belkin card reader, a little slow but does the job if you are not in a rush. |
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Wes Hope, Photographer
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Maryville | TN | USA | Posted: 3:35 PM on 01.02.06 |
->> Thanks for all the info folks. Everyone was very helpful.
A black 30gb iPod is on the way and should be here by the end of the week. Somehow I went from wanting to spend around $200 to $300, but I think I'll be happy. It's funny, I don't bat an eyelash when it comes to plunking down several grand for a camera, but when it comes to something non-photo related, that's another story. Actually, I'm thinking it might just be a business expense since I can transport photos with it.
Happy new year and happy listening.
-Wes "Conforming to the masses since 1975" |
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Robert Caplin, Student/Intern, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 4:32 PM on 01.02.06 |
->> I haven't read through the entire thread, so I apologize if this is redundant....
I saw someone was talking about hooking a dock up in the car using an aux CD player. Just wanted to give a link to what I used to hook my ipod to my Jetta: http://www.dension.com/main.htm.
It's really wonderful because I can change the track and adjust the volume through my steering wheel controls. The quality is wonderful because it is plugged directly into the system, rather than through the FM or cassette deck.
For what it's worth...
Cheers,
Robert |
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Dirk Dewachter, Photographer
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Playa Del Rey | CA | USA | Posted: 8:36 PM on 07.15.06 |
->> Revisiting this thread for some more info from the ipod users
If I don't want to store the large volume of music files on my hard drive what are my options to organize my music files and upload to an ipod?
For example can I copy music from one of my cd's into itunes, upload them to the ipod and then delete the files from the computer's hard drive?
Or, do some of you have a dedicated drive for the music files? |
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Thad Parsons, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Oxford | UK | United Kingdom | Posted: 8:48 PM on 07.15.06 |
->> Dirk -
I have a dedicated external hard drive for my music. It is the easiest way to go. You can put music on an iPod and then delete it off your computer but then, without special software, the songs are 'stuck' on your iPod ... so, that is not an ideal solution.
Cheers! |
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Jason Nix, Photographer, Assistant
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Atlanta - Sandy Springs | GA | United States | Posted: 9:17 PM on 07.15.06 |
->> PodWorks - It's a freeware program... think it's mac only though, will allow you to retrieve your songs off yours - or others iPods.
Works great too. |
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