The ipod

The ipod

by christy Mar 24, 2008 11:53PM PDT

...as described, is "a device for holding audio and video files in the MP3 and ACC formats..." I suspect it is much more than that.

I have not got an iPod. As a file holding device, is it like an MP3 player -I have experience only with the simplist of MP3 players - those early types which replaced the "SONY Walkman" !

Now, I want to catch up. What is a modern iPod ? What can I do with it (besides being a "personal portable stereo") ? Is it basically just a "portable music and video player" ? What do I miss if I don't have it ? Thanks.

christy

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You don't have to have an iPod

by ktreb Mar 25, 2008 4:16AM PDT

At the very root of it, it is a portable personal stereo....one that can hold anywhere from 250 songs (iPod Shuffle 1GB) up to nearly 40,000 songs (160GB iPod Classic). Several models can play video, except for the Shuffle.

As the title of this post states, you don't have to have an iPod. If you're happy with what you have, then you don't need one. But maybe you want to hold more music in a relatively small package. What are you using now? How much capacity does it have? How much music do you own? Do you want to get more music? These questions may be relevant in helping you decide if you want a new player. You might want to have a bunch of playlists for different moods/activities. You might want to watch a TV show or movie.

Also, there are other players that are not iPods that can do the same thing and a little bit more and are not as expensive. You might want to investigate the SanDisk Sansa Clip (a relatively simple player), The Creative Zen, Microsoft Zune, Archos generation 5 players, and Sony. There are others from Cowan and iRiver that I'm not familiar with but have a following in this forum.

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Re the ipod

by christy Mar 25, 2008 7:48AM PDT

Thanks. Well, I do not need 40,000 songs in one place... I enjoy music, but not "on the go". There should be other uses for an iPod...what is this "Podcast" thing ? Does an iPod receive(wirelessly) the podcast (news, music, video shows... ? ) or do I have to connect it to a computer or other devices ?

christy

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by ktreb Mar 25, 2008 9:23AM PDT

Well, most iPods as well as other players can display pictures. They can also act as external drives to store documents. On iPods you cannot access them from the player. You access them from a computer. On some others you might be able to access from the player depending on format (some can display pdfs). iPods can also play audio books, either ripped from cd or purchased from Audible. Other manufacturer's players, in addition to Audible, may be compatible with audio book downloads from the public library. iPods are not compatible with these downloads.

Podcasts are kind of like radio shows. Talk, music, news...CNET has some good ones. More and more are done by video now. iTunes, the program on the computer that iPods use, aggregate these very well. iPods do not receive these wirelessly. You must use a computer to download them to the iPod. I think Microsoft Zune can receive these wirelessly through the computer.

As for the 40,000 songs...that is the best case scenario with the largest capacity player (160GB) having only songs of average (4 minutes at 128 kbps bitrate) length and nothing else. Video takes up a lot more space. That same capacity holds approximate 200 hours of video. And podcasts are anywhere from a minute in length (or shorter) to hours. There are also smaller capacities of these players. The iPod Classic also comes in 80GB. The iPod Nano comes in 4 and 8GB. The iPod Touch comes in 8, 16, and 32GB. And the Shuffle comes in 1 and 2GB. These don't play video or display pictures, since they don't have screens. Each GB holds approximately 250 songs of average length. Videos are hard estimate because it depends on the source. A 44 minute television show (a one hour show without the commercials) purchased from iTunes is about 800 mb. But I can get a 90 minute movie on my own that is 750 mb.

You don't have to get the largest one available. You find a capacity and functionality that's right for you. You might want a player with an fm radio built in. Actually, iPods don't have them but other players do. And as I've already mentioned, you don't necessarily have to get an iPod. Depending on your needs, you may not even need a new player...but you may want one anyway.

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So, Christy...what type of MP3 player did you get?

by Mr2ATX May 6, 2008 2:33PM PDT

If, I may ask, what did you decide on?

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