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Thinking about getting the wife one for X-mas, but know nothing about them. Anyone have any recommendations and/or warnings?

I got myself an iPod for Christmas.  Can't say much about it yet, as it's still wrapped under my tree.  I like what I've read about it, though.  You can read all about it on Apple's website.

http://www.apple.com/ipod/

I have been casually eyeing them myself. I am leaning toward the 20gb iPod, but haven't been able to justify it yet. If there was some sort of adapter that would allow it to play in my car, I could see it being damned useful.

I'm waiting for the iPod Photo 60Gb to drop to a more reasonable price point.  I have a hard time buying a glorifed minidrive for the price of an adequate desktop... :-)

iPod Mini. There aren't any other choices worth tossing around.

Those are only 4GB though. Is that enough storage?

If you have a tape deck, just use one of the old adapters for playing your portable CDs player through the car stereo. If you have a 12v adapter for the cigarette lighter, you can also plug the thing in and battery life becomes a non-issue.

I've looked at the regular iPod in 20GB and 40GB varieties. The mini iPods aren't much smaller, and run about the same amount for 10% of the memory. If anyone can explain why I can buy a 40GB iPod for the price of a 4GB mini, please do.

Bring the noise.
Cheers..............

Minis are runing $270 right now, 20gb at $299 and 40gb at $399.

40 GB? Shit, my wife got a good deal on a decent 128MB off-brand MP3 USB player. 128MB is more than enough storage for me. How many fucking songs do you need?

Haemish, my current playlist in Winamp is roughly 800 songs. Not that 4GB isn't plenty, but why buy a 4GB iPod when you can get an extra 16GB for an extra $29?

Bring the noise.
Cheers............

Unfortunately, I have an in-dash CD player with a removable faceplate. I don't envision any adapters being made that would hook me up.



I have only imported about 10% of the CDs I own into my digital library...once all that is done, 40GB is going to be just about right to give me room to expand.

It's quite obvious I'm not the target market. I tend to not rip my CD's because if I want to listen to that CD, I just put it in the CD drive and go.

I just love the idea of toting my whole musical collection around with me in one hand. Also- I listen to the vast majority of my music while I play poker online (via iTunes), and I really like the 'Party Shuffle' option. If I am in the mood to listen to an entire album, I still have that option as well.

Just do what I did, get an adaptor from Radio Shack that transmits a radio signal instead of a cassette adaptor directly into the stereo.  Operates at a certain frequency with around a 10' distance and you just tune in to that channel.

Plus it's great for boating, you get 4 boats anchored at a sand bar, tune 'em into the same channels and bang, you've got a pretty decent block of sound.

I have never heard of anything like that...do you have a link? If I can get it set up to work on my stereo, I am gonna buy me an iPod after Christmas!

Exactly the model I have. (http://www.newtechreview.com/newtechreview/review.asp?ReviewID=18)

I don't know if they still sell it (I bought mine about 2 years ago), but I'd truthfully be surprised if Radio Shack didn't.

The iPod is not especially large to begin with. Why would you need something even smaller?

Im picturing Ben Stiller's cell phone in Zoolander...

I've been trying out a lot of different models, since I got my new job. I've never had more than 5-6 gigs worth of music on any of them.
Allthough the new iPods have a good size, I still prefer the Mini and can do without the extra storage - carrying 20 or more gigs of music around means that your ID3 tags needs to be correct and you need to make good playilists otherwise, it's just more of a bother.

My rundown:
(I won't comment too much on prices, Abb is a lawyer and probably loaded and prices have changed in the year I've been trying these things).

Philips HDD120 (20GB):
Looks great (better than the iPod... white is for fags), sounds great, control is ok, the DRM software that you're forced to use is the suckiest piece of sucky suck ever written. Probably programmed by the CEOs 14 year old niece as a favour.

Asono Soundhub (20GB):
Lot's of features, like radio, .txt reader, MP3 encoding etc. Plays almost everything and don't need properitary software, so you can transfer and copy MP3's. Average sound, clunky interface and ugly design.

Creative Zen Touch (40 GB):
Good sound, nice feature list, crappy design and the touchpad is a really annoying attempt to beat the clickwheel. Without luck, I might add.

Creative Zen Micro (5GB):
Good looking (10 colors), good size (same width as the Mini, lower in height and slightly fatter). Nice feature list including Outlook sync., recorder and a good radio. 5 Gb. Twice (or more) the batterylife of the iPod and over here they are selling it with and extra battery for 15$ less than the Mini. Sounds great, but I haven't played around enough with the controls to comment - feel better than the Touch but worse than the iPods.

Sony HD1 (20GB):
Best looking of the bunch. No extra features at all. Great sound (better than iPod). It's the size of the Mini but holds three times the music. The one I had only played ATRAC, which was the dealbreaker for me, but now they have a model out with the choice of five colours and MP3 compatability. Batterylife is 25+ hours in continuous play (best I've tried).
Controls are not very smartly placed and it's not easy to control blind (ie protected in your pocket). I've had it for a month now, and it's still confounding me.

iPod (20-40GB):
There's nothing new to tell. It's the one every other is measured against. If I could have an iPod with radio and voicerecorder, I'd never consider anything else. Others have beaten parts of the iPod package - design, batterylife, sound, features etc. But none have beaten all in one player. The one thing that nobody has beaten or even been close to, is the controls. When people speak of the iPods design, they're not just talking how it looks - it's also how clever the design is - my grandmother could use one. And while some hates ´the lack of freedom', the way it works with iTunes (which is the best - or close - to musicplayer and organizer out there... even without iTunes Musicstore which still isn't open here) makes it really really nice to work with. Especially for non-geeks.

iPod mini (4GB):
All the above in an even greater package. The perfect weight and size. The added armband makes it a perfect running accesory.

iPod Photo (60GB):
Colour screen: Good.
Everything else: Why?
You can't transfer photos without it being connected to your pc/Mac. If I can't use it to empty my EOS 20D, why would I want it? Who needs 60GB if not for a photobank for those big RAW/JPEGS?

I've also tried a vast number of flash-based players. I would never consider them unless for very specific features. I gave my wife one, which is 128MB, but the size of a (slightly fat) coin. It hangs in the earphones and only have two buttons and one plug.

Right now I'm testing the SwiMP3 (waterproof) and the Philips/Nike Run (nifty design, radio and built in Bluetooth trip counter). I'd consider the 256MB Riva Gem because it doubles as a Bluetooth headset and shuts up if your phone rings... but I'd really like that feature in a hdd-based device.

Wow, that is really cool! Now, I need to find a 12v adapter to run the transmitter AND the iPod...

That is the coolest fucking thing I've seen in a while. I may have to get one after Christmas.

EDIT: Amazon sells one with a car adapter. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000DK6II/compmediaA/102-7351339-5697700)

As HaemishM's link shows, there's a bunch of these around, you must have been under a rock. Belkin (I think) even makes one that's fits on the iPod without ruining the nice design.
This (http://www.i4u.com/section-viewarticle-39.html) even have the feature built in - too bad for those of us in most of Europe, where personal FM-transmitters are forbidden.
So we'll have to make do with this... (http://www.apple.com/ipod/bmw/)

Go with the link Haemish provided.  I've got the old skool one that doesn't have a nifty cigarette lighter AC adapter.  Consequently I've got a big stash of rechargable AAA batteries I continually swap out.

From what I've heard, the iPod also functions exactly like a portable firewire HD.  It's a nice way to transfer large amounts of data around.

You can get FM transmitters for them that will play on your radio.

Hold on, you're saying that you can't just hook it directly to the camera? What the fuck is the point of it then?

20D huh? Guess I know who to hit up for advice when I start looking for a digital SLR next year...

FWIW, I had an iPod that I bought last summer (2003).  It broke by late July of this year, so I replaced it with a Rio Karma.

The Karma is 20GB and I've almost filled it, I think I have about 5.2k songs on there right now (and yes, I do own all the CDs that go with them)

If you live in a large city, I'd suggest against the FM broadcast dongle.  At least here in Chicago, it's wicked hard to find a purely clean channel to use.

Instead, I went out and snagged a stereo face by AIWA that has an Auxiliary input jack.  A miniplug to miniplug cable later, and I was good to go.

Hanzii

Thanks for the info. How is the software with the Creative? I'm going between the Zen Micro (which has been recommended by another person I know and the radio tuner would be a big big plus for the wife) and the iPod.

My wife isn't a total computer dope, but she isn't an uber-geek either so ease of use in getting a song from a CD to the player (which will be her primary means rather than download) is the real key.

If the software is good I'm inclined to go with the Zen Micro.

If you're considering picking up an FM dongle, I really like the Belkin TuneCast II (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001F22PA/ref=pd_sbs_e_1/104-7806684-8716722?v=glance&s=electronics) FM transmitter which allows you to scan the entire FM spectrum for an available frequency instead of just 4 presets on the low end of the range.

I've owned both a Zen (the Zen Ultra, predecessor to the Zen Touch) and an iPod. I'd wholeheartedly recommend the iPod. It's a quality piece of engineering, and the Zens are pretty chimpy (the face plate of mine fell off after a while, many reported problems with the headphone jack).

Software isn't really an issue for either. If you don't like iTunes, there's a Winamp plugin that shows your entire iPod library in Winamp's music library window. A company named Red Chair makes probably the best portable MP3 maintainence software, and there's a version for both the Zen and the iPod. (www.redchairsoftware.com)

If you want to use the player as a portable hard drive, the iPod wins for ease of use - it just shows up as a hard drive, whereas with the Zen you have to jump through some hoops.

Sound quality? I mildly prefer the iPod but only mildly, and you'd really have to be a hardcore audio geek to tell much difference.

Probably iTunes then. Creative's ripping software is OK, but only OK. With iTunes, you put in the CD, push a button, it shows up on your iPod. Hard to get much simpler.

We just got it in and I didn't pull review duty on this, bastards. But I'll check out the software tomorrow.
It seems to be using the same Creative Media Source as their other players - this is an o.k. player/ripper/organizer, that does what such a piece of software is supposed to. But it's not in the same league as iTunes and it's always annoying to learn a new program.

If the wife doesn't mind WMA or is allready using Media Player 10, then the good news is, that apparently the Micro is supported and thus syncs with Media Player. If you're using MP3 you need to use the Creative software.

I'll try hands on myself tomorrow hopefully and will be able to say more. I can just say, that I had the iPod Mini as my favourite so far, but the radio in the Zen is really tempting me too.
If the interface is userfriendly, mthat is probably, what I'll buy for myself.
(later, the EOS was this years x-mas present from all of me to all of me)

Just to add: I agree with Lum, but the Zen Micro seems to be in another league completely compared to Creatives previous efforts (which have been better than any other company not called Apple).

Oh, and another thing. Whatever you buy, spring for new headphones. The Sony is the only player, where I would consider keeping the headphones... and that player has other issues.

A blog post I made earlier about MP3 player woes. (http://www.brokentoys.org/index.php?p=6565)

I don't like FM radio for the most part so I'm waiting for one of these newfangled doohickeys to include AM.

Why stop there? Get a shortwave transmitter. That way when you travel to Europe you can leave your iPod at home and still hear it.

I remember that. Then I snickered... then the first serious store, MSN Music, opened here and I got my first ever taste of legal downloads. No snickering, just cursing.
For some reason it will allow me to burn only 1/3 of the tunes on the new Depeche Mode remix album to cd - so I can't do the burn and rip shuffle and listen to the stuff I bought anywhere else than on my home pc.
Good thing I have a magazine with 500.000+ readers to vent in...

Just one thing to consider. I use my Ipod daily for my bicyle tours (around 2 hours playtime, 3 hours counting going to and from work), the Ipod just killed the second pair of akkus in under two years.

If you use the thing often, refrain from the iPod. The batteries are not really built for that. And you can only get them replaced by Apple or by breaking open the case.

Akkus?  Babelfish was no help but does that translate to batteries?

From everything I've seen, I like Archos and iRiver quite a bit.  Seems like a lot of bang for the buck compared to the iPod, plus battery replacement isn't as much of a hellish nightmare.

As for the car adaptor that's been talked about, I know there's a few companies that allow you to hook up your ipod to any head-unit with cd-changer controls (Pretty much anything made in the last 5ish years)

  The issue with most of these is that you need to use the ipod to select the tracks/playlists, and the FM transmitter is terrible in large cities, not to mention the fact that the best sound quality you can get is, well FM radio.

  There's also some other nifty ways of doing it.  I chose to go the Alpine route, since I already had a compatible head unit when they introduced
this  (http://www.alpine-usa.com/products/leading_technology/leading_tech_kca-420i.htm).  It controls the ipod through my head unit, a bit clumsily for 40g ipods with thousands of artists, but it also powers/charges the ipod battery, and lets me keep my ipod in my locked glove compartment.  The funny story is that I believe BMW was the first to introduce the Ipod controls via HU, but the BMW radio's don't display text, making it a complete piece of shit.

  Clarion is also coming out with a headunit this spring that has a flip up touchpad, with the clickwheel on it, supposedly making navigation from the HU the exact same as on the ipod itself.

  I honestly used to be one of those people that thought "what the hell do I need 40g of space for?"  But since I got it for my birthday this summer, I'm NEVER without out.  I've actually considered buying another 20g just to leave in my car permanently.

Yes it means rechargable battery, Personman. Sorry for that.

I started using my new iPod last night.  I couldn't find a cable to connect it to my stereo system, so I got an FM radio transmitter called an Si Link.  It looks exactly the same as the one Big Gulp posted, even the same color scheme, but I doubt it was created equal because the range is only about a foot, if that.  Its effective range for my car's radio is even worse -- it has to be pointing straight at it, which is impossible to do without holding it there with one hand while I drive.  I tried all four frequencies.  Is it because I'm in southern California, or did I just waste $20 on a shit product?

Can anybody recommend a good product for plugging the iPod into a stereo system?  My Si Link works ok for that, but why waste the AAA's?

I'd vote for the mini as well - have about 900 songs on mine. (Granted some are not that big). I had a 20 meg'er but sold it, before the mini's came out because I didn't care for how quick it got scratched. The mini is the perfect size.

My iPod already has 6 Gigs on it  and I'm still not done importing my CD library.  Plus, I'm always getting more.  I am up to 500 songs, and import at 320/44000, which makes for very high quality at around 10-13 MB per song.  Granted, I don't *need* to have my whole collection on the iPod at any given time, but I can just by having an iPod that's a little bit larger in size.  It's so small as it is that I find myself constantly patting my pocket to make sure it's still in there.

Got a Monster stereo cable last night.  It's about $10 more than the competition, but it really is top of the line.  It doesn't even get tangled, and it uses twisted-pair wiring to block electronic interference.  My iPod is actually louder than playing from CDs, now.  I would have been pleased with equal performance -- but actually having better performance just makes me giddy.

Having no luck with my Si Link FM transmitter -- going to try to return it to Target for a cassette adaptor at the same price, which an employee at CompUSA recommended I use.

I was suffering from a little bit of buyer's remorse, but that's because the Si Link sucked so badly and I didn't know if I could expect better.  Now with the Monster Stereo cable, the iPod is everything I hoped it would be, and much more.