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What ever else is out there.

I have been thinking that it will be a lot easier to plug an Ipod into my car then carry all those disks around.
What would you buy, brand name wise.
I want to be able to transfer my CDs on my computer to my Ipod. Can I do this or do I have to buy the music at the Istore. I have a PC not a Mac

Look at the Zune HD. HD radio (free, no subscription required) and you don't have to deal with the shite that is iTunes. (It seriously blows.)

Airfoilsguy wrote:I want to be able to transfer my CDs on my computer to my Ipod. Can I do this or do I have to buy the music at the Istore. I have a PC not a Mac

Yes, Itunes can import CDs through your PC. Just insert the CD into your drive and click the proper button in Itunes. If the music is already on your computer in .mp3 format you can add it to the Itunes library very easily. You can also buy music from Amazon.com if you don't want to deal with the Itunes store.

I have one of the first batch of Ipod Videos. Great device, but getting a little long in the tooth. Probably need to replace it soon.

BCA wrote:Look at the Zune HD. HD radio (free, no subscription required) and you don't have to deal with the shite that is iTunes. (It seriously blows.)

I abhor iTunes.

Other than that, I've used a nicer 8GB Sandisk for music when I'm off geohounding. I use my GPS in my car to play all of my music. The total cost for the two together was under $200, with the Sandisk being refurbished. The GPS was marked down from $375 when I purchased it in a special weekend deal, but then it went back up.

Anyway, it depends on your taste. I will admit that I am a bit utilitarian when it comes to music players and cellular telephones.

BCA wrote:Look at the Zune HD. HD radio (free, no subscription required) and you don't have to deal with the shite that is iTunes. (It seriously blows.)

Wow, I never heard of that option. Does Ipod offer a radio option?

Airfoilsguy wrote:

BCA wrote:Look at the Zune HD. HD radio (free, no subscription required) and you don't have to deal with the shite that is iTunes. (It seriously blows.)

Wow, I never heard of that option. Does Ipod offer a radio option?

They might.. but none of them have HD radio. So yeah.. w/the Zune you get MP3/audio, videos, wifi and HD radio. If I were to get a media player.. that's what I would get.

http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunehd/default.htm

I do not have a MAC, but I have iTunes. I have not tried Zune, but I am happy with the iTunes.

Have had a video iPod for almost 2 years now and never had any problems with it, nor with iTunes for that matter. At least back then the iPod was the only true high-capacity that could handle the ~20 GB of music I have. And once you have a certain amount of songs, radio really becomes a non-factor. And in my case, the awesome Dollar-Euro exchange rate was a nice factor as well (1/3 less in the US than it would've cost in Germany).

I should add that I have a large CD collection and don't anticipate downloading that much.

I've never even seen a Zune (and presume they aren't that popular for a good reason), but I'm happy to recommend an iPod. I bought a refurbished 20GB one, 4th generation before the first colour displays, on eBay a couple of years ago and it's still going strong. Even the battery life is decent, however I should add that I treat it comparably well.

Depending on the model you get, you'll either have an iPhone-like interface or one with a "click wheel". Mine's got the latter, simpler one, and I find it to be close to perfect. Five buttons (apart from the hold switch) and the wheel are all you need for the rather simple task of choosing the music you want to listen to. Word of warning: if you plan on using your portable media player while running (or on rollercoasters, very bad roads etc.), don't get one with a HDD but one with flash memory.


As for iTunes, I guess it's a love/hate issue. I've configured mine so that it'll copy any audio CD I put in the drive and eject it, so copying my entire CD collection was a matter of putting the disks in, occasionally choosing between more than one available track list, putting the discs back into their cases and creating playlists by drag-and-drop. It was infinitely better than the pain of doing the same with Windows Media Player. In short, I organised files in WMP and organised music in iTunes.

The iTunes Music Store (ITMS) however got somewhat worse with the latest update, they ditched the shopping cart for no apparent reason and changed the layout for the worse. But it's still 100% integrated into iTunes, so it's retained that "it just works" feel. DRM is, fortunately, a thing of the past so you can use your files the way you want. Even so, I never really had a problem with it since I only ever used them on my iPod. As for pricing, I believe that the ITMS is in many cases more expensive than some other sources. But a) you said you didn't want to buy a lot of music and b) AFAIK, you can use files you bought elsewhere in iTunes.


Finally, iTunes has a variety of radio stations for you to choose from and you can add streams to the library. Bandwidths vary depending on the station.

BCA wrote:

Airfoilsguy wrote:

BCA wrote:Look at the Zune HD. HD radio (free, no subscription required) and you don't have to deal with the shite that is iTunes. (It seriously blows.)

Wow, I never heard of that option. Does Ipod offer a radio option?

They might.. but none of them have HD radio. So yeah.. w/the Zune you get MP3/audio, videos, wifi and HD radio. If I were to get a media player.. that's what I would get.

http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunehd/default.htm

Some of the latest iPods finally have FM(as opposed to the POS dongle "solution" of the past) vs. the Zune which has had FM from Day 1. The 3rd Gen Zunes out now have HD as well - I plan to get one sometime next year as I have loved my 1st and 2nd Gen Zunes.

miamiair wrote:I do not have a MAC, but I have iTunes. I have not tried Zune, but I am happy with the iTunes.

Many "viruses" we fix end up being nothing more than iTunes causing issues on PCs, kind of like Norton AV. The QC on their SW has gone to hell on the PC end of things unfortunately.

I decided ti get an Ipod nano for the simple reason the it does everything the Zune does but accessories are easier to find. I have played with it for a few minutes now and am impressed. The controls take a little getting used to but it is an easy device to figure out.

I have always had sandisk but was given a 16 gig Ipod Nano for xmas. It looks cool, but is still in the box. I'm kinda blown away at how small it is that it can hold 16 gigs, play video, and is so small. It has digital radio and Video recording as well.

I also noticed that it has a pedometer. Does that feature count the number of children you molest?

Thank you very much for the thread, I had the same question. I also wonder, what is the best format to convert to? I've read mp3 for audio and mp4 for video? Best quality with the smallest memory is, of course, the intent.

Also how large would an average movie be when compressed into a format for the Nano? I think I heard someone say about 3 gigs?

On the issue of music files not bought in the ITMS, I can now report that an MP3 I've just bought on Amazon.de works perfectly fine. I had to install a little downloader application, but fair's fair - Apple's is built into iTunes, but Amazon obviously have nothing to do with that.

Fumanchewd wrote:Thank you very much for the thread, I had the same question. I also wonder, what is the best format to convert to? I've read mp3 for audio and mp4 for video? Best quality with the smallest memory is, of course, the intent.

I've been using AAC at 192 kBit/s (with VBR) for years and I'm happy with it. Very roughly, that works out at 1.5 MB per minute on average. Audiophiles will of course come up with all sorts of "necessary improvements", but most of that is just voodoo.

Fumanchewd wrote:Also how large would an average movie be when compressed into a format for the Nano? I think I heard someone say about 3 gigs?

That depends on all sorts of factors you can influence. Resolution, framerate, sound quality, format, container... but 3GB is, I think, vastly overstated. You can fiddle with HandBrake for a bit and find out what suits you best.

Fumanchewd wrote:Also how large would an average movie be when compressed into a format for the Nano? I think I heard someone say about 3 gigs?

Assuming it'll play MP4s: When I rip DVDs to MP4, the default settings in Handbrake give me anything from 700MB to around 1.1GB, with most coming in around 800-odd MB.

miamiair wrote:I do not have a MAC, but I have iTunes. I have not tried Zune, but I am happy with the iTunes.

Itunes and my first Ipod nano is what finally prompted me to leave Windows for Mac. I now have ITouch, and I love it. I agree that the latest update to Itunes blows, but it works.

halls120 wrote:Itunes and my first Ipod nano is what finally prompted me to leave Windows for Mac.

same here

If you don't (feel a) need to customise your computer very much, which - let's face it - most people don't, an iPod will almost inevitably tempt you to buy a Mac. Brilliant marketing, I have to say.

halls120 wrote:Itunes and my first Ipod nano is what finally prompted me to leave Windows for Mac. I now have ITouch, and I love it. I agree that the latest update to Itunes blows, but it works.

Pretty much the same story here. I bought my first iPod before getting a Macbook, and I've now replaced the original iPod with a Touch.

halls120 wrote:

miamiair wrote:I do not have a MAC, but I have iTunes. I have not tried Zune, but I am happy with the iTunes.

Itunes and my first Ipod nano is what finally prompted me to leave Windows for Mac. I now have ITouch, and I love it. I agree that the latest update to Itunes blows, but it works.

Can you run windows office programs on a Mac?

Airfoilsguy wrote:Can you run windows office programs on a Mac?

You can run Apple iWork, Microsoft Office for Mac, OpenOffice.Org and a variety of others on a Mac. You can also install Windows on a Mac as a virtual machine or in its own partition and then install whatever Windows-only software you have.

Airfoilsguy wrote:

halls120 wrote:

miamiair wrote:I do not have a MAC, but I have iTunes. I have not tried Zune, but I am happy with the iTunes.

Itunes and my first Ipod nano is what finally prompted me to leave Windows for Mac. I now have ITouch, and I love it. I agree that the latest update to Itunes blows, but it works.

Can you run windows office programs on a Mac?

Yes, you can buy Microsoft Office for Mac.

Lok Lok Look but butonssss

To be honest, Office for Mac doesn't have all the functionality that MS Office has, and it's only natural. That said, if I wanted all that MS Office offered, I could buy Windows for my Mac, and partition it, but I really don't miss MS Office - Office for Mac is fine.

I like my Mac because it works. No viruses, no blue screen of death, no driver issues. Going on three years now it has been absolutely trouble free (knock on wood), and the best computer I've ever owned.

halls120 wrote:To be honest, Office for Mac doesn't have all the functionality that MS Office has, and it's only natural. That said, if I wanted all that MS Office offered, I could buy Windows for my Mac, and partition it, but I really don't miss MS Office - Office for Mac is fine.

I like my Mac because it works. No viruses, no blue screen of death, no driver issues. Going on three years now it has been absolutely trouble free (knock on wood), and the best computer I've ever owned.

I just worry because in the business community everything is windows.

halls120 wrote:To be honest, Office for Mac doesn't have all the functionality that MS Office has, and it's only natural. That said, if I wanted all that MS Office offered, I could buy Windows for my Mac, and partition it, but I really don't miss MS Office - Office for Mac is fine.

I like my Mac because it works. No viruses, no blue screen of death, no driver issues. Going on three years now it has been absolutely trouble free (knock on wood), and the best computer I've ever owned.

I've had my mac since 2006. I like it. But I'm not going to play the it just works card. I've had to replace both fans. A Superdrive and a hdd. The OS is great. I relate owning a mac to owning a german car. Fantastic. But if something breaks. Prepare to bend over and enjoy the repair bill.