Do I really need an iPod?

[wienerdog]

I know they're the premier MP3 player but are there players just as good, or better for the money?

Do iPods play MP3s, or doesit use some other form of file? I heard iTunes doesn't provide MP3s, but something else.

I have an HP PDA that can play MP3s through Windows Media Player, which is great on the train, but clunky to use at the gym. Should I get an iPod mini?

wiEnerDog
Weinerdog Graphics - My portfolio site! (http://www.wienerdoggraphics.com)

[Patrick Shannon]

iPods certainly do play MP3s, in fact, that's all they played (well, they might have done AIFF and WAV too, can't remember) when the unit was first released. You don't have to use AAC if you don't want to.

For the gym, it depends on what you do.....if you have the unit clipped to you, there is always the risk (with any hard drive based MP3 player) that jogging and jumping around like that will cause damage to the drive. I've never had that happen, personally. What I do is I set the unit on the control panel of whatever machine I'm working on when I'm at the gym.

If that still bothers you, you could always go for an iPod Shuffle, no moving parts.

Patrick Shannon

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[Patrick Shannon]

Oh, if you're referring to the iTunes Music Store, they do sell music in only the AAC format and only the iPod can play it. If you're simply encoding MP3s from your collection in the iTunes application, you can either use MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, and whatever else they let you do.

Patrick Shannon

'Dear valued customer, go home and die. Signed, your friendly graphic artist.'

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[Ryan8720]

You can even get a free one. See my sig.

http://www.edgewebdesign.org/images/misc/ryan_shadowmetal.gif (http://www.edgewebdesign.org)

http://www.spreadfirefox.com/community/images/affiliates/Buttons/80x15/white_1.gif (http://www.spreadfirefox.com/?q=affiliates&id=30444&t=82')

Free iPod (http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=9871683) (explanation in Mod Blog (http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=13&tabid=151))

[BOSCOW]

ipods play just about anything they play mp3, wav, aac, aiff, and the new apple lossless encoder, you can change anyof them in your itunes to what you want

'No Lois I am not drunk, I am exhausted because I have been up all night drinking.'

[MD]

ipod will not play .wav files

The reason people buy them and love them is because it is simply the best player out there. Wired recently reviewed mp3 players and ipod still came out on top. There was a review of the creative jukebox which has a ton of features but 'the interface was so horrible the player was almost unusable.'

ipod and itunes is a great combination! I love mine......but I will need a new one soon - I almost filled my 15GB :(
850 mb to go.....

I'm poor - but even I found some money to contribute to keep GDF alive!

[Ryan8720]

You can get a 20gb one for free. *nudge, nudge*

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Free iPod (http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=9871683) (explanation in Mod Blog (http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=13&tabid=151))

[Ulysses]

Do you really need an ipod? no (they're so last season ... and then some)

[morea]

yes. yes, you do. go complete Ryan's offer. /DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/biggrin.gif

We are one, our cause us one, and we must help each other if we are to succeed. ~ Frederick Douglass

[Ulysses]

Erm ... yes, help Ryan get his ipod, then don't get one yourself. Sorted.

[Ryan8720]

^ what they said.

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[Patrick Shannon]

> ipod will not play .wav files

Yes they do....the add-on voice recorder some company put out for the 3rd generation a while back recorded in WAV. Heck, my pod is sitting right here, I'll do a quick check myself, hang on......

...as I thought. They do indeed play WAVs. If WAVs weren't playing for you, perhaps they were using some obscure codec or something.

> Do you really need an ipod? no (they're so last season ... and then some)

Then if money's no problem, get one from THIS season (4th gen iPod Photo). ^_~

Patrick Shannon

'Dear valued customer, go home and die. Signed, your friendly graphic artist.'

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My War With Culture (http://www.mywarwithculture.com)
Political incorrectness reinvented.

[D-Zine]

Of course you don't really 'neeeed' an iPod...its just one of those things that we all WANT, a new toy! LOL

'No more yanky my wanky! The donga need food!!' - heh

[Ulysses]

lol Patrick. I was just poking fun at the fact, iPods are fashion accessories, and as such ... well ... you all know.
Guess my minidisc would seem like walking around with seashells for headphones.

[MD]

My bad Patrick I was thinking of Windoze Media Files.

I found the article in last months wired

ipod photo - 4 out of 5 • 16.5 hours battery life • Negs: Dim Screen with no brightness adjustments. Video out only shows slide shows not individual pics.

olympus m:robe 500 - 2.5 out of 5 • 4 hours battery life • Negs: Takes dreary photos, TV output not as good as ipod, sluggish response to controls, clunky navigation. Measly battery life.

Gateway MP3 Photo Jukebox - 2 out of 5 • 7 hours battery life • Negs: Doesn't Support photo syncing; you have to drag and drop the files. lcd only displays jpgs which look blurry. Narcoleptic controls.

iRiver H320 - 1.5 out of 5 • 17.7 hours battery life • Negs: Interface is so bad the player is almost unusable. Takes Jpeg and BMP files only.

I'm poor - but even I found some money to contribute to keep GDF alive!

[Patrick Shannon]

Yeah, WMA's won't work, but I *think* the iTunes application over on the Windows side has a WMA converter of some sort.

Patrick Shannon

'Dear valued customer, go home and die. Signed, your friendly graphic artist.'

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My War With Culture (http://www.mywarwithculture.com)
Political incorrectness reinvented.

[GTMUK]

Thats right they convert WMA when importing - does it automatically into MP3....

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[Vikia]

I don't know if you NEED one or not, but I LOVE my 40GB iPod!

I currently have a little over 10GB of music and 3 audiobooks on it. I use it everyday, it is a joy to have my music wherever I go without having to juggle cds or tapes.

And iTunes is a fabulous way to organize all of my music.

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