iPod advice wanted

[Claire]

Hello those who love all things Apple.

As you may know my Zen died on holiday in Greece this summer. N.B. MP3 player + concrete floor = baaaaaaaaaad.

I have tried to revive it since i've been home, and alas, as is the way with death, it's permanent. So, given that i also need a new hi-fi/stereo, and i'm sick of EVERYTHING having an in built IPOD dock, i give in. I'm buying one. Plus, pretty new stuff for me etc etc etc. I have 2 questions:

1. I have £200 to spend - give or take - so what should i buy? iPod or Touch? If i go for an iPod which one? What's this 3rd generation business? How many GB do i need? My zen was 30GB and don't MP3s take double the memory of wmas???

2. How do i tranfer the myriad albums i already have on Windows media Player to iTunes, without needing to rip them all over again???

thank you lovely mac people XXX

[Mike]

Holla!

First thing I recommend is getting all the tunes from Windows Media into iTunes. You do this by installing iTunes, then go to File - add to library. This should give you an open box. Just point to your mp3 file folder on your computer and they will import. iTunes should be set up to copy the files so your original music should be intact. I will find a tutorial later and post it below just in case there are some details to watch out for.

After import iTunes will tell you how many gb of music you have. That will dictate the size of the iPod. If you have 4gb you would be okay with a 15gb iPod (future expansion and all that!).

After that you have three choices

1) iPod nano. Small and convienient. But limited storage space.

2) iPod classic. More storage than you would ever need but old technology - pretty boring choice to be honest but safe.

3) iPod touch. Most up to date technology an most exciting when considering the extras, Internet over wifi, applications etc. Downside is 32gb version is £229 on apple website. Maybe amazon / dabs will give you a better deal.

My personal choice would be 3! Try going to Apple store in Manchester / Trafford Centre and check them all out. Go for the one that appeals to you the most!

Hope that helps. Ttfn. M

ps 32 gb should be a good guess for storage if the old mp3 player was okay.

[Mike]

ilounge tutorial to converting windows media to itunes. If they are wma files they will be converted. MP3 files will just be imported.

[Claire]

How about this one:

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electro ... type=genre

[stimpsonslostson]

Mike's response is pretty comprehensive.
Personally I'd take the classic, it depends upon what you want it for really.
The classic is just for music... and LOTS of it! I've got 29000 songs on my 160gig classic.
The touch is a great multimedia machine with wifi web browser, big screen for movies (great on flights etc). If going for this I'd stretch the budget and get the 64gig- room for expansion of music collection, movies etc.

P

[Mike]

The play.com version is the most up to date version. I personally would be tempted to pay the extra £7 for the free engraving on the apple uk website store.

I think that Phil has much larger music collections than the rest of us!

Claire - How much music do you have?

[Mike]

MacWorld have created an iPod buying guide. It lists the ratings for each device from the professional reviewers. It may give a useful 3rd opinion.

[Claire]

Well, was converting my Windows content yesterday and some of it's protected so not all has worked! grrrrr.

I have about 140 CD albums, although some of the Windows stuff was borrowed and ripped, so i don't actually have the disk.

Average tracks per album...call it 15. So that's around 2000 songs. So iTouch 32gb would be fine (as it'll do 7000), but i don't know if i actually want/need all the extras. or do i just not know that i want them yet??!!! it is pretty after all, and i remember liking becky's. problem is, all the new classics are basically 160gb and that's it. play, amazon, currys, comet etc.

So do i pay more, for less memory, and fancy things. Bearing in mind it's for music on holiday etc. i'm not a frequent train traveller or anything so i'm hardly ever anywhere with wifi. i don't think.

OR, do i pay less, for more memory. in fact more than i'll ever need. why can't i find a 64gb classic for £150, instead of £189.99 for the 160??? Maybe i could in a supermarket or something but i want the newest one if i'm spending a small fortune!

[Claire]

P.S. how do the apps work? are they free? and i guess you can only get on the internet if there's wifi or wireless in your house as there's no subscription charges because you're not on a network???

[Mike]

or do i just not know that i want them yet??!!!

That would be the one. The ipod Touch is deffo the one to have in terms of 'cool factor'.

They only do a 160 and 250gb ipod classic because they are old technology and the drives are the cheaper computer hard disk versions. The ipod Touch has the new solid state drives which mean they are more expensive but are less likely to become damaged if you jog with the device.

Hope that helps!

[Claire]

I have a shiny new 32GB iPod Touch! £229.99 from PC World, with free £25 iTunes voucher and a mains charger. That defo beats amazon - cheapest online price i could find - at £205!!!

Thanks for your help!!!

I want it to be charged immediately

[Mike]

Eggcelent. I hope that it works out okay for you. Let us know what you think.

[BarcelonAl]

I have a shiny new 32GB iPod Touch! £229.99 from PC World, with free £25 iTunes voucher and a mains charger. That defo beats amazon - cheapest online price i could find - at £205!!!

Thanks for your help!!!

I want it to be charged immediately

Good price...we're £5 more expensive without the extras!

Then again Apple don't really like us after one of our warehouse staff nicked and attempted to sell several iPod Touch's on eBay! Stupidly he left the big 'Dabs.com' label on when he took his photos...and also gave everyone who saw the advert his name and address...