My new nano

[FinallyRetired]

I realize I'm probably the last kid on the block to get one, but got an IPod nano a couple of weeks ago. I have a mini, audio only, and was facing two 7+ hour plane rides to LA without a lot of new music/audio to listen to. So I got the cheapest nano, a 4GB model ($149) and downloaded several episodes of 24 and Lost for $1.99 each. I was very impressed with the quality of the audio and the video, made the trip seem very fast. And the apparent size of the screen is much larger than the plane's overhead TV screens because I could hold it so close. Also downloaded an audio book, on quantum entanglement, but soon realized it was tough to follow without being able to see the equations. Not that I'd be able to follow much of it with the equations either

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Cool. Got any favorite podcasts yet?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Apples new spokesperson, holding the new iPod Nanu.

 

[FinallyRetired]

Cool. Got any favorite podcasts yet?

Rich, great question. I'm sure this has been discussed before, and would be interested in knowing other's favorite podcasts, because I'm always searching for new ones. Keep in mind, I had an audio-only ipod, so have been listening to the following podcasts for quite a while:

All in the Mind - Australian National Radio program on the mind/brain
Catholic Forum - gotta listen for cradle catholics (out of guilt if nothing else) but good moral stuff
Democracy Now - seems I'm always around conservatives, so like to hear the other side
History According to Bob - nuggets about history from a history prof
NPR Fresh Air - can't say enough about the quality of NPR
NPR Present at the Creation - ditto
NPR Science Friday - ditto
PRI To the Best of our Knowledge - ditto
Swing is in the Air - love big swing bands
WYNCs Leonard Lopate Show - New York public radio
Furled Sails - sailing stuff

 

[trying2save]

Do you guys think the price of the Iphone will come down again anytime soon? I have been wanting the Iphone since it released, but i cannot bring myself to spend $499 for it.

 

[rluetgenau]

New Nano

The IPHONE is only $399. I purchased one back in August and love it. I not sure if they will come down in price.

 

[FinallyRetired]

About the IPhone, I can't get AT&T in my little corner of Northern Virginia, so that's out. My son has one, and I've tried it. Like all the cool features but the virtual keyboard is just too small for me. I use Verizon because of its coverage, and they have a Voyager which is supposed to be an iPhone competitor. When my current contract expires, I'm going to consider either that one or one of those no-frills phones that does calls by the minute and nothing else. When I think about the expense, it's hard to justify fancy cell phones.

 

[TromboneAl]

I'm probably the last kid on the block to get one

Not if you live on tightwad street.

Sounds like a great way to make an airplane trip less tedious. An iPod touch is $299.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Check out apples refurb/clearance store for better deals on these. I've bought an original shuffle and a 2nd gen shuffle and both products appeared to be new, with a new set of headphones.

The 2nd gen shuffle I just got my wife was $49. They were clearancing some "new, current generation, old colors" nanos a few weeks ago for something like $89 or $99.

 

[FinallyRetired]

Not if you live on tightwad street.

Sounds like a great way to make an airplane trip less tedious. An iPod touch is $299.

Glad I'm not the last one

I thought about an itouch as well, but couldn't see myself searching for hot spots in order to use it.

Now. for those of you who are [-]tightwads[/-] frugal, here is a deal. I actually did this before caving in and getting my nano. Go into ebay and put in "MP4 player." You will find some vendors directly out of Hong Kong who sell brand new Chinese MP4 players with even more functionality than an ipod except for a few problems that I will explain below. The functions include MP3 music, FM radio (not on an ipod), photos, text files, and MP4 movies. All for incredibly low cost. I bought mine for a little over $20US and got it shipped all for under $30 including insurance.

So why did I buy an ipod? Because [-]I'm a tech idiot[/-] I found it difficult to figure out how to convert a video file, say WMV, to the player's own format which is AMV. They give you software to do this, but it's written in Chinese English and has a lot of options that I didn't have the patience to figure out. All of the other functions worked great, just that I could only play some videos and others did not play. With my flight coming up I didn't have time to play around with it. For those of you who are more tech savy, or who have the patience to figure it out, though, it's something to consider.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Video format conversion, especially once you wander from the most core formats/codecs, can be absolute rocket science.

 

[happy2bretired]

My soon-to-be 21 year old daughter just bought her first ipod after Christmas for use during her long flight to Berlin. How 'bout that? Sounds like she really likes it. She downloaded music, movies and some travel podcasts before her departure. I sometimes wish now that I got one when she did since I will be joining her in Berlin in March. The movies were even closed captioned, that's what I liked. I would have been able to view movies on the plane (closed captioned) otherwise those movies on flights are worthless to me. I'm afraid if I bought one, I wouldn't be able to get it set up correctly without my dear techie daughter around. Are they very hard to set up?

 

[FinallyRetired]

Are they very hard to set up?

Not hard at all. That's the thing with the iPod, as long as you remain within the Apple Itunes system, it's extremely simple. You can purchase individual songs for 99 cents, or videos for 1.99. Podcasts are usually free, you just have to subscribe to them, and this is very simple as well. Once you get used to working with your iPod, you can "rip" your own CDs onto iTunes and transfer all your music to your iPod. Don't let difficulty keep you from getting one. Other MP3 players work just as well, or better, than iPods but they may not be as simple to set up.

 

[happy2bretired]

Thanks SoonToRetire....

I like the idea of being able to watch movies, but, without much hearing I don't know if it would be worth it to me just for the movie part (audio not much use to me). Something to think about tho.

 

[DallasGuy]

I've checked out hundreds of music CD's from my public library and have gotten alot of music for my mp3 player that way (after ripping the CD's to mp3 format, that is). It's a cheap way of building up your music collection.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

Other MP3 players work just as well, or better, than iPods but they may not be as simple to set up.

Simpler, actually. No software to set up, when you plug it into a USB2 port, it
looks just like a memory stick in a regular windows explorer window - just drag
mp3 files to or from it.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I've found from using a number of mp3 players that the following pretty much sums it up:

- Most of them have cryptic UI's and try to stuff too many features in, as a result they're often too complicated to use...even the most basic features. The ipods are a lot simpler on the UI end of things
- If you're used to iTunes, snorking stuff off to an iPod will be second nature. If you're a regular windows user and havent used iTunes before, it may not be very intuitive how you go about doing some things without reading the directions on a regular basis
- For what you get in terms of memory and capabilities, the iPods are a lot more expensive
- If all you want to do is listen to some music files in random order, almost anything will do but a shuffle is pretty darn simple
- Pay close attention to the battery situation. Many of these take a AAA/AA or other standard battery, some have funny "watch batteries" you can find if you poke around, and some have non-replaceable batteries or ones that need some modicum of technical skill. iPods for the most part need to have their internal batteries replaced by someone with a little skill, and sometimes at significant expense. Apple seems to have the same sort of 'problem' with the idea of user replaceable batteries as they do about putting a frickin fan in their computers so they wont break.
- Dont be shy about the capacity, you're gonna use it. Besides doing all the stuff with media files, these can be used as a memory stick for data file storage/backup purposes. Pretty nifty to carry around a set of useful documents on your player.
- Every player has some set of bugs and errata that may give you some interesting problems. If you have trouble with what seems like a pretty standard function, do a little online search on it. You might find that its not something you're doing wrong, but a glitch on the player.

 

[SteveR]

Santa brought DW a Touch and she loves it. She loves the screen size and the ability to change the photo format from portrait to landscape on a photo just by moving the Ipod 90 degrees. The internet browser is cool but she does not use it. The audio and video are what got her hooked on it.

We share files between our PCs. I just move them from one pc to the other on the network or on a flashdrive. The trick it to put them in the iTunes music folder.

There is software out there to convert DVDs to the iPod video format. You can also download movies from ITunes for $9.99 but it take a while to download 2gbs of data for one movie.

My iPod has 80 gb of space and even with 2500 photos, 30 hours of music and 5 movies I am not even 1/3 full yet.

 

[W2R]

I realize I'm probably the last kid on the block to get one, but got an IPod nano a couple of weeks ago.

Nope. The last kid on the block would be me.

I have been trying to think of an excuse to get an iPod for years (so that I could play with it and feel "up to date", not so I could actually USE it), but that isn't sufficient reason for me to let loose of the money. So far I haven't justified the expense to myself so I don't have one. I don't really listen to music much, and I only have a 5 minute commute to or from work (during which I listen to talk shows on the radio). I prefer TV when I am on a treadmill, and thinking when I am walking otherwise. So, maybe I do not have a need for one.

They are so CUTE, though! Enjoy your new iPod!

 

[Martha]

I got a reconditioned prior generation nano a couple of months ago. It was very easy to put my music and pictures on it, and I am not especially adept at technology.

I find that I am not using it as much as I would have thought.

I listen to podcasts, mostly public radio stuff, but I tend to just listen to them on my laptop while doing laptoppy stuff, like looking at this forum. I listen to a lot of the music that way as well, with my nice Sony earphones plugged into the computer. I do use it when on the treadmill, but I haven't been as good about the treadmill as I should be.

I am planning a trip and I do drive down to Mpls to visit friends fairly frequently, a three hour trip. How do you set up an ipod to work through vehicle speakers? The motorhome has a cd player and the truck I have been driving has, <gasp>, no player at all, just a radio.

 

[cantlogin]

... How do you set up an ipod to work through vehicle speakers? The motorhome has a cd player and the truck I have been driving has, <gasp>, no player at all, just a radio.

My Mini Cooper has an auxiliary jack built in, so it’s easy for me. Another easy approach is to buy a small battery operated fm transmitter to plug into your mp3 player and tune your vehicle receiver to that.


Here's an example that doesn't seem to require batteries.

Buy the Macally FM Transmitter & Charger for iPod and other iPod video accessories at circuitcity.com

 

[FinallyRetired]

I am planning a trip and I do drive down to Mpls to visit friends fairly frequently, a three hour trip. How do you set up an ipod to work through vehicle speakers? The motorhome has a cd player and the truck I have been driving has, <gasp>, no player at all, just a radio.

Easiest way is to transmit the iPod to your car's FM radio through something like the iTrip. The iTrip plugs into your iPod and transmits the iPod to an FM frequency of your choosing. You choose a frequency that doesn't have another station on it, to keep from interfering. On a long road trip you'll probably get to an area where another station begins to interfere, so you have to change the iTrip's frequency. Here is one link to the iTrip, but there are other manufacturers of essentially the same thing that may be cheaper.

Griffin Technology: iTrip (2006)

An alternative, if your car has a cassette player, is a cassette with a wire that plugs into your iPod and goes into your player. It's a blank cassette, doesn't have a tape on it, just uses the sensor to transmit the iPod program as if it was a real casette. Advantage: no interference with FM stations, and cheaper. Disadvantage: a wire running from your iPod to the car cassette player.
Amazon.com: Macally PodTape iPod Cassette Tape Car Adapter: Electronics

Also, don't forget a car iPod charger that plugs into the car's cigarette lighter, otherwise you may run out of battery power on your iPod.

 

[Buckeye]

Martha - I purchased an FM transmitter thingy from Costco which allows me to play my iPod through my car radio. It works great and the iPod also charges at the same time. The kit also has a wall charger.

 

[travelover]

.......................
I am planning a trip and I do drive down to Mpls to visit friends fairly frequently, a three hour trip. How do you set up an ipod to work through vehicle speakers? The motorhome has a cd player and the truck I have been driving has, <gasp>, no player at all, just a radio.

I bought this FM transmitter with charger for DW for Christmas and so far she loves it. It fits in a cup holder, so it doesn't slide around. It has adapter to fit various models.

Amazon.com: Black Ipod Docking Station (Full Channel Transmitter and Charger For iPod): Electronics

 

[travelover]

I've checked out hundreds of music CD's from my public library and have gotten alot of music for my mp3 player that way (after ripping the CD's to mp3 format, that is). It's a cheap way of building up your music collection.

Good point. I'd also mention that many libraries have access to download audio books for free, though my library's choice is not Apple friendly. I used to "read" these "books" a lot when I was commuting to w*rk. Very convenient, no swapping tapes or CDs while you drive and no trip to the library to pick up or return.