Thinking about buying at Ipod
Hi there,
Well, after a long stint with Minidisc, I am thinking about making the move to Ipod.
I have a few questions however.
#1
My computer is a laptop, a Toshiba Tecra A1 to be exact and I run windows. Will it be easy to format an Ipod to my operating system?
#2
One of the major selling points of the Ipod to me will be if I can play songs off of it over to my computer. That means, can I use it as almost an external hard drive and plug it in to my computer and play the music off the unit. That means I will be able to clear all my music files, or at least most of them, off my laptop and just store them on my Ipod. What are the hard drive capabilities?
#3
What is the difference between a 2nd and 3rd generation model. Which should I get?
Thanks very much to whoever replies. Really appreciate it!
C
[885 byte] By [
callumng] at [2007-11-9 14:33:37]
# 1 Re: Thinking about buying at Ipod
The iPod will work fine w/the laptop, although you need to make sure you have firewire or USB2 support. Firewire on laptops does not provide power unless you get a PCMCIA firewire card that has an external power supply or 2 6-pin ports, one of which you can connect (w/an additional firewire cable) to the iPod's AC adaptor.
Well, I have a couple of things to say about this. 1, only certain programs let you play tunes directly off of the iPod. If you get the 3rd gen model that comes w/a dock, the dock has a line-out that you can connect directly to your PC. Much better solution then keeping it connected to your PC all the time. Or just use headphones.
I personally don't recommend playing it through the PC as it will continue to spin up the hard drive causing excessive wear. It wasn't designed to be played like that.
Also, I don't recommend the iPod as your sole storage device for your music. As a portable device, it's too prone to being dropped etc, which can cause you to lose things. At some point in your iPod's life I can pretty much guarantee that you'll have to restore it (losing all the data). So keeping the mp3s on you PC is a good idea. If that's not possible, at least have backups somewhere.
Also, note that tools like iTunes and MC9 and MMJB require that you keep your tunes on your PC to use smartlist features and the like. Some of the best things about the iPod.
For this one I'm going to point you to the FAQs (http://ipodlounge.com/faqs.php).
Adam
# 2 Re: Thinking about buying at Ipod
Okay,
Thanks for the answers,
I have USB 2.0, my laptop is new so I am sure that I have USB 2.0 I can move the music in between the Ipod and my computer, I just can't charge it right?
What is firewire? How much? What benefits does it have?
What program is best for a Windows user and the Ipod. I just want to be able to do it all with the IPod, drag and drop, playlists, etc. How much do the programs cost?
Thanks
# 3 Re: Thinking about buying at Ipod
ephpod is the best freeware for windows as of now until the itunes software for windows comes out in a few weeks. USB 2.0 last time i checked was faster than firewire because it was released slightly after firewire. Fire is good because its instant recognition, fast, and supported more and more for data transfer from external devies such as digital cameras, digital cam corders, external drives..etc.
Firewire also charges the device through the computer (not laptops) Im not a 100% sure, but i believe that usb 2.0 doesn't
# 4 Re: Thinking about buying at Ipod
actually, usb does provide power. everybody who's anybody has a usb-powered coffee cup!!! http://www.dct-net.co.jp/special/usb_hot.html
lmao, i wish i lived in japan
# 5 Re: Thinking about buying at Ipod
#1 No problem here
#2 Yes, it sounds reasonable, I play all my music only from iPod drive, it's more convenient for me, althoug I have enough space on my HD.
#3 3G, it has 40GB drive.
MOCKBA at 2007-11-15 17:08:57 >
