I want to get my wife an ipod (or one of them digital music magic boxes) for her birthday. But, sadly enough, it's all heretical technology and demons to me.
So, a few questions.
Ipods are made by apple, right? Does that mean I couldn't hook it up to our PC for downloads?
Music. You just go to a site and pay however much per song and get songs?
What are decent brands and why do some have video screens....
This new world makes me cry.
Assistance for the Technotarded
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DangerDwarf
- Maukling
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Some have screens because they also play movies or have other things which need a screen for viewing, such as doubling as a phone / PDA. They are, as far as I know, USB connected so they can hook into either a PC or Mac (and several other things.)
Some sites will allow you to purchase songs, the cost being whatever they want to charge -- usually a service thing, where you pay $X to get Y. I believe you can also copy existing MP3s to the thing.
But, I don't have an iPod and have desire for one.
Some sites will allow you to purchase songs, the cost being whatever they want to charge -- usually a service thing, where you pay $X to get Y. I believe you can also copy existing MP3s to the thing.
But, I don't have an iPod and have desire for one.
iPods are like your old portable BOOM box.
Just instead of recording music from radio stations onto tape you record from the internet onto your little iPod hard drive.
Instead of inserting tapes or CD's you wish to play on your iPod you load/download your songs from any on your computer or from iTunes, or other sites on the internet.
Plus, depending on how modern your car stereo is, you can hook your ipod up to your car stereo and still listen to your iPod music over your car system, mch like our old adapters for our walkmans, etc...
So if you have CD's, record them to your computer HD, and then you'll be able to save them onto the iPod.
If you like a LOT of music I recommend as many Gig as you can afford for your iPod. No more than 4 Gig, though. I have about 1,000 songs and I don't even have a Gig used yet. I think. I better go verify.
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society
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Just instead of recording music from radio stations onto tape you record from the internet onto your little iPod hard drive.
Instead of inserting tapes or CD's you wish to play on your iPod you load/download your songs from any on your computer or from iTunes, or other sites on the internet.
Plus, depending on how modern your car stereo is, you can hook your ipod up to your car stereo and still listen to your iPod music over your car system, mch like our old adapters for our walkmans, etc...
So if you have CD's, record them to your computer HD, and then you'll be able to save them onto the iPod.
If you like a LOT of music I recommend as many Gig as you can afford for your iPod. No more than 4 Gig, though. I have about 1,000 songs and I don't even have a Gig used yet. I think. I better go verify.
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society
Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/
My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael
Grand Knight Commander of the Society.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael
Grand Knight Commander of the Society.
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Taranthyll
- Red Cap
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- Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:00 am
I use the Dell Jukebox MP3 player and its pretty straightforward, without a lot of the bells, whistles, and video players that the iPod has.
Just think of it as a Walkman for digital music files. You need some form of music organizing software - I use Windows Media Player - to create play lists from the music files on your computer's hard drive. A play list can be an entire album, or any compilation of songs that you choose to include in that list. You plug your MP3 player into your computer via a USB port and upload the selected playlists onto the device.
You don't necessarily need to buy all your songs from a digital music store, either. You can copy any CD in your collection to your hard drive and transfer them in whole or part to your MP3 player. I should point out that songs purchased from the iTunes music store only work with iPods. There are other places you can purchase downloadable songs for non-iPod players.
I use my MP3 extensively at the game table. I create play lists of music specifically themed to the evening's adventure and plug small, portable speakers into the MP3 player. This is neat because the speakers sit on the player's side of the GM screen, while my MP3 player is on my side where I can queue up tracks appropriate to any given scene. The players really dig this and it really helps to set the mood.
Just think of it as a Walkman for digital music files. You need some form of music organizing software - I use Windows Media Player - to create play lists from the music files on your computer's hard drive. A play list can be an entire album, or any compilation of songs that you choose to include in that list. You plug your MP3 player into your computer via a USB port and upload the selected playlists onto the device.
You don't necessarily need to buy all your songs from a digital music store, either. You can copy any CD in your collection to your hard drive and transfer them in whole or part to your MP3 player. I should point out that songs purchased from the iTunes music store only work with iPods. There are other places you can purchase downloadable songs for non-iPod players.
I use my MP3 extensively at the game table. I create play lists of music specifically themed to the evening's adventure and plug small, portable speakers into the MP3 player. This is neat because the speakers sit on the player's side of the GM screen, while my MP3 player is on my side where I can queue up tracks appropriate to any given scene. The players really dig this and it really helps to set the mood.
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Breakdaddy
- Greater Lore Drake
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I would suggest looking at the Microsoft Zune as well. They are less costly and just as good. They also have an FM tuner built in which an iPod does not. I have a Zune and really love it. I got it from Woot.com one day for about 150 bucks for the 30gb version and have seen them for 100 bucks on woot subsequently. Either way, both work on PC just fine if that's what yer looking for.
"If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you."
-Genghis Khan
-Genghis Khan
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DangerDwarf
- Maukling
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In truth ipods arnt the best mp3 players, if your battery dies you might as well get a new one. It primarily an aac format player (as in aac,mp3,wma formats of encoding) Go to Cnet.com reviews and look around for other mp3 players options(also a good free legal mp3 site). But in reality the ipods just popular and a status symbol, the recent batch got recalled due to overheating.
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Barrataria
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SanDisk makes nice and cheap players. Mine is a little too bare-bones, but it's an outdated model anyway.
AFAIK, iPods only work with the Apple software pile. It's hard to get rid of once you install it, so beware.
I only buy no DRM mp3s- I've been getting them from Amazon which has been fine. I think WalMart has also started selling these.
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AFAIK, iPods only work with the Apple software pile. It's hard to get rid of once you install it, so beware.
I only buy no DRM mp3s- I've been getting them from Amazon which has been fine. I think WalMart has also started selling these.
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Taranthyll
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Barrataria wrote:
AFAIK, iPods only work with the Apple software pile. It's hard to get rid of once you install it, so beware.
This is my understanding too, but I'm not terribly knowledgeable about iPods, so my opinions can be taken with a grain of salt. I suspect that the whole marketing gimmick is that iPods and their associated gadgetry and resources are all interdependent (i.e. you can only buy music from iTunes, only use official iPod accessories, etc.). I think that an MP3 player made by any reputable company will probably work just fine and you won't have to pay a whole lot of money for the iPod name.
I may be wrong - perhaps iPod is a superior product, but I know I've been completely satisfied with my Dell MP3 player, and probably would have been just as happy with a Sony, SanDisk, Creative Labs, or any other well-established manufacturer.
I've got a Creative Zen, which holds all the music from my CDs, and I've got a Sansa C200 from Sandisk, which holds about ten CDs worth but is small and light so I use when I exercise. both have done a great job. Many of the ipod competitors sell for cheaper, yet have as good or better sound, more features and more storage. Something to look for. that's why I didn't buy ipod.
I choose the Zen and the Sansa, so I could use either MP3 or WMV which is the windows music format, plus reviews I read said both sounded better than an ipod. If you are a windows user, you might think about that before purchasing as well. I believe songs bought from itunes can only play back on ipods as well, which frankly pisses me off and was another reason I refused to buy an ipod. Both of my players also can be used to record lectures or a conversation, and have FM radio. Neither of which ipods could do at the time I bought them.
There are two types of MP3 player, the large capacity models use a hard drive with a spinning disk, just like what is inside your laptop or desktop. these are great 'cause their storage size is huge, but drop 'em and they are likely to break, just like if you drop your laptop. the other type uses the same tech as the little flash drives people use to transfer files. their storage size is significantly less, but they can be dropped and won't break. these flash drive ones also come in teeny sizes and are great for exercising.
One good option is to go to one of those big electronic stores and you and your wife pick up some of the players, play around with them, see how the controls work, how they organize songs etc . . . Choose the one you like, then go on-line to stores like newegg.com and find the same model for much cheaper and go for it.
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Sir Dachda McKinty,
Margrave and Knight of Portlandia
Castles & Crusades Society
I choose the Zen and the Sansa, so I could use either MP3 or WMV which is the windows music format, plus reviews I read said both sounded better than an ipod. If you are a windows user, you might think about that before purchasing as well. I believe songs bought from itunes can only play back on ipods as well, which frankly pisses me off and was another reason I refused to buy an ipod. Both of my players also can be used to record lectures or a conversation, and have FM radio. Neither of which ipods could do at the time I bought them.
There are two types of MP3 player, the large capacity models use a hard drive with a spinning disk, just like what is inside your laptop or desktop. these are great 'cause their storage size is huge, but drop 'em and they are likely to break, just like if you drop your laptop. the other type uses the same tech as the little flash drives people use to transfer files. their storage size is significantly less, but they can be dropped and won't break. these flash drive ones also come in teeny sizes and are great for exercising.
One good option is to go to one of those big electronic stores and you and your wife pick up some of the players, play around with them, see how the controls work, how they organize songs etc . . . Choose the one you like, then go on-line to stores like newegg.com and find the same model for much cheaper and go for it.
_________________
Sir Dachda McKinty,
Margrave and Knight of Portlandia
Castles & Crusades Society