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I-Pod/MP3

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I-Pod/MP3

I'm making this plea for information for my friend but am also interested in the answer myself so here goes:
Quote
Which is better the apple ipod or one of the other mp3 players? What I am looking for is something that I can possible download some of the CD's I already have on to it. I dont want one that plays video etc just a basic(ish) one. Can you also download audio books on to them? With the Apple ipod can you only download from their site and how much does this cost. I can't seem to find out much.
Which is better the apple ipod or one of the other mp3 players?  What I am looking for is something that I can possible download some of the CD's I already have on to it. I dont want one that plays video etc just a basic(ish) one. Can you also download audio books on to them? With the Apple ipod can you only download from their site and how much does this cost. I can't seem to find out much.

I know that we have a number of gadget fans on here so please can you help?
18 REPLIES 18
MisterW
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

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With the Apple ipod can you only download from their site

That's not true poppy, you can rip music from CD's to mp3, plenty of software out there to do that!. You can then copy that music to the Ipod, the ONLY problem with Ipod's is that you must use the Apple Itunes s/w to copy stuff to it.

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orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: I-Pod/MP3

Even that's not necessarily the case (having to use iTunes I mean) - you'll need to if it needs the firmware updating or anything, but for transferring music I used either mediamonkey or winamp. I prefer mediamonkey because winamp is now owned by AOL, but they both trump iTunes because they let you drag and drop the music you want rather than having to select the music and then sync the ipod.
Depends how you'll use it though - you can rip CDs in iTunes and if you're happy to let it it doesn't do a bad job at organising your music for you. Personally I'd rather do that myself, but I'm happy to spend time tagging everything properly and can understand those that don't want to. I also hate the way iTunes takes over the computer, but it's not really all that bad from a usability point of view.
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

Think that if it were me I'd rather have a sraightforward MP3. Like you Matt, not keen on iTunes.  So you have Winamp or whatever on your computer, you stick your CDs in the drive and then it copies it to the MP3 player via the software?  Do I have this correct?  If so, what sort of MP3 player would be recommended? 
I don't think that my friend wants to download music from the Internet, just copy stuff that she already has.
Next, what about this business with the stories?  My friend (and me for that matter) rather like talking books so where does that fit in please?
orbrey
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

Hmm. Take it a step at a time.
1) Rip the CD, to an mp3 or other compressed file. I like EAC for this (exact audio copy) but it's fairly complicated and aimed at nerds like me who want everything lossless (FLAC FTW!) - an easier program is CDEx. Both programs will name the tracks correctly from internet databases etc.
You now have the CD as a set of files on your computer.
Next step - get them onto the player.
Drag your folder of new music into mediamonkey/winamp, and the ipod should show either on the left (mediamonkey) or in the library (winamp). You can then drag files from the main window to the portable device and it will copy across. Once that's done, eject the device in the same way as you would for any USB drive and unplug.
Audiobooks are generally just mp3 files so can be dragged and dropped in the same way - or they start as a CD, in which case follow the above process Smiley
MisterW
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

Quote
Even that's not necessarily the case (having to use iTunes I mean) - you'll need to if it needs the firmware updating or anything, but for transferring music I used either mediamonkey or winamp.

Matt, Does that work on recent Ipod's ? I had a problem with the other halfs IPod Nano Gen 5. The directory database on the Ipod is encrypted and only ITunes will update it correctly when you sync. I use Linux(Ubuntu) as my main OS and the normal IPod tools on that couldn't hack the latest Ipod directories ( they can now ) so I had to use ITunes on my Windows laptop to access the Ipod.
So does mediamonkey/winamp know about the latest Ipod's now ?

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orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

I've been using them (well, I use mediamonkey) on my iPod classic 120GB since I got it a couple of years back, so I guess so. Think that's known as a 6.5G. Couldn't advise on the latest nanos or touches, but I think it will.
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

Thank you very much Matt - I am beginning to get the picture.  Next, that 120GB which is referred to above - it is a lot of storage but I would imagine you would need it if you have quite a few CDs.  How many would that support?  Also, have checked on Amazon and there are pages of these devices - it's a minefield.  Don't suppose that you could narrow it down a bit for us could you?  Sorry to be a nuisance but I really don't know anything about this and neither does my friend.  Also, have always had good advice on here.
Denzil
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Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: I-Pod/MP3

Your friend would potentially save quite a lot of money buying a 'standard' MP3 player instead of an iPod. The number of CDs you can fit depends to some extent how much they are compressed when converting them. Consider that a full, uncompressed raw CD is 650MB or so. If they weren't compressed you could still fit 180-odd of them onto 120GB. There will be room for several hundred CDs in MP3 form.
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

Well, an mp3 track at average quality (~200kb/s) is about 1MB for 1 minute of music so use that as a rough rule of thumb. As Denzil says though, by no means do you have to go for an apple player - I have a sansa clip+ that was £40 (plus the cost of a 16GB micro SD card) which gets me 24GB, so several hundred songs there. That just appears as an external drive when plugged into the PC, so is even easier to use - most non-apple mp3 players work the same way.
Only down side on that player is that it won't do video - how much is your friend looking to spend? Some criteria would help as far as narrowing it down goes.
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

Now I understand it better I am getting interested myself, particularly for the OH who finds it a lot of trouble to get his CDs out to play them!  Also, his musical taste is a bit naff so he can happily listen to things without disturbing me!  Grin
I definitely won't be looking for the iPod and have just checked out a Sansa one and it looks quite neat. My friend doesn't want video and neither do I so it is no problem that it doesn't have this feature.  I like what you said about it being easy to use and appearing as an external drive on the computer - I am sure that I could cope with that.
I don't know how much she has to spend (or me for that matter) - I think that the right specification is important.  Possibly one with a radio on it too might be good. I like the idea of just buying the size of card that you require or need.  Will head off to Amazon to check them out.
VileReynard
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

If I copy mp3 files onto a USB key (cost about £5) I can plug it into my car radio.
Much cheaper (and louder) than any mp3 player / Apple ipod.
BTW My television also does the same thing, indoors.
My PC will also do this...
Why do people pay loads of money for MP3 players, just so they can force tiny earphones into their ear canals?
Is it just to irritate other people on the tube?

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

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Re: I-Pod/MP3

Quote
Much cheaper (and louder) than any mp3 player / Apple ipod

Ouch! Poor Mrs, Master and Miss Fox.  Hope it's not heavy metal.  Crazy
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

Quote from: A
Why do people pay loads of money for MP3 players, just so they can force tiny earphones into their ear canals?
Is it just to irritate other people on the tube?

Hi Vileoafsix,
For those of us without cars, it's very handy to have music on the move - especially when on public transport and surrounded by youths and hoodies with mobile phones playing music from tinny speakers. The tiny earbuds generally have a very good seal which prevents both music leaking out, and noise leaking in, so best of both worlds for all concerned (it also helps with bass, if that's your sort of thing). A PC or TV isn't ideal for music on the move, a tad unwieldy for my taste.
VileReynard
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Re: I-Pod/MP3

My two (grown-up) children never got bought any kind of mp3 player, games box or other rubbish!  Grin Grin Grin
They still don't have one.
My wife prefers the Radio.
None of us are that bothered about music on the move.
When I'm on my own, my car plays a mixture of heavy metal, punk and various 60's & 70's music.

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."