IPodalicious *quest for a new media player*

Moving this old geezer in to the next generation of media

Published on January 15, 2006 By HG_Eliminator In Personal Computing

I recently broke my old portable media player (apparently it was not fire proof.*dont ask*)

so i was on a quest for a new player... I wanted a feature rich player that was fun as well as functional....i researched online, the many various media
players..Creative,IRiver,Zvue.etc.

After a weeks worth of investigating I settled on the Video capable, 5th
generation Ipod by Apple,Black.. A worth while investment.. Even tho I still feel it is a
lil over priced.(it makes me nervous to part with $300 and get handed a box I could barely fit 2 jeweled CD cases in) . At first glance it looked like some kind of cheezy $19.99 old style hand held video game like my kids get from walmart, but alas looks can be decieving.

I knew that under that simple design was 30 gigs of fun wating to be unleashed. first I ran the installer. (I already use itunes to organize my music so thre wasent much to install). and hooked the Ipod up to its usb connector.in seconds the ipod was recognized by Itunes and ready to play with...soon i was in download heaven. tranfering playlists and music files to my newest toy...but did i stop at music? noooo... i had to try out the picture function,, as well as the movie capability...so i grabed a few pics of the family and a video i made of our Christmas day carryings on...after recodeing the video to Ipod's movie format.. i was all ready to go..unhooked it from the PC and started my testing the toy out...first was getting used to the touch wheel or Click wheel as they refer it to... while the wheel looks simple, it is more advanced than meets the eye ..while it has the standard play, stop,next and prev functions it also has a touch sensitive wheel effect. Newer lap tops have this style of pad on the key board for a mouse ( you run your finger alog the pad and the cursor moves) The one on the Ipod is wheel shaped and controlls functions like volume as well as position scanning in playback mode ... in menu mode it controls the menu highlighter up and down to select the various menu items you want..Tho it gets a little getting used to (the wheel is a lil sensitive to the touch) I barely moved myfinger and BOOM full volume. needless to say the wife gave me a odd look as my startled self jumped. after hitting pause *and regaining my composure* i decided to look at the pics and movies...pics were clear and clean the movie was equally nice to watch.Every thing worked smoothly and as it should have....

As I get more familiar with it the Ipod further impresses me with its ease of use as well as well thought out extras.for instance the Screen lock... this handy lil function alows the owner to lock the Ipod so it cant be used unless the code you previously specified has been entered...*handy to keep your files safe if you use the ipod to store your secure data*...

all in all im feeling much better about my investment..

Comments (Page 1)

dave86

on Jan 15, 2006

I received one as a gift this Christmas, and I absolutely love it! One of my new favorite features is video podcasting. A couple of my favorite shows on the G4 channel release clips of segments of the show that you can download to your iPod for free, so I won't miss at least some parts of the show if I can't catch it on television. If you haven't got a case for it, I would recommend a combination of screen protecter that you apply directly to the screen (it clings to it and comes off without leaving any residue, since it's not actually "sticky"), and some kind of case for the outside. I got a Jam Jacket (I think it's what they're called). It fits snugly and is like a rubber case (I accidently dropped and it kinda bounced -- no damage to the iPod). The drawback is that the texture of the case has a tendency to pick up dirt particles, and it's not as easy to brush it off.

I plan on importing some photos next, and trying out the Contacts feature as well. It's great!

Island Dog

on Jan 15, 2006

Ipods are great.

Corky_O

on Jan 15, 2006

After reading this report thread (and having put off purchasing one for a while), I think I am sold.

Questions:

1 - Does iTunes convert ".wma" files to ".mp3" during downloading to iPod, or does it need ".mp3" format as parent file before downloading to iPod?

2 - Does iTunes get along well with WMP on the same machine?

3 - Is there a "water-resistant", or "water-proof" case available for the iPod (I jog outside a lot)?

Any help appreciated.

BlueDev

on Jan 15, 2006

Note: I don't have an iPod yet (will be getting one shortly once my goal is met), but can address some of the questions.

1 - Does iTunes convert ".wma" files to ".mp3" during downloading to iPod, or does it need ".mp3" format as parent file before downloading to iPod?

iTunes will want to convert them to the iPod 'native' format, which will be .aac (since .mp3 is a proprietary format NOT owned by Apple). It will leave the .wma files intact, and makes copies in the .aac format and put them in your iTunes folder in the My Music folder (at least that is the default).

2 - Does iTunes get along well with WMP on the same machine?

I don't think either cares that the other is there. I have iTunes, WMP, MediaMonkey, Winamp and foobar2000 (my favorite of the bunch) all installed and there are no conflicts whatsoever.

3 - Is there a "water-resistant", or "water-proof" case available for the iPod (I jog outside a lot)?

I am pretty sure there are, but couldn't be more specific about that one.

kona0197

on Jan 15, 2006

I found your post funny HG as just about everybody knows how Ipods and the mouse on a laptop work.

Corky_O

on Jan 15, 2006

Thanks for the reply, BlueDev.

I have downloaded and installed iTunes, and I am now adding/converting my music files (about 60 Gigs on second drive) to the default iTunes format. Should be done in a few (or more) hours.

I will have to wait until next weekend for the iPod purchase, and found that the Apple store also offers a neoprene armband iPod case which will work perfectly for the workout/jogging I do.

twobadmice

on Jan 16, 2006

Have I stumbled onto ipodlovers.org?

Corky_O

on Jan 16, 2006

Have I stumbled onto ipodlovers.org?

Not sure whether I love iPod yet, but having used a "Walkman" since I can't remember when, a small unit with the ability to hold songs and song lists is just the ticket for me.

From all the specs I have read, iPod has as good or better frequency range, and a number of people I know seem to enjoy them just fine - so the "Walkman" is due to retire soon.

kona0197

on Jan 16, 2006

Corky you didn't have to convert your music to AAC. The Ipod plays MP3 just fine.

Corky_O

on Jan 16, 2006

Corky you didn't have to convert your music to AAC

I just installed iTunes and let it import the '.wma' files with the default settings. It took about 20 hours to import 60 gigs of music, about 30% were '.wma' lossless.

Set to go now, just waiting until Saturday to get the iPod.

dave86

on Jan 16, 2006

Which iPod are you going with?

Corky_O

on Jan 16, 2006

Which iPod are you going with?

30 Gig in Black - I believe this is the same as HG has indicated in the thread topic.

The 60 Gigs were compressed by iTunes to just under 11 Gigs - so I can put all my music onto the iPod as well as creating a large variety of song lists. I have a lot of different music, artists, and songs in that 11 Gigs.

HG_Eliminator

on Jan 16, 2006

yup corky i have the 30 gig, black, Video capable, 5th generation ipod .. i looked at the nano and the other but i really wanted the video/pic's features....

HG_Eliminator

on Jan 16, 2006

cool.. i just found the "games" section......

kona0197

on Jan 17, 2006

Sorry about that Corky as I didn't know you had WMA files. I always use MP3.

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