Okay, so I am a bit behind the times. I am looking for an iPod, but have NO clue as to which one to buy. I really don't need all the video features on the newest models, but would like to find one that has a large storage capacity and long battery life.

Anyone have any advice??

Thanks! :)
Sheri

Sheri, I have the iPod with video, 30 gb (gigabytes). If you're not interested in video, there's the iPod nano, the largest of which is 4 gb, holding 1,000 songs. My iPod can hold 15,000 songs. I don't recommend the shuffle.

For what it's worth, I think you should go ahead and get the one with video. The cost differential isn't that much ($249 for the 4g iPod vs. $299 for iPod with video 30 gb). Plus, you never know if you might want to download a tv show that you missed. For instance, I missed an episode of Lost which I was able to download and watch while I was in S. Africa.

Battery life is pretty good, although if you watch a video it does tend to run down pretty quickly.

If you order from Apple and you belong to MyPoints you can get points for your purchase. They are still offering free engraving and free shipping too.

Let me know if you have any other questions. My iPod has saved me from many an annoying train ride here in Boston!

How are you planning to use it? I have the last generation 20 gig - no video. Use it mostly for entertaining myself on airplanes. Books on Tape and Music. Not the best for off loading digital photos - too slow for that. Lasts about 20 hours. Charger is small.

I have the nano. Use it every day long walking the dog. I use it for books on tape. It's terrific. For accessories, I go to eforcity.com. Same types of things, much cheaper.

Hmmmm....Andrea, I had in the back of my mind that the difference in price was small enough that I may as well go ahead and do the newer style with video. Even though I don't really THINK I will use it, I may later.

Kathy, I am not exactly sure how I will use it the most. My initial thoughts were to use it outside with speakers while I am in the pool....or while working in the yard...walking the dog...working out....or while on the plane....or in the jacuzzi on deck...hahahaha.

I looked at the nano, but it doesn't have that much storage space, although it is a nice size.

All interesting ideas! There are SO many options and SO many accessories!! :eek:

We bought the iMotion from Costco so we can take speakers with us when we travel. I love it! We used it for an event dinner party at a friends to record some off the wall songs (Formal Easter/Passover dinner - we bunny hopped to the buffet table at my friends house) and use it in the backyard too.

I have another iPod question. I am also considering one and have just about decided on getting the nano that holds 1000 songs. The other day, my G'daughter tried to download iTunes for me on my computer. I was informed that it could not download because I have Microsoft Millenium which will not support it. Does that mean that I cannot put music on my own iPod? Really all I want to do is transfer a lot of my CD's to the iPod - I don't need to download music from the computer.

All this confusion because the old CD player that I used for working out broke and I thought I would go a little more modern.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Ollie, sounds like you are going to have to upgrade your operating system from Microsoft ME to XP. That ME was a real dud. Lots of applications will have minimum requirements to download.

KarenM :eek:

Sheri, I was just kicking myself over the weekend. I have the 6GB Mini, which I love, except that after "ripping" all our CDs to MP3's, and with new songs I've picked up, I have about 12GB of music files. So it's hard to decide what goes on the iPod and what doesn't. I just spent a lot of time yesterday figuring out which songs to take off, so I can add some new CDs that I've acquired. I don't think you can go wrong with more capacity than you think you need.

It depends if you'd like to have your whole music library at hand (if so, go for the most capacity you can) or just have a smaller number of songs that you really like for walking, working in the yard, etc. If a smaller number is OK, and you can narrow down your songs easily, the nano is nice because it is so small.

I outgrew my iPod's capacity faster than I thought I would...

Dena

Sheri - if you decide on the video iPod - the 60Gb one's battery supposedly have a much better capacity.

Sheri - keep also in mind that if you plan to use the iPod to do workouts with, hard disk based iPods (such as the 30GB and the 60GB models) may be damaged by jostling. For workouts, the flash memory based iPods (such as the Nanos or the Shuffles which have no moving parts) would be a safer choice. Though it REALLY limits you on the size. I used to have a 2nd generation iPod with 10GB of space - finally upgraded to the 60GB recently and what a huge difference (smaller, thinner, lighter, better battery life, video capability). Love the thing.

Ollie - agree with KarenM - you're going to need to upgrade to XP. And you'd be better off anyway - XP is a much better/more stable OS than ME ever was.

Masaki

As soon as you get all the bugs out of the operating system, Bill will come out with a new one - or as with ME, dump it - too many bugs! Vista is on the horizon, causing a whole new generation of those with anxiety over their computers!

Yeah, but we should probably wait for at least the first service pack for Vista to show up before loading it on our computers, given MS's history to date. :D

Masaki

Masaki - thanks for the advice - does it pay to upgrade to XP for an old computer (that still seems to work very well for my very limited needs - email, web surfing and playing games)?

One more question - can I install XP myself (I can follow instructions but am not very computer savy) and to do so, do I have to uninstall ME?

Thanks, again

Ollie -

You could update it yourself, but, my guess is that if your computer is more than 3 (actually, I think it's probably onler than that) years old, your hardware may not support it. And the cost of a new one is down so low that it's probably cheaper to just get a new one.

You can actually buy a pretty high end computer now for consumer use from Dell for about $750 - monitor included.

ChatKat - you're probably right - all for something to listen to while I'm on the treadmill.

I really appreciate everyone's help.

Diane,
I looked for http://www.eforcity.com, but it says it "cannot be found". So I googled it and it came up on ebay. Is that what you were referring to??
Thanks!
Sheri

Sheri--I checked and got the same message as you did. Maybe the server is down.

There is this too
http://stores.ebay.com/Eforcity

Best Buy is a really good place for iPods. If you buy the extended warranty (pretty cheap) and the iPod breaks you get a new one.

Sheri, I have to 2nd Kathy's advice and strongly recommend the iMotion speakers. They are on our travel checklist every time we leave town. Not only are they great to have in a hotel room (remember the cocktail parties at PIP), it also double as a battery charger.

I would also invest in a car charger if your airline of choice uses that type of power outlet. This really comes in handy on American Airlines since they use that type of plug on most of their planes.

Okay, I bit the bullet and bought the video ipod 60GB...looked at Best Buy and almost bought there, but there was sales tax and shipping, which made it more expensive than some other places. I have not bought the charger or any speakers yet though. I DO indeed remember the PIP cocktail parties. How cool was that?? I will have to look into the imotion, although I didn't find it at costco.com.

Did you know that Costco sells caskets?????? :eek: I guess that zooms WAY off topic, but I saw one of the categories on their web site was "funerals", and out of curiosity clicked on it...that was a big surprise.

Caskets! Yes, S, I found that amusing as well...

Oh, edit to add - congrats on the new purchase!

Sheri - congrats! Hard to go wrong with that choice. If you're looking for speakers and if you have a Costco store near you, they carry an assortment of portable (and not-so-portable) speakers for iPods.

Masaki

I have a Costco on my 'puter...can't get closer than that!!! :D ;) But yes, I did see all the goodies they have for it. After that "little" purchase, I am having trouble spending much more on a "want" item, rather than a "need" item. :ohmy:

At work I buy a LOT of supplies from Staples, which in turn gets me really nice coupons, so I may wait and see what I can get from there with my coupons....shhhh....don't tell my boss that I am using his coupons! :D <img border="0" alt="[c]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" />

Sheri,

Before you buy any speakers, let me know. I can get them wholesale from my distributor.

John

Hmmm....yet ANOTHER LCT perk!!! hahahaha!
Thanks!!! I sure will let you know.

I get my iPod today in the mail! Woo hooooo! Doesn't take much to get me excited apparently! :D