ipod review?

[Big Col]

Ok folks. I'm on the market...Back Willie! Not in that way I don't need a pimp! Humph. As I was saying I'm on the market for an MP3 player. I've heard a lot of good things about the ipod but all from mags. Since I trust you lot a lot more that mags. Well...most of you <eyes lnl ;)> Any opinions would be appreciated.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for a USB alternative it would be appreciated.

As a final question, do any of you have problems with tracks not playing on them as my big bro does with his Rio MP3 player.

Any advice would be appreciated. :cool::D:)

[Gismo]

Col, i am selling an MP3 player on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3076350347&category=48451&sspagename=STRK%3AMESSE%3AIT&rd=1) I have absolutely no prblems with this unit whatsoever, just not enough room 8)
It is the creative zen, it has a 20gig internal hard drive but i need more room.

The iPod is the way to go, but, they are expensive, having said that i just won a 40gig from the USA for £256, they are £499 here ;):) but i aint got it yet :evil:

However, if your looking for a reliable cheaper unit than make me an offer and i'll take mine off eBay ;)

[Big Col]

I sent you an email Alan but I dunno what email it gives you to reply to. Please send to colin_wilson@dsl.pipex.com as I ain't gonna be in work till Monday. <grins>

[macblob]

ipod ipod ipod

check out www.ipodlounge.com for ipod lovers views and opions

[Big Col]

http://www.kontraband.com/html/movies/movies.asp?ID=1063

Any comments? Other than the size of the dude's chin? :p

[Gismo]

quote:Originally posted by Big Col
I sent you an email Alan but I dunno what email it gives you to reply to. I ain't gonna be in work till Monday. <grins>Hi Col, i sent you a reply to your works address first, then i saw this so resent to your home account :) be quick :p

[Big Col]

Thanks for all the responses folks (especially Alan for taking the time to email me). I looked into the ipod and Zen a bit more and realised that for what I'd use it for, they really are both overkill as they are serious pieces of kit and I won't be putting them in the car. Thanks again for the responses though. :cool::D:cool:

[Gismo]

Ok, so my brand new iPod arrived today and it's sitting on my desk just staring at me.
Even reading the instructions i still cannot work out how to copy my rather extensive MP3 music into it.
Anyone offer any help, let me be more specific here, i save all my music in a folder named after the artist and then a sub folder for the tracks. Can i copy that over and then be able to browse the iPod (undocked) for the artist and then the album :question: Just like in my ageing creative zen :question: Grr

[Wul]

Big Col - about a year ago I got a epsonic MUD MP3 player - it has 128mb memory and doubles as a flash drive too (plugs straight into the usb port - has play, fwd, rev, pause, vol up vol down and off - thats it! no screen to drain batteries - uses 1no AAA battery which lasts 12 hours and is not rechargeable.

Similar to this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3077090551&category=48451

Anyway - it may look like something out of a cracker - but i think it is a great bit of kit - i got it for about £25-30 then and they are being given away free with PC bundles and mobile phones nowadays - for presonal use at 128kbs quality mp3's about 3 ablums can be fitted, and the sound quality is surpsingly good - has come in useful as a portable hard disc for transferring pics/music from home to work too!

In the car i've got a mp3 changer so no worries about having a massive storage device like the zen or ipod.

[euan]

A guy in the office here got a Creative Rhumba which you can only get on Amazon - nice little player that has a radio too. 256MB memory, nice and light too. If only it were a bit cheaper, but I'll be waiting for an Ipod mini - 50 quid more but a lot more space.

[Big Col]

Thanks for the info Wul. Wish I'd checked on here a few days ago! I just bought a creative MUVO that looks really similar to that for a little bit more £££.

[GAJ]

quote:Originally posted by euan

A guy in the office here got a Creative Rhumba which you can only get on Amazon - nice little player that has a radio too. 256MB memory, nice and light too. If only it were a bit cheaper, but I'll be waiting for an Ipod mini - 50 quid more but a lot more space.


I think the Ipod Mini will be £90 dearer than the Creative Rhomba. (£199 I think)

[macblob]

Gaj , I found this today, just going to go try it

Meant to boost volume levels on 3rd generation european ipods

http://www.bnv-gz.de/~hdusel/tools/iPodVolumeBooster/index.shtml

Will let u know if it works

[macblob]

Tried the booster and messed with some settings in itunes, plugged in the pod and itunes then copies all the tunes back on to the ipod..........and bugger me its loud now

[Gismo]

I still haven't figured out how to transfer my MP3's over the way i want them, ie, in a folder :blackeye:

[3GGG]

quote:Originally posted by Bonnie Scotland

Ok, so my brand new iPod arrived today and it's sitting on my desk just staring at me.
Even reading the instructions i still cannot work out how to copy my rather extensive MP3 music into it.
Anyone offer any help, let me be more specific here, i save all my music in a folder named after the artist and then a sub folder for the tracks. Can i copy that over and then be able to browse the iPod (undocked) for the artist and then the album :question: Just like in my ageing creative zen :question: Grr


Hi, sorry for the delay in replying, I didn't notice your post till just now and others seem to have ignored it. I guess the best and simplest way is to import your MP3s into iTunes and you can sort things out there if necessary, though generally the track info is picked up by iTunes just fine. Yes, in the iPod you can browse by artist, album, playlist whatever. Let us know how you get on.

Oh, iTunes for Windaes is reviewed here:
http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/itunes-review.html

[GAJ]

quote:Originally posted by Bonnie Scotland

I still haven't figured out how to transfer my MP3's over the way i want them, ie, in a folder :blackeye:


Alan,

Did you get my emails?

Are all your MP3s tagged correctly? The iPod will index all your MP3s according to the tag information. You will then be able to browse by artist, album or song name. If you want it to, iTunes can reorganise all your MP3s. It will create one main folder with sub folders for each artist and sub folders within these for each album. This all requires the MP3s to be properly tagged to begin with.

I'm not sure what you mean by wanting to transfer them in a folder :question:

[duncan]

Go to www.id3-tagit.de for some (free) tagging software.

[Gismo]

quote:Originally posted by GAJ

Alan, Did you get my emails? I'm not sure what you mean by wanting to transfer them in a folder :question:No e-mails here at home, by folder i mean that when i copy my music from CD to hard disk i create a folder for the artist, then i create a sub directory for the album name.
I guess all my tags may be at fault here, cause i do not create the MP3 i'm relying on others to name them correctly????

Do i take it then that by having the correct tags the iPod will automatically segregate them and show the tracks to me either by artist or album etc??

And i thought this was gonna be easy :I

[Gismo]

quote:Originally posted by duncan
Go to www.id3-tagit.de for some (free) tagging software.I have a fully registered version of MusicMatch that can perform the tagging, i think i need a lesson on how to do a whole album ;)

[Gismo]

Ok, getting the hang of it now, i have the tracks in the library but not shown in the iPod??
Are there any 6 year old kids 8) that can tell this eejit how to get the tracks into the iPod from the library??

Edit: Right, i think i have it all sussed, thanks for your help :)
Question though, what do you do if the tag cannot find the correct art file??

[GAJ]

quote:Originally posted by Bonnie Scotland
No e-mails here at home,

The emails went to admin@newminiscotland.co.uk

[Gismo]

quote:Originally posted by GAJ

quote:Originally posted by Bonnie ScotlandNo e-mails here at home,
The emails went to admin@newminiscotland.co.uk:I Does that mean Calum got them, or am i supposed to have access there :question: In any case, i think i'm sorted now, i've kinda got the hang of it now, see, play with it long enough 8) and ye shall learn :clown:

With the creative you could just copy a folder over and the player would read that, with the ipod you gotta have all the tags correct or it will just throw the tracks in with no album name etc, it's more time consuming for me, but, given the choice i'd go for the ipod :)

[3GGG]

Glad you get there in the end Alan. Its easy if you are starting from scratch with iTunes and ripping from CD as its all automatic, the track names etc looked up on the Net. Plugging in the iPod and and it updates automatically too. Have fun!

[Gismo]

I have thousands of albums, but, not all on audio CD, mostly i have MP3 compilations so, i'm having to save it to my hard drive and then do the tag lookup and then transfer into the iPod.
At least i think that's the fastest way :p

[3GGG]

Understood Alan, you are using iTunes though?

[Gismo]

quote:Originally posted by 3GGG
Understood Alan, you are using iTunes though?Yes, quite a nifty programme :)

[Gismo]

Ok, one last question 8):) when you copy an album over do all the contents go in or just the music, cause, in the folder i have the album covers in either jpeg or bmp format :)

[minidriver#1]

the ipod can act as a hard disc also, so i think all files will be copied across. i'm pretty sure of that.

[3GGG]

quote:Originally posted by KJ_innit

the ipod can act as a hard disc also, so i think all files will be copied across. i'm pretty sure of that.


Although the iPod can also be used as an external FireWire hard drive, you don't see the music files that iTunes has synchronised with your iPod, they are in a separate hidden area.

Alan. no the pictures you have in your folders will not be imported into iTunes automatically I believe. However you can drag your album artwork into iTunes.

[3GGG]

From the help (from the Mac version, but will be very similar for Windows):
Most of the music you buy from the iTunes Music Store comes with its own artwork. You can also add artwork to songs in your library.

You can add any type of image file that can be read by QuickTime (for example, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, or Photoshop).

•To add artwork to one song, click the Artwork button in the lower-left corner of the iTunes window, then select the song that you want to add artwork to in your library or a playlist. Drag a still image file to the artwork box.

•To add artwork to each song in your library or a playlist, select a song in the list and choose File > Get Info. In the Artwork pane, click Add to add art to the current song (or drag the art file from your desktop to the artwork box), then click Next Song to add art to the next song in the list, and so on.

•To add more than one piece of art to a song, drag more than one image to the same artwork box.

•To add the same artwork to multiple songs, press the Command key and click each song you want to add art to, then choose File > Get Info. Drag the artwork that you want to add to each of the selected songs from your desktop to the artwork box.

The image you added appears when the song is selected or playing. You can also click the artwork to see it larger and in its own window.

[Gismo]

Dave, thanks for all your words of wisdom, i am now fully functional, it's a braw wee device.
Big thanks to my friendly local electrical shop, he showed me that the USA power adaptor fits a standard shaving socket or adaptor, so, i'm sorted for charging as i already have the shaver thingy :approve:

[3GGG]

Terrific Alan! - Watch and not cut your iPod headphone lead when you are shaving though!

[GAJ]

I wouldn' worry about cutting the lead. I am not a big fan of the ipod headphones.

[macblob]

The headphones that come with the ipod suck, i replaced them with sony mdr, ex71s.
In ear phones that were £35, sounds miles better and actually stay in my ear where as the ones supplied with the ipod kept falling out.

Glad your having fun messing with ur new toy though BS

[3GGG]

quote:Originally posted by GAJ

I wouldn' worry about cutting the lead. I am not a big fan of the ipod headphones.


I agree I don't much like them either, i mainly use my iPod in the car through the stereo however.

Apple now do matching in ear phones for the iPod. Haven't tried them myself.

http://www.apple.com/ipod/accessories.html

[GAJ]

I use Sony 'phones too. Possibly the same model, I cannae remember! I got a black pair ages ago and bought a white pair about a year or so ago to match the iPod!

[macblob]

Ones that go right inside ur ear Gaj?

I think there are the same ones, i just got the black ones

[GAJ]

Yeah. I think my balck ones are maybe MDR EX 70LP and the white ones are the 71's. The old black ones are better though!

[macblob]

Yeah the 70 ones are the older version, I heard on ipod lounge they sound better but im pretty happy with the 71s especially after boosting the volume on all my mp3s

[Gismo]

I stupidly sold my Sony earphones with my zen on eBay, you guys are right, the iPod is let down by the crappy speakers, ah well, another new set required.

Anyway, full trial coming up, away offshore again tomorrow :( got me some cheap parking though ;) and hopefully Mr B Pirie will be washing my car this weekend :D

[GAJ]

Try here (http://www.audiocubes.com/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=b9e941b721cfbe56769525a9d11607c4) for really cool audio gear that you cannae get in the UK. I've bought a few things from here and delivery is amazingly quick.:)

[Gismo]

I'm looking at a set of Shure E2's, simply the best in ear earphone you can get, allegedly :)

[Willie M]

In the house I listen to my I-pod through my Sennheiser phones that I use on my hi-fi. The sound is absolutely superb :cool:

[GAJ]

quote:Originally posted by Bonnie Scotland

I'm looking at a set of Shure E2's, simply the best in ear earphone you can get, allegedly :)


....apart from the E3s and E5s!;)

[macblob]

lol, nice one Gaj, theres another make of in ear phones that are meant to be great to, I just didint fancy spending another 100quid on headphones

http://www.ditdo.com/HEADPHONES/ER6/er6.html


thosae er6 phones look good :D

[Gismo]

quote:Originally posted by GAJ
....apart from the E3s and E5s!;) :evil: I should have mentioned in the price range ;):D

[Gismo]

A wee question for the iPod owner's, after fully charging the iPod and then turning it on the charging symbol shows to be low :evil: but after about 5 mins of play the symbol then shows to be fully charged :)
Is anyone els'e like that :question:

[GAJ]

A common problem with the new ones I believe. My mates does that too but he still gets the full expected battery life.

[macblob]

its a prob with the firmware 2.1, makes the battery symbol dodgy, mine is like that too BS

[Gismo]

:)