Techie, help with ipod

[spaceprophet]

I was thinking about buying an Apple Ipod but don’t know much about it yet. Could some of the techies out there or owners themselves fill me in on some of it’s finer points and it’s glaring imperfections?

For instance:

• Will my home stereo or car stereo play it?
• Can you only listen to it with headphones?
• About how much do they run in price?

[spaceprophet]

Sheesh, doesn't anyone visit this deck of the ship? Come on now don't be sceered.

[Bob73]

I would like to buy one of those G5 Apple computers and
an ipod mp3 player but keep thinking that as soon as I do
Apple will bring out something better. I found a lot of
help at the Apple website. Used Google to get the url but
I think http://www.apple.com will get you there. STEREOPHILE
magazine this month (Oct.2003) has a good article telling
all about the ipod players. You can read the article,I think,
if you go to http://www.stereophile.com (They love it.) The 10GB
size ipod sells for $299... I think and you need Apple computer
to load it. Apple says they will have ipods for Windows
users next year.

[SvladCjelli]

RIPOFF.

Get a minidisc or mp3 player for a third of the price and don't buy a godamned g5 - 4500$USD for what? My system cost less than half that price and would run circles around it while the mac was still booting

Of course, if you only care about exterior looks, go for the mac by all means, but if you want a serious system, build it yourself.

I guess I just see through the Apple hype.

[Bob73]

SvladCjelli:

Tell us what you have and where you bought it. I
would like to hear about what people use for their
computer hardware. (I had a computer made out
of parts I purchased separately a few years ago but
was so tame compared to the 2GHz models they
have now. My Dell has a tiny 13GB hard drive but I
see where there are 100GB drives now. Looks like
I need to start building a new puter like you did.)

[SvladCjelli]

One nice system I run:

AMD Barton XP2500+ 2.17Ghz w/512MB Cache =~150CDN
ASUS A7V8X Motherboard w/ KT400 Chipset = ~$125CDN
1 stick PC2700 DDR333 512MD CL2 Corsair RAM = ~$190 CDN
2 120GB WD 8MB Cache Hard Drives = ~$500CDN
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 128MB =~$150CDN
Sound Blaster Audigy2 Platinum =~$250CDN
Antec Full Tower Case w/430W True Power = ~$250


So, $1500 for a kickass system with 240GB of storage, and top consumer sound card and excellent vid card. I got the best case I could find locally, I usually use a $65 case that is just fine when I am building for others.

Now, add some $ and get yourself a speed upgrade, maybe a higher level processor, but realize you will be paying major $$$ for not so much extra speed. The system I describe above would keep most people happy for a few years at least.

Now, you gonna be doing real-time video editing or high stress compiling or something, you will want to tweak the ingredients.

EDIT: Woops, I forgot, built it myself, only way to go. And that way you can fix it when it breaks too...

[Bob73]

maryals:

Okay on your Apple computer and Ipod. I went to the
local COMPUSA store yesterday and looked at the G5
computer ,Ibooks and the ipod. (That ipod is so tiny! It's
smaller than I thought it would be.) The ibooks by Apple
all looked so sleek and from another world. (I have only
had PC/Windows computers so far.) The Power Mac G5
computer looks so cool with its all steel -built like a tank-
and its supposed to be the fastest puter around! I will
be lusting for one till I get it, I suppose.

[SvladCjelli]

I own and LOVE my iMAC, the one on the white half basketball.
I bought the iPod, not the newest one, but I am very happy with it.
I download my music CDs onto iTunes, organize files by Author or Genre or Artist or Favorites or whatever.
I plug in the iPod and in seconds it downloads all that from my iMac to the iPod.
I bought a set of desk size set JVC Speakers to which I plug in the iPod when I don't want to use the head phones.
Like the guy said, go to http://www.apple.com
You can buy the special cables to attach to your existing home stereo, or even your car stereo.
In a word, I have been a very happy Apple User for about a year.

How do you think this is any different from what you would need to do on a PC? Except you wouldn't need any 'special cables' as PCs use standard audio/video connections.

One question Maryals, how do you intend to upgrade that iMac? I'll tell you: throw it out and buy the newest one Apple is so user friendly you can't even open the damned thing! Just like my honda - used to be able to change the oil myself on every car I owned, now that is impossible, a garage has to do it. Apple has embraced the throw away society with gusto!

Personally, at three times the price of a comparable setup, I will forego the 'ease' of an Apple for usability anytime.

By the way, I use a PC as my home stereo base, it is a TiVo system (records live TV for later viewing), it outputs video to my big TV, plays music through my stereo, I can output the sound to upstairs in the kitchen or bedroom if I like, and the whole thing can be remotely controlled by my IPAQ. My minidisc connects through the optical port on my PC (front panel of course), and makes exact digital copies (I can put up to 5 hours on one minidisc with compression).

In the end, these discussions are pointless as people make up their minds based not on market research, but on opinions of friends or salespeople, so big deal, get yourself a computer you can use and get on with it I say Apple makes good products, and if you spend a little more on it, so be it. Just know that I have seen many an unhappy Apple owner after they see the limitations imposed by Apple's proprietary hardware and software requirements.