So im considering buying an iPod

[makken]

Well, up until now, I've never really felt the need or desire to get one, but a few days ago I realized how much of a pain it is to burn new CDs for my car whenever I get a new song I like.

To that end, I've decided to go ahead and purchase an MP3 player.
I have a few questions though:

First of all, how easily could I connect the iPod to the car's stereo? Currently I have a casette player and a CD changer (in the trunk) hooked up with no aux input. I know iPods can transmit via FM, but I'm not too fond of FM sound quality (can't stand the radio station sometimes), are there any other solutions without completely revamping my car audio system?

Second, I'm looking at the 30GB iPod Video. Although my music collection is small (all of it will fit on a 2GB Nano), I would like to use the iPod to store and watch all of my downloaded anime. Also, I believe you are able to hook up the iPod video via S-video to a TV (big plus in my book). Are there any quality issues with video playback (framerate, etc)?

Finally, Am I forced to use iTunes?

Can you guys recommend any sites or forums I should look into?
Thanks a lot.

 

[Bobthelost]

Watching movies on an ipod zapps your battery, i think the rated life is about 1.5 Hours with video content.

I don't think you're limited to itunes anymore, WMP tried to get to play with my 2GB nano when i plugged it in last time.

If you've got a casset player then you can buy one of those adapter things that let you convert audio signals into one the casset player can read. I used one for quite a while, results weren't perfect but it was simple and it worked, oh and it was dirt cheap

The ipod isnt' perfect, i'd check out the creative product line at the least.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

You could buy a 3.5mm casette adapter for your MP3 player. And I would get a Creative Zen Vision:M instead. It has more than double the battery life while watching video, a bigger screen, doesn't require iTunes, etc. It's a much better player.

 

[makken]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
You could buy a 3.5mm casette adapter for your MP3 player. And I would get a Creative Zen Vision:M instead. It has more than double the battery life while watching video, a bigger screen, doesn't require iTunes, etc. It's a much better player.

Ahh, forgot about the casette adapters, is the sound quality degraded in any way from using those?

I'll look into the Zen player, but the main reason I was really set onto the iPod was that I love its interface. It may seem like a minor annoyance, but I do plan to mainly use the player in the car - meaning I will be changing songs etc. while i'm driving, and, based on my friend's iPod mini, its interface has been the most intutive, easiest using i've seen on an mp3 player.

 

[JackBurton]

I just bought an Alpine 9857 deck with an iPod connection and LOVE IT. And yes, constantly burning CD sucks. The cool thing about it is that I can throw the iPod in the glove compartment and control it through the deck (the deck charges the iPod too so you'll NEVER be low on power). If you get a tape adapter for your iPod, it will provide better sound quality than FM transmission, but you'll still have to have your iPod out to control the music played and it won't be charging while your driving. If you want to save some money, the adapter is probably the best bet. But if you want a REALLY nice and clean setup, I'd get another deck (I recommend Alpine. ).

As for iTunes, I love it. But yeah, iPods require you to use iTunes.

 

[imported_Stew]

Look in FS/FT for an ipod. Some for cheap.

 

[Bobthelost]

Well just for you i'm doing a test, burning some new music to my ipod nano through WMP. It seems to be messing with the format but it does seem to be adding the tunes.

Edit: Doesn't seem to have worked, should never have trusted microsoft to work right the first time :roll: at me.

 

[makken]

Ok, so I just found out that the iPod video does NOT support DivX (wtf?)

big hit as I was planning to move all of my video onto the ipod and just play it from there. I really don't feel like converting things into the ipod format (and thus ending up with 2 copies of the same file), so I may be looking for something else now.

or maybe i'll just get a nano, haven't decided yet.

 

[eastvillager]

www.dapreview.net

www.anythingbutipod.com

A couple places where you can get reviews.

 

[makken]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Well just for you i'm doing a test, burning some new music to my ipod nano through WMP. It seems to be messing with the format but it does seem to be adding the tunes.

Edit: Doesn't seem to have worked, should never have trusted microsoft to work right the first time :roll: at me.

ahh thanks for trying anyways.
I remember there was a plugin for winamp that allowed you to bypass iTunes a while back, dunno if that still works.

 

[Noubourne]

I have a 2GB Sansa e250 and I love it. I believe it does DIVX, although I don't intend to watch video on a tiny screen like that and I haven't tried it. I don't get that, at all, to be honest. AFAIK it plays WMA and MP3 files.

At any rate, the Sansa has a 20hr battery life on music, and it requires no software for putting music on it. I just plug it in, it shows up as a drive, I open it, drag my music folders into the music folder on the drive, and bam - it's there and organized on the Sansa by artist, genre, etc (all using the ID3 tags). It rules. Be aware that it doesn't play DRM files. For some people that may be a minus. For me, it was a requirement.

I'll "rent" (let's be honest, DRM is about removing true purchases from the media industry and migrating their business model to a rental system) a song from iTunes for $1.99 the day Apple comes to my house and prys the $2.00 from my cold, dead hands.

I currently use the cheapest FM transmitter I could find. The best solution, I agree, is to get a car stereo with a Line In plug on the front (or run an adapter from the back of the stereo out to the front). However, the best solution won't do jack when I want to take my music with me on a road trip in someone else's car, or with me on my friend's boats, or whatever. I would suggest that even if you do something just for your car, you'll still want to invest in the best FM transmitter you can find to make your music ultra-portable so you can share it with friends. The days of filling up a CD carrier full of discs to take a road trip are over. The FM Transmitter option allows a huge amount of flexibility that you won't always have with the high-quality line-in option.

Just my .02.

 

[theMan]

Superior to iPod

10 hrs video, 18 audio. looks like exactly what you need to me.

 

[mc866]

If you do go with Apple you aren't confined to itunes, see

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: mc866
If you do go with Apple you aren't confined to itunes, see

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

Nice man. Didn't know that.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Originally posted by: mc866
If you do go with Apple you aren't confined to itunes, see

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

And on top of buying an overpriced iPod, you have to pay $25 for the software...

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb

Originally posted by: mc866
If you do go with Apple you aren't confined to itunes, see

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

And on top of buying an overpriced iPod, you have to pay $25 for the software...

Give me a break. Are all iPod haters poor? Jesus.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb

Originally posted by: mc866
If you do go with Apple you aren't confined to itunes, see

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

And on top of buying an overpriced iPod, you have to pay $25 for the software...

but it's good software. besides, video iPods aren't THAT overpriced... they brought out their 30GB player at $300.

 

[Oyeve]

I have a 100gb Archos DVR-500. Never going back to iPod again.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb

Originally posted by: mc866
If you do go with Apple you aren't confined to itunes, see

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

And on top of buying an overpriced iPod, you have to pay $25 for the software...

but it's good software. besides, video iPods aren't THAT overpriced... they brought out their 30GB player at $300.

The Vision:M still costs $50 less than an iPod with that software though.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb

Originally posted by: mc866
If you do go with Apple you aren't confined to itunes, see

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

And on top of buying an overpriced iPod, you have to pay $25 for the software...

but it's good software. besides, video iPods aren't THAT overpriced... they brought out their 30GB player at $300.

The Vision:M still costs $50 less than an iPod with that software though.

but Creative's bundled software sucks just as much as iTunes (arguably more, but I haven't had experience with iTunes).

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb

Originally posted by: mc866
If you do go with Apple you aren't confined to itunes, see

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

And on top of buying an overpriced iPod, you have to pay $25 for the software...

but it's good software. besides, video iPods aren't THAT overpriced... they brought out their 30GB player at $300.

The Vision:M still costs $50 less than an iPod with that software though.

but Creative's bundled software sucks just as much as iTunes (arguably more, but I haven't had experience with iTunes).

Yeah, I have a Creative Zen Xtra, and the software is pretty bad. You can drag and drop to it in Windows explorer if you do something. I forgot what you're supposed to do, but one day, it just worked.

 

[NaOH]

I got an ipod and an alpine 9845 w/ aux in. Sound was worse than having an mp3 cd (even with the lineout from the ipod, i just switched sources using the same file on the ipod and mp3 cd). So now I stick to real CDs which sound a whole lot better.

But if you like the convenience then get the adapter for your HU. I know a lot of times, the HU's cd changer port in the back can be changed to an aux in using a converter cable. That is your best bet. It's either that, or get a tape adapter or new hu. The only problem with using the port on the back is that you lose CD Changer functionality. But who needs a cd changer if you are fine with an ipod right?

 

[MDE]

Winamp (still) works just fine with the iPod. I only use iTunes for automatically downloading podcasts and Winamp for everything else.

 

[Philinho]

Buy a Ipod Movie its great i have one!!!!!! in germnay at the applestore 350?!!!!! not so much
www.apple.com there you can bought them=) but its more expenciv then to buy in a store

 

[ForumMaster]

well, the creative zen vision:m does support DivX. it's software sucks bad though. i love my ipod mini. i use itunes just cause it's free. i don't use it often. only for putting tunes on my ipod. i use WMP or WinAmp.

www.dapreview.net

www.anythingbutipod.com

A couple places where you can get reviews.

don't suppose that those sites might be a little bit biased?
the ipod is fine. but if you plan on getting it, get a good deck connection to connect your ipod digitally. watching anything on the tiny screen of either the ipod or the creative zen vision:m isn't worth it.