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the missus wants an i pod - advice please

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 14:59
by markE
it's my beloved's birthday in a week or so and she says she would like an i pod or similar.
i am completely technophobic and clueless when it comes to this sort of thing so i would like your help.


do i need broadband to download stuff on to an i pod?

is the i pod nano a good buy?

is there a cheaper alternative?

can i put music from cd onto the i pod


thanks guys.

Re: the missus wants an i pod - advice please

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 15:18
by Ross
markE wrote:it's my beloved's birthday in a week or so and she says she would like an i pod or similar.
i am completely technophobic and clueless when it comes to this sort of thing so i would like your help.


do i need broadband to download stuff on to an i pod?
Not to download it onto the ipod (as you can put your CDs on there (you may need to download iTunes though), to download from the net you'll need broadband.

is the i pod nano a good buy?
Yes, you can fit a fair amount of music on there, it's really small and inobtrusive, and it comes in pink.

is there a cheaper alternative?
Probably... The Sony CreativeZen ones are pretty damn good, they don't look as good, but they do exactly what iPods do for much less money.

can i put music from cd onto the i pod
Yes, but you need iTunes.

thanks guys.

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 18:41
by markE
ta very much, ross.

Re: the missus wants an i pod - advice please

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 20:09
by SteveP
Ross wrote:(you may need to download iTunes though)


iTunes comes on a cd rom included with the ipod when you buy it

Re: the missus wants an i pod - advice please

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 20:40
by Ean
SteveP wrote:
Ross wrote:(you may need to download iTunes though)


iTunes comes on a cd rom included with the ipod when you buy it


Not these days it doesn't (check out 'What's In The Box'), you have to download it yourself. You don't even get an AC adaptor included any more.

I love my iPod, and I've had more than one over the years. They've improved it immeasurably (especially battery life) since the first one, but it does strike me as odd that they still haven't included the one thing most people want - a radio.

That gripe aside, they're quality products: the only reason I don't use my old one is that it doesn't have the capacity I need - I've actually filled my second one too, and am just the teeniest bit gutted that they've brought out the 160gig version.

They can stick the Touch up their arse though - until they sort out the storage or lack thereof... :P

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 20:52
by Mattie
My player:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mp3/revie ... -Player/p4

The iriver clix2
I have the 8gb 'redline' version

It doesn't have the multiple add-ons of ipods (you won't be able to plug it into a car stereo for example) but as the reviews say - if you simply want an mp3 player that looks and sounds great, you can't go wrong.

Re: the missus wants an i pod - advice please

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 21:28
by Sir Euan
Ross wrote:
markE wrote:it's my beloved's birthday in a week or so and she says she would like an i pod or similar.
i am completely technophobic and clueless when it comes to this sort of thing so i would like your help.


do i need broadband to download stuff on to an i pod?
Not to download it onto the ipod (as you can put your CDs on there (you may need to download iTunes though), to download from the net you'll need broadband.

is the i pod nano a good buy?
Yes, you can fit a fair amount of music on there, it's really small and inobtrusive, and it comes in pink.

is there a cheaper alternative?
Probably... The Sony CreativeZen ones are pretty damn good, they don't look as good, but they do exactly what iPods do for much less money.

can i put music from cd onto the i pod
Yes, but you need iTunes.

thanks guys.


nanos don't come in pink anymore, its patelly blue and green, black, silver/grey and red/crimson.

And they may not be the cheapest, but they are good value, look great, and are really easy to use.

Re: the missus wants an i pod - advice please

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 21:33
by Ean
Sir Euan wrote:nanos don't come in pink anymore, its patelly blue and green, black, silver/grey and red/crimson.


And then only if you get the 8gig one, otherwise it's just silver.

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 22:05
by Dave C
I have a 2Gb Creative MuVo, never had a moments bother with it. Treat it like an extra drive when it's plugged into your PC, then drag and drop files onto it. Great bit of kit.

PostPosted: 7th Jan 08, 23:21
by Dark Lord of Barnet
I've got a Creative Zen Nano Plus - it's the size of a disposable lighter and some people reckon they sound better than the iPod Nano, although obviously they don't look as cool. It has a radio built in too. It's dead easy to use and not fragile like the cheaper iPods, but I think it's been superceded by newer Creative players now - the Stone?

PostPosted: 8th Jan 08, 00:08
by skychaserhigh
i would never buy an i-pod..
what do you do when the battery's run it's life ????

i've had an i-river for a few years and they are wonderful, very easy to use,built in radio,great software, plugs in the car, looks sexy as hell

suppose depends how shes gonna use it

Re: the missus wants an i pod - advice please

PostPosted: 8th Jan 08, 00:32
by SteveP
Ean wrote:[Not these days it doesn't (check out 'What's In The Box'), you have to download it yourself. You don't even get an AC adaptor included any more.


What a bunch of bastards!!!!

I didn't actually know that!!!

PostPosted: 8th Jan 08, 00:37
by denis
i've had an i pod and i've had a creative and i must say that i find the creative to be a far superior piece of technology. plus they're cheaper to buy and (plus plus..) they're easier to use!

PostPosted: 8th Jan 08, 11:56
by lob
I must say I would go with creative again if I had to. It depends what she wants to do with it, I got into a thing about always having access to all my music so the smaller memory ones don't work for me. currently have a 40g Creative Zen and it has around 11000 tracks on it and it is nowhere near as sniffy as the ipod on what it will allow in. My partner has a Creative too, a 30g one which does a few more funky things than mine but the plus side is that we use the same software on the home pc to manage it all, which is fairly easy to do. One thing to remember with them all is that they usually come with crap earphones - no matter what make. That said I am now using an upgrade earphone from Creative which is a lot better than the ridiculously fragile Sony ones I used before

PostPosted: 8th Jan 08, 12:17
by markE
thanks you lot. wow!