which ipod better?
i just figured out my budget for when i get ibook, and found i'll have a bit extra hanging around, so am thinking of getting an ipod at that time.
can only afford the 15gb but reckon that would be enough but i also thought getting an old version 20gb mac version could be a good option
but whats the difference to them?
i know new ones are lighter, smaller and different on the front but software and feature wise whats up?
can you get updates to the firmware on the ipod, to play the new format (AAC ? mp4? can't remember which it is) and so that it works a little better.
i'd presume this was possible, so you could use itunes4 in conjunction. atleast having updateable products is a good strategy...so i'd hope apple would do that.
anyway what are the differences really? second hand 20gigs are around same price as either 10/15gigs new ones but what would be better?
and how do the sizes vary, i know it said 20% smaller or something but i can't visualize despite having seen a new ipod in the store today (and i stared at it in wonder of how it could be soooo small).
can only afford the 15gb but reckon that would be enough but i also thought getting an old version 20gb mac version could be a good option
but whats the difference to them?
i know new ones are lighter, smaller and different on the front but software and feature wise whats up?
can you get updates to the firmware on the ipod, to play the new format (AAC ? mp4? can't remember which it is) and so that it works a little better.
i'd presume this was possible, so you could use itunes4 in conjunction. atleast having updateable products is a good strategy...so i'd hope apple would do that.
anyway what are the differences really? second hand 20gigs are around same price as either 10/15gigs new ones but what would be better?
and how do the sizes vary, i know it said 20% smaller or something but i can't visualize despite having seen a new ipod in the store today (and i stared at it in wonder of how it could be soooo small).
Comments
Basically, just decide if you'd rather have a larger iPod (the 20 GB was the biggest, heaviest one) that holds more songs but has a smaller feature set, or if you'd rather have a more compact and sleek one with all the new features as well as the dock. It really depends on how much music you have - if you have over 10 GB, then you'll probably want a 20 GB iPod, but if you have over 15 GB, you'll probably want a 30 GB one. Make sure you leave some room to grow, because it's annoying having to choose which songs to take with you and which to leave behind. My collection has been at 6 GB for the past few months, and it rarely grows, so I went for a 10 GB, figuring I wouldn't need the case, dock, or remote.
another question, how much better is the AAC format. would my 7.3gb's be reduced by much if encoded the songs in AAC; as i ripped them all to mp3 from my cd's originally, so could do that again into AAC. but would that be worth it?
Anyway, if you choose to re-encode your CDs into AAC, replacing your MP3s, you should see either equal quality in less space, or higher quality in the same space. I'd suggest using maybe 160 kilobit AAC, that is equivalent to 192 kilobit MP3. 128 might be fine for the high-quality encoding Apple uses for their music store, but iTunes makes compromises to improve speed so you might be better off with 160 kilobit. It really depends on what you originally imported at. If you did everything at 160 and it sounds fine to you, 128 AAC should be fine. If you did everything at 228 or 256, then 192 AAC should be about equivalent. By the way, if you want AAC files, you really should redo all your encoding straight from the CDs. Don't convert MP3s to AACs unless you're really short on space.
Anyway, if you have 7.3 GB of 192 kbps MP3s and you re-rip at 160 kbps AAC, that ends up reducing it to 6.1 GB. So if you're short on space, want to save a bit, or maybe even save some money on the lower end 10 GB iPod, it might be worth it. But since the 15 GB comes with all the accessories as well as 5 extra GB of storage, it seems like a better choice (provided you think the extras are worth it, of course).
On the other hand, you might want to just stay with MP3s. It'll save you a lot of time as AACs rip more slowly than MP3s, and also, AACs aren't as ubiquitous. If, for some reason, you get another MP3 player (say, in your car) or if you want to burn an MP3 CD, you'll have to re-rip again or convert your existing track to MP3 for compatibility. Now, AAC might get really popular and therefore it might just become part of a number of digital music players, but we don't know for sure yet.
but yes, the extras seem worth it, only £50 difference in price and yet you get so much more.
thanks for the advice.
1] Buttons up the top makes more sense - less weird
2] 2001 A Space Odysee backlighting
3] AAC support
4] Mac and Windows support out of the box*
5] Customizable Main Menu
6] Games
7] About half the mass and thickness of the 20GB
8] The dock rocks - makes it really easy to recharge
10] Line out means you can hook it up to your stereo
There is only one problem with the new iPod. It's more fragile. Mine's got a crack in it,
Barto
*One issue I have with this. A Mac formatted iPod will not work in a PC, a PC formatted iPod will work in a Mac but cannot have Mac OS X installed on it.
but the old iPods support AAC
a CRACK?! WTF i would be PISSED
you should be able to get that replaced or at the very least return it....
On the other hand, while the current set of features on the new iPods wouldn't make me buy them (why anyone cares about the games is beyond me)...there might be some really cool stuff in the pipeline that takes advantage (live recording direct to mp3 or AAC would be vee nice...a WiFi or bluetooth connector that streamed or allowed wireless file exchange would be even nicer).
Originally posted by Paul
dont forget on the go playlist!
but the old iPods support AAC
a CRACK?! WTF i would be PISSED
you should be able to get that replaced or at the very least return it....
I'm pissed now that it's dead. 5 days. Woohoo.
Barto