Question about iPods

[Jandarforever]

I'm a total newb when it comes to iPods and MP3s. I'm thinking about getting an iPod nano, but I never have gotten a clear answer to this question. Do you need iTunes to download songs from your cds onto your iPod? Or do you need iTunes just for songs that you want to buy off the internet? If I do need iTunes for putting anything and everything on an iPod, then I might just get an MP3 player. I've always been kind of turned off by them though, because iPods have always seemed to be better. What do you guys think?

[GForce3062]

To put any kind of songs onto your iPod you DO need to download itunes from apple.com. It's free and painless and it took me about 30 minutes to download(I don't know if this is the same with everyone it's just my computer is really slow) You can also buy songs from itunes for just 99 cents per song. I hope I helped at all. You should definately get an ipod cause they're MUCH better than MP3 Players.

[Pumpkin_King]

I bought an 80 gig iPod, and love it to bits. Yes, you do need iTunes, but GForce3062 explained it better than I did. One of the greatest things about them is that along with music, pictures, and video, you can use one of the bigger ones to back up obscene amounts of data. I have mine backing up almost my entire computer! Podcasts are another good thing that's free. The only thing I don't like about the whole thing is iTunes converting my music to MP4, or if you bought it online, MA4. That way, you can't easily share it with someone unless you actually burn a disc with those songs on it. But all in all, I love the whole setup.

[Dredd Stev]

iTunes is proprietary for the iPod... meaning you HAVE to use it for ANY music you want to put on your pod.

The good news is that it's pretty painless to import your music library.

iPod is THE way to go if you ask me, the 8 gig nano has served me well for about a year now... and I STILL have some room left on it (albeit about 8 cd's remaining...)

[scottishlad5]

Yes you have to have Itunes, and I also have a 80G I love it, I mean say goodbye to clunky cd players, and cd's.

[Nooblar]

Actually there are other options besides iTunes. I used WinAmp on my desktop (when I switched to a laptop it turned out WinAmp crashes it--dunno if it's the program or Vista at fault). There are other options, too, if you don't like WinAmp. There's also SharePod and EphPod. For the real do-it-yourselfer, there's the option of installing alternative firmware (like RockBox) on the iPod and dragging and dropping files as to a flash drive.

[Pumpkin_King]

Originally Posted by Nooblar

Actually there are other options besides iTunes. I used WinAmp on my desktop (when I switched to a laptop it turned out WinAmp crashes it--dunno if it's the program or Vista at fault). There are other options, too, if you don't like WinAmp. There's also SharePod and EphPod. For the real do-it-yourselfer, there's the option of installing alternative firmware (like RockBox) on the iPod and dragging and dropping files as to a flash drive.

Along the same lines, to any of those, or anything else you know of, have a thing that allows you to mess with the colors, graphic, etc on your iPod? I know you can do it with the older ones, but iPod Wizard won't work with the newest one.

[Jandarforever]

Great! Thanks guys. I thought iTunes was something I would have to buy. It sounds a tad inconvenient, but I can deal with it as long as downloading stuff isn't a big hassle. I'm thinking about getting a 3rd Generation 8GB iPod. The majority of the stuff I would want on it would be songs, but I might have a few music videos on it. I read that this model is decent.

[Drumline3469]

Your iPod should come with the latest version of iTunes on a disk. If you order it offline you get about 24 hours shipping for free, plus you don't have to pay taxes, plus you can get it laser engraved. Or you can simple go to Apple.com and click the iPod + iTunes tab and download it for free. Should take about 15-30 minutes to download and install depending on how quick your internet connection and computer are.

[Jandarforever]

Originally Posted by Drumline3469

Your iPod should come with the latest version of iTunes on a disk. If you order it offline you get about 24 hours shipping for free, plus you don't have to pay taxes, plus you can get it laser engraved. Or you can simple go to Apple.com and click the iPod + iTunes tab and download it for free. Should take about 15-30 minutes to download and install depending on how quick your internet connection and computer are.

Sounds good. How does buying a song off the internet work when using iTunes?

[Drumline3469]

You may set up an account (with a credit card/ debit card) and then you log into that account, just point and click when you're shopping in the iTunes store and it's yours. You can set up your same account to allow that song to be downloaded on up to 5 computers. The music store section of iTunes will even have a little section for new releases and suggestions of songs or CDs that you might like. It's a pretty neat little thing.

[NecroBlade]

Just be careful with iPhones: they have a kill switch.

That's right: they can kill you...