Thursday, September 10, 2009

Choosing the Right iPod for You

Stuck in the dark age with your uncool cassette playing Walkman? Ready to make that jump to the mega-trendy iPod? Read on.



Steps

  1. Buy an iPod shuffle if you want something durable, or if you are worried that your iPod will get too scratched up. They do not have screens, but work very well for music, podcasts, etc.


    • The new iPod shuffles have a built in clip on the back that clip onto clothing. With three settings (shuffle, play through and off), they are available as a 1GB (240 songs), or 2GB (500 songs), One gigabyte being $49 and two being $69. Both are available in silver, blue, lavender, green, and red. Apple recently produced 4 new colours for the shuffle: they are electric blue, pink, green and orange.
  2. Buy an iPod nano if you like having a screen, but still something that's smaller. The 4th generation iPod nano can play video, and downloadable iPod games, which also have the same features as the full sized models. They come in 8GB (2000 songs), or 16GB (4000 songs) for prices $149, $199, respectively. The nano comes in 8 different colours: Black, gunmetal, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, (product) red, and pink. Note: (product) red gives money to AIDs in Africa. The newer iPod Nanos are extremely durable and scratch resistant, much more so than the previous generation as they are encased in aluminum.
  3. Get an iPod Classic if you would like a bigger iPod with more features. The iPod can hold up to 30,000 songs, 25,000 photos, or 150 hours of video. They can also play games downloaded from the iTunes Music Store. They are available in 120GB (40,000) for $249. The iPod comes in black or silver. This is a good choice if you want to download a lot of movies or videos which take up a lot of space on an iPod.
  4. Decide if an iPod Mini is right for you. If you are looking for something smaller than a full size iPod but are unwilling to put up the money for an iPod nano and you want a screen. They came in 4GB or 6GB editions. They have a monochrome (black and white) screen and can't display videos photos or album artwork. They were available in blue, pink, silver, and green. You can't buy an iPod mini brand new as they aren't made anymore, but they are available online on sites such as Amazon and eBay for various prices.
  5. Get the iPod Touch if you want an iPod with the latest features and no annoying scroll interface. This is virtually identical to the iPhone besides the loss of the phone and camera functions. It can hold 8, 16 or 32 GB of data, for $229, $299, and $399. It has Wi-Fi which allows you to surf the web with Safari and watch videos on YouTube. The iPod Touch also has iTunes which allows you to download music to your iPod without a computer. The screen, like the iPhone, has a touch interface, and is slightly smaller than the iPhone with a 3.5 inch wide screen and 8 mm wide device. Later versions of the iPod Touch include software that can recognize songs when the user walks into a Starbucks coffee shop. If you buy it after January, it should come with the update that gives you widgets including Weather, Stocks, Mail, Notes and Maps, along with a customizable home screen which allows you to move around the "icons." Also you can add a section of a webpage or just a whole web page to you home screen too. If you bought the iPod Touch BEFORE January, you can get the update off of iTunes for $20. And also keep in mind that due to "accounting reasons," every time they release a major update to the iPhone/iPod Touch, you WILL have to pay some amount of money, IF you have an iPod Touch. (iPhoners don't have to pay for some reason.)

Tips

  • Buy a cover or skin for your iPod to protect it.
  • The iPod Shuffle is very good for athletics.
  • The iPod's disks can also be used as a flash drive, so you can use it to store other things if you don't plan on filling it up with songs anytime soon.
  • All new iPods come with headphones from Apple.
  • All iPods are able to be freely engraved with messages when purchased from Apple.com. (But you can NOT return the iPod if its broken or you don't like it. You can get it fixed at an apple store, but you can not return it.)
  • If you purchase an iPod nano, you can also (for $29) purchase a Nike+iPod Sport Kit to use your nano as a pedometer.
  • Software is included in older ipods, all ipods build later than september 2006 will not come with required software, therefore a computer with internet connection is required.
  • Even if you don't have an iPod yet, download iTunes. It works very well and you can download podcasts, listen to internet radio, and organize your CD library. Every week there is a 3 featured songs or videos to download for free.
  • You can get most iPods for much less if you buy them refurbished from Apple.com.
  • For teenage children or kids pestering you about an iPod if you are a parent, consider buying the iPod Shuffle, Mini, or Nano for a cheap price.
  • Go to www.iFrogz.com to get great acessories to your iPod, including high quality earphones(EarPollution) and Vibex speakers.
source: wikihow.com

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Latest from the iPod Family: iPod Touch, iPod Shuffle, & IPod Nano


Apple announced new pricing and capacities for its iPod line of digital media players at today's "It's Only Rock and Roll" media event. Most notably, the new generation of the iPod nano line receives numerous upgrades, including a video camera and FM radio with live pausing and iTunes tagging capability.

The iPod touch gets a hardware upgrade for the high-capacity models and a price cut on the lowest-capacity model. The 8 GB iPod touch will be $199 (down from $249), while the 32 GB and 64 GB models will be $299 and $399, respectively.

The 32 GB and 64 GB iPod touch models are "50% faster" than previous models and will run OpenGL ES 2.0. iPod touch owners who already have the latest 3.0 firmware will also be able to download the new iPhone OS 3.1 firmware, which is available today, at no charge, while those running older firmware versions can upgrade for $4.95.

The only change to the iPod classic model is a capacity bump to 160GB, up from 120GB, at the same price point of $249.

The iPod shuffle also receives a refresh today, including new pink, green and blue colors in addition to the original black and silver. A new polished stainless steel special edition model available only through Apple online and retail stores also joins the mix. The new iPod shuffle will be available in two capacities - 2 GB and 4 GB. The 2 GB model will be priced at $59 and the 4 GB model will be $79, while the stainless steel special edition will be priced at $99. Also, Apple is working with third-party headphone manufacturers to release new headphones that will be compatible with the iPod shuffle's feature set.

The iPod nano receives the most noticeable feature changes with the addition of a video camera, an FM radio, Voice Over, and the new Genius Mix feature. The iPod nano will also have a slightly larger screen at 2.2 inches within the same form factor as the previous model and with a polished anodized aluminum casing. To support video recording, a microphone and speaker are also added, as well a built-in pedometer. Available today at $149 for the 8 GB version and $179 for the 16 GB version, the iPod nano will also be available in nine different colors.

All updated iPod models are available today.

source: macrumors.com