Page 1 of ipod questions from someone who has no clue about them,help appreciated

hi all,
i would like an apple ipod so can anyone answer these questions.
1.i don`t have an apple mac,i have a laptop with windows xp will it work on that?
2.i have no idea how it works,i want to put all my cds about 150 in the ipod how do i do this and is it hard to do?
3.i read that you have to change the battery after a year and this costs £100 is that true and would you lose all the music you put in?
4.where is the best/cheapest place to get one?

thanks.

I don`t have one, but I can answer some of your Qs...

1. Yes.
2. There`s an app that comes with it called iTunes which goes on your PC. CDs into your DVD/CD drive on the PC, iTunes does all the "recording" of your CDs. To transfer to the iPod, you can either use the USB port or, if your PC has a Firewire port, that`s the quickest method. It is, apparently, fairly straight forward.
3. Battery life is crap apparently. The rechargeable battery is non removable by the user (ie you). No idea when the battery needs replacing or how much it costs, but the fact the battery life is as low as 5 hours (according to friends who have them) is 1 of the things that put me off.
4. Dunno to be honest - Apple gear is rarely discounted.

Creative Labs do a thing called Nomad which does the same job, has better battery life and is a bit cheaper...mind you, it doesn`t look and feel QUITE as stylish as an iPod... ;)
http://www.electromancer.com/artists/flip_martian

This item was edited on Sunday, 9th May 2004, 20:45

:) thanks for your help.

Better still unless you want the `cool` looks of an iPod go to www.advancedmp3players.co.uk and buy an iHP 120 for less cash and loads more features.

I did and haven`t regretted it for a minute.

;)

The ihp 120 is cheaper at Amazon - I am very tempted to get one of these , or a Zen Xtra.
One of the iRiver ihp 120 reviews complained that you can`t make playlist on the go - is this a problem ? Does this mean you can`t make playlists without being linked to a PC, or just that you can`t change them as they are playing ?

Ok it might be slightly cheaper at Amazon, however Advanced are less than an hour from me and will be a lot easier for any warranty problems.

Good price at Amazon though and has to be considered a bargain at that price.

Bear in mind all the features that the iHP has over the iPod, more formats played ( ASF, WMA, WAV, MP3 and OGG ), you can even add lyrics to it via the text editor, FM tuner, can record via internal Mic, external Mic, optical/analog line in and out, battery life about 16 hours and only around £40 to have the battery dealer replaced when it dies, compared to the £75 quoted for the iPod.

The supplied earphones are allegedly rebadged Senheissers`

Ignore the amazon review that states it doesn`t go loud enough, it goes so loud it isn`t comfortable to listen to !

Firmware upgradeable too by simply copying the hex file to the drive and then going to the Firmaware upgrade option within the menu took seconds to upgrade my on on Friday night right after I bought it.

Buy one you won`t regret it, I have owned one of their CD/MP3 players for about 2 years now and so far its been perfect.

8)

Try here http://www.ipodbatteryfaq.com/ for some info on iPod battery life (how long they last, how much it costs for a replacement etc)

And here http://www.apple.com/uk/ipod/ for general info on the iPod.

Be aware that the 15Gb iPod doesn`t come with a docking station and a few other bits (though you can buy them seperately)

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th May 2004, 17:48