talk to me about ipods ...

Dave_C_2

Why not just play back your CDs direct on something like one of these. Saves all the messing about ripping and transferring CDs to an MP3 player and then matching the player to amplifier.

This one will take USB memory sticks if you want to download tracks. Others will also play MP3 CDs with about 10 albums on one CD.

Just my 2d worth

Dave

googler

goggle wrote: »

because it's over £400 which is rather expensive!!

I am agreed that I prob don't need an ipod, but neither do I need to spend £400 on a Brennan JB7!!

OK, what's your budget, then?

What are your REQUIREMENTS?

What do you want to do with your music? What formats do you want to use? How much music do you have, and how much are you likely to acquire in future?

goggle

ok, you've made your point. I don't KNOW *exactly* what I want, hence asking for some advice from people!

Over the last few months I have visited friends who plugged their ipods into a dock & were able to play a variety of music at the flick of a switch in a playlist to suit the mood/occasion (kids favourites at a child birthday party, classics/relaxing stuff, lively dance music etc)
I mostly listen to the radio, but there are times when I fancy music instead. I currently have quite a large hifi with a 3-CD changer which has been fine, but it's quite big and as I am rethinking how I use my living space a little I decided that getting rid of that & finding a new solution to playing music would be a good idea, and as friends have ipods I felt that may be the way to go. However knowing little about ipods or similar things, I *hoped* for some impartial advice here which might help me make a decision - however I am obviously not going to get some friendly gentle advice for a novice user so I'll give up now & just go talk to my friends & get them to recommend something - though I need to be careful there, K will recommend only the very latest thing as that's the sort of techie-freak they are & S is an i-addict! J will say they daren't recommend anything ... you get the picture!

I picked up the Argos catalogue & figured I could probably get an ipod & dock for say £150 or a bit less, but if I need to spend more I probably could. I just don't see what the Brennan JB7 would give me that an ipod & dock (or other mp3 player - I own NOTHING i-branded & don't need an ipod specifically - they are all the same to me!!) wouldn't.
Similarly, I don't really want a micro hifi - I can't see any advanntages to that at all - yes it's a tad smaller than my current system, but only plays 1 CD at a time - an ipod can play more & even my current system plays 3 ...)

googler

If you want friends and family to be able to plug their iPods in when they visit you, then an Ipod Dock is what you need.

If what you want is to listen to Radio along with a selection of music, then you might want to consider a Squeezebox Touch, connected to your home network (wired or wireless), which will connect to Internet Radio stations (including all BBC stations once you install the iPlayer Applet), and play back music from your PC, a USB Hard Drive, or SD Card. Playlist functionality available. However, the SB has no amp or speakers, so you'd need to retain the existing HiFi (which would have to have an Aux In, Line In or similar). £200 or so gets the SB

With the iPlayer Applet, you can listen to any BBC radio programme at any time up to 7 days after its original broadcast.......

What the Brennan offers - probably best you dive into the features page at brennan dot co dot uk

donny-gal

Hi Googler

If you don't need a radio built into it, why not consider something like this. We have a 500mb one, where I have loaded my music from my pc, after downloading my cd's onto it, and then I play it via my surround sound system or TV. The Display is on the screen so it is easier to read than an i-pad, and something this size can hold all your CD's and many of your photos to view on your TV, and home videos too.
DG

jayme1

getting an ipod and a dock has it's advantages over just an mp3 player and some speakers, the obvious is a dock will charge the ipod, but also most ipod docks have a remote allowing you to skip tracks and change volume while you are across the room.

I think the iPod + dock is a good idea, you can pick up a 2nd hand iPod video or a classic (depending how much storage you need an old mini or nano may be perfect too) it wouldn't matter if the battery is dead as it will run from the power of the dock.

as Redvee said the sony dock from HMV is a good dock esp if you want radio too, but also the sound quality is decent too.

OR since you already have a Hi-Fi if it has an audio in you could get an iPod plus an apple universal dock, you then get the benefits of an ipod dock (charging and remote) but using your current Hi-Fi

whatyadoinsucka

personally (if you have wifi/wireless internet) i'd avoid the ipods and nanos and go for an ipod touch
it will offer you so much more browse the internet, get the 'tunein' radio app and have access to every radio station in the world. you can even browse the internet and check your emails.

its also great for holidays for checking out the t'internet



Once you like this get yourself an iphone or ipad2 lol

neilwoods

Dose seem to have gone totally off track.

@goggle, yes that link to amazon showing that sony walkman mp3 player and docking station would be ideal, plays most mp3 format and has a fm tuner for your radio. Nice little find, forgot Sony did some docking stations for there mp3 players.

Hotspur

I have an iPod Touch 32GB and a Sony NWZ 8GB player and both have much to recommend and I use both on my hi fi,using a good quality jack to phono lead rather than a docking station.

The iPod touch does so much more and allows you, via wi fi, to check e mail, browse websites take photos and video (quality is ok in good light) and much more as well as playing music.

The Sony player is more compact and consequently portable and has the better sound quality of the two and was cheaper.

I took the touch away on holiday with me and found I could connect to free wifi in many places and keep in touch by e mail and through facebook etc. I often use the Sony though as it is compact, portable and less likely to get damaged if knocked.

I use i tunes with both and can easily transfer music to both players (and an old Samsung) by dragging and dropping manually rather than letting i tunes sync automatically.

The amount of digital music you have will determine the size of the player required if you wish to keep all your music on the player. There's no substitute for going to the shops and looking before you decide. As I said above I have both and wouldn't be without either. Both will do what you require I would think.

chorlton

You could easily find out if iPod is for you without spending any money - assuming you have a computer and haven't tried itunes...

Why not install itunes and rip a load of cds (recommend mp3 @ at least 256 kbps as absolute minimum) and play around with playlists etc - if you like it then either...

If you don't have loads of money, or music, or don't mind updating what's on ipod regularly - get an ipod nano.

If you have loads of music and thats all you want, get an ipod classic.

If you can afford it and want to treat yourself - and have wifi - get an ipod touch.

all of them work with ipod docks.

If you don't like iTunes, delete it and get some other player!