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Dave_G
05-26-2005, 12:03 PM
My 12 year old just got an Ipod and I am tasked with helping him figure the thing out.

Does anyone here have one?

How do you load music onto it?

Is "itunes" a "safe" site that I can use on my work computer and not get a ton of crap?

Do you have to load software onto your pc to transfer cd's from the dc drive onto the unit?

Any comments would be way appreciated.

By the way once I figure it out I'm going to make him load some Yes and Genesis onto it!

Dave

Olivertmc
05-26-2005, 12:47 PM
Dave:

Music is loaded from your PC onto the ipod. You must install the itunes software to download the information to the ipod (there are other options, but I'm trying to keep it simple). Thus, using itunes as an example, all songs first must be placed into the itunes program. This can be done by "ripping" tracks from a cd through the PC's disc drive, or downloading tracks through the internet. Next, the songs are then downloaded onto the ipod.

I have plenty of friends that manage their ipod from work. You will most likely need an internet connection, and may need assistance installing the ipod driver software, but other than that it should be fine. There are no major security issues of which I am aware. Just to clarify, itunes is not a website but a program that uses the internet to update album information, etc. and allow you to add songs to your itunes library (which is kept on your computer).

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Olivertmc

Dave_G
05-26-2005, 12:52 PM
Thanks, OliverTMC.

I figured it was fairly simple, I'm quite adept on a PC but no computer geek...

I have DSL at the house and read where they recommend not even to bother trying to use the supplied software, just download and go from there.

Reckon I'll give it a whirl tonite.

Thanks -

Dave

BarryL
05-26-2005, 12:52 PM
How do you load music onto it?

Is "itunes" a "safe" site that I can use on my work computer and not get a ton of crap?

Do you have to load software onto your pc to transfer cd's from the dc drive onto the unit?

Dave

You have to load iTunes. No way around that. But not to worry, it's a great little program. I have the Mac version, but I'm sure the PC version is the same.

As far as I know, nothing gets loaded onto your computer without your permission. In fact, you don't have to be online to use it. But it helps, because if you are online, it connects to a database to load the song info for you.

Once iTunes is loaded onto your computer, it acts as a PC jukebox, just like windows media player, I suppose. You insert your CD, click on the import icon (top right), and it converts your CD into MP3 or whatever format you want to use. I use MP3, although the default may be Apples new standard.

Then, when you plug in your iPod, it automatically syncs with whatever you have in iTunes. iTunes becomes the control panel. If you remove something from iTunes, it will remove it from your iPod.

Play around a bit. I'm sure you'll figure it out. There are a few iPod and iTune books out there. I bought the Rough Guide one for about ten bucks and learned a few neat things. You don't need a massive volume. It's not that complicated.

Good luck, and good choice.

Mr MidFi
05-26-2005, 01:14 PM
Make sure your computer has either a USB 2.0 or a Firewire (IEEE1394) port first. iTunes won't recognize the player unless it's plugged into one or the other. My computer had only USB 1.1, so I had to install a new card. Much better now!

Now I play my iPod all day long at work, through a shelf-top stereo. Yay me!

NP: "Lazarus" from the new Porky Tree album...ripped at 192 kps on my iPod.

jasn
05-27-2005, 04:42 AM
I'm getting my BVDs all in a knot over what format to rip CDs in. My kids have IPod mini's and my wife and I have Creative flashdrive MP3 players for the gym. I will get around to a bigger, library-size player some day, biut not until I figure out how I want to store my music.

I let the kids take off and start ripping CDs into ITunes using AAC, Apples proprietary software. Then, after getting the flash players, I realize that they do not player AAC, so I changed the default format to MP3. OK..but now after ripping a whole bunch of stuff t 128 Kb MP3 I am starting to hear that AAC is better sounding, or maybe I should think about ripping at a highwer bit rate. This is classic me, and I have now made a mess out of what's on my hard drive.

What's everybody else ripping at? Are there changes orimprovements on the horizon? Will this thread be moved to the IPod Forum?

ForeverAutumn
05-27-2005, 04:49 AM
Doesn't it come with instructions?

Of course it does. But, being a typical man, you think that Dave's gonna look at a manual? Man, that would be like stopping to ask directions! :rolleyes:

:p

Dave_G
05-27-2005, 06:30 AM
The instructions are horrible, but we got it working last night. Trevor loves it.

My big issue now is to get him to keep the volume down so his ears won't be destroyed in the near future...

The first song he loaded off of cd - "Blame Canada" from "South Park". He and Carter sing that song together, it annoys the stew out of me! But talk about a doggoned filthy cd, man, that one is worse than a Richard Pryor concert!

Dave

BarryL
05-27-2005, 07:21 AM
The instructions are horrible, but we got it working last night. Trevor loves it.

My big issue now is to get him to keep the volume down so his ears won't be destroyed in the near future...

The first song he loaded off of cd - "Blame Canada" from "South Park". He and Carter sing that song together, it annoys the stew out of me! But talk about a doggoned filthy cd, man, that one is worse than a Richard Pryor concert!

Dave


Speaking of Richard Pryor, I guess now you know what you can buy them for Christmas!