i need I-POD ?? i think help

[fun4now]

the wife needs one of the lil pre-load music players for work. but we don't know squat about them. yea i know we are living in the dark age's out here with the cow's. we don't want anything too small just one about the size of a pack of smokes, you know one of the old ones. just some thing she can keep around her neck so when she gets up wit wont get pulled off the sewing machine and fall like her CD player dose. too much steel in the building and low signals out here to start with make radio out of the question so its I-POD (i think they are called) or nothing, and nothing is not cutting it.8^((
any of you guys use these at work ? if so what should we be looking for and is it still possible to get one large enough to see it without a mag. lens?? and at a reasonable price?? where should we look?? is this a wal-mart or radio shack thing or is there a better option ?? not shore if e-pay is the best option here or not but willing to look if we had some idea as to what to look for??
thanks for any help, sorry to be so far behind the times.

before ya start laughing too badly we do have a cell phone, but it only dose calls, no games or computer powers like e-mail and internet surfing. just makes phone calls like a phone is supposed to .8^))

[MAC702]

If you get the video one, you can also play .mp4 movie files and there is an excellent program that will convert your DVD movies to .mp4

Other than that tidbit, I don't have one yet.

[Bert]

Can't help you there James, sorry. I'm behind the times like you, and we aren't allowed to wear headphones at work anyway. Wish I could though

[fun4now]

thanks guys, the movie thing sounds cool but we cant even play DVD's on our computer, so i dont think we could load them into the i-pod thingy.
she realy just needs some tunes for work.

[MAC702]

For that, I'd probably just buy the cheapest one I could find that used insertable SD flash memory cards. Does your computer have USB ports? A card reader to load the SD card is less than $10.

Else, just get another cheap one with enough memory for the songs you want. It'll probably need USB connection to the computer, too.

[Bert]

I JUST came back from Radio Shack. IPOD nanos. 2G memory $150, 4G memory, $200 and the movie one for $250 also. How much do you have to spend?
Compare that with eBay and shipping cost...
I'm sure you wait for a sale at COMPUSA or somewhere, you could probably get it at least $50 cheaper....

[weld_13]

how many songs are you wanting to store? for what it souns like you want you prolly only need the 2gb nano because you probly wont need anything bigger thann that for what you want. just so you know if you dont get an ipod and get an offbrand dont just get the $20 ones because ive seen them and they dont work out well .

[grumpy42]

I recently went through the process of selecting an mp3 player. The first thing you need to do is decide how you are going to use it. Do you have an existing mp3 collection or do you plan on converting your on CDs? Or, do you plan on purchasing online via one of the various services (e.g. iTunes)? If you plan on purchasing online, you need to decide what service you want to use and purchase a player that supports that service (e.g. ipod designed to be used in conjunction with iTunes). Then next thing to decide is how much music do you want to load? An 8GB flash (memory based – no hard drive) player will get you about 2000 songs (depending on song length and compression ratio). If you want more songs, you will probably want to consider moving to a hard drive based player, however, these are more susceptible to vibration, so if you intend to be rough with it I would suggest sticking to a flash based player. Also, what operating system are you using?

Now, when I was looking for a player, I wanted something that did not require any extra software (i.e. NO ITUNES!). I just wanted to be able to drag and drop songs from my computer to the device (there are surprisingly few devices that allow this simple function). Also, I wanted something durable so I decided on a flash based player. Ultimately I decided on the Sandisk Sansa 280. An 8GB flash player that supports the MSD (mass storage device – you can plug it in and the computer sees it as another hard drive) standard and it has an FM tuner (not really a plus in your case). It also has a user replaceable battery, something that the iPod lacks (you have to send it in to have the battery replaced). Personally, I think that the iPod is overrated, and I don’t like have to install the iTunes software in order to use it. The Sansa will work with any operating system (using the MSD interface). You can also sync it with your computer using MTP (media transfer protocol) and Windows Media Player 10 (or greater) or winamp. Plus the Sansa has that cool blue lighted navigation wheel.

$160 from Amazon (free shipping) - 4GB version is $120!

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-SDMX4-8192-Sansa-Player-Black/dp/B000HZ9CCA/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-2654911-8524125?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1184456184&sr=8-1

Pretty good speakers (for their size) made for the Sansa – Also provides charging from an AC adapter (faster charging than through the USB port)

http://www.amazon.com/Altec-Lansing-IM510-Speaker-System/dp/B000JEWIV6/ref=acc_glance_ce_ai_title/102-2654911-8524125?ie=UTF8&qid=1184456184&sr=8-1

Good luck!

[calweld]

OK, I gotta post an additional disclaimer here, I have an interest in Apple, and I gotta admit, I now kick myself, after I bought it I had a chance to buy more at $25, but I thought it was overpriced. This was before the last split. Check the ticker price now Of course, you gotta look at the bright side, if I did buy more you probably wouldn't have had the benefit of my comments and wisdom over the last couple years, I'd be lying on a beach in the South Pacific sipping Mai Tai's, welding would be the last thing on my mind, if I needed some done I'd just call somebody to do it for me.

OK, with that disclaimer in mind??? Haha, of course, I think you, and everybody else reading this board, should go out immediately and buy a IPOD, an Iphone, an Imac (or whatever they call it now ), don't even think twice about it, just go spend thousands and thousands of dollars on this stuff.

Myself???? I have a Blackberry . . .

Seriously, now, what you have to do, Fun, same thing I did before I bought the Blackberry, talk to everybody you know, friends, family, the guy at the grocery store, kids at the high school, whatever, find out what works best in your area, with your particular internet hookup and computer for downloading, and if you're considering something wireless, what's got the best coverage and services in your particular location. I suspect you're close to the same generation as I, which makes us both "old fogeys" and out of the loop as far as the new tech goes.

[r90s]

Well Great!

James, with my poor typing skills, I just typed you a long and detailed message on thoughts about an I-Pod.

I might be slow typing, but I guess I'm Speedy Gonzales with a mouse. I ran it right off the mouse pad, off my keyboard slide out drawer , and on to the floor.

How a radio usb mouse hitting the floor, locks up a computer, I don't know, but it did.
It's all gone!

I give!.........Take Over Guys

[alha]

I was in IT for quite a while and a confirmed gadget geek, was going to post a nice eloquent response, but grumpy42 beat me to it. Looks like he found a good solution.

What he said.

With technology, sometimes complex is ok, but most times simpler is better.

[fun4now]

about sum's it up.

Do you have an existing mp3 collection or do you plan on converting your on CDs? Or, do you plan on purchasing online via one of the various services (e.g. iTunes)? If you plan on purchasing online, you need to decide what service you want to use and purchase a player that supports that service (e.g. ipod designed to be used in conjunction with iTunes).
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thats what i was afraid of.
MP3 collection?? whats that???
you outlined my biggest problem right there, where dose she get the tunes to load, how to load, will the one i get be usable by us or just send us into a spending spree to try to make it work after we get it??
or is there some thing simple we can put a few Hr's worth of stuff in and just let it play on a loop?? that would be the best solution. as for MP3 file??? not even shore what it is much less if our comp can convert to it?? we have win. XP so i suspect it will convert or maybe we could find a free ware program to do it for us? it would be nice to take some of here CD's and load them on the comp. and then into the i-pod or whatever we get??
some thing simple would be best no question about it.

i was thinking some thing like this from wally world would be good if we can load it ?? but don't know diddly about the thing or the file type needed ??

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5412055

talk about lost in the dark ages. its safe to say no computer geeks in this house, were more the find a geek and beat him up till he helps type.J.K.

[MAC702]

Supposedly the software that comes with an iPod will allow you to convert your CD collection?

You'd can also buy (or steal) new music from the Internet.

[r90s]

Try again with some tips.

Hi,
You didn't say how sorry you felt for my poor typing fingers. I usually call um ****! fingers when I type.

MP3 is a compression format to make music files smaller without losing much quality it's one of several formats, but it is good and somewhat universal.

The new i_pods now handle many of these formats.

the Ipod will come with Itunes, but there is much freeware that is available for easy download to handle your needs.

Freeware is often as good if not better than pay for!

Do U have a usb port?

U can google "ipod software and find mucho stuff.
the software will have a graphical display, and help files.

Forums avaiable- all over for help. U know like this one...

All this stuff is simple when U know it, kinda like welding.

Besides I want to here your welding podcast.....

NO, you don't have to steal your wifes ipod, you will use some free software to up-load the podcast to a podcast site..

Good Luck.... and I hope your bad back is feeling better than my bad back, right now!

PS:
You guys are helping me catch up on welding.. so I don't mind helping when I can.

[MAC702]

...i was thinking some thing like this from wally world would be good if we can load it ?? but don't know diddly about the thing or the file type needed ??

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5412055

...

That has an integrated flash memory and would be required to be loaded through a USB port on your computer.

Looks decent and worth trying, actually.

It will also record onto .mp3 from FM.