[SteveA]

Hi Everyone!

My wife wants an Apple Ipod for her birthday in a couple of months. I would very much like to get her one and load it with her favorite music.

Right now, I’m not set-up very well to accomplish this feat. I have a Dell Dimension 4200 desktop PC with no firewire port. I figure that’s no real problem since there is space to add one (any suggestions on a good card?).

I know that there are other MP3 players out there that would be able to directly plug-in to the USB ports on my PC without further effort. She really likes the size and style of the Ipod and besides being my honey, has really indulged my toy habit this past year (Roland V-Club electronic drums, Mapletree Ear+ headphone amp and Sennheiser HD600 headphones) so I want to get her exactly what she wants.

On their webpage, I see that Apple is now offering a Windows version of the Ipod. Does anyone here have any experience with this?

Very best regards,
Steve

 

[leon]

Hey there,

I don't have an iPod yet (considering getting one later this month with a new Mac), but as far as I know, it might be another couple of weeks before Apple ships iPod for Windows.

Someone please jump in and tell us what's going on

 

[MarcW]

Last I heard was that the windows version will be released at the end of August.

-MarcW

 

[williamgoody]

I would believe the real issue with ipod for windows would be the software it uses to transfer from the pc, musicmatch. If you have experience with musicmatch and are a fan, you shouldn't have a problem. I have the ipod with a mac and use itunes. IMO having used musicmatch before, itunes just blows it away. I know there is software to connect a mac ipod to an windows pc (xplay, ephod, etc) which could also be an option.

 

[Robster1958]

on exactly this issue. here goes:

as background, a few months ago, i bought an Archos Jukebox Recorder (20 gig) hard drive MP3 player, since there was no iPod for windows....although as i now found out, there is software available to allow use of mac iPods with windows...anyhow...


the Archos was pretty good (with decent portable cans like koss 35s or porta-pros), but was pretty quirky, buggy..and..lets just say...not too elegant. kinda bulky and ugly, but hey it could hold 5000 songs! sound was quite decent, when using a "good" mp3 compression, except for a low level hiss and an annoying hard drive spinning noise. user interface was poor...and as i mentioned: buggy. it basically operates as an external hard drive in your PC system.

ok...then i learn that Apple is coming out with iPod for Windows....Archos goes on eBay while its still worth something...and i start doing my research.

so i go into one of the new apple retail stores, and for the first time ever, i see the power and coolness of the Apple/Mac OS properly displayed and demonstrated.

the short version of this story is that i now plan to buy a 10 gig Mac iPod (due out shortly)....along with an iBook as my "entertainment" PC. (20 gigs on the archos was way too much for my needs, plus the 10 gig iPod is slightly thinner and $100 cheaper than the 20 gig.)

why??? in a word: iTunes. This is a great program for ripping/encoding/organizing...etc your entire music library. it is very intuitive, yet powerful and fast. and the syncronization app. is great. no comparison to music match imo.

plus the iBook plays DVDs better than any other notebook PC, or any dedicated portable DVD player that i have seen. Apple does graphics very very well.

Plus i have been convinced that i can easily integrate the iBook into my Wintel world. MS Office X for mac is available and can share files seamlessly with windows versions of Office. plus i can use the iBook's internal wireless lan card with my existing linksys home network.

Apple introduces the newsest Mac OS...10.2..."Jaguar" on August 24th, so i'll prob wait to get that preinstalled on the iBook.

so...i've been evangelized!!!


more specifically to your questions: i was told availability for Windows iPods was "end of August". 5 gig "new" Mac iPods are easy to get, 20 gigs ones sell out fast...and the 10 gigs are shipping next week.

Steve...as your correctly pointed out, the transfer is via firewire...although this is only about a $50 add on card to your Dell these days.

other features on the "new" iPod (including the windows versions), are a small remote control, and slightly better earbuds.

oh...how could i forget: i listened extensively to iPods...with my own headphones and the supplied ones...and even the Bose noise cancellation ones in the store. ...the iPod sounds outstanding. there is no noise (hiss or hard drive) audible through the headphones or through the unit itself. there are about 20 equalization modes (you can set song-by-song default for whichever one you want), rather than straight bass/treble, but its fine.

plus everything i've listened to in the stores has been encoded at a good, but not best, 160 kbps..CBR. i would experiment at least with 320 VBR...which it supports.

also the new iPod models support "audible" <??> format for spoken word books and such. some people at work swear by these audio books; i may try them too.

hope this helps.

 

[MacDEF]

Robster, you should send that post to Apple's "switch" email address -- they'd love it

If you buy the iBook now, you can still get Jaguar for "free" (read: for a shipping/handling fee). Jaguar is DEFINITELY worth getting though, for those not sure. I've been using it and it's a must-buy.

 

[Taphil]

The PC iPods will ship next week at the earliest. It uses FAT32, so all you have to do is plug it into a firewire port and you're good to go. The most recommended PCI firewire card is the Adaptec DuoConnect. But I have a cheap $20 VIA chipset card and it works perfectly. You might want to try a cheap card first and return it if it doesn't work before spending more money on the Adaptec card. Installing the card is easy, just plug it in and that's it. Also, the iPod works better in Windows 2000 or XP. With 5-20GB of storage, USB is way too slow and annoying. The PC iPod comes with MusicMatch jukebox to transfer songs. If you don't like it, you can use EphPod, free from www.ephpod.com.

 

[SteveA]

Hi folks!

Wow, I'm overwhelmed with the completeness and care taken in response to my inquiry. Outstanding!

As my sweetie's birthday is not until later in September, I should have ample time to wait until the iPod for Windows release in late August, get the Adaptec card ($50 seems reasonable), and try to learn how to convert CD tracks into MP3 files.

An emasculated version of MusicMatch came preloaded on my Dell and I really haven't played with it much. I stuck a CD in the drive the other night. MusicMatch knew what CD it was and displayed a track listing, but when I tried CONVERT, all I saw was pop-up to convert from .WAV to MP3. I guess I'll need to use HELP or find a good tutorial somewhere. I feel so technically disinclined!

Very best regards and thanks again everyone.
Steve

 

[HighwayStar]

Quote:

Originally posted by Taphil The PC iPods will ship next week at the earliest. It uses FAT32, so all you have to do is plug it into a firewire port and you're good to go. The most recommended PCI firewire card is the Adaptec DuoConnect. But I have a cheap $20 VIA chipset card and it works perfectly. You might want to try a cheap card first and return it if it doesn't work before spending more money on the Adaptec card. Installing the card is easy, just plug it in and that's it. Also, the iPod works better in Windows 2000 or XP. With 5-20GB of storage, USB is way too slow and annoying. The PC iPod comes with MusicMatch jukebox to transfer songs. If you don't like it, you can use EphPod, free from www.ephpod.com.

Taphil,

What's the minimum hardware requirement for your firewire card ? Thanks,

 

[hokiefritz]

I use a Western Digital firewire adapter on my PC (Win2K Pro) and it works perfectly. It so amazingly fast compared to devices that use USB 2.0.

My Ipod is of course the Mac version, so I use software called MacOpener along with EphPod for transferring the files and it works great. Getting the Windows version saves you $40 from buying MacOpener (EphPod is free) but more importantly I assume with the Windows version you will be able to do Ipod firmware updates using your PC. Currently, if I want to do a firmware update I have to find a Mac to do it on.

I highly recommend EAC (Exact Audo Copy) to rip your CDs, and you can use any number of MP3 programs to encode the files. I suggest doing a search here and you'll find plenty of information on creating MP3 files.

She's going to love the Ipod!

 

[Taphil]

Quote:

Originally posted by HighwayStar Taphil, What's the minimum hardware requirement for your firewire card ? Thanks,

The only requirement for firewire is Windows 98SE or later, although 2000 and XP seem to have better firewire support and work better with the iPod. No drivers necessary. So it just requires whatever Windows requires. Also, you might need to plug power into the firewire card using the small power plug (like the one for floppy drives, not the larger ones for hard drives and CD drives) to supply extra power since firewire is powered.

 

[sunshine]

Quote:

Originally posted by hokiefritz I assume with the Windows version you will be able to do Ipod firmware updates using your PC. Currently, if I want to do a firmware update I have to find a Mac to do it on.

Don't have an ipod myself but here is software which is supposed to allow you to upgrade the firmware in Windows.

http://www.versiontracker.com/mp/new...&order=DateMod

 

[hokiefritz]

Cool, thanks for the link sunshine.

 

[HighwayStar]

Quote:

Originally posted by Taphil The only requirement for firewire is Windows 98SE or later, although 2000 and XP seem to have better firewire support and work better with the iPod. No drivers necessary. So it just requires whatever Windows requires. Also, you might need to plug power into the firewire card using the small power plug (like the one for floppy drives, not the larger ones for hard drives and CD drives) to supply extra power since firewire is powered.

Both the Adaptec cards (4300 & Duo) require 266mhz machines or faster. Problem is, I don't have access to anything faster than 200mhz. (I know, it's pathetic...) I was hoping that your card might be an option. Do you know if it has lower minimum hardware requirements than the Adaptec's ?

 

[Taphil]

I think it's just firewire support by the OS that matters.