iPod Nano

[Lanthar Mandragoran]

Why dont they put a a Solar Cell right on the Ipod so it can recoup energy from ambient light?

The main problem I see with that is people, incorrectly, thinking that means it's a good idea to leave them out in the sunlight. Or on the dashboard of their cars... the liability and risk of that happening is probably more than Apple wants to deal with.

[ABR]

Frankly, I have never understood why folks want to listen to music while hiking. The silence is the one of my primary reasons for hiking.

I partially feel the same way, but decided to try bringing my iPod on my last hike for an alternate purpose -- reading. Install this ( http://www.tomsci.com/book2pod/ ) and you can carry a whole library at less than the weight of one book. The screen (I have a mono 20GB) is not the most pleasant to read from over long periods, but I found for a half hour or so each night it worked fine.

Another thing you can do (if you're really a tech geek, TM) is install linux on the thing (e.g., http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/19101), get a mic, and use it for high-quality recording. (The commercial recording attachments only do 8 KHz, good for making voice notes, but not for, e.g., recording the song of that rare wood thrush you've finally encountered..

[Deafsmart]

Noboby is require to buy anything from iTunes Music Store. Why bring library of Compact Discs (CDs) on Appalachian Trail while they can be digitally transfer into any of iPod family models. Universal connectivity with your computer(s) is through either USB and Firewire.

You can create your playlists and have it play selectively. You can share your music. To get in touch with real world and save newspaper pulps from trees, you can catch up news or commentary or weather check with Podcasts. If you are boring, you can listen one of many audiobooks such as Harry Potters series. Beside music, in serious iPod models, you can always synchronize Album Art, Photos, Contacts (Address Book) and Calendars (iCal), and iPod fully support Outlook sync. When your digital camera gets full, transfer digital photo files to iPod (combine strengh of iPod clickwheel & iPod photo) and better yet, they hold 25,000 photos. Need to get in touch back home, what about mobile phone with iTunes that was announced recently. But remember, be considerate of others when you are bring cellphone along but then it might be bad idea.

Install iPod Installer software that came with your iPod model and go along with installer instruction. All new Macs has iLife ‘05, suite of digital applications such as iTunes 5, iPhoto 5, iMovie HD, iDVD 5 and GarageBand 2, installed; if you use PC-great, iTunes application/program is still free and is a powerful software. Anytime when you dock your iPod to your computer, your iTunes will perform auto-sync. To see how it work you can watch "Transferring Your iTunes Music to Your iPod video clip." If you want to test run iTunes, download free for PC + Mac.

Do your comparison shopping in any of those iPod models.

• iPod color
• iPod Shuffle
• iPod Nano
• iTunes Exclusive "Harry Potter" audiobooks engraved Limited Time Offer
• iPod U2

Review each iPod tech specs, QTVR and photo galleries, and use search engine such as Goggle or Yahoo! to find out which iPod match to your requirements. From main webpage"Where to buy" you can find iPod at any iPod Reseller.

PERSONAL NOTE: I find that most dealers do have same price as others; it is quality of each service they marketing to you counts. Unlike most electronic like personal computers, iPod sales offering are varible in seasons and sometime can be predicable which sales will occur. There are so many accessories, such as sleeves and speakers and rechargeable, in either off- and on-line stores and thy are widespread even in college campus stores. HP-brand, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Nobles and other book/music stores, and so on. Other day I was amazing to find that Target stocked iPod add-on. TIP: research and ask around. People who contribute their voice in this threads are also your peers and their opinons, in my view since I always need to have iPod curing my tinnitus, are highly valuable.

Overview of why iPod is most talk about and how iPod family had undergone many press reviews, including from PC presses often gave positive rave reviews, despite jealousy of other MP3 and Flash manufactures. For more tips & tricks, check out quick tutorials for iTunes for Mac and Windows. All of these questions and answers are at iPod Service & Support in Apple website.

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My viewpoint for AT community: iPod probably could have salvage those percentage of aspirant AT thru-hiker from dropping out each year, both directions, in boredom or lonesome reasons. We will see if "Thru-Hike Completions" rate change from 2004 Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) Annual Report (see sidebar on page 4); ATC report pre-hike and reported 550 completions, 24% increase. Poll in Macintosh camps online suggested iPod Shuffle is a good buy for mini category, while iPod Nano could be winner in weight-wise. Choice is limitless. My audiologist plan to supply DAI (digital audio input) jack for my hearing aids; all I have to choose which iPod would be winner for me. Heed my warning, please observe trail manners.

[soulrebel]

Ipod sucks--I'm a techno geek and have had portable mp3 since the early nineties.

FLASH memory and regular batteries please---They sell 2GB flash cards for around $130--

with a 512mb built in-- 2.5GB--500-800 songs plus never skips-drive never fails-and never have to carry a charger... no brainer--but apple has great advertising i will admit...

[Lanthar Mandragoran]

Ipod sucks--I'm a techno geek and have had portable mp3 since the early nineties.

FLASH memory and regular batteries please---They sell 2GB flash cards for around $130--

with a 512mb built in-- 2.5GB--500-800 songs plus never skips-drive never fails-and never have to carry a charger... no brainer--but apple has great advertising i will admit...

I'm not sure how that means "iPod Sucks"... the Nano is FLASH based (not like the HDs fail / skip on a regular basis - I have experience.

Plus with the 2GB Nano is 199$ and the 4GB at 249$, I'm not sure how 130$ + the price of the player is that much of an issue.

Now, non-standard batteries... if it weren't for the fact that many companies make a AA or AAA batt-pack / charger for iPod, then you'd have a leg to stand on with your arguement. As it is, I don't know how you can say "iPod Sucks"

[titanium_hiker]

the advantage of flash memory is that you can share with your digital camera- same with standard batteries- share with camera, light etc. Also, I've heard the idea of maildroping a new mix on a new flash card... swap em out.

titanium

[Bob Baker]

This is a pretty neat idea: http://www.colorwarepc.com/products/default.aspx. You can either buy a colored iPod or send your own in to be colored. It's pricey and not hiking related but it's still cool.

[Lanthar Mandragoran]

the advantage of flash memory is that you can share with your digital camera- same with standard batteries- share with camera, light etc. Also, I've heard the idea of maildroping a new mix on a new flash card... swap em out.

titanium

Problem with "swapping out memory" between camera and player means you still have to carry enough memory to do BOTH. If you're using some of your memory space to store music or audio books, that's space that you can't use for taking pictures. Now, flash card are small, but so is a Nano (as small or smaller / as light or lighter than most removable flash based players)

Also, this limits your options as to which camera you will buy. You HAVE to get the one that has the same flash as your player. I realize that this isn't quite the issue that it used to be as MOST cameras have defaulted to SD, as have most removable-flash players.

Being able to swap batteries (assuming you brought along a battery charger (solar or otherwise)) means you STILL have to have enough power available to run all of them (which very likely may means that you will have to carry more AAs than you otherwise would). If you're not using rechargeables you're stuck carrying more batteries / power in order to power all of your devices.

This ALSO (more so than the above) limits your camera choices. Many of the better cameras have li-ion batteries, some run on AAs (though there are plenty that do). Fewer run on AAA. Many players run on AAAs (especially if it is somehow lighter than the NANO, it's not going to be running on AAs as two AAs weigh about as much as a Nano) However, having a AAA player and a AA camera means you're out of luck.

Plus, for flashlights, I'd (personally) be going with a AAA or smaller. Likely, I would take one of these with maybe a backup color

Now, I'm not saying the iPod Nano is for everybody. I just think people need to take a REAL look at it before dismissing it. Most of the time, they simply dismiss options because they like bucking the "majority". Sometimes that's good, sometimes it just shows a lack of REAL critical thinking skills.

It's like someone posting "Jetboil Sucks". No, it doesn't suck. It's actually a damn good option for a whole lot of people (people who want simplicity and figure tlimiting theit cookgear to a jetboil and a spork is a big step towards lightening their load). I wish I had one but can't justify - to myself - spending 70$+ on it when I have a baby coming. However, I want to see if a Jetboil Cozy would fit a Henie-Can pot...

[Lanthar Mandragoran]

Of course, one could always charge your iPod using your flashlight...

[HikerHobo]

The only way to go is with the new iPod Flea. Check out all the accessories available!

http://video.gprime.net/media/video/ipodflea.wmv

[ABR]

the advantage of flash memory is that you can share with your digital camera- same with standard batteries- share with camera, light etc. Also, I've heard the idea of maildroping a new mix on a new flash card... swap em out.

The advantage of an HD player like a 20GB iPod (or Zen / Network Walkman / what have you) is you don't have to worry about all this mucking about with flash cards, nor live in a restricted world where you get sick sick sick of the same couple of dozen albums your flash player holds..

Ditto for photos -- get the photo transfer gizmo for an iPod photo (not sure if any others have this yet), and you don't ever think about memory capacity again.

[MisterSweetie]

200GB of music is insanity at it's best.

Haha... I have 564GB of music, and that's not including pressed cds.

[dje97001]

I guess there are all kinds... I only have a few dozen cds. Now... if we ever talk about DVDs... I'm in BIG trouble!

[tlbj6142]

I guess there are all kinds... I only have a few dozen cds. Now... if we ever talk about DVDs... I'm in BIG trouble!

I had about 60 when I go rid of all of them (except for the 3 Pantera CDs I kept for "easy listening") about 5-6 years ago. I don't listen to anything anymore, except for the occasional book-on-tape (CD).

I tried to rip a BOT the other day, but failed. Each individual disc was copied over top of the previous one. So, I was left with a single "album" containing all of the tracks on the last disc. Not sure how to make it work.

Also, I would have liked to cut down the sampling as well to reduce the storage. I've read somewhere that mono @ 22K(?) makes for very small BOT tracks.

[Lanthar Mandragoran]

I had about 60 when I go rid of all of them (except for the 3 Pantera CDs I kept for "easy listening") about 5-6 years ago. I don't listen to anything anymore, except for the occasional book-on-tape (CD).

I tried to rip a BOT the other day, but failed. Each individual disc was copied over top of the previous one. So, I was left with a single "album" containing all of the tracks on the last disc. Not sure how to make it work.

Also, I would have liked to cut down the sampling as well to reduce the storage. I've read somewhere that mono @ 22K(?) makes for very small BOT tracks.

BOT tracks?

What program were you using to rip the discs?

[tlbj6142]

BOT tracks?

Books On Tape.

What program were you using to rip the discs?

Windows Media Player 10

[Lanthar Mandragoran]

Books on Tape? Yeah they should be fine at lower bitrates, no problem.

I'm not sure how to do it with WMP10 (WMP is the Devil, IMHO, iTunes is much more user-friendly) but is should go something like this:

1) you should have an option to uncheck the "rip upon inserting CD option"
2) make sure WMP is set to creat MP3s NOT WMA files
3) insert your CD
4) once any CDDB querying is done, select all the tracks and look for a "track information (or properties)" option
5) make sure title is correct, but look a way to insert "disc X of XX", then rip away
6) for the next CD repeat but make it "disc X+1 of XX"...

if you need to you can do this in the title but can messy that way. doing it this way gives you one "album" with disc of subheadings... however depending on the setup this may make navigation more painful as you may have 3 track ones...

If this doesn't work, than do it by altering the "title" to include disc x of XX... which ever way helps you keep your sanity...

again, I can do this in iTunes, but not WMP, I avoid WMP like the plague...

[tlbj6142]

4) once any CDDB querying is done, select all the tracks and look for a "track information (or properties)" option

I tried changing the title within WMP and that didn't work, as the raw files were still placed in the same system folder on the hard drive. Maybe I'll try iTunes the next time I feel the need to so something like this.

Also, I didn't see any obvious means to lower the bit rate and/or set "mono". There was just a stupid "Smaller files <----> Higher Quality" setting. The 3-4 minutes tracks were still 1.5M. I would assume a Mono low sample rate mp3 would be much, much smaller (200-300K).

[titanium_hiker]

did I say the flash method was perfect?

I agree, the harddrive capability of a bigger size ipod would be cool.

the ipod flea is hilarious eh? I love the accesories.

titanium

[Doctari]

I carried a radio on ONE hike. Never used it. But then, I was in an area where I could only get Country or talk, I'm a rock, Blues, Jazz & Clasical person (Sorry, but I refer to Country as "Music to skin cats by")

However, last trip, I got a 3 day case of "Earworms" & could NOT get that d*** song out of my head. It was a song I hate, and I could only remember about 2 lines, over & over & over & over & over & over & over & well, you get the picture.

So, my point is: I'm going to get: an MP3 player, or [whatever] so I can listen to MY music. All my: John Lee Hooker, BB King, Pink Floyd, etc. CDs.

My thought is: get something that uses AA batteries, or something else easily gotten along the trail, If using a charger, try to have one that fits any other device you may carry. I have one with 4 "Prongs" on it, of different sizes/shapes, one fits my cell, the other my radio. Ill not carry either on the AT, just using it as an example.

I do like the solar charger idea. May go with that anyway. Found one that charges 4 AA batts, but I don't know where. Seems to me it was only a few oz, maybe 3 or 4.

Doctari.