Ipod questions....

[ArBiTaL 24]

Hmmm, seems like the best forum to put this in....

A couple of questions..
I'm thinking of buying an Ipod, and I've heard that they can be updated to support other music formats. As I want to transfer all my CDs to WMP and onto the ipod, they'll all be WMAs not MP3s, and it'll take ages to find some way of turning them into MP3s, so is there either
A) a WMA patch for the Ipod or
B) an very simple easy way to mass-make songs MP3 format?
Also, how do i make playlists on the PC to transfer to the Ipod? Does it just use WMP's usual playlist function?

And finally, i've heard that the Ipods are very buggy, and have problems like backlit screens not turning off, battery indicators not working, and the unit crashing occasionally, but some are fixed by firmware. Does anyone know:
A)What are all the affected problems
B)which have been fixed
C)when the others will be fixed by (approx) by firmware
Or is it worth waiting for, say half a year and getting one then when the problems have been ironed out?

Thanks

(BTW: in case you're interested, here's the apple post i made with this in. No replies as going to press :/

 

[Mr. $T$]

I have a old iPod and my dad has a new one, I know the old ones can't use wma but I think that I read somthing about the new ones being able to use wma format. And My iPod has only froze once and the same goes for my father's iPod but other then that they are great, the battery life is long and there is a endless amount of space for all your MP3's or WMA's and the new iPods about the size of a deck of cards maybe a little bigger.

 

[ArBiTaL 24]

Cool thanks

 

[Ajent]

http://www.cdex.n3.net/

if you wanna try to mp3 those cds:
It is one of the best mp3 rippers i have ever seen.
takes some fiddling to get working the way you want, but imho its worth the time.

AND its freeware

 

[FunkyTechnician]

I have the second generation Ipod and I have to admit I was shocked when I heard all these "Ipod is buggy" posts. I listen to mine almost all day long at work and on my drives to and from work. I probably log 40+ hours on the ipod weekly since December 2003.

I've never had the backlight problem, the battery life is still great (although it seems to last a tiny bit shorter but not a big deal at all. I've dropped this thing (I do have a leather case protecting it) several times and I get the occasional skip but it's not frequent enough to even bother me a bit.

I have absolutely no allegiance to any platform (Linux, windows, OS X) however I honestly believe this is probably one of the most impressive pieces of hardware I've used in over 20 years of computing.

 

[cursor]

The iPod is impressive. I got mine about 3 months ago (10gb 1st gen w/touchpad), and I have had no battery problems or backlight problems. I have dropped the thing several times, and once it had to be restarted. Then another time it didn't like one of my files and rebooted itself. Still, I found my place and started listening all over in the same spot.

Re: windows media format
I took some time and just re-encoded all 150+ of my cd's. I didn't want to mess with transfering from one lossy format to another. As a side benefit, I got to re-discover some of my old music! I'd recommend you do the same if you take the plunge.

 

[squeakygeek]

Unfortunately I heard the battery gradually craps out after about a year or so.

This is the only thing that kept me from buying one. It is a single problem, but a huge one.

 

[cursor]

Yeah, but you can replace the battery in these guys without too much trouble. And they say the battery is good for 500 recharges, so it's probably more like 2 years if you use it heavily (each charge is good for 10+ hours).

 

[Ravsitar]

The program Audiograbber is good for ripping. But you need the full version to rip more than half the tracks at once. What I usually do is rip the tracks with the Plextor ripping program and then mass equalize and compress them with audiograbber. That way I let it compress overnight and it shuts itself off when it's done. I would also sugestnot going from wma to mp3. You'll loose quality that way and if you're gonna do that it's nearly as easy to just rip the cds over again.

 

[GunSlinger21]

Right now you can get laser engraved stuff on the back for $19 and thats really cheap for laser engraving I think. If I got one I would put " Me > you" "gg newb" on the back

 

[CPFitz14]

I've got the newest old iPod (I believe its known as Gen. 2.), and have had no problems at all. No battery, or backlite issues, and no random freezing. It did freeze however after I took it running, after about 3 miles/25 minutes. It isn't meant for running, and is said to have 20 minutes anti skip, so that is still pretty impressive.

If you're having second thoughts, take the plunge, you'll be happy later.


-CPFitz-

 

[ArBiTaL 24]

Sounds cool

I've just got a lappie, so i'm a little short of cash right now, but i just sold a computer (just an old 350) so i hope to get an Ipod by Xmas (when, supposedly, all firmware fixes should be released).