Um

so

I don't have an ipod...

but I'm thinking of getting one

the question for me is: can you load wave files on there?

I know I'd have much less room for music but I'm a bit of an audiophile so it kinda matters to me. (And don't give that, "oh no one can tell the difference between MP3 and uncompressed sound files)

hmmm Im pretty sure an ipod can play some other lossless compression forms.. using Rockbox at least..

you can do it. only trouble is that it will cut your battery life down big time, like you'll get an hour instead of 10 because the hdd in there will be spinnin!

SO MUCH less room. But yeah, you can. But if I were you I would consider at least compressing them a little bit (like 50%).

But I'd also guess that other limitations of a portable player would keep you from acheiving CD quality playback. I am in the camp who believe that the human ear probably can't pick out differences above a certain compression quality. Maybe that's not 256kb/s, but it's likely close.

i rock 192kb/s. for sure there is a slight quality loss, but i use my ipod out in the world, you know, car, subway, street, so perfect fidelity is not hugely important in those noisy environments. still rock cds at home.

I agree for some people/situations - but Id say it isnt just the compression range (i.e. 256) but the compression algorithm that matters. More and more, Im less of a fan of mp3.. but it suits for when Im mobile.

The apple lossless format is a considerable improvement, and doesn't eat up as much space, and as said earlier, it's portability overcomes the audiophile aspect for me.

still drains your battery real bad tho

Hum.

So I can pretty much choose how I want to compress them and it will read it?

So much to consider.

Heh heh. You're hilarious.
But right, actually, still the best sound.

I can just picture myself on the train ride to Mtl this weekend,
busting out the old battery-powered, portable rekkid player.
Dropping the needle on my vinyl copy of "Paranoid".

you can get the ImTOO audio encoder and use it to compress and convert flac/lossless files into hi-bit ratw mp3 (i encode at 256 min/320 max). the negligible decrease in clarity is made up for with space and power savings.

(btw, if you hunt for it, you can find serials for that encoder on the web)

well the encoding/compression process allows you to determine the amount of compression and type you wish to use. Difference 'formats' use different algorithms for compression etc.

Im not sure which formats iPods officially support other than mp3 and apple's aac- but there are workarounds for ogg files etc

i'm supposed to get a 60g ipod for graduation/birthday.

don't!

get an iriver instead

i would have bought an iriver, but the comparable model was like $100 more. just not worth it.

really? how big?

well, i needed something with 30gb or above. it's not a direct comparison, because apple only made the 30gb and 60gb ipods, and iriver only had 20gb and 40gb models, but the 40gb was $120 more than the 30gb ipod.

Now I'm thinking about just getting a mini laptop.

It's mainly for traveling.

I don't think I'd ever use an ipod for jogging or commuting so size doesn't really matter.

I know, real music fans have ipods... I know...

the mini-laptop being the link you mention? Id say, do you need a laptop or an ipod? Because honestly, listening to music from my iBook is a pain in the ass.. but if primarily you need the computer- then go for it- and maybe just get a nano or something.

I like my iPod but I dont use it much because Im not usually far away from a computer

so when do those full-screen ipods come out?

i really think the nano makes the least economic sense of any mp3 player available. it's not that much smaller (in form factor) than a 30gb and the 4g only costs $50 less but holds a little more than 1/8 the music.

I seem to travel a lot. Like this weekend I'm going to Montreal for a wedding. I just don't feel like bring my stupid old diskman on trip and then a whole bunch of cds. And I want to be able to check my email & do computer stuff, maybe even watch dvds, show my family pics from my trip, etc. Figure the laptop will be good because I can just have everything in one place. And I can even work on music on it.

maybe never. they will have upgrade for the holidays according to macrumors.com, but the fullscreen is way off.

well that blows. I was holding off on buying a new one for that.