The iPod News, Recommendation, Help, & Discussion Thread

[Ting Ting]

Well, I'm resurrecting Alan's thread, because I, too, have a question. I have an iPod video, but I do not have a single clue how to put videos on there. I have some downloaded from LimeWire (I know, bad TSoD!!!), but I cannot figure out how to put them onto my iPod. Could anyone help? Thanks.

You'll need to convert the videos to MPEG-4, which I do by using a program called Videora. You can download it here. I think someone here at UD told me about that program, but I don't remember who. Hm.

Anyway, I hope that helps!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Thanks Prince Ali! I'll see if that works.

[The Little Merman]

Yeah so my iPod broke recently and I just picked up a blue nano. It's so cute!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Well, I'm resurrecting Alan's thread, because I, too, have a question. I have an iPod video, but I do not have a single clue how to put videos on there. I have some downloaded from LimeWire (I know, bad TSoD!!!), but I cannot figure out how to put them onto my iPod. Could anyone help? Thanks.

You'll need to convert the videos to MPEG-4, which I do by using a program called Videora. You can download it here. I think someone here at UD told me about that program, but I don't remember who. Hm.

Anyway, I hope that helps!

I got it to work! But I didn't use Videora. I used something else (can't remember the name), and now I have a video on my iPod. It took about an hour, but I'm guessing that's because my mom's laptop is really, really, really slow. Anyway, thanks for your help, even though I didn't use your help.

Yeah so my iPod broke recently and I just picked up a blue nano. It's so cute!

I'm glad to hear it TLM! How much do those cost nowadays?

[myr_heille]

If you want to put your DVD movies on your iPod, I personally use Handbrake. Though it is easier to use for Mac, it has an okay Windows interface too. There's a guide for using it on Windows here. I find it works great.

[Dottie]

I'm resurrecting this thread to ask the iPod video owners here if it is still worth to get one. I have had my iPod mini for almost 3 years now and although I don't have any problems with it and it's still working fine and all, it's not even full yet,I'd kinda like to have a new one. Some of my friends have an iPod video which I think is awesome with the videos and stuff.
I am really interested in getting one, so I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me if it's worth getting one, if I should get a 30GB or 80GB, if the video feature is as awesome as it sounds.
Oh, and I have heard that some people have experienced problems with their iPods when flying, can anyone shed some light on that, please?

Just tell me whatever you like about the iPod video, what is bad and if it's really worth it.
Thanks!

[Key]

I've owned a 30GB Video iPod for almost a year now and I love it. I've only got about 2.5GB of free space left on it, though. xD

I can't think of any cons because I have nothing to compare it to (this is my first mp3 player). One con would be the size, I guess. It doesn't bother me, but a lot of people seem to find it bulky and go for the Nanos for that reason. Myself, having a lot of mp3s to store, find the amount of memory a god send. I've only had it mess up on me once where, where the iPod froze and I had to do a reset by pressing the buttons down--no biggie.

The video is, of course, small but surprisingly clear. I watched the 2nd Pirates movie on it and it looked fine. I highly doubt subtitles or closed captioning would show up given the small size of the screen.

I didn't do any research before plunking down the cash for my iPod so if anyone has a Zune (the baby pink one looks so cute) or Creative Zen or whatever, feel free to speak for the people who are still on the fence about getting an iPod. xD

Oh, and the person who posted that iSkin website a page back (sorry, didn't see the username!), THANK YOU. I bought the Tsuru skin for Video iPod just now and it looks to be effing gorgeous... I can't wait til it gets here.<33

[TM2-Megatron]

If you happen to have Nero 7, then Recode is the ideal video encoding solution for the iPod; ever since they added an H.264 option a version or two ago. The quality is great, and I haven't had an audio sync problem yet (as opposed to having this problem with nearly every other program).

One con would be the size, I guess. It doesn't bother me, but a lot of people seem to find it bulky and go for the Nanos for that reason.

Absolutely ridiculous... I know it's true, but I could never understand why anyone would have a problem with the size. Of course, people also seem to love cell phones that are half the size of their middle fingers, so there's no accounting for lack of taste, I guess. I've tried using a Nano in the store, but the thing was way too small. Besides, how do people expect something that's supposed to play videos to be much smaller than the current models? Do they want to watch their movies on a 1" screen?

[blackcauldron85]

This isn't really an IPod question, but I have a SanDisk 1GB MP3 player, and it can hold a memory card- I own a 1GB card and a 2GB card. I keep the 2GB card in there, so there are 3GB on my MP3 player right now. I have way more music than will fit on it, though. Mine takes Micro SD cards, and I know that normal SD cards come in 4GB sizes. Does anyone know if Micro SD cards will come in 4GB cards sometime? I own well over 100 CDs, and it'd be great to put them all on my MP3 player.

My dad says that I just should put my most favorite songs on the mp3 player itself and put some songs on each Micro SD card. But, I like to keep it on random, and have all of my music on it. Would you advise that I wait for a bigger Micro SD card (and have 2 Micro SD cards that I don't use) or should I buy another, bigger MP3 player? What are good brands/models, including or besides IPod. I don't have the money right now, but if I waited a while I would.

[Dottie]

So, it is worth it, even if I already have an iPod mini.
What about the batteries. Do they really last like 14 hours if you only play music? I've heard from several people that they tend to die after like 10 hours.
How much music and movies have you got on your iPod,Key

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Alright, I have a question, too. I'm trying to get "Avenue Q" on my iPod (from LimeWire) and some of the songs are out of order when I put them on. I've tried to do the "# of #" under the "Get Info" menu, and that doesn't seem to work. I actually think this happened to "Voice Mail #5" for "RENT," and I can't seem to get it in the correct order. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.

[Dottie]

Does anybody else you know have the Ave Q CD? If yes, just borrow it from them import it to iTunes and it shouldn't be a problem.
Of course, it sucks that it doesn't work with Limewire.
But usually it'll be just imported in the wrong order. Once you put the songs into playing lists you can order them in whatever way you like. So it actually doesn't matter in what order they are imported into iTunes.
Or do they get mixed up once they're on the iPod although they're in the right order on iTunes?

[Key]

So, it is worth it, even if I already have an iPod mini.
What about the batteries. Do they really last like 14 hours if you only play music? I've heard from several people that they tend to die after like 10 hours.
How much music and movies have you got on your iPod,Key

I've left my iPod uncharged for weeks at a time, where the charge bar actually went into the red. It honestly does play music for a long time, although I'm not quite sure if it lasts 14 hours. To be honest, I'm one of those people who's constantly changing songs and fast-forwarding/rewinding them so that eats up battery life considerably. Leave an album running or have it on random and not tinker with it, and the battery bar drops really slowly (like I said, I listen to my iPod about 45 minutes per day and I've gone almost 2 full weeks without recharging it... mostly cos I was lazy). Once you get into the habit of flipping songs back and forth, making the backlight turn on and off, etc., the battery bar drops really fast. It still takes a while for it to actually go red, but yeah.

I deleted the movies off my iPod cos I needed space for my mp3s (I only have 2GB left out of my 30GB), but watching videos on the Video iPod would last about 2 or so hours without a lot of button-pressing. I think it'd be a very good idea to buy an adapter to charge while you're playing since the Video iPod doesn't come with one.

[Dottie]

One more question to help me decide between the 30GB or the 80GB.
Which one in general do you think is better?
I've heard that the 30GB is supposed to be a little more robust because it's not dual-side, but the battery doesn't last that long when watching videos.
How many movies can I fit on the 30GB if I have about 5GB of music and other stuff?
Another question: If I have an 80GB iPod, do I also need a computer that has at least 80GB (I think mine has like 80GB) or would it also work with an external hard-drive?

[TM2-Megatron]

Personally, I prefer the 80GB. I've only got about 25GB of music at the moment however the battery life is longer, and I can use it as a portable hard drive to carry around all my files.

As for video use, while I don't find the screen size to be a real problem (though if your eyes aren't great, maybe it would be) the process of converting videos to the ideal (H.264 AVC) compatible format is tedious and problematic, at best. While the H.264 format is a marvel of modern video compression, it takes an eternity for even a very fast computer to encode videos into it; even at the relatively low 640x480 (or 640x360 for anamorphic material) supported by the iPod. Also, there are really only a small handful of programs which do a consistently good job encoding files without problems such as audio-sync problems (and most aren't freeware). Nero Recode2 creates excellent-quality files, however it encodes using a variable bitrate which means you can't set it at the 1500kbps supported by the iPod because the video will likely exceed that by far at certain points, causing it to freeze intermittently when played on the iPod. Handbrake is a free solution for both Mac and PC (though the PC version doesn't rip DVDs), but it has the same problem with variable bitrates.

My advice? It looks very likely that a new iPod will be released within the next couple months. At stores around here iPods are being sold for $20 or $30 less than usual, which rarely happens since they're price-controlled. The most reasonable assumption is that Apple intends to update them; probably in September or October. Wait to pick one up until then... hopefully the new model will have not only a larger screen and better interface, but will cast a wider net in the realm of video compatability and higher bitrate support. Even if you aren't interested in a new model, the existing video models will have their prices reduced even more after new ones are released. You'll be losing out if you buy one now.

[Dottie]

Thanks for the info!!

[TM2-Megatron]

I'm surprised there wasn't already a thread on this... as many people have suspected for the past couple months, Apple finally rolled out their new line of iPods today:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/c ... rice/11344

The "classic" model just seems to be a 5.5G with a better finish, longer battery life and a 160GB option. If I upgrade at all, it will certainly be to one of these... primarily for the feature noted in the next paragraph.

Fortunately, however, the video capabilities of all the iPods have been increased. They now support H.264/AVC up to 2.5Mbps baseline profile up to 3.0 (as opposed to the 1.5Mbps low-complexity baseline profile supported in the 5/5.5G models). This is the improvement that I'm most excited about, as it will make much, much easier to convert videos for your iPod. There weren't many decent programs (Nero Recode and Handbrake are the only two that I know of) to convert videos for the older video iPods. Most output files with audio sync issues or annoying artifacts. The increased support should mean that the iPod will play more generic AVC videos without the need for an actual profile for the iPod. Also, since the only converting solutions that really worked for hte old iPods used Variable Bitrates for encoding, you could never actually encode anywhere near the 1.5Mbps maximum (at least, not for videos with a fair amount of fast motion). I can't recall now how many irritating, stuttering videos I've had on my 5.5G iPod.

As expected, the new "premium" model is basically a stripped-down iPhone... although I imagine the rather miniscule 8GB and 16GB capacities will stop a great many people from picking one up. The vast majority of people who choose to invest in the high-end iPod models wouldn't be able to fit a 10th of their music collection on 8GB, to say nothing of video... and a lot of those people are "completists" in that they like to carry around their entire collection in one convenient package. I'd say Apple should've held off on using flash memory until larger capacities were more affordable. Some people expected Apple to offer a 32GB flash iPod (32GB being the max available, last I read)... though clearly that would've made it far too expensive. I find these one to be pretty dissapointing, but I suppose there are some people who'll eat it up.

Personally, I'd have welcomed a bit more depth to the iPod Touch in exchange for the 80GB HDD used in the 5.5G video model... and I definately would've bought it. The way things are now, I'll have to wait until a HDD-based touch model is released, or larger flash capacities become more feasible for Apple to use in an iPod.

Apparently, Apple also cut the price of the iPhone by $200. Sucks to be an early adopter... though these people must realize that upon buying stuff so early; nobody but themselves to blame, really. The HD format war is a similar deal.

[Just Myself]

I have to say, for someone who's never been a big Apple supporter, I have to say - Apple has finally impressed me. These new iPods look pretty cool, and at the fairly reasonable, though still huge prices, I could see myself picking one up when I've got the cash. Two questions, though -

1. Is it possible to convert movies you have on DVD onto a format that can be loaded onto your iPod?
2. When are these newer models coming out?

Cheers,
JM

[MadonnasManOne]

I would have totally posted this, except that I was at work, and I was glued to the computer screen, refreshing the live blog of the event.

Apple has really impressed me, and I've been a fan of the iPod and iPhone. I can't believe how much stuff they announced, today.

I am still torn, however. Do I go for the 16gb iPod touch, or, do I go for the 8gb iPhone? They are both the same price. However, with the iPod touch, I keep my phone service with my current provider, get a new phone for free, and have the iPod touch for my MP3/Video/Websurfing needs. I think that's what I'll do.

So, now I need to start saving up the dough to get that iPod touch. I can't wait!

[TM2-Megatron]

I have to say, for someone who's never been a big Apple supporter, I have to say - Apple has finally impressed me. These new iPods look pretty cool, and at the fairly reasonable, though still huge prices, I could see myself picking one up when I've got the cash. Two questions, though -

The new Nano and Classic models look pretty decent, yeah. I'd recommend the 80GB classic personally. Just the right balance of price, storage capacity and functionality. The Nano's slightly smaller screen size makes it less than ideal for video, as does the greatly reduced storage space.

1. Is it possible to convert movies you have on DVD onto a format that can be loaded onto your iPod?

Yes, but you need a piece of software that can circumvent the encryption (and any other applicable protection schemes certain DVD titles may have... I'm look at you, Sony ). Depending on where you live, circumventing these measures may or may not be legal. So I'll continue under the assumption that you live in one of those happy realms that allow it; as any rational government should.

If you have a Mac, Handbrake is the ideal solution. It rips protected DVDs to iPod formats... and produces good-quality output vidoes.

For PCs there are more options, though none that's really a 1-step solution like the Mac version of Handbrake (the PC version doesn't work on protected DVDs). DVDShrink is a free solution that will rip 85% of commercial DVDs to your hard drive. From there, you can run the VOB file through whatever conversion tool you end up choosing. Slysoft products are the ultimate solution for PC users... primarily AnyDVD. AnyDVD runs in the background of windows and makes all commercial DVDs appear unprotected to programs like Nero, Handbrake, etc. meaning they'll rip no problem. Nero Recode seems to be the best solution to actually convert video into an iPod-compatible format. It has (as far as I've seen) the most consistently high-quality output... the only downside is that it's not free.

2. When are these newer models coming out?

Everything except the iPod touch starts shipping in the next 2-3 days, I think. The Touch model will probably be backordered for a while... though of all the new releases, this one seems the least ideal to my way of thinking. Just because there's a single unique feature on it (the screen) people will grab it up despite the remainder of its features being mediocre, at best.