About to be an iPod newbie--and I've got questions for the iPod veterans.

[Shakespeare]

My mom called to day to give me a heads-up on Christmas--I'm getting a day at the spa, and an iPod Nano (yes, I'm very, very happy about that!).

I would love any general tips/advice on what to expect, and have one specific question: it says the 2 gig capacity holds "up to" 500 songs. How does that actually translate in reality? Will songs that I upload from my own CDs take up more room than songs downloaded from iTunes? Are there other downloadables that'll work on iPods where I don't have to go through the iTunes store? I have no intention of spending tons of cash to buy songs I already have on CD, so I'm hoping to avoid the iTunes store except for the occasional download.

Okay...talk to me about iPods! Please!

[evlbstrd]

1. Anything you can store in iTunes will work on your iPod.

Well, except for video with the Nano.
Capacity will be determined by the format. iTunes Music Store buys are in Apple lossless codec (AAC) and are larger files. MP3s will be smaller. Enjoy your pod!

[Omphaloskepsis]

4. Actually, ITMS songs are 128K AAC files.

AAC = Advanced Audio Codec. Apple lossless is different and results in much larger files. AAC can give you the same quality as MP3 with a smaller file size.

edit -- extra "s"

[evlbstrd]

6. I sit corrected.

It's harder to type while standing.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

2. I-pods...

are amazing. :D I've used mine non-stop since I got it about two years ago. And yes, any song you upload, whether from CD or i-tunes is the same and will factor into the 500 song capacity. (From my experience... my i-pod's older.) You can definitely avoid the i-tunes store... I'd say 97% of my songs are my own CDs.

:hi:

[Xithras]

17. Higher quality files consume more space.

One thing to keep in mind is that those capacity limits are based solely on 128k encoding. If you're an audiophile and want higher quality audio, your capacity will drop accordingly.

My iPod, at this moment, has 516 songs primarily at 320k quality, with a handful of older rips at 192k. My audio disk usage is about 5.2Gb (I have to specify audio because I have a 60GB video model, and it's also full of photos, movies, and podcasts). That works out to a little under 100 songs per gigabyte.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

3. Whatever you do -

and sorry for the yelling but

BUY A PROTECTIVE CASE ! It will be your best friend .

[LadyoftheRabbits]

5. Oh, yes...

That's very good advice. If it weren't for the protective case, mine would be toast. :P

[ghostsofgiants]

7. I don't have a protective case for mine...

The coke mirror on the back is scratched as hell, but it's just an mp3 player, so I really don't care.

[CatholicEdHead]

8. Rip all your CDs and copy what you can

If you have quite a few a Nano is too small for capacity (even 8GB fills up fast much less 2GB). Enrich yourself, search out useful podcasts and listen to those on your iPod. They are free to download the vast majority of the time.

[Shakespeare]

9. I've already started making a list of the podcasts I want!

There appears to be TONS of good stuff out there as far as podcasts go, and I'm really looking forward to those.

[CatholicEdHead]

10. I have a older black Video and I have 5-5.5GB of podcasts now

And that is with about half my list unsubscribed for now because of time/place/content.

[Shakespeare]

11. Got any you'd recommend? n/t

[CanuckAmok]

13. Democracy Now and NPR On-Point are two good podcasts, and free.

n/t

[CatholicEdHead]

18. Mostly international

Australia Radio National (ABC.au) http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/

CBC (Canada) http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/

BBC (UK) http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/

National Radio New Zealand: http://www.radionz.co.nz/rss

[Shakespeare]

19. Oh, excellent! I'd not thought about bbc and cbc...

...and the others, too. Thanks!

[GOPisEvil]

12. Welcome to the dark side.

I'm a two-iPod owner. I have an old 20GB model for listening around the house. At the gym, it's my 512MB Shuffle.

I second the recommendation for a case. If you don't got for a case, then get one of those clear screen covers sold for digital cameras to at least save the screen.

[Shakespeare]

16. Roger that.

I SO can't wait to get mine!

[Omphaloskepsis]

14. Please buy different heaphones..

The ones that come with iPods are total shit. A fifteen dollar pair of Sony ones sound so much better.

[Shakespeare]

15. Have you tried the lanyard headphones?

Those seem like a natural, since I don't usually have a pocket in which to stuff the iPod...