Daybreaker said:
Yo Bill, about how much does one of those 160GB (or even a little less like 50 GB) run, cos I'm gonna have to get one cos like I said, this cpu only has like 35 Gigs when the Ipod has friggin 60. Oh well, at least there's the potential in getting everything on here.
Actually, 160GB storage isn't that expensive -- roughtly $140 or so. Anywhere from $120 to $180, depending on sales here and there. The company that makes it will also have an effect on price. Seagate, for example, tends to be more expensive because they're more of a name brand.
There are two versions: USB and Firewire. Because everything I own is Mac-based, I opt for Firewire. It tends to load faster. But it can then only be used by Macs (or so I've been told). The Firewire versions are often a bit higher priced.
USB is becoming more universal and even Apple no longer includes a Firewire cable with its iPods, although you can still buy one as an accessory.
I highly recommend external storage for everything from ripped music to digital photos. I've suffered through computer crashes before that wiped out my hard drive (when I was a PC kinda guy). So I avoid the heartache as much as possible by constantly making backups, CDs, and moving stuff to my external drive.
Problem is, music takes up a truckload of space. Before you know it, a 160GB unit will be full.
So, the moral of the story is this: Buy a reputable unit and get as many GBs as you can afford. A 250GB model, for example, wouldn't be unreasonable.
Now that I think about it, the price of these things is roughly $1 per GB, given or take. And they're worth every dime.
By the way, now that we're talking iPods and archiving all this glorious music that we love, there's a free program out there that you'll need to download to help make moving music easier (if not outright possible).
iPods are designed for moving music in one direction: from CDs to iPods. They're not (or at least mine aren't) made for moving music from iPods to anywhere else. That's a music industry safety feature, I imagine.
However, a product called Senuti (available from
www.fadingred.org), allows you to copy anything on your iPod back to your computer, to an external drive -- whatever you wish. That produce has saved me countless hours. It's really an iPod lovers dream come true. Total freedom! Music on, music off. It's free. It's easy. And it's a time-saver.
Something to keep in mind regarding iPods...
They're not really meant to be storage devices. in other words, one could have a 1GB Nano (for about $150) and still enjoy all the music you could possibly hear in a week's time -- literally, listening all week long.
That's why I got the external storage. Plus Senuti. The idea is to rip all of your CDs (which, in my case, is about 2,500) and leave them on the external storage device. Then, you can use the iPod to store whatever you feel like listening to wherever you go. When you're done, replace it with what else you have on the external.
So, really, there's no need for a massive 60GB iPod. If you had a simple 1GB Nano or even a 4GB Nano, you could still be a happy camper if you had the ability to move your music quickly and easily (using Senuti) from an external device.
Bill
P.S. Geez. If all of this doesn't qualify as Nerd of the Month material, I don't know what does...
