Originally Posted by robb
They are closing apple stores left and right. I do imagine there is only one, but do check apple.com.
I found ipods in SE asia to be MORE expenisve, not less.
As for the format, it will play all your existing mp3 songs. As for ripping new songs, the default setting is to rip to an apple-specific format, but that is easily set to rip to mp3. The only songs you cannot get in mp3 are songs you buy from the apple music store, those come in a special DRM'ed format.
Closing Apple stores left and right?? wow, that's a new one. Surely you're not talking about Apple's own retail stores, none of which have closed since inception.
As far as non-Apple Retail stores go, a few have closed, but not any significant proportion. With respect to iPods specifically, the number of retail stores carrying the product is skyrocketing. Foley's, Macy's, Saks, Nieman's, even Costco and WalMart... It seems there are more companies selling the iPod each week, and, in fact, more retailers signing on for other Mac hardware as well.
To get one cheap, here are some ideas...
- Check out the Special Deals on the
Apple Store web site.
- If you can, consider shipping to Oregon, New Hampshire, Delaware or another state that does not have sales tax or buy over the Web from a company that does not have a presence in your state, like Amazon, so that you don't have to pay sales tax.
- Befriend someone who works for Apple
- Befriend a student and use their student discount
- Check out sites like
DealMac for good prices
iPods play MP3, AAC, AA, WAV, Apple Lossless... iTunes will convert non-DRM WMAas well so that thy can be played on the iPod.