Careful you might the first person to "stumble" onto his first fact :D

mike

You should use iTunes with your iPod. Transferring songs to your iPod using iTunes is totally seamless. No dragging involved. All you do is plug the iPod in, and your songs are transferred over immediately, about 1-2 seconds per song. Whenever you add songs to your iTunes library on your computer (if you buy something off of the iTunes Music Store, say, or if you rip a new CD) the next time you plug in your iPod, the new music will be added to it automatically.


Only .wma files need to be converted. .mp3 files can be loaded onto the iPod as is. Not sure about this, but the same song encoded at the same bitrate would probably be smaller in .aac format than in .wma format. This is the case for .mp3 vs. .aac, so I'm thinking the same is true for .wma. If you want to retain a copy of the song in .wma format, then yes, you would need space to have two copies of the song.

iTunes is free. Why not download it and try it out? That's the best way to find the answers to your questions. You don't need to have an iPod to use iTunes, after all.

That's not true - equal bitrate means (mutatis mutandis) equal filesize. The claim that's generally made for AAC is that, for a given filesize, the AAC version is of a superior fidelity to the MP3 version. Put another way, AAC files are smaller for the same quality than MP3 files.

oops, you're right. That's more what I meant to say: smaller file for same quality. Thanks for the catch!

goodo

Since you are from Melbourne I would recommend that you look at the Apple Store in NYC - at the least you can get a lot of information with no high sales pressure. You can also get the travel plug kit that will allow you to change the plugs on the power adapter as you you through various countries. Also works with the notebooks.

I just replaced an original 5 GB iPod for a 40 GB and love it. The main reason (aside for a dead battery on the 5 gig) was that I could also use it as a backup hard drive.

The software you need will come with the iPod and I wold recommend that you use it, mainly because it is the safest approach over time. The folks at the Apple stores are very good explaining things and are very helpful. Since you are traveling it makes sense to avoid having one shipped to you. I would buy one that can be physically held.

Hope all goes well - I'm heading to SYD this Wed on QF and will be enjoying the new iPod . . .

Regarding your first question, I've heard people use Media Center 9 and MusicMatch Jukebox to also manage their music and transfer files to their iPods. You don't have to use iTunes but I think it works quite well.

You should spend a few minutes at this site: http://www.ipodlounge.com . The forums will answer all your questions.