Please help me buy an iPod


Not for me, doesn't interest me at all. The wife wants an iPod for her weekly 1.5 hour commute. Her HP notebook w/ XP media center came loaded with iTunes software. She needs something easy to learn and operate with a fairly long battery life (she's always forgetting to charge her mobile phone). I was wondering if the new video gadgets would be too complicated for her to catch up on a missed TV show (Lost is big now). If not for the video, I don't think she would need that much storage. Not a lot of music, maybe some photos. As always, thanks in advance.
unsound
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A safe bet with a great price is to buy a refurbished iPod directly from the Apple Store. The stock varies but right now there's a broad selection. As an example, a 30 Gb Video iPod in either white or black is $179. There's a warranty directly from Apple and the 60 Gb video I bought was indistinguishable from a new one.
Go here.
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The 4GB nano holds no where near 1500 songs unless really compressed or really short. Of our four, my wife managed the most at 401. The full sized iPods have better sound quality-we have three of those as well, all compared through same buds-etymotic ER4 micorpro. The nano is a fancy flash drive and can handle some abuse. The iPod a limited use mini hard drive and is very sensitive to mishandling. Those moving parts . . .
Buying TV shows off iTunes is dead simple. Movies aren't really worth it right now; they aren't DVD quality, but it's easy enough to rip DVDs to put on your iPod if going on a trip and want something to watch (Google it, there's lots of options... I use a Mac, so don't know the windows ones).

As with music, transferring TV shows to an iPod is easy... simple actually. It's all handled by iTunes. Also, since she has such a long commute, she'd probably like to listen to podcasts, which iTunes will automatically download new shows for you, and transfer them to your iPod when you plug it in. I subscribe to a couple of NPR podcasts and technology shows, and it beats traditional radio handsdown - no commercials and a much much larger selection.

As far as a nano or full-sized iPod goes. Does she work out? If she does, the nano is much smaller and better suited for that. If she's just going to be using this in the car, then a full-sized iPod is probably the way to go. More storage and the ability to play video (as far as I know, nano's don't play video, but I would double check that at Apple's site).

Oh and lastly, you'll need a way to hook it up the car's sound system. If you have a tape deck, get a $10 tape adapter. If not, then look at reviews of the FM broadcasters, you can get one that plugs into the car's cigarette lighter, which is good for people who forget to charge things. I've heard lots of negative things about the FM broadcasters though, so go an alternative route if possible.
Unsounds - Rock on man. Your wife is going to love it. Easy one of the best $500 purchases I've ever made. I use mine pretty much daily in the car.