So, tell me about I-pods
 

My Mustang has an Ipod plug-in inside it's center console. How do these things work? Can I download my CD's to the ipod by using only the computer using windows XP? Computer has a Pentium 4 chip...if that's important.

The car also has a 6 CD player...but kind of thought I'd enjoy having more tunes available.

Here's why I've decided to let Sirius expire...the following post I made on a Mustang board. Quoting me a price, then trying to bump it after I agreed just ticked me off. Now I wouldn't renew sirius at any price!

My converation with Sirius today

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Went something like this:

Today, something I could take action on...Sirius radio. My freebie time is about up...called them to talk of renewing. Man, what a scam...first wanted me to sign up for the full package. And automatically renew me without asking. All she needed was a card number.

"Uh no...I only listen to the music channels...got a deal on those? "

"Oh yes, we have "mostly music"...(rates given monthly, annually, or for 2 years...)

"2 years for $219? Okay, I'll go for that...I just want to pay the bill now, no monthly billing, no automatic renewing. I don't know if I'll have the car 2 years from now."

"Certainly...of course there is a service fee and taxes of $48 and change"...

"What taxes? There's no sales tax in Oregon...and what fees?"

"Well, the fees we pay the artists"...

"I'm sorry...on 2nd thought, I think I'm just going to let my free subscription expire. After all, $250 will buy a LOT of C.D's.... "

Well, at least I was given a choice...My choice now? Think I'll talk to a body shop about pulling the trunk lid, removing the faux gas cap, AND the sirius radio antennae, filling in the holes, and respraying for a cleaner look.

You load CDs onto your computer using I-tunes. Then from I-tunes you load them onto your I-pod.
I- tunes is free and holds all your music for you even after loading it onto your I-pod.

It is really easy.
Once you load I-tunes onto your computer you just put a CD in your disc drive and I tunes automatically stores it. The after you have loaded all you want you plug your I-pod into your USB and transfer from I-tunes to your I-pod.

Simple.

Paul,

If you go the iPod route, my dad is selling his. It's barely been used, he bought the iPhone and now does not need the iPod Touch any more. Let me know if you are interested...

ipods are great. pretty much the greatest invention since cassette tapes and/or the walkman.

I've got an ipod nano that has 8Gigs of storage. That's ~1200 songs. I think you can pick one up new for $125-150.

It's super easy to download your CDs into iTunes. If you've got iTunes running and you pop a CD into your computer, iTunes will ask you if you want to download it. You say yes, and a minute or so later, your CD including the name, track names and usually the cover art is in iTunes. You can "tag" you music like "Jazz", "Rock", "blues" etc.... (you can make the tags whatever you want. So you could put 300 songs of each on an ipod and have hours of whatever you're in the mood for at your finger tips. You can play based on genre (the tags), artist, album, whatever.

iPods, greatest thing since sliced bread if you ask me. I wish my car had an ipod jack.

Dave, which model "touch" is it? How many GB? Also, size is important here...the smaller the better, so I can just put one on random play & close the center console lid...

Hi Paul,

The Touch is the largest... Looks like the iPhone, just a little thinner... I don't know the size off hand, but I can ask...
Apple - iPod touch - Learn about the features of iPod touch.

The Nano's are definitely smaller..
iPod nano - Apple Store (U.S.)

Thanks Dave...just gave the links you gave a quick read. I don't think I'd use any of the "touch" model features. All I really want is to plug one into the car & listen to tunes...Sounds like the nano may be more what I want. Really tho, think I need to learn more, considering I'm one who was amazed by 90 minutes of music on a single little cassette...and that doesn't seem long ago! This is all a new world to me. :eek:

Paul,

They also have the Shuffle, no video, about the size of a fancy lighter, but only in 2-4gigs...
iPod shuffle - Apple Store (U.S.)

Think the Shuffle, due to it's small size, uses a different connector than the rest so may not fit his in car dock.

Good point.... A call or visit to the Ford Dealer should answer that... I looked on the Internet quickly, but did not see an obvious answer.

I could go look at the connector in the car...but then I wouldn't have a clue about what I was looking at. Damn, I know zilch about these things...seriously!

Dave if you get your dads iTouch sold... My moms is for sale too now....

I'm interested in an Ipod touch if it's a good deal. PM me if Paul does not grab it.

Yeah, I'm interested...but speeder can have first dibs. I'm still researching things.
For what I want to use it for, maybe one of the lesser models would work best?

I'll find out the details tomorrow...

According to this it's a standard 3.5 audio jack. Plugs into the headphone jack of the mp3 player which means you can use any player, not just an iPod.

2007 Mustang Meets iPod

Pros, flexibility, choice in player.

Cons, no direct control of the players interface from the in car stereo.

Now if the jack looks like this then it's a dedicated Apple iPod jack

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1258210050.jpg

Pros, should allow for control of the unit from the stereo.

Cons, the small cheaper Shuffle may not be an option.

Paul, it really is nice. I drive about 20K a year and my Ipod is a life saver. I use mine in the car, plug it into a pair of speakers in my garage and take it with me on vacation to listen by the pool. Probably the best thing you can do, is find somebody in your family that has one and have them show you how it works. It really is simple.

IMO, if you spend a week "studying and researching" you are going to overcomplicate the device and psych yourself right out of it. Quit setting yourself up for failure by going into these things with the attitude of "Im an old man, I dont get this stuff" and use instead "I am sparter than 99% of the 12 y.o. girls who have them" You may find that you are more savvy than you think. :D

Things you should know.
1) when you turn off the car, the Ipod will continue playing. You will need to teach yourself to shut it off
2) most car hookups do not charge, but you can buy a cheap cord that you can plug into your lighter

My father in law got a shuffle as a gift when opening a new bank account. He kind of looked at it like it was from Mars. Wifey spent 5 minutes with him and it's literally turned into his favorite toy. He's had it going on 2-3 years now and never leaves the house without it. He only gets rental cars with AUX jacks in them cause he can't be without his iPod.

I've put Bluetooth to FM converters into the cars, so that I can stream music from my phone to the car stereo. If I decide to keep the Jeep, I'm going to install a Stereo which has Bluetooth built in. The Bluetooth units can control the phone from the car stereo.

Are the iPhone and iPods doing Stereo Bluetooth yet?

iPhone and touch yes. (not 1st gen iPhone, that's still mono BT)

Yes, if it is a standard 3.5 jack you can plug any audio device into it... no need to join the ipod cult... unless you want to then that is fine. :cool:

welcome back Paul...

in addition to dipso's post - go to Apple's site & download i-tunes
- if you want higher quality sound, go into the menus and change the settings for the formats of the music
- you can also set it to automatically copy a CD to i-tunes whenever you load a CD in the computer's tray
- after you do this, you will have your music library on your computer
- connect your ipod and have iTunes synch them - you are done (BTW - I never buy a song from the iTunes store; just rip my CDs)

I bought an ipod for cheap from a college student - they are usually jettisoning all sorts of stuff at the end of every semester - that will Linn-Benton Comm. College students too (or whatever is closest to you); you can also check out Craig's List

I just checked out the Mustang's plug-in. Had to get Cindy's Ranger out of the garage in order to open the Mustang's door. Anyway, a surprise for me...there is a 12V receptacle in the center console, along with a plug-in that looks like a small headphone plug-in...circular. Plastic ring around it says "line input". So, this is a "standard 3.5 audio jack"????

So, with a 12V charger, a 110 charger, and an Ipod (I'm leaning towards a nano 16GB), I should be set?

Yes, you're set.

One thing you may want to do is go to Wallymart and look at generic MP3 players. There are some pretty good units that are like a shuffle, but 1/4 the price. Don't know if they will work with iTunes or not. I think with a Shuffle, you can put the music in with the order that you want them to play. One thing about the Shuffle, they're pretty easy to misplace, cause they're pretty small.

Ya go to walmart and look at the Creative labs stuff too. I would still be using mine had the iPhone not come out.

Thanks everybody! Decision made...gonna go with the Ipod Nano, also get the optional 12V charger. I figure that will be handy, since I plan on using this only in the car. Will probably just order a new set-up from Apple online, so speeder...go for that used touch from slodave if you'd like.

Warning...there may be further posts. In the area of: "How do I???"

We will be happy to help.

You can get your name engraved in it for free when ordering from Apple. Just FYI

I think you'll love it. They're very easy to use and beat the hell out of any other way to listen to music when not sitting near your favorite home hifi system.

Just Ordered...sales girl couldn't have been nicer. Hell, they are even going to engrave my name & driver's license # on the unit for me. Of course, I ordered the green one, 16 gigs. I gulped at the price of the aux cable @ $59.95 until I learned it was designed for car center console plug-in, and charges the unit as I play. Evidently it recharges when I plug it into the home computer's USB port as well.

All should be here in 5-6 days. Then, looks like I have some learning to do...l

One funny aside...she said Sirius has sold a lot of Ipods for apple...;)

Welcome to the world of Apple! You might find better, but you'll never pay more. I was looking for older copies of MS-Office, so that all my work computers would be compatible. The copies for the MAC were three times the cost of the ones for PCs.

I find it funny, the company that started with open architecture, became the Prime closed company. You can't get a spare battery, because that would violate the model. You can only buy software, etc., from Apple.

I have an 80 gig ipod with color screen I was thinking of selling since i never use it. what would be reasonable to ask for it? I wouldnt ask here but i really dont know. Cant even remember what I paid for the thing...

very true

but they have xlnt tech. support (at least on the iPhone) and are the most innovative co. in this market segment

Crutchfield sells the 8 gig Ipod nano for $149.95...the 16 gig is $179.95...that's new. Used electronics? I dunno...what's the usual %age off?