iPod Help!!!

[Emberfly]

I'm such a non-teckie at times   

My mom's thinking of getting one but we're not sure how the downloading of cd's on to the thing works.  Do we have to interface with iTunes for everything?  She's got all her music on her hard drive already, how does she then get it on her iPod?  Will it be fairly straight forward?  She's also considering a Sony MP3 player and has other MP3 players she uses.

HELP!!!!  Thanks. 

[Bergamot]

If she gets an iPod and downloads iTunes, it will be easy for her to manage her music libraries. iTunes will locate all music files on her computer and compile them, giving her the ability to add them to her iPod easily.

[Emberfly]

Will she still have the files to use on her other MP3 players or will they be moved permanently?  It would be great if they were just copied onto iTunes or whatever they do to them to make them compatible.

[kaoskat]

I have no clue. I thought they just used MP3s?

[Emberfly]

Mom and I are just confused.  I think she's gonna go with a different mp3 player and not the iPod as she's going to keep the other 2 she has for different uses (walking mp3, work mp3, one for audiobooks)  She's a little odd but they're older anyway and should be upgraded.  I secretly think she just wants a new toy.   It looks like if you want an iPod and an mp3 player it's going to require her to duplicate everything for each type of player.  I thought technology was supposed to make life easier!  The iPod was to be free with airmiles so that's a bummer if it won't work.

[octocorn]

iTunes just organizes the files from whatever folder they're in so you can put them on the iPod, they'll still be in the same format in whatever folder they were in for use on other devices. When you convert a cd to mp3 format, you just run iTunes and put the cd in and follow the prompts, and it will convert it to mp3 and you can also put those files on other devices as well.

[Emberfly]

Ok.  I'm reading this to mean that she has to find all her music, tell iTunes where they are or something, and it will then transfer them to the iPod.  Now, iPods use a different file format, don't they?  So they'd make a new copy of the music?

So, when she copies a new cd onto the computer, does that mean she would use iTunes to put the music on all her different types of mp3 players, iPod included?  Or does she then need to make another copy to put in Windows Media Player for the other mp3s, or did iTunes already make an mp3 file in addition to whatever format it needs, which still needs to go to WMP?  I read something somewhere that iTunes will sync with other devices but will erase them when it does this.  Anyone have experience with this?  Still not sure what to do.

Sorry for being so daft.  Thanks for everyone's help, we really appreciate it.

[octocorn]

iTunes uses an mp3 format, so if all your music is in downloads/music or whatever, you go into itunes, and tell it to add files from that folder.  It doesn't move or reformat the files, that's just so it knows where to get them from to play them or put them on an iPod. Same with cds, iTunes will rip them for you, but ultimately the files will be in a folder in mp3 format.  I don't use Windows Media, but I would imagine you could just open the file through WMP from whatever folder you've decided to put it in. iTunes is way easy, and it's free, so if you wanted to download it from apple's website and try it out before purchasing an iPod to see if it's something you feel like dealing with, you could definitely do that!  I haven't used Windows Media Player in years, because iTunes is so much easier once you get used to it.

[Emberfly]

iTunes is way easy, and it's free, so if you wanted to download it from apple's website and try it out before purchasing an iPod to see if it's something you feel like dealing with, you could definitely do that!

What a super awesome idea, Octocorn!  I knew I could count on the Pony People for help and told my Mom this was the place to go for advice.  I'm going to wander through iTunes now, wish me luck.

[Bergamot]

Oh, whoa, hey. Octocorn for the win!

[octocorn]

iTunes is way easy, and it's free, so if you wanted to download it from apple's website and try it out before purchasing an iPod to see if it's something you feel like dealing with, you could definitely do that!

What a super awesome idea, Octocorn!  I knew I could count on the Pony People for help and told my Mom this was the place to go for advice.  I'm going to wander through iTunes now, wish me luck.

Good luck! If you need any more help don't hesitate to ask