If you want to hook it up to your car right now, right this minute,
it’s a pod, pod, pod world. You can jury-rig some others with a
special jack but you won’t be able to use the car stereo controls.
Thing No. 1 Don’t pay sales tax.
Save yourself the dumb-guy
sales pitch and take advantage of the easy-breezy return policy and buy
online. And, for music don’t be afraid to venture beyond
iTunes. Napster, MSN Music Store and even our dear friends in
Bentonville (Wal-mart) can get you easily in the pink (or the Britney
as the case may be). Double check file formats though, they may or may not be
compatible with your player. ebay.com/buy/guides/mp3-players
Thing No. 2 Don’t fall for the extended warranty play.
The
only trick here is the battery life. There’s a possibility that the
extended warranty might make sense. For example, an iPod battery
can be recharged between 300=450 times. After that, sayonara
battery. A new battery is $99. Insert cost of warranty here
and do the math.
Thing No. 3 Decide what you want it to do.
Just music or
more? If you’re going to use it for video, consider storage and
screen size. Car and plane or jogging and gym? This should factor
into size, battery life and if you want flash memory or hard drive
memory. Exercise use would suggest avoiding hard drives which have
moving parts and can skip. The car install is easiest for
iPod. See what we’re sayin?
Thing No. 4 Determine the appropriate amount of whiz-bang.
We’re talking Wi-Fi, gaming, Sirius radio and 7” wide screens.
Some of them in limited availability now, some soon, many with a price
to be paid. You’ve got to decide how big of a penile instrument
you want to swing and how urgent your need to swing it is. Look
into the latest at gizmodo.
Shop for price at: my Simon.
Thing No. 5 Be a savvy sleuth.
Beware of the 100%
positive reviews. The Internet is crawling with message board
shills – people paid to post positive reviews. Stick to the
reputable reviewers like cnet. When you do find some negative
user feedback, oftentimes someone was unhappy with the retailer or the
sales experience or something that will have nothing to do with you.
If all this is way more than you bargained for and is making your left
eye twitch, go ahead and be a lemming and just get an iPod. And
download The Free iPod Book that tells you everything you ever wanted
to know about one. iLounge.com