What is an iPod? More Than Just a Music Player...
What is an iPod? A portable music player, external hard drive, address book,
photo album...and now it's even a portable video player. Need to remember to pick up the dry
cleaning? Record a voice memo, set the alarm, or make a note in the calendar.
Stuck in a waiting room? Whip out your iPod and play some games.
Digital files can be downloaded just like a portable hard drive. Free up your
digital camera's memory by transferring photos to your iPod. Heck, you can even
create your own slide show and view it on your TV! Not only that, you can listen
to your iPod's playlist through your home stereo system. Or get a portable mp3
speaker set and listen to your tunes anywhere you want.
So How Does an iPod Work?
The original iPod and iPod Mini players have a tiny integral hard drive with
capacities from 4GB to 60GB and up to 25 minutes of skip protection. A built-in
rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides power for up to 18 hours of playback.
High speed connections use either USB 2.0 or FireWire 400 cables. Additional
ports include stereo headphone, composite AV, dock and remote control
connectors.
The iPod has a 2" color screen and the iPod Mini's screen is 1.67" grayscale.
Both feature an LED backlight. Audio formats include AAC, MP3 and WAV. iPod
video formats include JPEG, BMP and TIFF. The iPod will hold up to 15,000 songs
or 25,000 photos and is only about the size of a deck of cards. The Mini is
even smaller and will hold up to 1500 songs.
Shuffle Off to Music Land
Smaller than a pack of gum, the iPod Shuffle is one of the tiniest mp3
portable players. Weighing less than an ounce, the Shuffle is a solid-state
flash memory player with 512MB or 1GB capacity (up to 240 songs). The Shuffle's integrated USB port
accepts either USB 1.1 or
2.0 cables. No moving parts means your music never skips no matter how rigorous
your workout.
Nano Flash
Apple's newest flash player is the iPod Nano. A hair over a quarter inch
thick and only 1.5 oz., the Nano is poised to be another winner in the iPod
line. The 2GB Nano holds 500 songs and the 4GB version up to 1,000. And unlike the
Shuffle, it will hold up to 25,000 photos for display on its 1.5 inch LCD color
screen. The Nano's improved Li-ion battery
will play up to 14 hours of music or a 4 hour slideshow with music on a single
charge.
Let There Be Video
Not satisfied with just music and photos? You're in luck. Apple's newest iPod
release also plays videos. The slimmed down version is only a half inch thick
and available in 30GB and 60GB versions. It sports a 2.5" color LCD and improved
battery that will play up to 20 continuous hours of music.
The 60GB will hold
15,000 songs, 25,000 photos, or up to 150 hours of video. Apple's iTunes offers
next day downloads of hit TV shows and 2,000 music videos in addition to its 2
million songs, 11,000 audiobooks, 20,000 podcasts, and more coming soon.
iPods are by far the most popular mp3 players. There are more iPod
accessories available than for any other portable music player, and they're easy
to use. There are drawbacks like not supporting formats like WMA and RealAudio,
and battery replacement is expensive. But overall, iPods provide quality
enjoyment and convenience.
For more portable music player information see our
How Do MP3
Players Work article.
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