i've been researching the past few days on ipods, or other mp3 players, for my mini and its future stereo upgrades.

i'm concerned with the new 4th gen ipods. they say it doesn't have a removable battery. and people are saying the battery only has <2year lifespan? so what happens when the unremovable battery dies and is therefore not able to be recharged? you gotta buy a whole new ipod?

other question is the website states that operating system must be windows 2000 or newer. and i think it must have pentium processor. unfortunately, my computer is from '01, and it runs with a celeron 600 Mhz processor and windows Me. so, would i have to basically get a new computer to be able to download songs onto my ipod, if i got one?

i'm thinking if the answer is yes to all of the above, i'll probably be better off with another brand mp3 player. but ipod appears to be my best bet for car audio use and minimal personal on-the-go use.

 

I don't know about the Windows thing..but regarding the battery:

http://www.ipodbattery.com/
http://www.ipodbatteryfaq.com/
http://depot.info.apple.com/ipod/

A note about if you send it in under Apple's $99 battery replacement...they send you back a new/used/refurb iPod with a good battery in it, you don't get the same iPod back. I bought my Powerbook refurb from Apple though and it's been glitch-free and had a few VERY minor scuffs on the bottom of the case.

 

This is going to be an issue for you with other MP3 players as well. Your computer as well as Windows ME does not support either Firewire (IEEE 1394) or USB 2.0 either of which are needed for an iPod and most other MP3 players. You can get away with using older USB connections (and there's a pretty good chance that's what your current PC has) but transferring music to your MP3 player will be slow.

In addition, I don't believe iTunes (which is needed to transfer music to your iPod) will run on a pre-Windows 2000 system.

You'll need to look at devices from Creative, they do sell players that support Windows ME.

 

Not entirely true.

This software, called XPlay, works with Windows ME perfectly. Back when I had a PC, I bought Xplay and never had a problem putting songs on my iPod with Windows Me. Now I have a Mac, but that's besides the point.

Here's the link... http://www.mediafour.com/products/xplay/

Trust me...you HAVE to go with the iPod.....imo, nothing else comes close...I've had a few mp3 players and the iPod makes them all feel like something out of the 70s.

An another note, I bought one of the original 5 gb iPods when they first came out...I've since gotten a new one and gave the old one to my brother, but it's gotta be at least three years old, and still going strong. I wouldn't worry about the battery problem. I read somewhere that in the latest iPods, the issue was fixed...not sure how true that is though. Also, all iPods have had non-removable batteries, not just the 4th gen.

 

thanks for all the info. it looks like i'm probably gonna hafta upgrade my computer in the near future, especially if i wanna go the mp3 route.

for now though i'll just make do with my burned cd's. that's why i'll probably end up getting the clarion 845MC h/u, which'll allow me to make a custom playlist off of cd's, ~5-6 cd's worth of songs, all stored on the h/u itself. that should satisfy my music cravings for now.

then once i get my new pc and ipod, i'll go the icelink plus route to hook it all up to my car stereo.

at least this way, i can use up a bit of that stack of blank cd's sitting on the desk.

 

Just another experience with the ipod, I also bought the 5gb model when it first game out, I just got a 4th gen and my wife is using my 5gb the battery is going strong!!! Still plays for a 2-4 hours and I used that thing every single day, just like the one I have now. Get the ipod, it really is a few steps above almost everything else out there. Good luck!!

mike