So, I'm getting ready to buy an iPod...
 

I'm going with the 60 gig iPod Photo, which should hold almost all my CDs and mp3s. I'll mostly be listening to it in the car (via FM) or at work/in transit to work. It comes with headphones, an AC adaptor and a USB cable. What other accessories should I be purchasing? Also, is the Protection plan worth $60?

The earphones that come with it are crap. (At least if they're the same ones that came w/ earlier models.)

How many CDs are you talking about? I'm only just approaching the halfway mark on my 40GB ipod and I have umm... a lot... of CDs. (I haven't counted but I think about 250. A number of operas, which are 2-3 discs each.)

I have the equivalent of at least 600 CDs...maybe more.

docking station and belt clip.

also, if you got the scratch, the bose speaker thingy with the dock is on my short list.

I have the speakers with the docking station... I have found them to be invaluable, especially when you travel alot and need to charge up the pod after awhile.

I really want an arm band case for mine... but the one at the apple store was $40 - definitely not worth it.

I haven't invested in the FM transmitter thingy - I listen to mine in the car with my headphones in. Yes, it is illegal, but I know enough lawyers to get me off.

My iPod broke a couple of weeks ago -- I bought it last August, so it was still under warranty. The apple rep convinced me to get the extended service plan, and informed me that as long as *someone* in my family was a student, I was good to go. I told her my dad in AZ still has his student id from the local community college... That was good enough! The student price is $50, I think. I got my new replacement iPod a week ago, and all is dandy.
Lesson: no one gives a sh*t if you're really a student.

I got the Monster cable for my truck. I think it's quite good, and handles my iPod Photo (I have the 40GB) just fine.

It's $60, but worth it. And, it charges your iPod on the way to work.

Mitch

Are you sure you can't find other ways to rape the audio quality further?

If they had a way to transmit iPod through an AM transistor radio, I'd try it.

I checked my iTunes folder and found that each CD in MP3 takes about 80MB. For 600, it would take 46.9 GB.

The AAC format is tempting because it saves about 20-25% space at the same quality. But, I found it was a lock-in, and harder to deal with outside the iPod/iTunes boundaries. So, I re-ripped my CDs into MP3 format.

You're going to be ripping CDs for ages! I wouldn't have that kind of patience.

Most of them are already ripped...I might have 25-50 left. At 192 Kbps, they currently take up about 38 gigs.

Time for a new hard drive, solely for mp3s.

My computer is getting very buggy, a huge loss of music coming soon... :worried:

Office Depot has a 300GB UltraATA HD that runs $269 regularly, you can get it for $140 occasionally.

Grab two, I did. I'm sporting two 300GB UATAs and a 120GB SATA for my system files. At this point it may take me another six months to fill that up.

you'd be better off running them in mirrored RAID TS.

It's wholly inappropriate to construe a relationship between MP3 and quality -- unless you refer to the lack thereof.

Have ya heard about FLAC?