iPod owners, advice please

Here's my two cents...

I have had 3 iPods, first a 5g, then 10 and now a 15.

I kept getting new ones because I keep out growing mine lol.

I say get the biggest you can afford. If you can only afford the 15 then you will just have to do the management in iTunes.

U will never be sad you got a bigger one.

MacboyX

As I understand it, the difference between the "descriptive" size of a disk and the actual usable size is not so much due to rounding up as it is the directory and sector information that the computer writes to the disk when it formats it.

I have one of the original 10GB iPods. The formated size of the drive is 9.28GB. You can keep alot of music on a 10GB iPod.

i have a new 15 gig, and the formatted size is 13.9 GB. if you are deciding between a 10 and 15, i would say get a 15 GB, for the sole reason that you're debating whether you need it or not. if your collection is 5 gigs, and you get cd's pretty often, chances are you'll regret not getting a bigger model more than you'd regret spending an extra $100 and getting an extra 5 gigs, as well as a case, dock, and remote.

I've had the 5 GB for a year and a half and I'm just now filling it to capacity. 1100 songs!!! When I re-did my library to AAC, I did just about every cd i own. So that number of mine should drop soon since there are songs I haven't listened to in six months. If I haven't listened to them in six months, I'm probably not going to ever.

I'd say go for the biggest one you can just so you can use the extra room to move files if you need to.

If you buy the 10 gig plus the case, remote, and dock, it would cost you more than the 15 gig, which includes all these. So just think that you're getting all the extras and you're getting a free 5 gigs.



irmongoose

I have the 30 gig, and its formatted capacity is a little over 27 gigs.

I would go for the biggest one you can afford. You'll grow into it, particularly if you keep accumulating music. And in the meanwhile, you can use the extra space for calendars, contacts and as a firewire HD.

10 GB iPod...

Talk about a red-headed step child. Seems nobody wants the 10 GB. You will probablely get the case and dock also, so may as well go with the 15.

My 15GB 'Pod has a formatted capacity of 13.7 GB.

I've only got 6.8GB on there right now.

If you are going for an iPod, I'd recommend the 15GB version. It comes with everything you need (case) and might want (dock.) Add everything together and the 15GB is a great buy.

Originally posted by idea_hamster
As I understand it, the difference between the "descriptive" size of a disk and the actual usable size is not so much due to rounding up as it is the directory and sector information that the computer writes to the disk when it formats it.

I have one of the original 10GB iPods. The formated size of the drive is 9.28GB. You can keep alot of music on a 10GB iPod.

Click to expand...

Actually, the discrepancy you see is basically just manipulation on the part of hard drive manufacturers and device sellers to fool you into thinking you get a larger capacity hard drive than you're actually getting.

See, computers usually measure hard drive capacities in GiB, not GB. The GiB is called a gibibyte, and when you see the Finder saying your hard drive has 58.5 GB free, it's actually supposed to be 58.5 GiB.

A gibibyte is 2^30 bytes, or 1024 mebibytes (which is the appropriate term for a what most people think is a megabyte -- 2^20 bytes). A gigabyte is simply 1 billion bytes, where "giga" is the standard SI prefix.

So when you buy a hard drive, the stated capacity is actually in megabytes... since a megabyte is less than a mebibyte, the buyer thinks that the hard drive is larger than it actually is. The computer reports the actual capacity in mebibytes, making it appear that you've "lost" space, when you've really just been the victim of a marketing ploy.

So a 5 GB iPod is actually 4.65 GiB, which is mislabeled as 4.65 GB in the Finder. Similarly, a 10 GB iPod is 9.31 GiB, and a 15 GB iPod is 13.95 GiB, which roughly corresponds to the formatted capacity that you guys are reporting. Yes, information about the drive is stored on the drive and takes up some space, but not nearly as much as the discrepancy that is due to the above problem.

To make it more clear, visit this site, which should clear it all up if you still have questions. It also offers a bit of history.

In other words, hard drive manufacturers state capacity in GB, MB, and KB, while the computer reports capacity in GiB, MiB, and KiB (but mislabeled as the former units). Because GB, MB, and KB are smaller than GiB, MiB, and KiB, respectively, hard drive manufacturers make you think that you're actually getting more capacity than you think.

Originally posted by simX
...just manipulation on the part of hard drive manufacturers and device sellers to fool you...computers usually measure hard drive capacities in GiB, not GB....

Click to expand...

Mmm...I was aware of this difference and while this may be the entire picture, I would just make two points:

1. If the manufacturer and the programers use two different measuring sticks, I don't think that they're trying to "fool" us, rather than using a number that shows their product in the best light -- not too different from pricing something at $19.99.

2. The formatting (directory, sectors, blocks, what have you) do take up disk space, don't they? I would think that this has to be at least part of the difference, even if it's not all of it.

If I'm totally off the mark, let me know.

Originally posted by idea_hamster
Mmm...I was aware of this difference and while this may be the entire picture, I would just make two points:

1. If the manufacturer and the programers use two different measuring sticks, I don't think that they're trying to "fool" us, rather than using a number that shows their product in the best light -- not too different from pricing something at $19.99.

2. The formatting (directory, sectors, blocks, what have you) do take up disk space, don't they? I would think that this has to be at least part of the difference, even if it's not all of it.

If I'm totally off the mark, let me know.

Click to expand...

Well, I would say that showing their product in the "best light" is basically "fooling" us, wouldn't you say? Of course it's widespread, so it's useless to point the finger at any one company, but the same with the $19.99 price stuff -- it's all there just to fool the consumer into thinking something else.

As for the formatting -- like I said, the formatting does take up a bit of space on the drive, but not nearly as much as the apparent discrepancy you see. Almost all of that is attributed to the gibi/gigabyte confusion.

Originally posted by simX
...Almost all of that is attributed to the gibi/gigabyte confusion.

Click to expand...

OK. And thinking about it a bit, I suspect that the reason I'm not too concerned about getting duped by this is that there's little chance that someone is going to need a hard drive of one size and accidentally buy the wrong (too-small) size due to this measurement difference -- in part because the actual differences (13.7GB vs. 9.3GB) are not entirely off the mark, and in part because I don't think that we (read: I) usually buy a hard drive with the storage of some specific thing in mind.

But it's good to know that this isn't like toothpaste (where the amount they list as the contents is, in fact, the usable amount -- they put in extra that you probably can't get out, unless you really, really try).

as explained above, but i knew it as simply the difference in the definition.

computer term: kilo = 1024, mega = 1024 * 1024.

hardware term: kilo = 1000, mega = 1000 * 1000.

i didn't know about the terminology... thanks for the link, simX, that's pretty informative!

i got the 10 gb iPod. i didn't see the need for a dock, i didn't like the case that comes with 15/30 and i wasn't sure how much i'd use it. since i don't listen to music that much, i'm quite happy with the total of $300 i spent on the 10 gb (ed. discounted $270 plus a case i like) even though i have a shade over 10 gb of music.

but unless you are really looking to spend the least amount of money, 15 gb does make sense.

Originally posted by jxyama
...since i don't listen to music that much...

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If you don't think you'll quickly use up your iPod with mp3's, you might consider getting one of the books that include some in-depth instructions on using the firewire drive aspect of the iPod. The one I have even explains how to install Jaguar on the iPod (a bit of a trick) with a disk utility or two so that you can use it as a diagnostic rescue drive whenever a fellow mac user has a problem. (The author reasoned that he'd be more likely to have his iPod with him at random than his Mac.)

Originally posted by Wano
Wow! I just found out that I can get a refurbished 15gb iPod $for 304 plus tax through apple, they are $329 and then I got a $25 off e-coupon in the mail, KPIVQ38XA7 .

Do you guys think this is a good deal, the iPod should be just like new right...or will there be some blemishes?

Click to expand...

there shouldn't be too many blemishes... afterall, refurb isn't used. it's just open box and by some law, once the box is open, it can't be repackaged as "new" even if it hasn't been used...

considering how difficult it is to keep iPod in a pristine condition to begin with, i'd say a shade over $300 for the 15gb is a great deal!