Justifying a 30GB iPod purchase

[areyouwishing]

In July of 2002 I lost about 100 of my most valuable CD's, at an average of $12 (a low estimation) a piece that's $1,200 down the drain, not to mention the time it took to find all the indies, etc.

I'm already back up to about 40 CD's since August and if I was to lose (get stolen) them, I'd be even more pissed. Hence the ipod...

40 CD's at $12 = $480 for my current collection (its still growing)

If I lose an ipod, I lose 1 item...not 40, not 100, just 1 item that I can easily replace from the apple store.

Between my Cd's and my MP3's I've got about 2,500 songs all of which I can store on the ipod with room to spare for data backup.

This is merely to help all you catastrophe prone people out their (like myself) that love music. $500 is really not that much when you compare it to how much time and money you have spent on your entire music collection.

 

[mikeyredk]

portable backup harddrive

 

[bertagert]

Well, it sounds like you could just back up your albums on your computer hard drive and forgo the ipod. Of course, I don't want to talk you out of an ipod but it is possible to not get one and backup on your computer.

I had the 30 gig for a week. After uploading 1200 songs and backup files I had 22 gigs left. Decided I really don't need the room so returned it for the 15 gig. I actually like the small difference in weight and how its a little thinner than the 30 gig. Just food for thought.

 

[Freg3000]

Seems like a good idea to me. Especially if you have a habit of losing things. How did you lose 100 CDs to begin with?

 

[areyouwishing]

The cd's were actually stolen out of a cab in Phoneix.

The backup to hard drive idea works, but then i still have to haul around a cd player and cd's....and if they were to get stolen again, i would have to go and find every single CD...again, rather than just make a single purchase for another ipod (probably would just give up bringing music with me at that point).

 

[James.Paul]

I just received my 30 gig iPod today and it is superb. Excellent quality, a little heavier than I was expecting but it looks terrific and sounds good. I have about 13gig of Music which I am building up, I figure that new songs will always come along and you'll just keep increasing the size of your collection. It is always handy for backing up files should you need to. I think if you know your not going to increase the size of your library then get a 15gig, but if like me you think you'll be adding more then go for the 30gig.

 

[Gymnut]

How would I justify a 30GB Ipod purchase? Well, I'm an impulsive buyer so no sense beating yourself up on the inside about it. Just buy the damn thing. After all it's just money and you can't take it with you when you go. Just bear in mind, it is a hard drive after all and like all hard drives, they eventually go.

 

[WannabeSQ]

I dont think im gonna get a new one (i have the 2nd gen 10 gig) until they are larger than 30gb, as I am just shy of 50gb as it is now.

But for you, I think you have justified it pretty well. Instead of bringing around the CDs and risk them being stolen (again) you would only be losing your "copy" not the original. Of course the same logic can be applied to burning exact duplicates of your CDs and bringing those with you, leaving the "masters" at home in a safe or something. But an iPod is definately cooler to have, and it is very small and convienent.

 

[vanillamike]

Originally posted by bertagert
I had the 30 gig for a week. After uploading 1200 songs and backup files I had 22 gigs left. Decided I really don't need the room so returned it for the 15 gig. I actually like the small difference in weight and how its a little thinner than the 30 gig. Just food for thought.

I was just wondering how signifigant the difference in weight and size is. You say that you like that it is a bit thinner and lighter, but is it really that noticible. I wonder because I am on the fence betwwen a 15GB and a 30GB. Basically the twice as much capacity for $100 is what is making me lean towards the 30 GB but I too don't have all that many MP3s.

Mike

 

[tazo]

Originally posted by vanillamike
I was just wondering how signifigant the difference in weight and size is. You say that you like that it is a bit thinner and lighter, but is it really that noticible. I wonder because I am on the fence betwwen a 15GB and a 30GB. Basically the twice as much capacity for $100 is what is making me lean towards the 30 GB but I too don't have all that many MP3s.

Mike

If you have any movie files or software or documents you need to backup, you can use the iPod as a back up (not to mention extremely portable) harddrive.

tazo

 

[elpinchegringo]

Originally posted by areyouwishing
and if they were to get stolen again, i would have to go and find every single CD...again, rather than just make a single purchase for another ipod

If stolen, the iPod would be covered by homeowners/renters insurance while I doubt the cds would (although they might be).

 

[bertagert]

vanillamike -

The size and weight are not that different. Its just a hair thinner and a hair lighter. For some reason the 10 and 15 gig ipods just fit in my hand better. Weird because i have big hands.

The reason I returned the 30 gig wasn't because of the size though. It was the combo of realizing I would never fill the thing up, saving a 100 clams and then the size/weight. So, if you need the space go for the 30 gig. Or, if you see that you'll get real close to 14 gigs of songs/backups you should probably do it cause it is only $100 for double the space.

As this is my first ipod I have to say this is the best thing I've purchased in a long, long time. All I need is a iskin to complete the package!

One more thing: I got mine at Best Buy and picked up their 4 year product protection plan for $40.00. That's only $10 a year for four years if this thing breaks down. That's a really good deal.