iPod advice?

I have what I expect to be a bad trip to hospital coming up, and am thinking of getting an iPod so that I can copy my relaxation CDs onto it and maybe have 5% more chance of sleeping there than I would otherwise.

I am not a tech-head at all, so would appreciate some advice:
* is it possible to copy music / relaxation CDs etc from CD onto the iPod, by using my computer and nothing else?
* my CD has two tracks of about 45 minutes each - would an iPod be able to handle something so long?
* does it sound like I'd need a super-expensive type, or would a cheap iPod do the trick?

Thanks,

Ivy.

WriterMum said:

"I would also go for a small one, like an iPod Nano so that they don't worry about it at the hospital."

Do you mean because of theft?

Do CDs have some sort of copy protection to *stop* you from transferring the contents to iPod? If so, how do you know? I don't want to spend the $ on an iPod and the find that I can't put the relaxation stuff onto it because it's write-protected.

Oooh. I'm going cross-eyed already. An MP3 player? What's the diff between that and an iPod?

I do have iTunes on this computer, so that's a start.

Just say I wanted to get creative and put other music & spoken books on there *as well as* the relaxation CDs, is it possible to tell the iPod to only play the relaxation tracks, so that when I'm listening to it at night I'm not suddenly blasted out of dozing by ACDC or whatever but can still listen to the rockier music in the daytime?

Yes, I LOVE my ipod! You would want to create a playlist called relaxation (or whatever u want), and then just have your relaxation songs in that playlist. Then when you are ready to relax, u turn on your ipod, go to music, go to playlist, go to relaxtion and you are ready to go.

You can copy your cds onto your ipod...that is legal.

I hope it ends up not being as bad as you think...you'll be in our thoughts...keep us posted.

I have an old iPod (maybe 3rd generation), and it does fine with hour long tracks. You pay for the iPod name though. Other mp3 players are just as good, and much more inexpensive. My mom has a Creative Zen and likes it. You might look at Microsoft Zune as well.

You plug the iPod/mp3 player into your computer by USB or firewire, and it syncs with the software you have on your computer and transfers all the songs over. Very easy !

According to the following article ( http://reviews.cnet.com/best-non-ipod-mp3-players-for-mac/ ), the Zen and Zune work on a Mac.

Also, you could peruse this site ( http://www.consumersearch.com/mp3-players/review ). It lists the top 6 best reviewed players, as well as info on what to look for in an mp3 player.

You really can't go wrong with the iPod. It's just a matter of whether you would like to save some money with another brand.

No problem !

One other thing, the video mp3 players are kind of cool. Another great way to pass the time in places like hospitals. I'd like to get one someday. Right now I use my Nintendo DS with a Cyclo DS card to watch movies and tv shows. The last time I was in the hospital, Southpark episodes helped get me through the stay.

DS is a Nintendo handheld with a lot of great games. The puzzle games like Professor Layton are especially entertaining.

If you want, compile a list of questions and I can ask my boyfriend. He works at an electronics store, is a tech aficionado, and is the Apple representative also so he knows his stuff!
He's always pretty helpful to me...

I think I'd better miss the Nintendo, because of sore hands :-(.

What I want is a gismo so I can surf the net while in hospital like our Navy does . I love chatting with you all; I'm going to miss you!!

We are an Ipod house! Both my son and I have a Nano. My DH has the new classic. Huge for all his big collection of songs. I have play lists for working out, relaxing music ect... I think you'll love it!

OK, I'm just going to throw this out there, but I didn't do the loading so I'm not sure how. But, I have all my music on my cell phone. I just have it on a memory card (I have about 400 songs). My husband did the loading, I think he used Itunes, since I know we have that on the computers. Just thought I would add that since you may have the ability to do that without having to purchase something else, just check with your cell phone company. A lot of cell phone play music too now, and if you just want to play a few things this might be more cost effective for you.

PSP??!! What's that?

Thanks for the advice about the mobile phone, but I don't use one of those either. I know it makes me unusual, but I'm a twentieth century girl who actually quite enjoys being away from the phone when I'm out taking a walk or on the train . Being constantly accessible and switched on would drive me loopy .

Oh, and our hospital doesn't have WiFi

I surf the net by my "cell phone" (which is really a PDA that also has an mp3 player, digital camera, internet, planner, and microsoft docs on it). I use to use a palm treo 750, but upgraded to a blackberry bold just this last month.
http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrybold/
Mainly because I do not want to carry around a laptop, phone, camera, planner, address book, and mp3 player seperately.

It is definately not perfect, and you cannot do anything too deeply, but it is not horrid.

But when I am in the hospital I also take a portible dvd player and some of my favorite tv series.