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Review: Budget iPod dock

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With my new iPod Touch going fine, I needed a budget dock for it. I really don’t like spending a fortune on gadgets if I don’t have to, so I tried to aim for something cheap but reliable.

After a lot of browsing round various sites, I found this. It’s a real entry level iPod dock, but it does the job I want it to do fine.

It doesn’t have speakers so it won’t play your music aloud (and frankly for something this cheap I wouldn’t want it to – the sound quality would be relatively poor) but it does have a 3.5mm line out socket so you could hook it up to some external speakers or a hifi. It also has a sync plug so you could either hook it up to your computer and iTunes will sync and charge it, or you could just plug into a mains USB charger which would then charge the iPod when it’s docked (which is what I do).

It also comes with a remote control so you can change the track remotely. Seems to work fine. It has the usual controls you’d expect (change track, volume, play/pause), plus controls for mute, repeat and shuffle. It also has controls so that you can browse for a track and play it, but I think this is relatively unnecessary as when I sit 2 meters away from my iPod I can’t read the screen to see what track I’m choosing – and that’s on an iPod Touch with large text, so it will be useless on something like a Nano.

Overall, I’m very happy with it. It works fine and it’s really good value at £12.99. It comes with a range of dock adapters for the different types of iPod, but personally I don’t use any of them since my iPod has a case on it. Works just as well without them. A good budget buy.

iPod Touch – I’ve Got One! (It’s a review!)

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Yes, I know how much I really do not like Apple… but I had to get my hands on an iPod, what with all the music and video I have on my computer that I love. So yes, I own one, and I’m very proud of it.

I got the 8GB version since that’s really fine for me. It cost me £165 but I did buy it from The Gadget Show Live event so you know, it’s gonna be a little pricey.

Anyway, what do I think? I love it. It’s fantastic – no other word. It plays my music perfectly – the sound is really good. Videos are great too – I can rent movies from iTunes and stick them on my iPod (although they do take up a large amount of space) or I can put my own on too. Photos look nice on it too with it’s decent LCD screen.

Plus there are small things that are really. The iPlayer site for iPod/iTunes being a prime one. I love iPlayer on the PC, but being able to have it on my iPod is fantastic.

There are some really cool apps as well. I’ll do another post sometime on my favourite apps for the iPod Touch and iPhone. They are some that are just helpful, and others that are just fun to use.

I still do not like iTunes, but I don’t mind using it with my iPod – I can cope for now. I much prefer Windows Media Player to iTunes but you can’t use that with the iPod so I’ll have to make do. Still, iTunes does sync well and backs up my iPod regularly just in case I brick it by mistake.

The battery life isn’t brilliant but it’s enough to be usable. A few hours of apps, music and video will kill the battery in a few hours, but if you listen to music alone and try to keep the screen off, it’ll run for a pretty good time.

Anyway, no matter what, it’s become one of my favourite gadgets. It’s more practical than the PSP (that just feels like a brick now I’ve got my iPod) as it has a better web browser and is in general much more usable, and works as a good personal organiser. It’s got a decent calendar, alarm clock, notepad and calculator, plus it can read DOCs and PDFs from email (did I mention it sorts email as well).

So yes, I love my iPod. And I can’t imagine why I didn’t have one before now. Get one! Yes, there are MP3/MP4 players that have better spec, but there’s nothing like having the pleasure of owning an iPod (please let me know if I ever say that about a Mac – I won’t don’t worry!). I love the GUI and the usability.

This is one of the few times I’ll ever say this, but, good one Apple – great piece of kit, worth every penny!

Get your music back from your iPod

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You ever had the problem where your computer’s hard drive gives way and you loose all your music, but it’s on the iPod. If only you could get that music back to your computer…

Well, over the last couple of years, lots of companies have come up with software, both freeware and shareware, which will recover music (and possibly videos) from your iPod.

That way, you can recover any music you’ve lost and stick it straight back on your computer.

Have a look at iPodRip, at http://www.ipodrip.com/. It’s not freeware, but it will get all of your music and playlists back. And if you aren’t short of time, have a good browse around as there’s plenty of freeware around if you’ve got the time to look for it.

Have a look, and post any comments if you can find any decent software you’d like to recommend.