Hi all,

I'm looking to buy an iPod classic, with speakers. I have a HUGE selection of music, and both my computer and my (abit crappy) mp3 player are running out of space. So I am considering buying a 120GB iPod classic with some speakers costing me about £280-£300 for all of it. I love to be able to shove on some music when I get in from college and there's nothing better than having your earphones in whilst travelling around, for me anyway.

So would you reccomend me buying the iPod and speakers? Bearing in mind I am only 17 and jobless at the moment so it would take away the majority of money I have at the moment.

All thoughts appreciated

xBWx

I recently brought a 120gb iPod classic, my first digital music player and I've just had the lovely task of putting all my music on the pc

A lot of money to spend even if you're earning. Why not get the iPod which is £180 and wait a few weeks until you have some more money to get the speakers or if you have a generous family ask for them all to club together and buy them as a gift for Christmas.

ipod classic 120gb - £162 from amazon uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Apple-iP...5927663&sr=8-1

If you have Hi-Fi already all you need to get is a dock and 3.5mm stereo cable. You can get the Classic for £162 from Amazon or £179 from Apple. Sounds like expensive speakers to me! Also, another thing to look into possibly is AirTunes? This lets you stream the music from iTunes on your computer and play it through your Hi-Fi speakers using either Wi-Fi or Ethernet. It would obviously be cheaper for you if you can use equipment you already have.

If you are certain you want the speakers though then make sure you get a student discount if you are eligible. Numerous places such as PC World, Apple and I think Amazon all offer student discounts usually around 10% off. I would hold off on the speakers if you are not well off for money.

Another thing to consider is do you need to carry around 120GB of content? I used to feel the same way, but ever since I have only had 16GB and it suits me great. I have about 80GB of music. If you make full use of playlists and smart playlists in iTunes it is very easy to work with just 16GB and probably better in the long term as the moving parts in the HDD in the Classic will not be as reliable as the Flash memory in the Nano, Touch and iPhone.

If you're without a job (and a source of income?) then it's a lot of money for a luxury. I'd get something much cheaper until £300 didn't constitute the majority of my money!

How are you encoding your audio to put on your current player? I can fit roughly 30 albums into 2GB on my Sumvision ICE800 DAP in LAME MP3 at -V3.

I wrote a guide HERE on how to make your own MP3 VBR encodings that I can almost guarantee will be indistinguishable from original CD even on the best playback equipment.

yea...maybe wait till you got a job before spending that much.

as for speakers. use a real hifi. plug it into the line in or whatever as said. nothing is quite as lousy as "ipod" speaker docks. loads of money for very little marketed at people who don't know any better.

Thanks very much for the replies everyone.

Whilst shopping today I was in HMV, and noticed a nice set of speakers that cost £20, so I've asked for some money towards an ipod for Christmas, and will get the speakers.

Thanks again,

xBWx

I would be dubious about £20 speakers. You may be better off saving up for a nicer set of speakers, otherwise you could just waste £20 on some speakers which may not be that great.