Ipodlounge Buyers' Guide Spring/Summer 2005
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ipodlounge Buyers’ Guide 2005 From the world’s leading independent source of iPod information Inside: Pick the perfect Pod Over The first iPod FM radio tuner Incredible new car kits and 300 wireless accessories Accessories How to pull music off your iPod Reviewed Download free iPod music legally and much, much more! Inside Issue 02 | Spring-Summer 2005 iPodlounge Buyers’ Guide Buyers’ Guide Spring/Summergalleries 2005 Editorial and News in Review | 4 Coming Soon: The New Lounge | 6 Learn all about the new iPodlounge.com web site. Beginners’ Guide to iPod | 8 If you’ve been thinking of buying an iPod, or trying to convince a friend to join the revolution, this is the place to start. We tackle every question you might have, from choosing an iPod to commonly asked questions, then introduce you to the worlds of iPod accessories and the people who love them: the iPodlounge community. Sneak Peeks | 26 The future of iPod accessories begins with this complete look at amazing new ways to expand and protect your Above: favorite iPod. An FM radio for your iPod? Check. Bluetooth “Partners in Crime” wireless broadcasting systems? Check. iTripLCD? Check. Submitted to the iPodlounge “Me and My iPod” Photo Gallery Music! | 38 Your iPod was made to play music. We look at ways to load your collection up for free or for as little as 4 cents per song, and check out iPod parties around the world. iPodlounge Photo and Art Galleries, including the Cover Contest Submissions | 46 See some of our favorite photographs from the site’s galleries, and entries from iPodlounge’s latest contest. Buyers’ Guide Reviews | 52 How we grade: A to F, explained 53 iPods and their Cases 54 Inside: Car accessories 68 Putting music on your iPod and taking music off your iPod Earphones 72 16 Speakers 76 Wireless 80 Cover Contest Submissions Photo 81 49 Chargers and batteries 82 Voice recorders 84 iTunes hardware 85 Computers 86 Software 88 The Report Card | 90 Letter grades for over 300 iPod accessories and iPods. ON THE COVER The cover of the Buyers’ Guide Index to Advertisers | 93 Spring/Summer 2005 was drawn by contest winner Bo Kristensen (www.bolicious.com), who wins Backstage at iPodlounge | 94-95 a pair of Shure E5c earphones Check out the Sonos Digital Music System, Sony’s and a TEN Technology naviPlay PlayStation Portable (PSP), and Nyko’s packaging. Bluetooth Stereo Kit for his submission. Congratulations! The 100-Word iPod Story Contest Gallery | 96 Note: All advertisements appearing in this Buyers’ Guide are clickable. Closing the Curtain | 100 3 introductiongalleries iPodlounge Buyers’ Guide Editorial: An iPod for everyone. Dropping iPod features, pack-ins, and prices will win Apple millions of new customers. What’s next? A passionate, long-time lover of Apple products, By late 2004, Apple Computer had become the industry Dennis Lloyd ([email protected]) was leader in the American market for digital music players, a graphic designer and DJ before creating but it was clearly ready for even greater success. So in iPodlounge. Dennis directs the site’s forums, January of 2005, Apple shocked the world with a $99 photo galleries, iPodlounge User Group, and iPod - the iPod shuffle - and then followed up in general business affairs, which have grown under February with a new $199 iPod mini and a $349 iPod his watch to include approximately two million photo. No clarification of the announcements was readers and numerous accolades. Happily necessary: Apple was looking to win over the entire Dennis Lloyd married with one dog (Rocket the Wonderdog), world, product by product, niche by niche, and ready to Publisher one cat (Ferris), many iPods, and two turntables, do whatever it took to convert the masses. he lives in and loves Irvine, California. In each case, Apple achieved price reductions by Jeremy Horwitz ([email protected]) has doing the unthinkable: cutting features and pack-ins. written for publications ranging from Electronic Want a $99 iPod? You’ll have to give up the iPod’s Gaming Monthly to The New York Times, having famous screen, menus and Click Wheel controller. Want founded and edited Ziff-Davis’ Intelligent Gamer a $199 iPod? They’ll leave the power adapter out of the magazine. A cum laude graduate of Cornell box. How about a $349 iPod photo? Well, if you want to Law School and author of the book Law School view the photos on your TV - or connect your camera Insider, Jeremy presides over iPodlounge’s and directly to it for downloads- you’ll need to buy separate the Buyers’ Guide’s editorial content, focusing cables or an iPod photo Dock. Jeremy Horwitz special attention on iPod reviews and emerging Editor-in-Chief technologies. He lives with his girlfriend Heather Bad moves? Hardly; by the standards of the competitors and Siberian Husky Sake (Sah-kay) in Irvine, CA. who would dismiss it, the iPod shuffle’s sales are already staggering. And though we’d love to know that every Larry Angell Bob Levens iPod box contained every single part a new iPod owner is iPodlounge’s is iPodlounge’s Chief might need, Apple’s new low initial price, pay-later-for- News Editor. Based Forum Administrator what-you-need strategy will entice far more people. in Ohio, Larry has and a contributor to When the company shipped the $599 iPod photo last covered Apple the site. Located in year with a box full of accessory goodies, we said in products for years and owned Cambridge, U.K., Bob has worked this very space that we loved it, but didn’t know how every generation of the iPod. in such diverse career fields as well it would sell. Apparently, the price was a turn-off, Previously, he worked in the the nuclear power industry, TV causing Apple to make its fastest and deepest iPod price mobile electronics industry and radio engineering, the Royal reduction ever - $150. And with that cut, almost all the with world champion car audio Air Force and the Ministry of packed-in accessories just disappeared from the box. professionals, and currently lives Defense. He lives with his wife, with his girlfriend, cat, and dog. dog, and four iPods. While we loved the photo Dock, Apple’s AV cables had partially overlapping functionality, and its “free” case Contributing Editors, Forum Administrators & Moderators: was bland. So now Apple lets you buy or ignore them if Kirk McElhearn, Austin Agarwal (iamaustin), Jerrod Hofferth (azdude15gb), you want. Same with the iPod mini and shuffle: if your John (eustacescrubb), Mike (MikeM), Tom Tracy (tntracy), Aaron Steele computer has a powered USB 2.0 port, you can charge (AaronS), Andy (AndyH), Adam Shawley (ashawley), Kurt (c.c.r.), Cate both for free. If not, go grab a separate power adapter. (caterinka), Deeq (deeq), Douglas Adams (Doug Adams), Alicia (ginalee), Accessories have just become a key part of iPod life. Prithvi (m.r.m.), Bill (SouthsideIrish), Albert (yinyang), and Audrey (honeybee1236). Over the 102 pages of our first 2005 Guide, we’ll look at each member of the new iPod family, and tell you about The Buyers’ Guide 2005 is published by The Media LLC and is Copyright the very best add-ons we’ve seen and tested for all of © 2005. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, them. Like you, we keep practicality and prices in mind sold, rented, or transmitted in any form, or by any means whatsoever, whenever we evaluate new iPods and accessories, so without the prior written consent of the publisher. Unauthorized sale you can be sure we’re looking out for you whenever we of this publication is prohibited, and by accessing this publication, you give out an A, B, C, D or F rating - even if it’s hard to do. agree not to violate these restrictions. iPodlounge and The Buyers’ Guide 2005 are independent sources of information on the iPod digital media Of course, we’re constantly interested in what’s coming platform and have no affiliation with Apple Computer, Inc. or any vendor around the corner, and if industry insiders are to be of iPod accessories. iPod, iPod mini, iPod photo, iPod shuffle, iTunes, and believed, the remainder of 2005 will be focused on the related marks are the registered trademarks of Apple Computer, and all middle- and high-end of the iPod family. Expect wireless other names and marks contained herein are the property of their headphones, car solutions, and more. We can’t wait. respective owners. 4 iPodlounge Buyers’ Guide introductiongalleries Critical changes in the world of iPod since our last Buyers’ Guide, News in Review taken from iPodlounge.com’s frequently updated news pages. Apple debuts $99 iPod shuffle, 6GB mini, 30GB photo Price-conscious potential buyers targeted; most expensive iPod drops from $599 to $449 as pack-ins disappear The launches were spread across two different months, but either in a specified or random order. Each iPod shuffle they were both aimed at price-conscious buyers: Apple’s requires a powered USB 2.0 port to recharge its 18-hour January 11, 2005 release of its least expensive digital music battery, and includes headphones, a lanyard USB cap, and a player - the flash memory-based iPod shuffle - had been non-lanyard USB cap. Nationwide sell-outs were immediate. planned for months, with only the name and form factor open to question. A 512-Megabyte (120 song) version is On February 24, 2005, Apple lowered the prices of both its priced at $99, while a 1-Gigabyte (240 song) unit is $149. iPod mini and iPod photo offerings, and added new models to each line.