Eeny, meeny, miny, iPod - Holiday Buyer’s Guide

November is here, and with it the holiday shopping season is upon us. Apple has a new line-up of iPods seemingly released exclusivels to be fodder for wish lists, but what are the real differences between the iPods? Which one would make the best gift for the special someone on your gift list?Before we look at the iPods themselves, let’s talk about a few vocab words that will be key factors in fitting the perfect iPod to each person on your list.

iPod vs. MP3 Player - Many people ask, “Should I buy an iPod, or an MP3 player?” While it may seem very different from other players on the market, an iPod is simply a type of MP3 player. An extremely popular, versatile one, perhaps, but it does play MP3s.

MP3 - MP3 actually just refers to the way data (in this case, audio data) is digitally stored on your computer or other device. It’s a very popular way to store music because it compresses the information so that much less space is needed to store each song, but the audio sounds practically as good as the original to most human ears. iPods do play MP3s.

AAC - AAC is another way to store music. It’s the default format for downloading music from Apple’s iTunes store, and can be converted to MP3. All Apple devices will play AAC formatted music in addition to MP3 formats.

Hard Drive - Yep, same concept as the one in your computer. The hard drives inside Classic iPods have a spinning disk, and a “head” that reads from the disk - it works very much like a record player. However, like record players, these drives aren’t terribly fond of being jostled around. Just like you wouldn’t want to toss your laptop around, tossing a hard drive around can do permanent damage when the read head crashes into the spinning disk where all your data is stored.

Flash Memory - this is the same kind of memory that’s in your USB memory stick. It doesn’t have any movable parts, so there’s not really any risk to throwing these around to your heart’s content. One downside of this sort of memory is that it’s expensive (getting cheaper all the time, but still more expensive per gigabyte than hard drives), so 80 or 160 GB of memory (the size of an iPod Classic) would be extremely expensive.

Now that we have the background, let’s meet the gadgets themselves.

iPod Shuffle

Specifics: 1GB of storage, $79 price tag, flash memory

Pros: Flash memory means that this iPod can take a lot of banging around. Couple that with the fact that the Shuffle is one big clip that stays put wherever you want, it’s a great choice for taking to the gym. It’s also very small, and quite cheap.

Cons: Small storage, no screen (so no way to select a specific song when the mood strikes you), requires a different sort of dock connector than the rest of the iPod family so many iPod add-ons won’t work unless they’re designed specifically for the Shuffle.

Who to buy a Shuffle for: gym buffs; sports fanatics; youngest kids who don’t need a lot of high tech add-ons; elderly relatives who like music but don’t want to learn a lot about a new gadget.

iPod Nano

Specifics: 4GB or 8GB of storage, $149-$199 price tag (depending on size), flash memory, video screen

Pros: The Nano also has flash memory, so it’s another good choice for the gym. It’s larger than the Shuffle, but still extremely small (I looked at them in the store…it was kind of like holding a Pringles potato chip that plays movies and music). The Nano does have a display screen, so you can navigate through playlists and choose music at will, as well as watch video.

Cons: No built-in clip, so you need to buy a case with a clip or store it in your pocket. It can play movies, but the 4 or 8GB size is really pretty small for storing much video (Apple says that the larger size will hold 8 hours of video, the smaller will hold 4).

Who to buy a Nano for: Pre-teens who can take care of an expensive gadget, but don’t need all the bells and whistles of a more expensive model; teens who want the “cool” factor and the candy colors; Moms and Dads who like a bit of tech, but don’t want all the power and expense of larger models

iPod Classic

Specifics: 80GB or 160GB of storage, $249-$349 price tag (depending on size), hard drive memory, video screen

Pros: The hard drive in the iPod classic means that you get a lot of storage space. This is ideal for music buffs who want to carry all of their music with them, or if you’d like to have a lot of movies to watch (Apple says that the Classic will hold up to 100 hours of video to the Nano’s 8). Slightly bigger screen makes for better video watching.

Cons: Since this model has a hard drive, it’s not a good idea to take it to the gym - the jostling an MP3 player will take on the treadmill can damage the intricate workings and harm the device. Slightly bulkier than the Nano. Only comes in black or white.

Who to buy a Classic for: Anyone who wants to be able to truly carry their whole collection with them at all times, whether that’s a music collection, a photo collection, or videos.

iPod Touch

Specifics: 8GB or 16GB of storage, $299-$399 price tag (depending on size), flash memory, video touch screen

Pros: The Touch comes with extra software not found on the other iPods. It has WiFi capability, so you can surf the web or watch YouTube if you’re near a WiFi (wireless) hotspot. It has some PDA capabilities, such as a built in calendar and address book, alarms, and calculator. Like the Classic and Nano, you can watch video, view your photos, or play music. You can also surf the iTunes store and download music directly if you’re connected to WiFi. The flash memory means that it will survive the gym pretty well if you decide to take it there.

Cons: You can only surf the internet if connected to a wireless signal. You can find free wireless a lot of places, but it’s not everywhere (yet). PDA functions have little editable functionality - as of this writing, you can read your calendar but you can’t add events to it on the touch (there have been rumors that this might change in a software update in the future, but nothing official has been stated yet). Small amount of memory means that you can still store only limited amounts of video (10 or 20 hours, according to Apple, so this is still more than the Nano but far less than the Classic).

Who to buy an iPod Touch for: The gadget lover who has everything.

iPhone (This isn’t an “iPod” per se, but it’s the hot gadget of the year and has potential to either replace the iPod in your life or be the top item on someone’s letters to Santa)

Specifics: 8GB of storage, $399 price tag, flash memory, video touch screen, digital camera, cell phone and data services through AT&T Wireless (in the US. As of this writing, iPhone releases in the UK, Germany and France have also been announced. See the Wikipedia article for more detail.)

Pros: The iPhone is really the has-it-all device. Web surfing through Safari, email, Google Maps, camera, informative widgets, music and movies are literally at your fingertips. All if the features in the iPod Touch, and then some. One added advantage is that it functions more like an actual PDA. You can read email, and edit information like calendars on the iPhone. AT&T’s Edge network allows you to surf the internet, get email, see weather and stock reports, etc as long as you have signal so you’re not reliant on finding a WiFi hotspot. When there is WiFi available, the iPhone can take advantage of that, too, to give you even faster data connections.

Cons: Apple’s locked into a deal with AT&T through the end of 2009, so if you already have another cell phone carrier you’ll have to wait or switch carriers. You can do a lot through the phone interactively, but the 8GB flash memory is not a lot of storage space so you’re limited in the amount of video and pictures you can really put on this glossy screen. Email won’t work with Microsoft Exchange servers (many offices have these) unless the system administrators are willing to open up extra settings for you.

Extra Consideration: AT&T has a full range of cell plans for the iPhone, but all of them include unlimited data transfer and web browsing. Cell minutes and text messages are still limited by your plan, but you won’t need to worry about email checking or web browsing accruing extra charges (unless you travel out of the country - using a cell overseas can incur all sorts of extra charges you’re not expecting unless you check it out first). The iPhone plans start at a $20 addition to your existing account to cover data fees, and range on up through several tiers of individual and family plans. You can see the whole range here.

Who to buy an iPhone for: Anyone who needs (or wants) to be connected to email and web surfing at every second; the gadget lover who hates carrying around multiple items.

iPod Shopping Tip: Check out Apple’s refurbished section of their online store for deals on prior models, and sometimes even refurbished versions of current models. They’re all Apple certified and come with the same warranty, but they’re a fraction of the price!

* all images in this article are courtesy of Apple