new toy

[cellio]

I've entered the 21st century: I now have an iPod (nano), a birthday present from Dani. This was totally unexpected; I haven't had portable music since way back when I had a Walkman (TM). But I'd been lamenting the hassle of moving CDs between the home and the car (the one you want is always in the wrong place), and this solves that. Dani also got me an interface between the iPod and the car stereo; it broadcasts via FM, raising questions (not answered in the documentation) about signal distance. Can I end up in conflict with the guy behind me at the traffic light? Time may tell, nor not. (Neither Dani nor I is really an earbud kind of person.)

The itty bitty iPod comes with an itty bitty manual. Fortunately (I suppose), also a short one. (I read it with a magnifying glass.)

The UI seems a little jumpy, and I do hope there's a global switch so that turning it on requires intentional action. As it is, just brushing the face sometimes turns it on, which can't be good for battery life.

I haven't used iTunes before, and parts of the interface are (deliberately?) counter-intuitive for Windows, but I think I've got the gist of it. So far I'm just working at the album level; I haven't created playlists. I assume that eventually I'll have too much music in iTunes for the iPod and I'll need to select what to put on the iPod, but I've only scanned about half a dozen CDs so far so that's not an issue yet.

Cool toy!

Comments

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

When we had an iTrip (before we got the built-in connector, all fancy-schmantzy), we usually ended up at the very low range of the radio dial. And often we could switch up or down a couple of decimal points if we found a radio station popping up over our music. The real trick was keeping the iPod close enough to the radio receiver. We ended up having to have it on the dashboard in order to transmit as powerfully as possible.

If you're interested in the built-in system, at some point, give hakamadare a holler. I forget what it's called, but it's hardwired into our car.

[cellio]

Thanks for the tips. In particular, I hadn't considered that proximity of the iPod itself might make a difference. (I assumed that the plugged-in gadget, not the iPod, was the source of the broadcast signal.) There's a cup-holder right in front of the dash near the radio; I'll try that.

(I'm definitely replacing my current car before the warranty runs out in early 2008, so even if I never get the built-in gadget for this car, it'll be something to look for in the next one.)

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Huh. Is the iTrip not plugged directly into the iPod? WIth ours, the proximity of one was virtually the same as the proximity of the other (wrt how close they were to the radio receiver). But that was ... two years ago, at least. Dunno if they've remodeled the iTrip since then.

[cellio]

Ah, we might be talking about different gadgets. I don't know what an iTrip is. What I have is an adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter (have you noticed that they no longer contain cigarette lighters? :-) ), and the iPod plugs into the other end. THe cord is about four feet long, so I've been putting the iPod on the front passenger seat.

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Huh. I say you experiment, then! Try putting the iPod as far as possible from the antenna, and see if it's different from putting it as close as possible. Be sure to control for factors such as moving away from or toward a conflicting radio station (stay put), etc. I hypothesize that having the iPod closer to your antenna will give you better signal. ;)

[cellio]

My antenna is on the back center of the roof. I first tried putting the iPod in the back seat (the cord just reached), and that didn't help at all. I then picked it up while thinking about what to try next, and the signal got better. I tucked it behind the visor near the roof, and it got nice and clear. So elevation, or maybe some approximation of "line of sight", makes more of a difference than raw distance. (I'm pretty sure it was closer in the back seat, but not pointed at the antenna.)

[jducoeur]

Sounds like the same device I have. Yes, what matters there is the proximity of the gadget itself, not the iPod. I eventually decided that the interference was Way Too Annoying (see previous comments about the crowded Boston radio dial), and switched over to a cassette adaptor, which worked smashingly well -- until that stereo broke, and I discovered that getting a new one with a cassette player is a pain nowadays.

So I wound up choosing my new car stereo mostly *for* the iPod. I got one with an AUX input, had the installers hang a jack wire out the front, and I simply plug the iPod into that for automotive use. (They even make an iPod adaptor for the thing, which lets the stereo front-panel control the iPod, but it was an extra hundred bucks that I didn't care to spend...)

[cellio]

When I buy my next car, iPod support (of some form) will factor into the choice of audio system.

The best place in my car to put the iPod (at the end of its tether to the adapter) seems to be behind the visor. (See my comment above to chaiya.) I would not have expected that.