MP3 - iPod

[ShellyHall]

Ok everyone, I know some of you will probably think me totally stupid by asking this, but have I got the following right?  An MP3 is a type of computer file used for music storage and an iPod is a device for playing this type of file (plus others)?  Therefore presumably an MP3 player only plays MP3 files - yes?

Silly question number 2 coming up, do you need to have a broadband connection to download music to them?  I know broadband is quicker, but is there any way round this?

[Aquariel]

Your first 2 questions are right!  "MP3 Player" I think seems to be more of a generic term used to describe most portable music players.  MP3 is the dominant format, although there are others such as WMA (Windows Media Audio) - most players will play more than just MP3.

You don't need to have broadband per se, but you will be in for a long wait on dial-up, even just downloading a couple of songs.

You could always convert all of your original CDs into MP3 files first, if you haven't already done so - the software to do this might come with the player; if not, there are plenty of free programs on the internet.

[fly258]

MP3 players should realy be called DAPs, Digital Audio Players as most play other file formats as well as MP3s.

 You do not need broadband to download music from the web, it just makes it a lot quicker if you have it.

An iPod is just another DAP, it ihas become the generic name for a DAP due to intensive marketing of the product. In my opinion there are a lot better DAPs than the iPod, as it's a case of fashion over function.