O.K. Confession time for me. Keep in mind I only own three pairs of shoes and one purse....I own over 2,000 CDs. Last year for Christmas I bought my sister an Ipod Classic 160 GB and planned to put my entire CD collection on it. But on I-tunes, I only had enough room to put 1,200 CDs. So now I have to get either a larger hard drive, or an external hard drive. I'm a moron when it comes to computers, so have to depend on the Best Buy computer geeks, who seem to have little patience with someone like me. Any suggestions? If I put all the music on the external drive, would it be protected if something should happen to the computer? If I had enough room, my sister could also add her CD collection to my computer and then I can re-load her Ipod. Win/win for both of us. Eventually, I'd like an Ipod for myself, but what kind? Is the Touch a better product than the Classic?

Awesome! That will look great in my bog!

I'm looking for a recommendation for an iPod (Classic) docking station/speaker that has a remote. The Bose system looks and sounds quite nice, but it's a bit beyond my budget. This will be for school use on an almost non-existent school budget (CA budget woes). Right now the iPod is being used, hooked up to a shelf stereo unit via the Audio In jack. However, the remote for the stereo will not control the iPod. Thus, looking for the iPod station with a remote. Thanks for any leads (cross-posted in Home Entertainment forum). DonnaR/CA

A few years ago DS#1 bought a Shuffle for himself, b/c they are affordable even for a 12 y/o. ;o) But, there is no screen, so it's hard to "manage" your songs. So when he got bored with that, he wanted a Nano, with the small screen and the ability to manage his play lists. Also, he can pop that into a speaker system made for it and play it outloud, no headphones. He can watch movies on it, too. He gave the Shuffle to his younger brother. Ever since we gave him the Nano last Christmas, I wanted one for myself. They are fun! So for months I've been dropping big hints to DH, reminding him I still wanted one for Christmas. So, yesterday he did better and gave me the ipod Touch. WhooHoo! Wow, is it fun! I can connect to any wireless internet with that and download the music, movies and games directly, without my computer. Or with my computer, if I want. It is everything except a phone. I can email from it, get weather, directions (it is NOT a GPS, though, it's just directions). Or, I can download Tetris, then stay up all night playing it. So, if you were at my house, you could now try out all three. ;o) DH is quite proud of himself b/c I LOVE this "toy" he gave me for Christmas. I'm like a kid! Called my mom yesterday, she gave my dad an Ipod Touch for Christmas, too! So he can watch movies on it while they are on the road. DS#1 tells me you cannot upload a DVD to it, you must go online to itunes and download/buy a movie. She chose the Touch b/c it's got a bigger screen for "their old eyes" to see. She didn't think Dad would use the Nano b/c he wouldn't be able to see the screen. But she asked to talk to DS#1 to answer some questions about how to use it. Truth be told, though, my mom is pretty tech savvy for a grandma. ;o) Oh, and I had to get my 15 y/o to stop playing Wii long enough yesterday to give me a tutorial on the IPod. Even though I am still having fun saying to him, "Wow, mine is better than yours." That is the first time I can say that about any technology "toy." A person could look at the Shuffle and think "That's OK, that'll do what I want" and you'd be happy with your music. But once you see the others, I think you'd see the advantages (and, OK, the fun factor) of having more features.