Buying a Used iPod on eBay

One of the best places to find bargains on used iPods is eBay - however, there is a fine art to getting the very best deal.

First of all, make sure that you know the exact model and type of iPod that you are looking for. Next, do a search on that specific model. On the top, sort your results by price, with lowest first. Scroll down, and eliminate the auctions that are ending in more than five days as they are usually just not bid up to market price yet.

Look for auctions ending in twelve hours to the next day, which gives you enough time to receive responses back from the sellers.

Next, review the amount of detail each listing has. If a listing only shows a stock photo but has a good price, you can email the seller and ask for an actual photo. This is a good idea, as some iPods can get very scratched and beat up if they were used without a case.

Be sure to ask the seller if the battery has been replaced, and how long it holds a charge before needing recharged. If it needs a new battery, your bargain may not be such a great deal!

Make sure the listing includes the accessories that will be shipped with your iPod, and check on shipping prices. A trick that many sellers are using is to list their iPod at a low price, with a very high shipping and "handling" charge to make up the difference.

When bidding, set a price in your mind that is your "walk-away" price. Otherwise, it is very easy to get caught up in "auction fever" and pay more than you should.

How Do You Rip a CD to MP3 Format?

If you have an Apple iPod, all you have to do is put a CD in your computer's CD drive, and copy the tracks to iTunes. They will then be drag-and-drop uploadable to your iPod - but will not be in MP3 format.

If you have another MP3 player or want to make sure that your files are in MP3 format, there are many free "rippers" available for download on the Web that will record your music on your hard drive in MP3 format.

One such "ripper" is FreeRIP, which lets you record tracks into .wav format, then convert them to MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format.

Another one that is not free, but encodes directly to MP3 format is GoGo CD to MP3 Ripper. It runs for about $25, and can also convert .wav to MP3 and back if you so desire.

How Do You Compress MP3 Files?

MP3 audio encoding already compresses the files so they can be stored compactly without loss of quality.

That having been said, it is possible to compress the files further using a utility such as Blaze Media Pro, however, it is a good bet that the corresponding sound quality will suffer from something known as "compression artifacts."

If sound quality is important to you, then it is best to leave your files as is and purchase more memory!

The Top-Rated Ear Buds for MP3 Players: Shure E4c

If sound quality is of top importance to you and you have a spare $300 to spend on earbuds, the winner of CNET's ear bud review is Shure E4c.

These white earbuds represent a new technical advance called Tuned Port Technology that makes the tiny bass response in earbuds stronger by using the airflow around the speakers.

In order for them to work the way they are intended, you need to push them far into your ear canal. As everyone's ears are different, they come with a variety of disposable foam earpieces.

A gold adapter is also added for premium sound quality.

They are also ultracompact, and weigh just 1.1 oz!

How Do You Put Videos on Your iPod?

The easiest way to obtain movies and transfer them to your iPod is by purchasing them from the iTunes store. This way, they are already in the proper format and can be easily transferred to your video iPod when you synch up with your PC.

If you have movies on DVD and want to transfer them to your iPod, the PQ DVD to iPod Converter suite will rip them for you and allow you to transfer them over easily.

This suite also converts other video formats to iPod, so you can transfer over AVI video from your camcorder, YouTube or media purchased from RealMedia to your iPod, as well.

It runs about $30, and is downloadable from the web.