New and Improved MP3 Thread

[MJZiggy]

I still haven't gone portable and we had a thread with some great info in it. Can anyone summarize for me so I know what to get?

[Partial]

get an iPod. Or, if you've got money to blow, get an iPhone come June.

[MJZiggy]

Aren't iPods expensive too? Do they play ripped music or just iTunes?

[Partial]

You can add any music to iTunes, being it downloaded for third-party service, downlaoded from the music store, downloaded off a p2p, ripped from cd, etc.

iPod is expensive but the user interface is best in the biz and the reason why 5 iPods sell to any other MP3 player.

[GBRulz]

ditto to what Partial said and also, the wide variety of accessories out there for iPods is incredible. Much more than any other mp3 player.

[MJZiggy]

Thanks guys.

btw, GBR, though I liked the last avatar, somehow you just look better in green!

[GBRulz]

I have a feeling the green snow monster will reappear. I can't seem to really find anything I like! I did find a naked guy shaking his butt though, but it needs to be resized and I have a feeling the admin around here won't help me with that one

[MJZiggy]

E-mail it to me and I will take care of it for you.

[Guiness]

I'm in the non-Ipod (and not naked guy shaking his butt) camp.

IMO the Ipod is a much higher price for window dressing. If you want to constantly play around with song lists, buy cute little cases, docking stations, have ability to interface to a receiver, the Ipod is what you want. It IS more flexible.

However, if you want portable music and not get upset if (if you're like me, when) you lose the thing, buy a 1gig flash memory mp3 player for $49.99.

BTW if you like Itunes, you can still use it to manage your music, and handle d/l to the cheap mp3 player.

[MadtownPacker]

Whatever happened to 8-tracks?

[Zool]

8 tracks went out with the sprawling woman mural on vans. You know....typical vehicle on Michigan right off the 10.

Get a Nano. $200 for the 4G. $250 for the 8G. The screen is very clear, the battery life is much improved on the 2nd generation and they are very scratch resistant. The click wheel makes it worth the extra little bit of $.

[MadtownPacker]

8 tracks went out with the sprawling woman mural on vans. You know....typical vehicle on Michigan right off the 10.
What about pictures of cattle with your last name on the door?

[Zool]

I dont need to know what your moms house looks like.

[MadtownPacker]

Watta you say bout my Momma??????? :evil:

Hahaha!

[AtlPackFan]

Whatever happened to 8-tracks?

Your dating yourself, Mad! :wink: Those things were horrid and yes, I had a player in my '73 Vega. The worst part was how they would split songs in the middle as it transitioned from forward to reverse. And, of course the damn thing ate about a tape a week.

MJ, as of mid-October, my wife is working from her house. Her commute went from a hellish 1-1/2 to 2 hours for a 25 mile trip to 3 seconds to get from the bedroom to her "office". But I digress....

Last week we bought her an iPod and a iHome radio/iPod player. I'm not enamored with the iHome radios sound quality but it serves its purpose. We bought a refurb 4GB Nano through Apple (same warranty as a new one) and have filled it with about 500 songs. She plays it on shuffle and instead of having to change CDs out every 45 minutes or so, she still hasn't heard the same song since we set it up on Monday. She loves it!!!

[MJZiggy]

Thanks APF. I like that commute, but for home use, I can just use my Media Center. This is for the "getting out of here" use. How did your wife manage to find such a gig?

[AtlPackFan]

How did your wife manage to find such a gig?

They closed down the Southern region, reassigned her to the Midwest and told her she could work from home. Its in the companies financial interest. The save the cost of moving us to Midwest headquarters in Louisville and it's a hell of a lot cheaper flying (which she does a lot) out of Atlanta than from Louisville.

[Freak Out]

I loved all my 8 track players...I had a very cool portable one that looked like one of the old explosives plungers/triggers...very cool. I got that for Christmas one year with Deep Purples "Burn"....fucking great shit.

Wait for 6-8 months before you drop $$$ on a spendy MP3 player...things are going to change fast with much larger flash drives.

[GBRulz]

E-mail it to me and I will take care of it for you.

What program do you use to edit gif's? I need to find a good one.

[Charles Woodson]

8 tracks went out with the sprawling woman mural on vans. You know....typical vehicle on Michigan right off the 10.

Get a Nano. $200 for the 4G. $250 for the 8G. The screen is very clear, the battery life is much improved on the 2nd generation and they are very scratch resistant. The click wheel makes it worth the extra little bit of $.

see this is what i dont get. Why would someone buy an 8G nano for 250 when they can buy a 30G video for the same price

[Partial]

'Cause the nano is adonized aluminum and virtually indestructible ( It's made of the same material as the mini and i've dropped that thing running at least 50 times in 2 years and it just keeps on ticking ) . Smaller form factor ( albeit not a huge difference ) , color selection, etc.

The benefit of the nano is it has a solid-state storage solution. The larger iPods have a moving hard drive. When running or moving around a lot with the spinning hard drives, eventually it will lead to failure. Skipping during songs and malfunctioning of the drive also sometimes occur with a spinning drive.

With a solid state storage solution ( alliteration at its finest ) , you have nothing to worry about with that.

[Charles Woodson]

haha yea i see i have a 2 gig nano and im to lazy to upgrade... Although i have broken my nano before, it was really weird the top half of the screen went blank and everything but it was probly cause i bought it on ebay, afterwards i brought it in to apple and they gave me a new one for free. didnt even ask me where i bought it

[Partial]

The first gen nanos build quality was crap. The new aluminum ones are much better.

[Zool]

'Cause the nano is adonized aluminum and virtually indestructible ( It's made of the same material as the mini and i've dropped that thing running at least 50 times in 2 years and it just keeps on ticking ) . Smaller form factor ( albeit not a huge difference ) , color selection, etc.

The benefit of the nano is it has a solid-state storage solution. The larger iPods have a moving hard drive. When running or moving around a lot with the spinning hard drives, eventually it will lead to failure. Skipping during songs and malfunctioning of the drive also sometimes occur with a spinning drive.

With a solid state storage solution ( alliteration at its finest ) , you have nothing to worry about with that.Word

[Guiness]

E-mail it to me and I will take care of it for you.

What program do you use to edit gif's? I need to find a good one.

If you actually mean manipulating as opposed to editing, there's only one worth mentioning - irfanview - at the obvious location, www.irfanview.com

[Jimx29]

Irfanview is a greta free tool, but it won't help do anything to "moving" gifs. It only opens on pic from the image.
For free .gif editing, I simply go to http://www.gifworks.com/cgi-bin/gifworks.pl?com=transfer_open

You can do quite a bit of fiddling with them there.

[GBRulz]

well eventually, I'd like to get a good program where I can create my own gifs, but in the meantime, I just need a couple resized, so that's why I asked Zig what she uses since she told me that she would be able to do that for me.

Thanks very much for the help, Cyberski & Guiness :wink:

[Badgepack]

If I get the nano, can songs just be dragged from one folder to the other?

If not, how big of a pain is it to load music already on your PC to the nano? I like to keep it simple.

[Zool]

Use iTunes. When you plug your nano in, it shows up as an icon. Drag songs from your library over the top of the pic.

[MJZiggy]

well eventually, I'd like to get a good program where I can create my own gifs, but in the meantime, I just need a couple resized, so that's why I asked Zig what she uses since she told me that she would be able to do that for me.

Thanks very much for the help, Cyberski & Guiness :wink:

I just said to e-mail it to me and I would take care of it. (I actually don't do it myself, but have friends in low places that would just to get a look...)

[Partial]

If I get the nano, can songs just be dragged from one folder to the other?

If not, how big of a pain is it to load music already on your PC to the nano? I like to keep it simple.

It's very simple. It's 10x simpler on a mac.

[GBRulz]

If I get stuck on something with itunes, and of course my tech support group around here is not available :wink: I will use the Apple support forum. I must say, Apple has one of the best support forums around. Easy to find exactly what you're looking for and easy to understand.

Can't go wrong with an ipod/itunes.

[Badgepack]

If I get the nano, can songs just be dragged from one folder to the other?

If not, how big of a pain is it to load music already on your PC to the nano? I like to keep it simple.

It's very simple. It's 10x simpler on a mac.

That's my concern, I don't use a Mac.

[Partial]

If I get the nano, can songs just be dragged from one folder to the other?

If not, how big of a pain is it to load music already on your PC to the nano? I like to keep it simple.

It's very simple. It's 10x simpler on a mac.

That's my concern, I don't use a Mac.

Plug in, open iTunes, drag and drop. Very, very easy!!

[Badgepack]

I am not digging iTunes so far.

Badgepack is getting angry!

[billy_oliver880]

I will never get an Ipod in my life. I have heard nothing but bad things from service department people at best buy. You have to send your Ipod in to get a new battery installed. Hard drive based ipods lock up and crash at random. Why a company can have a market so cornered is beyond me. Too much hype. You buy an Ipod and then you have to buy all the accessories. The Iphone is not that exciting either. We are so far behind europe and japan when it comes to cellular phones its laughable.

[GBRulz]

I will never get an Ipod in my life. I have heard nothing but bad things from service department people at best buy.

That is your first mistake....listening to the people at Best Buy :lol:

[Zool]

As a former Best Buy employee, I can tell you that she is right. They hire 99% incompetents. I of course was in the 1%.

Talk to people that actually know what they are talking about.

[Partial]

I will never get an Ipod in my life. I have heard nothing but bad things from service department people at best buy.

That is your first mistake....listening to the people at Best Buy :lol:

They're full of shit. They want you to buy their 75% margin insignia BS and their 94% margin product service plan or like 73% product replacement agreement.

I used to work at BB. They're full of it. I would deal directly with Apple. Period. They have the best customer satisfaction and customer service according to consumer reports.

[MJZiggy]

Does the iPod come with an FM tuner?

[Partial]

Does the iPod come with an FM tuner?

No. Apple makes an attachment that accomplishes this, though.

[MJZiggy]

For what they charge for an iPod it should have a tuner, satellite receiver, do my taxes and clean up after my dogs for me...

[Zool]

Before completely shunning the iPod, you might want to check into the Zune.

[billy_oliver880]

I will never get an Ipod in my life. I have heard nothing but bad things from service department people at best buy.

That is your first mistake....listening to the people at Best Buy :lol:

No no not the salesmen. I have a friend who works at the "Geek Squad" and he said that he was getting 4 or 5 Ipod in for service a day. I know the best buy people don't know their stuff but this is a pretty fair assessment. Although he said that he has never seen a nano come in for service.

[Zool]

Trust in the Nano. Hard memory is the way to go in a portable device.

I'm confused as to why the Geek Squad is pulling in iPods for repairs. Is there no Apple store near you? The Geek Squad here doesn't do repairs, only replacements or ships them to the Apple store.

[Partial]

For what they charge for an iPod it should have a tuner, satellite receiver, do my taxes and clean up after my dogs for me...

I like to think of Apple Inc products as such:

A Kia can go just as fast a low end BMW.

The BMW is a better car because:
It uses higher quality internals. ( better lcd panel, nicer keyboard, etc)
The interior and exterior are nicer ( thinner, more aestically pleasing )
Smoother, more enjoyable ride ( OS X )
Best customer service/satisfaction around ( Apple is #1 according to consumer reports )

Doesn't necessarily apply Zig, but people should really see the big picture instead of looking at raw specs * cough * ZOOL * cough * :P

[Partial]

Trust in the Nano. Hard memory is the way to go in a portable device.

I'm confused as to why the Geek Squad is pulling in iPods for repairs. Is there no Apple store near you? The Geek Squad here doesn't do repairs, only replacements or ships them to the Apple store.

Which is kinda funny 'cause the first gen nanos were pieces of shit that scratched like motherfuckers. The new gen of aluminum nanos are awesome, though. My mom jsut bought a product (RED) one.

[Joemailman]

Just don't do what my nephew did. His Nano went through the wash. Didn't survive. But, he's a great kid and is probably taking it better than I would.

[Partial]

Just don't do what my nephew did. His Nano went through the wash. Didn't survive. But, he's a great kid and is probably taking it better than I would.

That TT avatar is a good fit for you. Do you look at all like TT? For some reason I look at it and it just clicks.

[Freak Out]

If you are still looking for a small/flash based music player give this a look.

http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/review4329_intro21652.html

Here is the best place to buy it. If you have ever done business with Newegg you know what I'm talking about.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16855117016

[GBRulz]

As a former Best Buy employee, I can tell you that she is right. They hire 99% incompetents. I of course was in the 1%.

Talk to people that actually know what they are talking about.

Maybe you can answer this question then. Do the employees get a bonus for selling extended warranties? I rarely buy anything from BB, but it seems if I do, they are constantly cramming the extended warranty plan down my throat. In fact, one time I went in and bought a DVD player. It was on sale for like $100. I had a question about it and they seemed more interested in telling me about the warranty plan for $29.95 instead of the player itself. I cut in and said "I will buy the player, but if you keep trying to sell me an extended warranty, I will walk out". So, up to the cashier I go and SHE tries to sell me the extended warranty. There was a manager within 10 feet of us, so I said "ya know, I am so sick of you guys trying to shove these warranties down people's throats, you can keep your damn DVD player". and I walked out.

Perhaps I was PMSing that day, but my God, it gets sickening after a while. So, I'm convinced that either they get a bonus for selling an extended warranty or management makes their employees push it on the customer.

[GBRulz]

I will never get an Ipod in my life. I have heard nothing but bad things from service department people at best buy.

That is your first mistake....listening to the people at Best Buy :lol:

No no not the salesmen. I have a friend who works at the "Geek Squad" and he said that he was getting 4 or 5 Ipod in for service a day. I know the best buy people don't know their stuff but this is a pretty fair assessment. Although he said that he has never seen a nano come in for service.

Well, I don't know why people take their ipods to Best Buy for service because they don't service them!! Unless they act like a middle man and just send it on to Apple.

You also have to look at how many millions of iPods are sold. Yes, there are issues with the battery and you have to have Apple service it. So, of course there are going to be more "service issues" with them.

I have owned a 3rd, 4th and 5th gen Ipod and I have had nothing but good things to say about them.

[GBRulz]

For what they charge for an iPod it should have a tuner, satellite receiver, do my taxes and clean up after my dogs for me...

If you looked around at other 30G mp3 players, you would find that iPods are about the same price. (Vision, Zune & Ipod all retail for about $250)

[Partial]

As a former Best Buy employee, I can tell you that she is right. They hire 99% incompetents. I of course was in the 1%.

Talk to people that actually know what they are talking about.

Maybe you can answer this question then. Do the employees get a bonus for selling extended warranties? I rarely buy anything from BB, but it seems if I do, they are constantly cramming the extended warranty plan down my throat. In fact, one time I went in and bought a DVD player. It was on sale for like $100. I had a question about it and they seemed more interested in telling me about the warranty plan for $29.95 instead of the player itself. I cut in and said "I will buy the player, but if you keep trying to sell me an extended warranty, I will walk out". So, up to the cashier I go and SHE tries to sell me the extended warranty. There was a manager within 10 feet of us, so I said "ya know, I am so sick of you guys trying to shove these warranties down people's throats, you can keep your damn DVD player". and I walked out.

Perhaps I was PMSing that day, but my God, it gets sickening after a while. So, I'm convinced that either they get a bonus for selling an extended warranty or management makes their employees push it on the customer.

No we didn't. They're non-comission there. But, you get bitched at big time if you don't sell the warranties and hit the "sauce". The Product Service Plan is 90% profit or something like that if I remember correctly. Across the board with my discount I think it was 85% off on that. That's why they push it so big. We do the same thing at Sears. Those things are all profit!!!

[Charles Woodson]

http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-33169-Digital-Radio-Transmitter/dp/B000E5BL18/?tag=slickdeals&tag2=slickdeals


great lil piece of technology... transmits ur ipod to the radio

[Joemailman]

As a former Best Buy employee, I can tell you that she is right. They hire 99% incompetents. I of course was in the 1%.

Talk to people that actually know what they are talking about.

Maybe you can answer this question then. Do the employees get a bonus for selling extended warranties? I rarely buy anything from BB, but it seems if I do, they are constantly cramming the extended warranty plan down my throat. In fact, one time I went in and bought a DVD player. It was on sale for like $100. I had a question about it and they seemed more interested in telling me about the warranty plan for $29.95 instead of the player itself. I cut in and said "I will buy the player, but if you keep trying to sell me an extended warranty, I will walk out". So, up to the cashier I go and SHE tries to sell me the extended warranty. There was a manager within 10 feet of us, so I said "ya know, I am so sick of you guys trying to shove these warranties down people's throats, you can keep your damn DVD player". and I walked out.

Perhaps I was PMSing that day, but my God, it gets sickening after a while. So, I'm convinced that either they get a bonus for selling an extended warranty or management makes their employees push it on the customer.

I recently bought my Ipod through Best Buy, but bought it online to avoid that. They can be very annoying. Besides, it was cold out and I had it 2 days later. :D

[GBRulz]

As a former Best Buy employee, I can tell you that she is right. They hire 99% incompetents. I of course was in the 1%.

Talk to people that actually know what they are talking about.

Maybe you can answer this question then. Do the employees get a bonus for selling extended warranties? I rarely buy anything from BB, but it seems if I do, they are constantly cramming the extended warranty plan down my throat. In fact, one time I went in and bought a DVD player. It was on sale for like $100. I had a question about it and they seemed more interested in telling me about the warranty plan for $29.95 instead of the player itself. I cut in and said "I will buy the player, but if you keep trying to sell me an extended warranty, I will walk out". So, up to the cashier I go and SHE tries to sell me the extended warranty. There was a manager within 10 feet of us, so I said "ya know, I am so sick of you guys trying to shove these warranties down people's throats, you can keep your damn DVD player". and I walked out.

Perhaps I was PMSing that day, but my God, it gets sickening after a while. So, I'm convinced that either they get a bonus for selling an extended warranty or management makes their employees push it on the customer.

No we didn't. They're non-comission there. But, you get bitched at big time if you don't sell the warranties and hit the "sauce". The Product Service Plan is 90% profit or something like that if I remember correctly. Across the board with my discount I think it was 85% off on that. That's why they push it so big. We do the same thing at Sears. Those things are all profit!!!

no doubt those extended service plans are a huge profit generator for businesses. There are so many articles out there saying how much of a waste of money they are as well. I also love how they position them as a "2 year extended warranty plan", which really equates to one year past the manufacturers warranty..alas...they are selling you a 1 year warranty.

On some things, I do buy the extended warranty on. I bought all of my appliances at Sears (happy, Partial? :lol: ) and on a $2500 fridge...heck yeah i'm going to buy one. Which btw, the icemaker went out on it this past summer and the whole unit had to be replaced. It (extended warranty)has already paid for itself. But, am I going to buy an extended warranty on a $300 piece of equipment...no.

[Partial]

I don't support Sears at all I just like money!! Don't buy that crap its a waste of money on most things. On appliances it will pay for itself if you use it once. Then, its worth it.

Gotta way out the pros and cons. Sears is at least not such a huge rip-off on the extended warranties according to consumer reports.

[billy_oliver880]

Trust in the Nano. Hard memory is the way to go in a portable device.

I'm confused as to why the Geek Squad is pulling in iPods for repairs. Is there no Apple store near you? The Geek Squad here doesn't do repairs, only replacements or ships them to the Apple store.

Couldn't tell you why...this is when I was back in Wisconsin. I have the slightest clue about apple or their stores. I am sure if best buy was selling the ipod then they offered warranties and service for them. I am sure the nano is a good gadget but overpriced in my mind.

[billy_oliver880]

Trust in the Nano. Hard memory is the way to go in a portable device.

I'm confused as to why the Geek Squad is pulling in iPods for repairs. Is there no Apple store near you? The Geek Squad here doesn't do repairs, only replacements or ships them to the Apple store.

Couldn't tell you why...this is when I was back in Wisconsin. I have the slightest clue about apple or their stores. I am sure if best buy was selling the ipod then they offered warranties and service for them. I am sure the nano is a good gadget but overpriced in my mind.

[superfan]

Whatever happened to 8-tracks?

Doomed by horrible marketing campaigns...

http://www.recording-history.org/images/8tling.jpg

[superfan]

In fact, one time I went in and bought a DVD player. It was on sale for like $100. I had a question about it and they seemed more interested in telling me about the warranty plan for $29.95 instead of the player itself. I cut in and said "I will buy the player, but if you keep trying to sell me an extended warranty, I will walk out". So, up to the cashier I go and SHE tries to sell me the extended warranty. There was a manager within 10 feet of us, so I said "ya know, I am so sick of you guys trying to shove these warranties down people's throats, you can keep your damn DVD player". and I walked out.

Perhaps I was PMSing that day, but my God, it gets sickening after a while. So, I'm convinced that either they get a bonus for selling an extended warranty or management makes their employees push it on the customer.

Way to go after them, Rulz. Perhaps it was because you went there immediately following the first Bears game? :evil: :evil: :smack: :smack:

[Sparkey]

well eventually, I'd like to get a good program where I can create my own gifs, but in the meantime, I just need a couple resized, so that's why I asked Zig what she uses since she told me that she would be able to do that for me.

Thanks very much for the help, Cyberski & Guiness :wink:

Use the GIMP

which stands for Graphical Image Manipulation Program

It is freeware and it is pretty damn good too! Plus you can make your own gifs, work with layers, there are tons of built in filters and if you download Ghostscript, you can work with postscript files as well.

http://gimp.org/windows/ for WINDOWS
http://gimp.org/unix/ for Linux/Unix
http://gimp.org/macintosh/ for Mac OS/X

or you can download the source and compile it yourself.

[Badgepack]

Took awhile, but the ipod and itunes are doing great.

The Mrs. loved it for her birthday loaded with 500 of her favorites songs.

[the_idle_threat]

As a former Best Buy employee, I can tell you that she is right. They hire 99% incompetents. I of course was in the 1%.

Talk to people that actually know what they are talking about.

Maybe you can answer this question then. Do the employees get a bonus for selling extended warranties? I rarely buy anything from BB, but it seems if I do, they are constantly cramming the extended warranty plan down my throat. In fact, one time I went in and bought a DVD player. It was on sale for like $100. I had a question about it and they seemed more interested in telling me about the warranty plan for $29.95 instead of the player itself. I cut in and said "I will buy the player, but if you keep trying to sell me an extended warranty, I will walk out". So, up to the cashier I go and SHE tries to sell me the extended warranty. There was a manager within 10 feet of us, so I said "ya know, I am so sick of you guys trying to shove these warranties down people's throats, you can keep your damn DVD player". and I walked out.

Perhaps I was PMSing that day, but my God, it gets sickening after a while. So, I'm convinced that either they get a bonus for selling an extended warranty or management makes their employees push it on the customer.

No we didn't. They're non-comission there. But, you get bitched at big time if you don't sell the warranties and hit the "sauce". The Product Service Plan is 90% profit or something like that if I remember correctly. Across the board with my discount I think it was 85% off on that. That's why they push it so big. We do the same thing at Sears. Those things are all profit!!!

Check out this article, and you'll see why they push the warranties so hard ...

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_47/b3960082.htm

Watch Out, Best Buy And Circuit City
Wal-Mart is attacking their business model by offering lower-cost warranties

This holiday season, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT ) has made no secret that it's gunning for the nation's two largest consumer-electronics chains, Best Buy Co. (BBY ) and Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC ) Wal-Mart has spiffed up the interiors of many of its electronics departments and added a slew of high-end products, from Sony (SNE ) liquid-crystal-display televisions and Toshiba (TOSBF ) laptops to Apple (AAPL ) iPods. It's backing the changes with an aggressive holiday marketing campaign and a big day-after-Thanksgiving sale. But here's what really has Best Buy and Circuit City worried: Wal-Mart has entered their most profitable line of business, extended warranties, and it aims to turn that business on its head.

Although they don't disclose it in their financial filings, the real earnings engine at Best Buy and Circuit City is not the sale of gadgets themselves but the sale of warranties. Those are the high-priced, multiyear protection plans on TVs, computers, and other items that are hawked by the retailers' salespeople at the close of each purchase. This fiscal year analysts estimate warranty sales will account for more than a third of Best Buy's operating profit and all of Circuit City's. On Oct. 27, Bentonville (Ark.)-based Wal-Mart attacked that profit source by launching extended warranties on TVs and computers at prices that average 50% below Best Buy's and Circuit City's, says Jane J. Thompson, head of Wal-Mart's financial services.

Best Buy is better positioned than Circuit City to take the hit because it has found more high-margin services to bolster its bottom line. But Wal-Mart's entrance ultimately puts both retailers in a bind. They can either not respond and potentially lose sales, or cut warranty prices and hurt profits. The dilemma comes at a difficult time. Prices of electronic goods are steadily falling, crimping margins for both companies. "Profit on extended warranties has always been the Achilles' heel of Best Buy and Circuit," says Todd Kuhrt, a former consumer-electronics retailing analyst who is now president of Ardor Capital, a Cleveland hedge fund. "Wal-Mart is cutting right at the heart of their business model."

Wal-Mart's push in consumer electronics is part of its broader effort to attract more upscale shoppers. It has found that wealthier consumers generally use Wal-Mart just for food and cleaning products. To get them to shop the whole store, Wal-Mart is upgrading its apparel, home furnishing, and electronics departments. But analysts figure that if any one of them will get traction first, it will be electronics, because it offers more respected brands.

Shoppers at the newly remodeled Wal-Mart electronics departments -- 1,300 of its 3,100 U.S. stores -- will feel the difference walking down the aisles. The new Rogers (Ark.) store reflects the change. The entire section can be seen in a glance, thanks to lower shelf heights and wider aisles than are customary at a Wal-Mart. Shoppers will find higher-quality displays packed with digital TVs, cameras and camcorders, portable DVD players, and a special display case for iPods. Wal-Mart is negotiating to add more strong brands, such as Samsung TVs. Borrowing a page from Best Buy and Circuit City, Wal-Mart has added 0% financing. Gary Severson, Wal-Mart's chief electronics merchant, says shoppers often exit Wal-Mart to buy gadgets at Best Buy and Circuit City. "I want to give them a reason not to leave," he says.

Should Wal-Mart successfully divert sales from Best Buy and Circuit, its entry into extended warranties will have a substantial long-term impact on the two retailers' profits. On any warranty contract, Best Buy and Circuit City keep 50% to 60% of the revenue, says Jim Sebastian of SAFE LLC, a warranty consultancy involved in setting up Best Buy's program. The balance is divided between an administrative firm that handles the adjudication of claims and an insurer that underwrites the warranties. With little selling expense, the retailer's portion flows straight to the bottom line. This fiscal year, Ardor's Kuhrt estimates warranty revenues will deliver 36% of Best Buy's operating profits and all of Circuit City's.

EARNINGS HIT?
Because such a small percentage of overall sales accounts for such a large percentage of profits at both Best Buy and Circuit, any fall in warranty sales would have a proportionally bigger hit to earnings. Kuhrt, whose hedge fund has no positions in any of the retailers, estimates that, as a percentage of overall sales, a one percentage-point fall in warranty revenue would cause an 8% drop in Best Buy's operating profit and a 29% fall at Circuit.

Apart from the cut rate, Wal-Mart's warranties will be similar to Best Buy's and Circuit's. Wal-Mart uses the same administrator and insurer for its warranties as Best Buy -- N.E.W. Customer Service Companies Inc. and American International Group Inc. (AIG ), respectively. On a $1,000, RCA 52-inch digital projection TV, for example, Wal-Mart is charging $29 a year for an extended warranty, while Best Buy is charging $62 and Circuit $100. Wal-Mart's Severson says it's "safe" to conclude that the retailer will eventually market its pricing advantage on warranties. "It's a good story to tell."

One other big difference for buyers: Wal-Mart's extended warranties commence after the manufacturer's warranty ends. At Best Buy and Circuit, warranties begin upon the product sale, so they overlap with the manufacturer's warranty and don't give buyers much additional benefit for the first year or more. Best Buy claims that its policy would cover things a manufacturer's wouldn't, such as power surge damage. Circuit declined to comment.

Investors wouldn't know how important warranties are to Best Buy and Circuit City just by reading the financials. Circuit only discloses total warranty revenue and its percentage of total sales: $182 million, or 4% of total sales, for the first six months of this fiscal year. Best Buy used to give those figures but stopped providing them after fiscal 2001, burying it in a revenue category called "other." Then it stopped reporting that category in fiscal 2004. Spokespeople for both companies decline to give more detail.

Not all analysts are convinced Wal-Mart's move will cut into Best Buy's and Circuit's earnings. Colin McGranahan, of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., notes that it's the sale of the gadgets themselves that drives warranty sales. He believes consumers will put Best Buy's and Circuit's greater choice before the price of a warranty. But of course, most buyers still don't realize how much more expensive their warranties are than Wal-Mart's. The test comes when they find out. Eric Arnum, editor of the online trade publication Warranty Week, predicts this outcome: "[Wal-Mart] is killing the goose that lays the golden egg."

[Badgepack]

OK this gosh darn iPod nano keeps freezing in the "OK to Disconnect" mode.

Any tricks to unfreeze the damn thing?

[MJZiggy]

Throw it through a window? Ok, I know that doesn't help, but it's what I'd be tempted to do. :P

[GBRulz]

OK this gosh darn iPod nano keeps freezing in the "OK to Disconnect" mode.

Any tricks to unfreeze the damn thing?

I would try doing a hard reset and then re-installing it on your pc. Usually doing a reset on an ipod fixes 95% of the problems. If that still doesn't work, try apple.com, they have a fantastic support forum.