Buying a new iPod
Although there are many different models of iPod, choosing the right player is made easier by the fact that they pretty much all do the same thing.

The main differences between models are the physical dimensions, the size of the hard drive, the price, and on some models the colour of the casing.

If you are shopping around, bear in mind that some sellers may throw in a few accessories like external speakers or engraving the back of your iPod etc to help sweeten the deal but make sure your not inadvertently paying for these accessories via a higher price tag!

All iPods function well onstage with backing tracks - they are so easy to use it's a breeze! Here are the models of iPods currently available and their spec:

* Spec Notes:

1GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity less.
Song capacity is based on 4 minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; photo capacity is based on iPod-viewable photos transferred from iTunes; video capacity is based on 4 minutes per H.264 750-Kbps video combined with 128-Kbps audio.
Up to 20 hours of battery life refers to 60GB model and music playback.

Remember that if you plan to use your iPod as a portable hard drive as well as a music player, you should opt for a model with plenty of hard drive space. Also bear in mind that that the capacity of formatted hard drives is always less than the actual capacity of the actual hard drive so, for exanmple, a 4GB hard drive will only have around 3.75GB of storage space when formatted.

Buying a used iPod
You may consider buying a used iPod. Many iPod owners simply upgrade to a bigger or newer model so "second-hand" doesn't necessarily mean that there's something wrong with it. Buying a used iPod is exactly the same as buying any other piece of electronic eqipment - be careful to ensure that it's in good working order before you part with your hard-earned cash!

Also check if the model you're buying has recently been replaced by a newer model - a new model with a better spec usually makes the price of older models tumble so you could bag a real bargain! If the used iPod is less than a year old, you should be able to transfer the manufacturers warranty and have any problems fixed under it's original guarantee.

A word of warning - although the used iPod you are buying may appear to work just fine, the battery may well be on its last legs and replacing an iPod battery is a costly affair!

Old iPod Models