First-time iPod customers have lots of questions - here are the answers to some frequently asked questions on Apple's portable media player.

Almost everyone has heard of iPods by now. Thanks to Apple's effective marketing campaigns, the term iPod has almost become generic for "mp3 player." But actually buying an iPod is not so easy. First-time iPod customers have lots of questions, from which iPod is right for them to how to get songs and other media files onto an iPod. Read on for some answers.

Q: What's the difference between the various iPods on the market now?

A: There are now so many variations of the iPod that even after serious study, you'd be hard-pressed to name all the differences. There's an iPod Classic, an iPod 5.5 Generation, an iPod Photo, an iPod Nano, an iPod Mini, and an iPod Shuffle. The Nano, Mini, and Shuffle are flash-based devices that hold less but are significantly smaller than the other models. Until the latest, third generation of the Nano, none of the flash-based models were capable of displaying video.

The larger iPods are generally the most expensive, but offer higher capacities, video playback, photo storage and other interface niceties. The Nano and Minis are fashion accessories as much as they are playback devices, as they come in a range of different colours.

Since iPods aren't exactly inexpensive, you owe it to yourself to visit a local computer or electronics retailer - or an Apple store - to try out the various models. Which one you decide on will hinge on personal preference for size, capability, and handling, and the only good way to get a feel for the different iPods to actually to hold them and try each out.

Q: I see there are a lot of accessories available for iPods. Which ones are really necessary?

A: The answer to that question will really depend upon how you use the iPod - and how picky you are about keeping it in great shape. As you may have seen, a fairly large industry has grown up around supplying add-on gadgets for the iPod - everything from replacement earbuds to car chargers to sticky cases that won't allow the iPod to slide easily off a table.

Do you need any of these? Unless you know you do beforehand, it's a good idea just to use your iPod for a while to see what you're missing, if anything.

Q: I jog and exercise a lot and want an iPod that won't break if I drop it. Which one should I get?

A: You'll want to stay away from the hard drive-based iPods and favour the flash memory-based ones. That means you should hone in on the iPod nano, which is now in its third generation and comes with 4 or 8 gigabytes of memory. That's enough to hold quite a lot of music, although clearly not as much as the iPods with hard drives.

Nevertheless, the flash-based models are tough - and light. The nano weighs in at under 2 ounces. The newest third generation nano allows you to play videos, although the screen on which you'll watch these videos is so small that it'll make you question the wisdom of doing so. You might save a few dollars in this period of transition by going with the still-available nano second generation, which won't give you video but will give you perfectly good music playback.

Q: I've heard that I have to use iTunes if I purchase an iPod. Is that true?

A: Many people have the wrong impression of iTunes - namely, that's it's a delivery service that forces you to buy music at 99 cents per song. While you can purchase music through iTunes, you can also use it to organise and transfer to your iPod songs that you already own or have on your computer.

iTunes, in short, is an application that performs many of the same functions as the Windows Media Player. It's especially well suited to iPods, however, as it will recognise an iPod immediately once it's plugged in to your PC, and it will transfer music and other media to your iPod in a format that's space-efficient. So there's no reason to fear that if you use iTunes, you'll be locked in to a music purchasing system that Apple controls.

You can, however, get around using iTunes if you wish. Plenty of open source applications exist that can interface with an iPod, including Gtkpod (http://www.gtkpod.org) and Rockbox (http://www.rockbox.org). With these, you can hook up your iPod to your PC and drag songs to it as though it's another drive.

Q: How long do the batteries on an iPod last between charges?

A: Depending upon the model you buy, battery life is between 8 and 14 hours. Your iPod charges when it's hooked up to your computer. You can also buy a conventional power adapter from Apple or third parties (a bit cheaper), and there are car chargers available as well. Stand- by battery life is generally about a month. Many people who do not use their iPods continuously for long periods find that a single battery charge can last them a week.

DPA

Photo: Kay Nietfeld