V-Flyer

I'm flying out to SFO on Friday to stay in Lake Tahoe for a few days. Since teenage son is not coming (and more importantly not making a fuss about not coming) I would like to buy him an iPod. Where's the best place to do it? In duty-free at LHR or in San Francisco itself as I have at least one day there on my return? If I buy it in San Francisco can it be charged from the mains over here - or does it run on batteries. I'm afraid I'm an iPod virgin [:I]

quote:Originally posted by honey lamb
I'm flying out to SFO on Friday to stay in Lake Tahoe for a few days. Since teenage son is not coming (and more importantly not making a fuss about not coming) I would like to buy him an iPod. Where's the best place to do it? In duty-free at LHR or in San Francisco itself as I have at least one day there on my return? If I buy it in San Francisco can it be charged from the mains over here - or does it run on batteries. I'm afraid I'm an iPod virgin [:I]

Honey lamb

Can't advice on place to buy.

But 4th generation iPOD should charge fine when connected
to a powered USB2 or firewire port on your PC/MAC. We
never have ours charging on the mains at home. Only issue
when travelling would be to plug the US mains adaptor into
a suitable travel adaptor for the country you are in + I think
you can buy an ipod travellers kits for charging as well.

Robert

Don't know the LHR duty free price, but I would be VERY surprised if it is cheaper than Apple stores / Best Buy / Comp USA etc. etc. in San Francisco.

May be cheaper in SFO duty free .... if they sell them [:0]

IMHO I would get it from one of the above outlets. As Robert says, charging it isn't a problem in the UK. They are fantastic devices.. don't know how I ever lived without mine.

It mau be an idea to give SFO a ring to price them up in duty free first though..

Nick

Thanks for the advice although I must confess I didn't understand a word of it. [:I]

I wasn't actually asking what store to buy but rather is it better value to buy it in the USA and if so, will it work over here? I suppose that really is the question.

Yes, you can buy an international plug kit (adapters that fit into the main power converter) for all countries - it's about $35. The warranty, however, is worldwide (I've used the warranty for my US ipod in the UK), so no problems there. As robert says - you CAN charge it through your computer anyway, although I still use my power adapter for travelling.

Bear in mind that if you buy it in SF, the price is plus sales tax & the dollar is improving against the £ every day at the moment. (Base rate has decreased from $1.92 - $1.87 since May 5th)

For price comparisons, try Nextag.com to see if it's worthwhile. To be honest, through, the prices tend to stay pretty close to Apple's retail levels:

Shuffle from $99
Mini from $199
20GB from $299
Photo from $349

(All + tax in CA)


... re: Nick's note - I've never seen anywhere to buy an ipod Duty Free @ SFO. Can you claim the sales tax back though, as an "alien"?

Sorry, Nick. I was responding to Robert's reply. I had highlights put in my hair last Saturday so I'm having some very blonde moments!

quote:Originally posted by honey lamb
Sorry, Nick. I was responding to Robert's reply. I had highlights put in my hair last Saturday so I'm having some very blonde moments!

Bottom line is it should work no problems. The iPOD will be plugged
into the computer in order to download music onto it. Whilst your son is busy downloading all this CDs onto the iPOD it will be merrily charging away. If it gets really discharged you just leave it connected to the computer until its charged up.

Robert

Aaah! Now I understand. [y]

Thank you everyone for your help. At least if I do decide to buy it over there I now know that it won't be a dead loss.

You guys rock!!

small correction. Ipod software upgrades sometimes need a "flash update" which requires them to be plugged into the mains when a std US/UK adapter is required. As a rule such updates will only be required when you're stuck in a foreign country with no reading materials having only brought your usb 2 cables.

Decker - Liege [:(]

Decker,

Is this a Windows thing? - That's certainly not the case when using iPodUpdater on a Mac.

Unless I've misunderstood, I'm confused as to how you'd do that anyway - the power connector is the same socket that the USB/FW cable connects to. How do you run a flash update on an iPod that's not connected to the PC, as it's linked to the power adapter through it's connector instead?

I'm sitting in Liege with an iPod Photo that decided to update via the USB 2.0 cable from my PC. On conclusion it reported "Now plug into the mains adapter for a Flash Update". Any attempt to use it results in a little LCD picture of plugging an iPod into the US Style mains adapter on the iPod . Same happened with my iPod Mini that was only satisfied by being plugged into the mains. I suspect an Amperage issue rather than a Voltage issue...

I would simply go into San Francisco. Take the BART from the international terminal to the Powell Street Station. The Apple store is right there; across from the Virgin Music store:D.

Too bad your son is not going. You get a 30USD student discount on iPods (larger than the Mini).

It is certainly a better deal to buy in the USA. According to Apple's UK website, the iPod 20GB (the one I have, also holds 5000 songs) cost 209GBP including VAT or 391USD (from yahoo.com). The cost without any discount in the US is 299USD plus less than a 10 per cent tax. Maybe say it is from your son and they may give you the discount, have see it happen before.

The funny thing is that a good deal of the people in the Apple store in San Francisco are from the UK, buying iPods. I heard a mother talking to her daughter; "If I buy you this pink mini, you will only use it for audio books!" - right.

Benjamin

Also - the fare from SFO to the Powell Street station is 4.95USD and the BART sysytem takes the Mastro card.

If you are cheap like me, book a hotel near the airport (to the north of the airport in South San Francisco, not to confuse you). The CalTrain is nearby and is faster and cheaper that the BART 1.75USD. Also the Caltrain takes you the near SBC Park, which I am pretty sure mcuth will agree is a highlight of the city. There is a nice Border's bookstore and a great place called 'Happy Donuts'. If you go to the game, go the Safeway and buy your peanuts as they are cheaper.

Benjamin
(now I need to order my V-flyer gold kit, so happy )

I am now on my 2nd and 3rd ipods (shuffle and 40gb) and the rest of the family have 3 ipod minis. In my experience, I have found that when you use the ipod updater, it will sometimes carry out a flash update. For this, the ipod must be plugged in to the mains.

Also, I have found that if my ipod becomes totally discharged, it will not charge from the USB port, but only from the mains. Is it true that charging with USB takes a lot more time than the mains? If so, that's another reason for buying an adapter. Personally, I would buy the travel adapter kit for $35 (about £35 in the UK I think). This will also give you the ability to take your ipod to other countries in europe, US, UK etc.

I am currently borrowing my brother's mini (cheers bro)'coz I am
a) Going on a long trip without V:Port soon
b) To cheap to buy my own

Battery life is pants - no more than about 2 or 3 hours. This is not going to get me to Buenos Aires (on BA as well), especially given his (very questionable) musical taste.

What am I doing wrong (or are my expectations too high?)

Thanks!

Would have expected you to get 6 hours or so - I listen with it plugged into my computer so it is permanently charging. Do you have the backlight on permanently?

quote:Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
Also the Caltrain takes you the near SBC Park, which I am pretty sure mcuth will agree is a highlight of the city.

Absolutely - a cracking stadium (shame the team's been hit&miss so far this season though!)

Honey Lamb - you're coming back on Sat 21st, right? The Giants are playing the Oakland A's on Friday 20th @ SBC park - could be good timing for you. Looks like there's still tickets available here.

Cheers

Michael

csparker,

My wife and kids have minis and all their batteries last a lot longer than 2/3 hours. Not sure exactly how long, but I would expect 6 hours at least. If it's still within warranty, try ringing apple. I had a friend with a similar problem and apple just sent him a new ipod

Agree with jonmm66, my lad's iPod mini had a battery problem (it was bought in the US) we simply rang Apple up, they sent a prepaid UPS envelope and it was collected from home.

It arrived back very shortly after, fully sorted.

I would expect 6-8 hours use on a charge.

Nick

Thx for the suggestions - will teall my bruv to get on the blower to Stevie J....

What would we do without ipods?!!!!!!!!!:D[8D];)

Cheers,
VS045

I bought my 3rd gen 15 Gb iPod and docking station from the Apple shop in San Francisco (it worked out at about a £60 saving). I've not had any problems with it what so ever. I've been able to update it here in the UK without any problems. I think the current version of the software on it is ver 2.3

I use Windows but connected using Firewire (6 pin full size firewire connection on my home PC, 4 pin mini FireWire connection on my Windows lap-top). The only difference is that the 4 pin mini-Firewire connection does not charge the iPod. (you get a 4 pin Firewire adapter with the iPod)

As for the power socket/charging issues. Remove the US 2 pin plug bit from the white power brick (it just pulls off) and a 2 pin socket is reveiled underneath. You can then plug in any standard UK power cable with a 2 pin connection into this (the power cable that came with my battery charger for my digi-cam works a treat) hey presto you can now plug in your US iPod into a UK socket to charge it.

As the white power brick is a transformer, it will accept 100 - 240 volt input so no issues with different voltages.

Regards

I also saved about £50 by buying my iPod Photo 60gb at the Apple store in New York in February. I haven't charged from the mains at all yet, just from the PC.

I bought it just after the massive price drop from $600 to $450, but bear in mind they removed lots of extras at the time, so it no longer comes with the dock, the av cable, the case or the remote. IMHO the remote is the only moderately essential item, and I kept mine from my 3G ipod when I sold that.

Side note: I'm pretty sure Rod Stewart walked in the Apple store while I was in there, then turned round and walked straight out again.

Well, I bought the i-Pod mini for my son from the Apple store in San Francisco. It took me ages to find it. I remembered that you guys had posted about taking the BART to Powell Street but not about it being across from the Virgin Megastore. After ages of wandering about and asking directions, it was as obvious as the nose on my face [:I]

On my last night I was staying in a hotel near SFO and went into Burlingame for something to eat. So there was I at a table near the window chomping away at my food when I looked across the road and saw........

.....an Apple store. Before I knew it I was in there and came out with an i-Pod mini for myself. Well it was either that or an i-Book and as I hadn't researched that sufficiently, the i-Pod was the smaller of two evils - at least as far as my credit card was concerned.

Originally posted by honey lamb
Well, I bought the i-Pod mini for my son from the Apple store in San Francisco. It took me ages to find it. I remembered that you guys had posted about taking the BART to Powell Street but not about it being across from the Virgin Megastore. After ages of wandering about and asking directions, it was as obvious as the nose on my face [:I]

On my last night I was staying in a hotel near SFO and went into Burlingame for something to eat. So there was I at a table near the window chomping away at my food when I looked across the road and saw........

.....an Apple store. Before I knew it I was in there and came out with an i-Pod mini for myself. Well it was either that or an i-Book and as I hadn't researched that sufficiently, the i-Pod was the smaller of two evils - at least as far as my credit card was concerned.

Glad to hear you got sorted. We picked one up in HK at the w/e as well as
we decided an i-Pod between the two of us wasn't sufficient


Robert