My date with iPodMeister
Posted on December 3rd, 2008 – 9:39 AMBy Randy A. Salas
I recently got an update from iPodMeister — the company that rips your CDs to an iPod, sends you the player and backup DVDs, and then keeps the CDs as payment – on the progress it is making in converting my 2000-CD collection. Things appear to be going fine so far, and I’ve been impressed with the customer service.
I got a call from the company on Nov. 20 to say it had received all 10 of my boxes. I got a follow-up call Nov. 25 to say that they were halfway through my collection but were shutting down for the Thanksgiving holiday. The expectation then was that they would finish up by the end of this week. I asked how they were handling my many discs whose track information doesn’t show up in CD databases. They said they were entering the data by hand. Cool — I thought I would have to do that.
I’m still waiting to hear back from the owner on the final terms of my deal, since my collection far exceeds the minimum number of discs for their standard deals (such as 200 CDs for an 8GB iPod Nano or 400 CDs for a 16GB iPhone 3G). Meanwhile, I’ve started buying some accessories I’ll need as part of the change-over, having gotten good deals on a nice iPod-ready car receiver for my wife ($110 shipped) and an iPod dock for her to use at home ($100 shipped).
I’ll offer occasional updates here. My follow-up column is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 23.
6 Responses to "My date with iPodMeister"
Randy, I take it you are rarely going to buy cd’s in the future?
Hey Randy. I was just going to post to see if you had thoughts on docking stations. Have you heard the one you bought? Also, any recommendations on portable speakers/stations? My wife could use them for her job.
Mahmoud, for most popular music, I will probably rarely buy CDs. I’ll probably use Amazon (DRM-free, higher bit rate) for downloads. For classical and film scores, I’ll probably continue buying discs and ripping them myself at the highest bitrate. Aside from the sound-quality issue, there’s no online store that can offer the eclectic selection and prices of the indispensible Berkshire Record Outlet (www2.broinc.com) for orchestral music. And there are too many cool film-score CDs through places like Intrada (www.intrada.com) and Film Score Monthly (www.filmscoremonthly.com)that are not available online.
Mike, check Don Lindich’s blog at http://www.soundadviceblog.com. He regularly covers docks. He’s high on Cambridge SoundWorks and recommended the model I got. At $99 shipped, it’s a deal from the original $249. I got a new one as part of a Thanksgiving sale, but they have fully guaranteed refurbs for the same price. The PlayDock MP3 has received raves at the Cambridge site from customers who bought it. I have not heard it, but based on everything I’ve read, I’m confident it will be fine for my wife’s needs — including a built-in battery that lets you unplug it and carry it to play at another location for up to 10 hours. For more dock reviews, check out CNET Reviews (reviews.cnet.com/best-ipod-speakers).
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Thanks, I was going to soundadvice later to check it out. Appreciate you answering our posts. Have a great night.
