Small wonder: From top left, the pencil thin iPod Nano; the ebony and ivory video iPods; the affordable shuffle. Top, the Apple store at City Centre (photograph by Subhendu Chaki)

All you need to do is plug the shuffle into your computer’s USB port and drag and drop songs into the iTunes interface that opens up

I told you I was becoming a Mac addict. It all started with a chance discovery of the Video iPod. To my amazement, I found that Calcutta, too, is really falling for the iPod phenomenon. I had never really been bothered about Apple’s products before as they seemed overpriced. Then, the other day, I saw a range of their products at City Centre’s newly-opened Apple store called Amaze.

Now, Apple is reported to be in active negotiations with Hollywood to provide full length downloadable movies for the Video iPod through their iTunes online Music store. Apple started the iPod craze with its range of portable MP3 players. Now there are several in the market, ranging from cheap Chinese hard drives like Delstar that double up as MP3 players to proper sets by companies such as Samsung and Creative.

Just take a look this week at what Amaze has displayed at its store. The prices too seem affordable.

The cheapest is the iPod shuffle. It comes in two versions, of 512 MB and 1 GB, which translates roughly to 120 songs and 240 songs. It plays MP3, AAC, podcasts and audiobooks. AAC or advanced audio coding are the highest quality downloaded music currently available. All you need to do is just plug the shuffle into your computer’s USB port and drag and drop songs into the iTunes interface that opens up. It is that simple. The shuffle comes with a price tag of Rs 4,600 and Rs 6,500, depending on which version you choose.

Next, there is the amazingly sleek iPod Nano. It has an unsurpassed interface, excellent sound quality and is a really cool device to carry around. There are three versions of the Nano, with prices ranging from Rs 9,700 to Rs 15,900.

But what takes the cake is the Fifth Generation Video iPod. It is priced at Rs 19,800 for the 30 GB version and Rs 26,500 for the 60 GB version. It comes in two colours, black and white. I guarantee you will want one if you just take a look at it. Curiously, the prices here are cheaper than in the UK. Make sure you have a USB 2 port on your computer for fast synchronising with iTunes. iTunes will open up the moment you connect your iPod to the computer with the supplied cable. After that simply import your movies, songs and podcasts into iTunes and it will automatically update your iPod.

Just take a look at all the things you can do with it. You can store your music, photos, videos, movies, etc. Yes, you can shuffle your songs too. Added to that, there is a world clock and four exciting games including a music quiz. You can store the phone numbers and addresses of your contacts by synchronising it with Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express and Palm Desktop. Vcards are also exportable to your Video iPod. The device even keeps a calendar of your activities; it is like your personal To-Do list or your appointments schedule. Drag your computer text files and keep them as Notes for browsing while on the move. It even has a stopwatch.

Download any movie from the Internet and watch it on your Video iPod. To be able to watch a movie on your iPod, you need to convert it to an MP4 format. I recommend that you use the Xilisoft iPod Video Converter. It is a powerful iPod video conversion programme that easily converts almost all popular video file formats such as AVI and MPEG to iPod files. Xilisoft iPod video convertor supports a wide variety of video file formats including AVI, MPEG, WMV, MOV, RM, RMVB, DivX, ASF, VOB, 3GP, APE to iPod MP4 by building in lots of codecs. The software not only converts iPod video, but also supports conversion of audio files including WAV, WMA, MP2, AC3, RA, OGG, CDA to iPod MP3, M4A, AAC. The conversion process is really fast. It comes with a price tag of Rs 1,400.

Or else, you can go to www.jodix.com and pick up the iPod video converter. The programme is a freeware and does not contain any form of malware, spyware, viruses, trojans or backdoors. A detailed html help file is included and installing and uninstalling too is easy.

If you are going to buy an iPod, I would suggest you take the Apple Care Protection Plan for the iPod too. You normally get a one-year guarantee for your product. But with this Apple Care cover, you can extend it to two years. Problems crop up in the second year if they do. Mr Sanjay Chordia of Amaze says this extended warranty normally costs Rs 3,000, but he is selling it for just half the price at Rs 1,500.

Send in your computer related problems to askdoss@abpmail.com.

This column will appear every fortnight.