For some, your ipod is not just something to listen to music on, it’s a way of expressing who you are and showing off as a technological fashion accessory. To accommodate this you can get loads of different cases and covers to both protect and glamorize your ipod for when you take it out. A lot of these cases come in the form of plastic shells which protect the outside and the back of the ipod whilst leave the screen and clicker wheel easy for you to view and use. On the ipod touch range you can get cases that cover the touch screen until it is flicked open like a phone cover might do. Or, you can get stick on plastic covers which strengthen the screen but still allow you to work the touch screen.

You can then get a range of docking stations and speakers that will allow you to listen to your ipod out loud rather than through the headphones- meaning that you can have it on in your room as you work, or as some background music for a romantic evening.

In regards to headphones, there are lots of different styles that come for your ipod, be them the traditional ‘bud’ style ear phones to the old style headphones on a band over the head or around the neck. You can even get ones where the wire goes behind you so the ipod can be kept in a rucksack whilst you’re listening!

itunes is the programme that you need to use if you’re uploading new songs, photos or videos to your ipod, and it works very much like any other media player that you will find on your computer. If you have a CD that you want to put onto your ipod you simply put the CD into your computer and itunes will automatically ask you if you want to rip the songs to your itunes library. This is all done very quickly and in a few minutes you’ll have the whole album saved on your library ready to be put on your ipod.

All you need to do then is plug in your ipod and then highlight the songs you want and drag them over the ipod icon on the menu next to the music library. If you want to put a set of songs on a certain album together- for example “Random Rock Music”- you simply highlight the songs you want, right click, select “Add info” and then alter the album title, the artist title and even the genre and rating. You can even save songs to playlists and upload these to your ipod or listen to them on itunes as you work on your computer.

When you get a new ipod you’ll need to link it to your itunes programme on the computer, and the first time you plug it in you’ll be prompted to type in the 11 digit serial number to sync your ipod to the itunes library. This will also link it to your itunes store account if you choose to buy any music from there- all of which will automatically save on your itunes account to be put on your ipod.

The ipod shuffle is great for those who just want to plug their headphones in and lose themselves in the music. There’s no screen or scrolling button to worry about, it just plays you a random mix of all the songs you have stored on there to entertain you as you go about your day. You can store up to 2GB of songs and audio books on the ipod shuffle, so you have lots of room to store all of your favourite stuff.

You can, however, skip through the songs on the ipod shuffle until you find the one you want and the clicker style wheel on the front lets you play, pause, adjust the volume and skip tracks as much as you want whilst still being really simple to just leave running. If you go onto itunes you can sync the ipod shuffle to play certain playlists and group songs for you so it’s not completely random, which means you can select a play list to suit the mood of the day for you.
Apple are constantly editing their technology to make it more accessible for everyone, and the new voice over feature will announce the name of the song or playlist that is playing and will even give you the battery status. All this can be done in one of 25 different languages!

The ipod touch is a new revolution in the ipod range and does everything you could possibly want. Simply scroll through the touch screen to search through your music and select the album you want to listen to. Whilst you’re doing this you could be checking your Facebook profile through the social networking app, or instant messaging a friend. There’s even a built in organiser for work or school to allow you to really keep on top of your schedule.

Very much like the iphone, you have a glossy menu of apps on the screen which takes up the entire front of the device and you simply tap the icon you want to instantly access the various applications and features. The sophisticated camera in the device lets you make video calls to other ipod touches and you can even capture photos and video. You can receive emails on the go and play some games at the same time and the powerful battery life can handle lots of multi tasking for a long time.

When you’re out and about the ipod touch can become your satnav, and the built in maps system has locations all over the UK stored in it, and you can download more if you need to. With up to 64GB of storage the possibilities for music, video, photos and internet use are limitless and you can really use the ipod touch for everything you could possibly need for organising your work life, social life and anything else in between!

The ipod nano used to be a slimmer version of the ipod classic, featuring a clicker wheel and bigger screen, but these days the ipod nano is much smaller and is designed to be small and portable to it can discretely be taken absolutely anywhere. Unlike the shuffle, which is a similar size, the nano features a screen which allows you to scroll through your music and choose songs just like you do on the classic ipod, however this is a touch screen. A simple sweep of your finger lets you scroll through your music and the album cover will be displayed on the screen for you as you play the music.

There’s a built in clip on the ipod nano, so you don’t have to worry about losing it in your pocket or bag when you’re wanting to change albums, and you can just clip it onto your pocket or trousers for easy access. Like all of the ipod range, it comes in a wide variety of colours, so everyone can be happy with the design they have. Plus, when bought direct from apple you can engrave it for free with a personal message.

The ipod nano even has a built in pedometer so you can use it during fitness runs, and even comes with special features like voice-over which says the name of the song or function for the blind or partially sighted, or you can select mono-audio for if your hearing is impaired in one ear.

The ipod classic the ipod that we all know and love, and features the classic square screen and round clicker wheel that has become iconic in the apple word. They’re really simple to use, and you just have to scroll the clicker wheel to browse through all your songs, videos and photos and can even be engraved with a personal message for free if you buy direct from apple! The ipod classic comes in loads of different storage sizes, up to an impressive 160GB of music which stores around 40, 000 songs for you to listen to on the go.

The sleek design always remains the same and is the soft edged square with iconic silver back and a range of different colours for the front panel to make sure that every personality can have an ipod to match. You can have 36 hours battery life listening to music, or 6 hours of video watching on the impressive glossy screen that allows for clear viewing of all your videos and photos. These are uploaded via the trusty itunes programme on your computer and always gives you maximum support.

When you buy you’ll get the USB cable that enables you to charge your ipod and upload music, and they also give you some headphones specifically designed to enhance the sound of your music from the ipod.