Darn, I missed the Great iPod Giveaway when you buy an Apple Computer

Question

I still have these questions and I will do my best to keep this real short. I had tried the iPod a long time ago but I broke all 3 of them and except for the first one, I have no idea what I did. I have the new iPod: Missing Manual (can't remember the exact name, but it was written by David Pogue, who really writes in a style that I relate to.) I still would like to use this technology for the numerous classes I teach and exercise classes I incorporate into my teaching too; and of course in my own personal life.
Besides being a bit ******** in this area of technology, I am hoping some people can offer me some help until I get the additional assistance that should be here any day. I saw the iPod Shuffle (I think it is called.) On the Apple Store home page, it is the one which looks like it is in the "landscape" position, has a larger display and shoot, I can't remember the name. Oh well, other than wanting some opinions on this one, I wanted to remember the name. I am putting together a new MacBook Pro and will purchase which ever music player I decide on--with your help of course!! Does this have a video monitor and the ability to take video recordings too? However, I no not need that function in the iPod I choose. I would like something that dos not look too "wild" as I walk in to class and introduce myself as the next music/dance instructor.
I have kind f learned more about iTunes 9, which I assume is how I will download and upload all of my music. I know with the first unit, I broke it because it aid t install the CD (or whatever it came in) to get the iPod ready and I guess the HD formatted for music. I really am not sure what it is I had to install but it turned out it was already installed and since I installed it again, and than tried to figure out what was wrong with it, I broke it.
Are there any recommendations with a good quality, great sounding (and I can afford extra earphones, if there are some that are far superior to the ones that come with the unit). I hope it has gotten a bit easier to understand because turning things and trying to remember where I put a genre or group of song types.
Anyway, without getting into all the boring details why I have not had very good luck with getting one of these amazing machines up and running and than remembering how to do it when I want to add some more tunes and keep it nice and tidy.
Thanks for your time, and I hope help. I really do appreciate any info that can help me one day master this very difficult task for me.

Answer 1

The iPod touch is a fantastic little toy, though the touch screen does take some getting used to. Is there anything in particular about using it that you're unsure about?
One great thing about the Touch is that it uses flash or solid state memory instead of a typical hard drive with many moving parts. That's one less thing that can go wrong!
If you're looking for headphones, the best ones I can recommend are by Bose (http://www.bose.com). I'm honestly not sure about earphones--I've just used the earphones that come with my iPods and have very little experience with anything else. You could take a look through the MacWorld website and check reviews there. Here's one set of reviews: http://www.macworld.com/products/ipod/headphones.html
As for speakers, if I would be purchasing them, I'd look at JBL products (http://www.jbl.com) or Logitech products (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakersaudio/home_pcspeakers/&cl=us,en). The exact item you need depends on what you're using the computer and speakers for (ie: if you're playing a video on a big screen, you may want one set of speakers, but if you're only playing music in a small room, a less expensive/smaller item would probably do the job just fine).
Hope that helps!
~Lyssa