[Matthew Attoe]

Hello there,

I'm going to be taking my ipod back to john lewis next week due to the euro volume capping. I checked today and they told me they would accept it back so no problems there. I realise that there is a way to remove capping (although complicated by my levels of tech-ness) but that doesn't really interest me unless it was a one-click procedure.

Anyway, what I plan to do is buy an ipod in the US when i visit in October. I'm going to take my AAC collection on a couple of DVD-R's with me.

Now when I pop into the Apple Store to get my ipod, I'm hoping that they'll charge it up for me and put the AACs from my DVDs onto the new ipod, so i have some music to listen to while on holiday and on the plane back!

BUT..... (here come the questions)...

1) will this 'attach' my new ipod to the mac in the US, so that i can't re-sync the ipod to my Mac back in the UK? or is there a way to re-link the ipod to my mac.

2) will I have any problems with future official Apple firmware updates - what i mean is, if Apple releases a new firmware, for example v2.5, will this then revert my US ipod to a Euro one (with volume capping) as the firmware update was carried out on a European Mac?

3) a) will there be any battery-charging problems when i connect my ipod to my mac - I'm guessing all ipods will charge from any mac - is this a correct and safe assumption.

3) b) will i be able to charge the US ipod from the UK mains if I buy a US to UK plug adapter (ie 2 pin to 3 pin)? I'm assuming the firewire adapter block, which you slide you country's plug adapter on to, is the transformer. Again, is this correct?

I realise I have a lot of questions and i have had a search through previous posts for some answers, but couldn't really find what I was looking for, so I hope some of you can help me out.

Many thanks in advance,

Matthew

[Diggory Laycock]

They are all the same hardware - an american iPod is the same as a UK iPod

p.s. what is euro volume capping?

[Angus_D]

Who knows. I'm guessing he thinks his volume is being capped. If that's the case, get one of these. Or something.

[chabig]

1) Yes, your iPod will be 'attached' to the US Mac. But only until you plug it into your own Mac. When you plug it into your own Mac it will automatically offer to sync with it.

2) I don't know, but I think you'll be OK.

3a) You will have no problems. Any iPod can charge from any Mac.

3b) You'll be fine if you make it fit into the socket. The adapter block is the transformer. It can handle 110-240 Volts and 50-60 Hz.

Chris

[icruise]

I thought the volume capping was only for models sold in France, but maybe it is all European models.

[Matthew Attoe]

Thanks for the answers, guys... appreciate it...

The volume capping of 100db applies to all euro models, even though the law is for france only :-( The US models are 103/104db - so a lot better for use on a train/plane etc

Thanks again,

Matthew

[Quinn]

You may want to check the warranty situation. I think only laptops are covered by a worldwide warranty.

If you have a problem you *may* have to send it back to the US to get it fixed. I'm noy 100% sure.

[Angus_D]

You might be interested on these directions for how to patch away this problem.

[Matthew Attoe]

Cheers mate...

I saw this hack a couple of days ago and it is way to tricky for me...

Need to get a firmware binary, use unix and all sorts... way over my head.

Have you tried this hack yet yourself? Did you have much success?

Thanks again,

Matthew

[Mastrap]

No idea about the hack, but one thing you won't have is a warrantee. Personally I would never recommend buying electrical goods in the US for use in Europe. They break, you pay.