My wife and I are going to purchase my brother in law a Ipod today.

I've never owned one, so I need to pick your brains.

He wants the 20 GB.. Are there any differences between the Apple Ipod and the HP Ipod (besides the ability to skin it)?

He wants to be able to play his tunes in the car as well, so does the Griffin iTrip FM Transmitter or the Sony Car Cassette Adapter work better?

Will he need anything else with it?

Also, where is the best place to buy it online?

Best Buy gives you 10% off accessories when you buy one.

I don't see that Apple or HP give you anything extra.

Thanks

as far as i know, the apple and hp ones are exactly the same. make sure you get a case too.

I have both the iTrip and several cassette adapters, and I prefer the iTrip. For me, the sound quality is about the same (especially in a car, where you have road noise to deal with), but the main issue is that cassette adapters are notorious for failing, and they can be very finicky about working in older or improperly adjusted tape decks.

I'd definitely go with the iTrip.

WOW, iTrip sounds really cool... Hmm, iPods have so many accessories. Ah, I don't know anymore...

buy it at target online and use the 10% off coupon or buy it from amazon. you can find a deal if you search.

Thanks for the info!

Does it come with a dock, or do I need to get that separately?

the 4g models dont come with the dock so you will need to get one, also they only come with firewire so if he has'nt got a firewire you'll need to get the usb 2.0 cable.

And a case is a very exxential thing to buy with it.

Partially true about the dock, the 20GB model doesn't, but the 40GB does. Its like the previous gen, 3G, which the $300 iPod didn't have the dock, but the $400, and $500 models had it.