Woo Hoo, You Got an iPod! Now What?

Dec. 26, 2006 — -- So, you got a cool, new high-tech toy for the holidays. Now what do you do with it?

If you're confused by the buttons and dials on your MP3 player or confounded by the 900-page manual that came with your new cell phone, here are a few tips to help you with your high-tech holiday hangover.

Digital Camera

1. Unpack the box. It's an obvious no-brainer, but everything you need is in there, including the software.

2. Install the software by putting it into the CD tray of the computer.

3. Lots of different windows will jump up on your screen. It's usually fine to just accept the default. Just click yes, next, yes, yes, yes. Advanced users will probably want to check all the things they're saying "yes" to, but simply clicking will get you up and running as quickly as possible.

4. Plug in the camera to the computer using a USB cord.

5. A lot of different stuff will pop up automatically. The computer will automatically recognize the camera and with many models, it'll copy the photos over from the camera to the hard drive of your computer. This is all in the software that comes with the camera.

6. Edit the pictures and e-mail away to friends and family or view it on your PC .

7. If your camera has a "video out" port on it, you can connect it to your television set with the right wires. You may have to purchase the necessary cables, but consult the camera's manual to learn more.

*iPod

1. Start with iTunes, the software that manages everything for the iPod. (You can download it from the Internet or install it from the CD that comes with the iPod.)

2. Connect the iPod to the computer. The computer should automatically recognize that the iPod is hooked up.

3. If you want to add music from a CD onto your iPod, pop the CD into the computer. Again, the iTunes software will automatically recognize it.

4. Click the import button in iTunes to import all the tracks on the CD into your music library. Then go to the music library and drag the songs over to the iPod icon. They'll now live on both your computer and your iPod. Repeat this process to add all your CDs onto your iPod.

*There are lots of other portable digital music players out there that aren't made by Apple. If you received one of these players, it'll probably require a similar setup procedure, including the installation of some software -- usually included -- and connecting the player to a computer to install music.

HDTV

1. First, get the HD signal. It's a signal that comes into your house from the cable company, the satellite provider or through the HDTV, which is the free option.

2. To get a signal through the HDTV, get an HDTV antenna. It can be an indoor or outdoor antenna.

3. Take a coaxial cable, plug one end into the external antenna and plug the other into the antenna input at the back of your TV.

4. Call your cable company and tell it you want to upgrade your signal to HD.

5. If you don't want to bother with the inputs in the back of the TV, get an HDMI cable. Hook it up to the back of the HD box that the cable company sends you. Then connect the other end of the HDMI cable to the TV set and hook up the cable coming from the wall to the back of the new HD receiver.

Cell Phone

1. If your new cell phone uses the same carrier as your old phone, this should be pretty easy. The phone's carrier likely uses an automated system to activate new phones. Don't use your old phone to make this call if you can avoid it, as you'll probably need to have it completely powered off to activate your new phone.

2. In most cases, you'll need a special number that can be found either on the receipt or in the phone's packaging -- on the exterior of the box, in the phone's manual, etc. Make sure you have this information on hand before you call.

3. After activating the phone, you may be required to call a telephone number with the new phone to finalize the activation.