Heartland

Getting an IPOD 80 gig for a forthcoming birthday, do I need to do itunes or can i use as a normal drag and drop type mp3?
Is itunes ok, or should i avoid?
I need to use existing mp3's that i have created for cd in car.

I have seen something recently on this subject, but am too lazy to look!!

Any advice greedily gobbled up...

TBH Itunes & Ipod go together like a knife & fork.
Itunes is free & very easy to use.
As for your mp3s, all you need to do is bung the disc (i assume they are on a disc) in your PC/MAC & drag the mp3s you want into itunes.
Make sure you have enough disc space on you pooter to hold all the songs though.
Once you've done that, then you can invent your own play lists ("bad mood" "good mood", etc) & there is even the possibility to grab the artwork for your tunes.
Once you are done, then just plug the ipod in via the usb cable they provide & it should fill your pod with lots of musical goodness.
Might take a while first time, as you'll probably be filling it with a lot of sounds at first, but as you add stuff to itunes it becomes quicker, as you only update the new stuff & modified stuff.