A lot, with suggestions from this little book published by O'Reilly Media. Suggestions for third-party hardware, freeware and shareware programs to make the most of the iPod, and a lot more. At $14.95, this is the basic book for iPod users to have on their bookshelf.

I'm kind of on a mission to read all of the iPod books, seeing as how I'm enjoying the heck out of playing with my iPod. Just finished reading this one, and I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised.

At first glance, I wasn't too optimistic. I mean, how could anything this small cover things that weren't covered in the other books and in more detail? Boy, was I surprised in the value I found here.

While I wouldn't recommend it as a start to finish manual for the iPod, it was a terrific addendum to whatever you might choose as your full manual. Full of great little tidbits of info and tips on how to do lots of very fun and useful iPod tricks. Plus, it sourced several software tools that the other books seem to have missed.

I would definitely recommend this book. Just don't expect it to be the ultimate manual on everything you can do with an iPod or with full and detailed instructions for everything. It does make some assumptions that you have at least some experience with an iPod. However, once you have gotten the basics, this book can definitely help you to expand your usage of the iPod.

This very nice looking book, very well done content. There's a few tips and tricks for experienced users.

But for the most part, this is a great book for a replacement manual. The included "manual" that comes with the iPod is pretty lacking, and this would be a great additional purchase for your first iPod.

If I were to buy my techno-phobe mom an iPod, I'd also buy this book to go along with it, and she'd be teaching me things in days.

The first impression you get of O'Reillys iPod Fan Book is of the packaging. A small volume (about the same height as the iPod and twice the width) it comes with a half-height wrap that has the title and author on the front and the bar code, price and a short contents on the back. Take this off and you have a full-size cover with all the simple elegance of the white iPod itself. The front features the wheel of a 4G iPod and the back has just the Apple logo and "iPod" in Apple's distinctive typeface below it. Remove this second cover and you have a book with a simple design of grey with a white border, the back is blank and the front has the title and the subtitle "Go everywhere with iPod" in small type.

This concentration on design flows through the rest of the book. It is visually stunning; at the same time, effort has been made to make the design useful. The pages are visually tabbed to make it easy to navigate the seven chapters. Each chapter is tabbed in a different color reflected through use of that color within the chapter. Full color pictures and screen dumps add to the legibility and usability of the book.

This book is also full of useful information for the newcomer to the iPod. A small amount is covered in the documentation you get with the iPod, but a great deal is not. Apart from a useful chapter on accessories, the book focuses on methods of getting the best from an iPod and how to organise your music.

To sum up this book: it is a little more style than substance and falls short of being the ideal book for all newcomers to the iPod (and even less for experienced users). On the other hand, the style makes the information that is provided readily accessible for all. I'd say this is the perfect companion to an iPod for a teen-age girl and if my 12-year-old daughter was getting the mini she has been hinting for, a copy of this would be included. (I expect that anyone who spent more than ten minutes deciding on the colour of their mini would probably love the elegance and style of this thin volume.) The low price makes it a great impulse buy or stocking stuffer.

Apple claims to have sold more than 6 million iPods to date and based on its trademark ease of use, 6 million is surely just the beginning. This cute, little book is a perfect companion to the phenomenon in that it presents a wealth of iPod information from downloading and ripping songs to managing playlists and much more all in the same funky Mac/iPoddy style that will appeal to users. Its tabby, buttonny page layouts are perfectly in sync with the design of the product it's describing. If you're buying somebody an iPod as a gift, this would be a perfect additional "throw-in" to introduce them to the "iPod lifestyle" as well.

This is the perfect book to go along with an iPod. The book is very small, cleverly designed with good use of graphics. It's well written and covers everything from the basics, to choosing headphones, to extending your iPod with jackets, external speakers, the whole bit. For anyone new to iPods this would be an excellent introduction to making the best use of it, without being an overwhelmingly large book.

A compact and cute little book. That deliberately seeks to be a carry on accessory to your iPod. It has information on items like headphones and how to best use an iPod in an environment like a car.

What the book shows is that the iPod's appearance is deceptively simple. There is actually a fair amount of detailed usage that you can avail yourself of. The book also describes how iPod can distribute playlists amongst each other, in what is probably now a global community.

The book is small (6" by 6") and, for lack of a better word, cool. Every image is in full color, so no fuzzy shades of grey to squint at - and it's not just the images, color is used throughout. The cover is interesting - there is a full cover over the whole book and second cover over the top of the first which only covers the bottom two-thirds of the book. Functional? Hmmm... Use it as a bookmark, I suppose - regardless, it looks cool. The table of contents - though the term "table of contents" seems a bit drab in this case - are available on the edge of every page.

There is suprising amount of substance inside as well. While it does not go into a lot of detail, it does give a good feel for a wide variety of things pertaining to your iPod. It has plenty of info on iPod accessories like headphones, infrared remote, cases, and if you can call a BMW an iPod accessory, it's got info on that, too. There are also descriptions on how to enjoy DVD soundtracks on your iPod; how to record internet radio; battery management tips; how to transform your iPod into a PDA; how to download song lyrics. There are probably better books for in-depth details on the iPod, but this one doesn't disappoint.

Am I a sucker for a cool looking book? Guilty - you should see my coffee table. For me, the fact that it contains useful information as well is just icing on the cake.