aac vs. mp3?

[franklinz]

thinking about buying a cheap mac mainly for downloading music and using the aac compression method to download them on to a 15gb ipod.
i have heard that the aac format sounds better, and is just as small(or smaller) than an mp3 file. (best sound quality)

basically my main question is it worth buying a 700 dollar mac to get better sounding music and better compression.
and how many aac tracks can i fit on 15gb, versus mp3s??
thanks,
franklinz

[radio1_mike]

If you got that money to burn-- why not?

But it is a steep price.

Does the IPod read Ogg/Vorbis files? Those files are usually smaller than mp3s and sound better. Many games now use them for sound libraries instead of mp3s...

Also, is there now way you could purchase that AAC stuff from Apple?

[muno]

OGG/mp3PRO is the compatible way to go, that is, if ipod supports either.

I wouldn't want to use something that most people cannot use. $700 is alot of money for nothing.
-M