Got a new iPod, John?

[Finless]

In desperation I bought SWMBO an iPod for Christmas. Sadly, for me, I have the task of putting all the music and piccies etc onto it because the only(?) transfer medium is a PC.

iPods will play MP3/4 files so I can copy the bits of my music that she likes onto the iPod and then she isn't forever in and out changing CDs/midi disks.

My questions to any iPod experts out there are:-

1. It appears that I have to keep copies of all files transferred to her iPod on my PC. If, for example, I deleted all the iPod files from my PC then the next time I connect her iPod to my PC it will synchronise and delete all the iPod files. I assume/hope this feature can be turned off or the synchronise set up so that it only adds to the iPod and doesn't remove anything?

2. Is it possible to delete individual files/pictures from the iPod without using the 'synchronise procedure'?

3. Copying albums onto the iPod is easy but what is the best method for copying, storing and labelling individual tracks? Is that what the "compilation" folder is for?

4. Is it possible to view files on the iPod using something like Windows Explorer?

5. SWMBO has an album featuring Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler (which I 'kin hate ) - on transferring it onto the iPod for her it is now showing as 2 albums (one with all Meatloaf Tracks and the other with all Bonnie Tyler tracks). Is there any way to get this back to being one album?

As always, thanks in advance for any advice/help.

[Ferg3333]

I have an ipod and have always found it to be a pain when using itunes, I just want to copy and add the files. Put it on another computer and it usually formatted the ipod.

I overcame this when I finally got linux working with the ipod using amarok, its painless but you cannot buy music from itunes. But is drag and drop and you can navigate around the ipod.

Itunes is the root of all the ipods problems IMHO.

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by Ferg3333

I have an ipod and have always found it to be a pain when using itunes, I just want to copy and add the files. Put it on another computer and it usually formatted the ipod.

I overcame this when I finally got linux working with the ipod using amarok, its painless but you cannot buy music from itunes. But is drag and drop and you can navigate around the ipod.

Itunes is the root of all the ipods problems IMHO.

It depends how you use it.

It is a pain if you want to manage the files - but the flipside is that most people don't know / care about managing the files themselves. They just want to be able to put in a CD, have the software rip it, and just sync the device.

Thus why iPods sell in their millions - if you use it the way it's intended, it makes life extremely easy. If you start tarting around with the file structure you just make life hard for yourself.

As an IT person for 15 years, I also was alarmed with the 'look after the music for me' tick box, but I can attest that with 26000 music files on my iPod (all legally ripped from CD or bought from iTMS) it works great for me

[Finless]

Originally Posted by Bantam

As an IT person for 15 years, I also was alarmed with the 'look after the music for me' tick box, but I can attest that with 26000 music files on my iPod (all legally ripped from CD or bought from iTMS) it works great for me

Yes, but doesn't that mean you have to have all 26000 music files on your PC as well otherwise, when you next "sync", you will lose all the files off your iPod?

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by Finless

Yes, but doesn't that mean you have to have all 26000 music files on your PC as well otherwise, when you next "sync", you will lose all the files off your iPod?

Correct. Again - I did find that hard to come to terms with, but the point is, your master collection is all managed in one place, on one machine.

if you only want a subset of your collection to take with you, possibly because your iPod is smaller than the music you have (I do this with my iPhone), you create a playlist and make iTunes only sync the playlist, vs it attempting the whole library.

[Scuba Dub]

Originally Posted by Finless

Yes, but doesn't that mean you have to have all 26000 music files on your PC as well otherwise, when you next "sync", you will lose all the files off your iPod?

Turn off the auto sync option in the stiings and select 'Manually manage music' This stops itunes synching and automatically deleting anything. It just means that you have to drag files onto the ipod to copy them across. It also means you can update any number of ipods from the same library. This also allows you to delete individual songs from the ipod.

To get the songs to show up as on one album, right click on the songs and select get info, this lets you rename the track, and also change the album name, genre, artist etc. So change the album name on all the songs you want to appear together.

Copying individual songs is the same as for copying albums. Use the method above to rename them etc. Using playlists can be a good way of grouping individual tracks together. Just create a new playlist (File, New Playlist) and just drag the songs onto it.
Hope that helps.

[Barnaby_S]

I know this is a bit late, but I have found that Winamp works very well for adding and removing music from iPods.
It lets you copy music back from the iPod as well as to it, and you are in full control

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Barnaby_S

I know this is a bit late, but I have found that Winamp works very well for adding and removing music from iPods.
It lets you copy music back from the iPod as well as to it, and you are in full control

Is this available on the free version or the paid version?

Cheers,

Ian

[Barnaby_S]

The free one, I have objections to giving AOL any money as I have spent too longs cleaning up computers after people have installed AOL.

[StuartC]

more lateness, but may still be useful if you're new to ipod and itunes.

I've found ilounge is a useful source of articles and how-to's, as well as some product reviews for accessory software relating to ipods.

All things iPod, iPhone, iTunes and beyond | iLounge

the articles and tutorials are here
Articles on iPod, iTunes, Music, Podcasts and more | iLounge