2010 iPod + iPhone Buyers' Guide

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Ask iLounge 10-20-05

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By Jerrod H.

Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Category: Ask iLounge

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy music from my iPod onto my computer?

Click here for the answer.

The second most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I put DVDs on my iPod?


For converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and home movies to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV, we have a three-part series outlining the best formats, settings, and various tools to use for converting all types of video content for use on these devices.

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Windows)

Top five questions most recently asked by iLounge readers:

Q: What are the best speakers to use with my iPod? (15, 76-79, and 90-92)

Q: What are the best headphones to use with my iPod? (10, 72-75, and 90-92)

Q: I really want to get a nice case for my iPod. Do you have any suggestions? (36-37, 54-67, and 90-92)

Q: How can I connect my iPod to my car stereo? (14, 32-35, 68-71, and 90-92)

Q: Are there any batteries that I can use to extend my iPod's battery life? (82-83 and 90-92)

A: Answers to these and many other questions can be found in two places. Our Free iPod Book 3.3 provides a complete report card to all of the iPod accessories we've reviewed as of summer 2007, as well as over 125 iTunes and iPod tips & tricks. Further, our new 2008 iPod & iPhone Buyers' Guide has accessory tutorials at the page numbers listed in parentheses above. These and other publications in our Library are free downloads, developed by the editors of iLounge!

And now, for this week's Ask iLounge column:

Q:

I have recently been importing all of my existing MPEG-4 and .mov videos into iTunes 6, and all have been playing perfectly. My question is if a video (not from the Music Store) can be successfully imported into iTunes 6, then does this imply that it is compatible with the 5th Generation iPod?

- Mac

A:

Absolutely not, and we can’t stress this enough. iTunes will accept a staggering range of video formats (anything that QuickTime will, in fact), but the iPod itself can only support the following two (more detail here):

  • H.264 Codec at a maximum of 320x240 resolution, 30 frames per second, and 768kbps
  • MPEG-4 Codec at a maximum of 480x480 resolution, 30 frames per second, and 2500kbps

It is also important to note that while MPEG-4 and H.264 are video codecs, .mov is not. Files with the extension *.mov can utilize many different video codecs, most of them incompatible with the current iPod.

There are several ways to convert existing videos into acceptable formats, including the use of software like QuickTime Pro 7 (Mac, PC: $29), Videora (PC: free) and HandBrake (Mac: free). Detailed iLounge tutorials on how to execute this conversion process will be posted in the very near future… stay tuned!

Q:

Can I burn traditional DVDs of iTunes-purchased videos for viewing on standard DVD players? I would like to purchase Season 2 of “Lost,” but if I have to hover around the computer to watch it, I think I’ll pass.

- Jill

A:

Unlike songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store, which can be burned to a disc compatible with any CD player, the video content cannot be burned in a format readable by a DVD player. However, other FairPlay digital rights management rules still apply - most notably, the videos can only be played on up to five computers authorized for your Music Store account.

However, you do have a few options for TV viewing of iTunes videos. First, look into your computer’s capabilities for TV-Out, as you may be able to output your computer’s display directly to a nearby TV’s Video-In port. Second, the new iPod (with video capabilities) can play these iTunes-purchased videos and export them to a connected television with the Apple A/V Cable, optionally used with the Universal Dock.

Q:

How do I properly tag videos that I have added to iTunes from my own prior collection (i.e. those not those purchased from the Music Store)? I’d like to use all the information I can - “Title,” “Artist,” etc. as well as “Season” or “Show” for TV shows I have already.

- Misael

A:

Generally speaking, videos can be tagged with information like “Artist,” “Album,” “Song,” etc. in exactly the same manner as is done for music. (It’s generally easier to start by viewing the “Videos” source in “List” mode).

Additionally, a video can have several different classifications that make it easier to sort both in iTunes and on the iPod. Select a video, choose “Get Info,” and select the “Options” tab. Here, you can indicate whether the video clip is a “Movie,” “Music Video.”

However, there’s one significant catch:

“TV Shows” is a special category of video that apparently only Apple can assign. This “Video Kind” pull-down menu will never let you choose “TV Shows” here, although this is how such videos purchased from the iTunes Music Store appear. On a related topic, the TV-specific tags such as “Season” and “Show” don’t appear to be editable by the user at all - either for a user-imported video or on an existing TV Show purchased from iTunes.

Q:

Over time, I’ve accumulated a lot of music files. The problem is that the volume level varies greatly between songs. I have just bought an iPod, and would like to get all of my music to approximately the same base volume so it’s easier to listen to it all without having to constantly adjust the volume. Is there a way to do this without having to reload it from disc?

- Jen

A:

Absolutely. Simply open iTunes’ Preferences window, and choose the “Playback” tab. Here, enable “Sound Check.” iTunes will proceed to iterate (slowly, perhaps) through your library, setting the relative volume of each song to be equal.

What’s even better is that the settings that Sound Check creates for each song can be utilized on the iPod equally as well. To enable this, go to your iPod’s “Settings” menu, and toggle the “Sound Check” option to “On.”

For more information on Sound Check, see our article on Equalizers and Advanced iTunes Features.

Q:

Here’s a hypothetical question regarding AppleCare for the iPod: Let’s say, for example, that my three-year-old grandson throws my new iPod with AppleCare into a swimming pool… would it be covered by AppleCare?

- Jerry

A:

Unfortunately, no. AppleCare is exclusively an “extended warranty,” meaning it only extends Apple’s liability for material, manufacturing, or other hardware defects not caused by the user. This is noted in further detail in AppleCare’s Terms and Conditions (PDF)... See Section 2-e-v.

For comprehensive, kid-proof protection like you’re looking for, you’ll need electronics insurance from SafeWare or a similar company.



Ask iLounge Archives:

11-13-09: Syncing different contact info with two iPhones on the same computer, iPod shows no content, Syncing music and videos in playlists, Exclamation marks next to tracks in iTunes, Playing podcasts on 3G iPod shuffle.

11-6-09: Storing iPod software updates, Playing an iPod continuously, Transferring play counts to a new iTunes library, iPhone backups, Klipsch S4i earphones

10-30-09: Authorization problems with iPod touch, Changing Grid View background in iTunes, iTunes library and Music Folder are different sizes, Older iPods and firmware updates, Reconciling two different iTunes libraries, Syncing multiple devices to one iTunes library

10-23-09: Using a laptop with an iTunes library on an external hard drive, Transferring YouTube videos to iPod, iPod touch accessibility settings, Disabling Shake to Shuffle on iPod nano, Purchased songs fail to download from iTunes Store, Charging and powering off iPhone

10-16-09: Moving iTunes to a new computer, Transferring contacts from Blackberry to an iPhone, Disabling iPhone Backups, Using AV cables for audio only, Problems syncing photos to iPod touch, Memorex iFlip and iPhone compatibility

See the rest of the Archives...

Next: Ask iLounge 10-27-05

Previous: Top Ten Things Techies Wanted to Know About the 5G iPod

Comments

1

I’ve been using itunes successfully for sometime and now for sometime when i downloaded itunes 6 i could not play songs on it and it always said that i did not have enough access privilages. now from y’day i tunes is not opening at all. i dont know what the problem is! Can you please help me? Manju.

Posted by manju on October 23, 2005 at 1:15 AM (PDT)

2

I would like to know how to copy audio from a DVD to my iPod. I have some lectures on DVD that would be great to listen to on walks. Do I need special software? Where would I find it? Please help!

WCH

Posted by Wm Curtis on October 24, 2005 at 10:06 AM (PDT)

3

Will apple put out an update for 4th gen ipod 60 gigs. so that they can play video?

Posted by ptgn123 on October 24, 2005 at 8:17 PM (PDT)

4

Where is there a comparison between the shuffle SQ and the 5gen ipod?

Posted by chrisfromalbany on October 25, 2005 at 12:41 PM (PDT)

5

there is this thing i heared that i can download her that will let my friends put there songs on my itunes do u know what im talking about if u do can u tell me what to download? please

Posted by mannig10 on October 25, 2005 at 2:06 PM (PDT)

6

I have a 20GB ipod.  I had about 3,000 songs on it and my hard drive.  I had a bunch of viruses on my computer and decided to reformat, losing all of my songs.  I didn’t mind because I still had them on my ipod.  That is, until recently.  I was adding new CD’s to my computer and tried moving them over to my ipod but it appears as if I replaced my 3,000 songs on my ipod with the songs from the new CD’s (about 40 songs).  I would appreciate any help in resurrecting my old library of 3,000 songs on my ipod.  I’m holding out hope because when I plug my ipod into my computer, it appears as though I am using up a lot of GB’s.  The amount associated with over 3,000 songs as opposed to 40 songs.  The problem is that they do not appear on itunes or on my ipod but they seem to be their.  Please help.

Posted by highlands_dan on October 25, 2005 at 6:26 PM (PDT)

7

My iPod freezes on certain songs. It looks like it is beginning to play the song, but instead it freezes and the light stays on. I have tried reseting it but it never does. I have to wait until the battery dies before I can actually listen to it again! It is sooo annoying is there any way I could fix this problem? Please help!!
Thanks

Posted by tirellig on October 25, 2005 at 8:50 PM (PDT)

8

I have a problems with making my homevideos ready to play in my ipod, cause they lose the sound on the process, how can i fix this?

Posted by tobisaurio on October 25, 2005 at 10:19 PM (PDT)

9

What is the best converting program so i can convert my DVDs then download them to my iPod

thanx

Posted by spike55 on December 22, 2005 at 9:25 AM (PDT)

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