2010 iPod + iPhone Buyers' Guide

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Ask iLounge 2-1-07

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By Jerrod H.

Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Thursday, February 1, 2007
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 recently upgraded my computer to Windows Vista.  iTunes is working fine in general, but it’s not allowing me to play my purchased music. I had to re-authorize my account after I upgraded, and iTunes is indicating that the authorization was successful, but every time I try to play a purchased song, I am prompted to authorize. I can play all of my ripped tracks with no problem. I realize Vista just came out, but I don’t see how I can blame Microsoft for this one, given that all of iTunes’ other functions work fine.

- Andrew

A:

The issue, as TweakVista discovered, is that iTunes is attempting to write to a portion of Windows’ registry that a non-administrator user can no longer access in Windows Vista. Surely, an issue of this magnitude is likely to be fixed in an iTunes update in a matter of days, but TweakVista also supplies a simple solution in the meantime:

Right click on your iTunes shortcut, choose “Properties,” and enable “Run as an Administrator” in the “Compatibility” tab. Click OK, and iTunes should function properly.

Important Update

: Shortly after this article was published, Apple released the official iTunes Repair Tool for Vista 1.0. We recommend using this solution rather than the one above.

Q:

In my iTunes library’s Source column, there’s Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, and Radio, but no category for Music Videos. This means that even though the iPod seems to be able to sort these separately, all my music videos are put in with all my films and clips under the Movies category in iTunes. Should it be like this? Can I isolate my Music Videos in iTunes?

- Anonymous

A:

Yes, you can, but it’s not going to happen they way you’re thinking it will; iTunes has no specific item in the “Library” section of the source column for “Music Videos.” Instead, it places Music Videos in the “Music” category along with audio-only tracks.

How do you get iTunes to do this, instead of placing your music videos amongst your “Movies”? Simply change their “Video Kind” to “Music Video.” To do this, select a music video, choose “Get Info” from iTunes’ “File” menu, and select the “Video” tab. Here, use the pull-down menu:

Once you have all your music videos tagged as such in this manner, you can use a smart playlist to collect them all into one place. Simply set up the condition to look for them according to their “Video Kind” tag:

Q:

I have a new 30GB iPod. It’s my first iPod, but not my first mp3 player. Is it possible to disable certain tracks when I’m using the shuffle option? I using my iPod in shuffle mode, but I also have spoken tracks, such as language courses, which I don’t want to hear randomly.

- Anonymous

A:

Absolutely! Any item in iTunes can be completely excluded from any sort of shuffle play both in iTunes and on the iPod with a simple setting:

Select the item or items you’d like to exclude from shuffle, choose “Get Info” from iTunes’ “File” menu, and enable the “Skip when shuffling” check box in the “Options” tab.

For playback in iTunes, disabling the check box to the left of the track in the library or playlist listings will have the same effect, but this method doesn’t translate to disable shuffle play on the iPod as well. Use the “Skip when Shuffling” check box when you want the setting to apply to both iTunes and the iPod.

Q:

Here’s something I’ve wanted to do in iTunes for a long time: can I organize music in iTunes and on the iPod to show an artist’s albums by release date?

- Eric

A:

iTunes - yes, iPod - not technically.

iTunes now has a semi-obscure feature that enables sorting albums by a certain artist by year of release. To enable it, repeatedly click on the “Album” column header in iTunes’ Library or playlist views until “Album by Year” appears. The feature works, though clearly is only effective if you have accurately and completely tagged music.

How can you sort in this manner on the iPod? There’s no built-in function for it, but as always - you can fall back on manual playlists: simply copy and paste the output iTunes gives with the method above into a separate standard playlist. Since these preserve order when transferred to the iPod, you’ll be able to listen to tracks by date on the iPod as well. It’s not the most efficient or friendly method, but for your favorite artists - we do this with our Pink Floyd collection - it works.

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Ask iLounge Archives:

11-20-09: Sharing iTunes libraries between two user accounts, Enlarging text on iPhone 3GS, Transferring an iPod to a new user, iPhone shuffles when walking, New 8GB iPod touch models, Transferring purchases from a remote iTunes library

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

See the rest of the Archives...

Next: 3 Ways The Beatles May Change iPods and Apple

Previous: All Things iPod shuffle

Comments

1

I solved the “sorting albums by release date” problem in a different way:

Simply start every album name with the year of the release date, so for example:

In search of sunrise 5

becomes:

2006 - In search of sunrise 5

If you also include singles and EP’s as albums, or have multiple releases in the same year by one artist, simply include the month and day of release as well:

2006.05.26 - In search of sunrise 5

Now sort iTunes by Artist and the automatic sub sort by album will do the trick. Every release by the artist will be in chronological order both in iTunes and in your iPod

Posted by Ericc B on February 2, 2007 at 2:20 AM (PDT)

2

Can somebody tell me how to remove the “STORE” category and the “iTunes Store” icon i the iTunes interface. I seldom go to the store and I know how to do it without the icon siting there all the time taking up space.
I understand Apple’s reluctance to do so and it may require a Hack.

Posted by Reidar on February 4, 2007 at 12:29 PM (PDT)

3

The iPod store is not giving me the option of downloading movies. the Move tab just shows a dark screen on the iStore?
I am not sure how to download movies for my iPod?

Posted by Axeman on February 5, 2007 at 7:27 PM (PDT)

4

iTunes preferences -> Parental -> Disable iTunes store

Posted by studogvetmed in Loveland, CO on February 8, 2007 at 4:08 PM (PDT)

5

I am wanting to get a Nano for my wife. She likes the orange of the next shuffle. Have you heard if the Orange will become available for the Nano?  Also, when is the next generation of Nano coming out?  I might want to wait for it.

Posted by shanephillips on February 15, 2007 at 12:44 PM (PDT)

6

I accidentally deleted the “Recently Added” feature of my iTunes. I need that feature badly since I manually upload to my iPod. And I only upload in batches of 50-100 songs. Now without it, I’m forced to recall which songs I have yet to upload. Can I still get that feature back?

Posted by Budiluv on February 16, 2007 at 8:54 AM (PDT)

7

I bought my son a 30gb iPod for Christmas and I was wondering if once I put something on his iPod and I delete it from my iTunes, if it will stay on the iPod when we go to add new music or videos on the iPod?  I would like to delete some movies and music from my iTunes since it takes up so much space.

Posted by ksmith on February 19, 2007 at 10:05 AM (PDT)

8

I have a 60gb iPod photo with thousands of songs on it and a Windows XP laptop that just died on me.  The laptop is in route to the manufacture to be replaced.  How do I go about transferring my songs from my iPod to the new laptop when it arrives?

Posted by truvibes on March 8, 2007 at 6:31 AM (PDT)

9

I just transferred my ipod resident library to a new computer with Vista as instructed using Music Rescue. Now, when I run shuffle on the ipod, it flips through certain tracks before playing the 3rd or 4th selection. What gives? anybody?

Posted by whaseley on May 1, 2007 at 7:19 AM (PDT)

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