iLounge iPad 2 Buyers' Guide

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Ask iLounge 6-1-06

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By Jerrod H.

Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Category: Ask iLounge

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-, iPhone-, iPad-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-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 content from my iPod/iPhone onto my computer?

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

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

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

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

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

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

Best Speakers?

Best Headphones?

Best Case?

Best In-Car Solution?

Best Battery Extender?

Find more answers in the latest publications in our Library. Free downloads developed by the editors of iLounge!

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

Q:

Is there any free or low cost way to convert Windows Media Video (WMV) files to be compatible with iPod video on Mac?

- Hazel

A:

There are actually quite a few options to choose from. For WMV conversion, our favorite so far is an excellent piece of freeware called iSquint, a simple interface to the FFmpeg conversion engine. We’ve had remarkable luck getting it to convert a variety of our Windows Media Video clips. Beware, however: more and more WMV clips are now being distributed in “protected” form - you’re unlikely to get any software to reliably convert these files.

For more information on converting video clips in MacOS X, see our Complete Guide to Converting Video to iPod Format (Mac).

Q:

Is there a way to use the “Party Shuffle” playlist on my iPod? It is, of course, in iTunes, but it doesn’t show up on my iPod. Thanks!

- Andy

A:

You’re right - the Party Shuffle functionality is not even closely replicated by the iPod’s rudimentary On-The-Go Playlist functionality, and, unfortunately, there’s really nothing anyone can do about it officially. An iPod operating system replacement project called Rockbox marginally improves upon the iPod’s On-The-Go Playlist functionality by allowing you to “Queue [a song] Next”, or re-order songs in the existing play lineup, but Rockbox’s rather technical installation and usage procedures are certainly not for everyone.

However, if you simply prefer Party Shuffle’s control-driven method of creating a playlist, and don’t need its on-the-fly manipulation capabilities while using your iPod, you can take Party Shuffle’s contents in iTunes, and dump them into an empty playlist. In fact, it’s really easy to simply drag the “Party Shuffle” item itself from the Source column, and drop it on top of a blank playlist title just underneath it.

Q:

I’ve been asked by a friend to put together 200 songs onto one MP3 disc for office background music, but all of the tracks in my iTunes Library are in WAV format. Regardless of the Burning settings in iTunes’ Preferences window, when I start burning such a disc, a message pops up complaining that none of the tracks on the disc are in MP3 format. Can you tell me what I have to do to get a CD full of MP3s?

- Dan

A:

iTunes’ “MP3 CD” option is indeed a bit ambiguous. Contrary to what many would expect, it doesn’t convert your existing selection to MP3 before burning, but instead simply burns only the MP3-formatted tracks which happen to be in the current playlist; files of any other format are left behind.

There are two options:

The first won’t help your specific situation at all, but is useful to readers trying to make backups of a mixed MP3/AAC library: simply switch iTunes’ burning preferences to “Data CD/DVD.” This will burn all files in their existing native format to a disc.

What you’ll have to do is actually convert all 200 songs to MP3. Luckily, iTunes makes it fairly easy to do. First, open iTunes’ Preferences, and select the “Advanced” tab, and the “Importing” panel. Here, change the “Import Using” preference from “WAV Encoder” to “MP3 Encoder”, and set any additional quality parameters as you’d like them.

Then, return to the playlist you’d like to burn, choose “Select All” from iTunes’ “Edit” menu, and then choose “Convert Selection to MP3” from the “Advanced” menu. This will create a copy of each of your selected WAV tracks, in MP3 format.

If you’d like, you can delete the WAV files from the playlist, but it’d be unnecessary: simply burn an MP3 CD as you’d tried to before, and iTunes will automatically weed out the WAV files itself.

For more information on burning CDs in iTunes, check out our tutorial here.

Q:

Which is the better iPod for running: an iPod nano, or a 30GB full-size iPod?

- Ian

A:

This one’s simple: without any hesitation, our recommendation for active sport use is the iPod nano. The full-size iPod has an actual hard drive inside - a very complex and somewhat delicate machine - while the iPod nano is entirely “solid-state,” with no moving parts at all. This makes it completely immune to the jarring motions an iPod experiences during exercise.

That said, the full-size iPod isn’t automatically doomed to mechanical failure should you decide you absolutely need the extra storage or video playback capability. Its hard drive is pretty resilient, and it doesn’t run continuously: approximately every 20 minutes, the iPod’s hard drive will very run briefly to store another handful of songs in its short-term memory (RAM). This is helpful for the safety of the iPod, for skip-protection, and for battery life, but it really only works if you don’t frequently change what’s playing. Light runners shouldn’t be too concerned.

Also, don’t forget: if you really dig the full-size iPod, but are worried about it during heavy exercise, consider purchasing one along with the now dirt-cheap iPod shuffle to use exclusively during exercise. It’s completely solid-state, just like the nano.

Q:

Is there a way to identify tracks on my iPod that currently have no tag information? Somehow, some of my favorite music on my iPod is completely without identifying information, making it very hard to navigate to and organize, and impossible to expand upon.

- David

A:

We admit: when we need to recover information for a mystery track, we still find ourselves typing snippets of the lyrics into Google. It usually works fairly well, although not for more obscure (or certainly instrumental!) tracks.

However, a new method is arising: waveform recognition or “frequency fingerprinting.” New software like ID3Man can check the actual audio characteristics of untagged songs against a database of approximately 3 million existing songs, to determine what’s playing. In our testing, it actually worked for the majority of our test CD-ripped (not live or obscure) tracks, so give it a shot! The company offers 25 free identifications to start with, after which you begin to pay various prices.

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Ask iLounge Archives:

2-3-12: Deleting pictures from Photo Stream, Transferring Apps to a new iTunes library, Apple Universal Dock and iPhone 4S, Getting Track Names after CD Import, Video Playlists on the iPad

11-25-11: Removing music after activating iTunes Match, Smart Playlists and iTunes Match, Backing up data from an iPhone, Syncing MP3s to an iPod nano, Migrating Playlists to a new Computer

11-11-11: Configure Apple IDs on family iOS devices, Recovering lost audiobooks, Unable to disable passcode lock on iOS devices, Buying an iPod for audio-only use, Preventing deleted tracks from coming back from an iOS device

11-4-11: iPhone 4S storage capacity doesn't match, Transferring HD video from iPhone 4S to a computer, Recovering photos from iPod touch, Notification Center and iMessage in iOS 5

10-21-11: Using iCloud's Find My iPhone on older devices, Batch deleting photos in Camera Roll, Using iTunes Gift Cards internationally, Audiobooks and iCloud, Merging contacts from two devices into iCloud

See the rest of the Archives...

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Comments

1

I am looking for a speaker system for my office with both an ipod docking station and FM radio.  I do not want a “boombox” look and have seen little in the market which combines the two.  Looking for soemthing in the $150-250 range.  Any suggestions?

Thanks

Posted by flevy on June 1, 2006 at 9:32 AM (PDT)

2

ID3man is actually old software (2004).. and is NOT free.

Musicbrainz is much newer, community driven, faster, and free. I’ve tagged most of my ~3,900 song library with it.

http://www.musicbrainz.org

Josh

Posted by Josh Powell in VA on June 10, 2006 at 6:07 PM (PDT)

3

umm, SOS i guess… i connected my 30 GB video iod to a windows 98 comp through eph pod and now my song and video lists have merged… i can’t play the videos anymore… as in i can still hear them but i can’t see them nymore… what do i do?
i’m back on XP now, but it sill doesn’t help…. somebody… help!!!!!

Posted by believer on June 12, 2006 at 2:42 PM (PDT)

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