2010 iPod + iPhone Buyers' Guide

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Ask iLounge 7-13-06

Author's pic

By Jerrod H.

Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Thursday, July 13, 2006
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 want to ask how you test the battery life on your iPods, because I have a Color 4G iPod that only gets like 7 hours of playtime, but I read that you claimed to get 17 hours out of the same model. How can I acheive the battery life you do? Thanks!

- Mike

A:

We have a rather detailed procedure for testing iPod battery life in our reviews, which is specifically designed to maximize the battery life. Here’s how we do it:

  1. Charge iPod until full
  2. Connect ear buds
  3. Set volume to 50%, with equalizers off
  4. Start music playing in any music category
  5. Don’t touch until iPod dies!

The fifth item above is the most important, and is the primary reason that real-life iPod battery performance isn’t anywhere near Apple’s estimates. When you access the iPod’s controls to change tracks or playlists, you render the contents of the iPod’s solid-state cache (temporary, low-power memory) useless, and cause the iPod’s hard drive to spin up to fetch the music you want. This additional hard drive activity costs dearly in battery life.

However, there’s still another explanation for your less-than-optimal battery life: your iPod is simply getting old. It’s likely your iPod has seen at least a year of use - and, even if you’ve used it lightly, batteries of this type simply lose their maximum capacity with age.

To obtain the maximum battery life from your 4G color iPod, seek a replacement battery kit online, and follow our procedures above.

Q:

I have a new iPod nano and bought an RCA AV cable (specific for iPods) so that I could do slide shows on my TV. However, I just can’t make it work. Could you please tell me the procedure to follow? My TV is about 5 years old - could this be a factor? Thanks!

- Bill

A:

Unfortunately, TV output is one of several features Apple has reserved for only its full-size iPods: even though the iPod nano has a color screen on which it can display photo slideshows, it simply doesn’t have the capability (whether hardware or software) to output them to a television. Sorry!

Q:

My iPod video used to display the time elapsed/left for each song, and the volume meter would show up when I needed it, etc.

Now the bottom of the screen just displays a row of little circles, and the volume meter doesn’t show up any more. Can’t figure out how to change it back in the settings—any ideas?

- Pamela

A:

This is a known issue with an older version of the iPod’s operating system (or “Firmware”). To fix this bug, simply perform an “Update” of your iPod’s software using the latest iPod Software Updater from this Apple website.

Q:

I listen to my iPod in the car using an iRiver adapter that transmits a low-power FM signal to the car radio. It plugs into the car’s cigarette lighter for power. I’m thinking about getting a car GPS unit, but all the GPS units I’m looking at also use the cigarette lighter as a power source. I know some GPS units have built-in mp3 player capacity, but I don’t know if they work with iPods. How can I listen to my iPod and use a GPS unit at the same time?

- Cameron

A:

While many GPS units can indeed accept external audio via a line-in port so that you can listen to your music and turn-by-turn directions at the same time, this is irrelevant to the power concerns you have.

Luckily, the power problem can be easily fixed with a simple car power splitter like two-device model or this three-device model, both available online and in-store from RadioShack.

These devices will allow you to simultaneously power your iPod and GPS unit from a single car power port. With this solved, you can begin to look for a GPS unit which will share audio output with your iPod. To get you started, take a look at the new TomTom GO units, which not only share audio output with an iPod, but can control an iPod via their touch screens also!

Q:

How do I create a smart playlist that orders all songs within a genre such that the least played songs are played first?

- Chris

A:

This is a relatively straight-forward playlist, except there’s one twist that likely has you stuck: sorting isn’t accomplished inside a smart playlist’s logic definition, but simply in iTunes’ list view. The smart playlist you need to create only needs to single out the genre you’d like:

Then, simply sort the playlist as you’d like it to be sorted, by clicking on the appropriate column header. In this case, you’ll want to click on the “Play Count” column header until your least-played item is at the top.



Ask iLounge Archives:

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

10-9-09: iPhone OS and external keyboards, Adjusting ratings in a remote iTunes library, Excluding tracks from Genius Mixes, Moving iTunes library out of My Documents, Playlist folders on iPod touch, Refreshing random Smart Playlists

9-25-09: iTunes 9 and Shopping Cart, Restoring iTunes to an external hard drive, Using an HTTP Proxy over 3G, Problems transferring movies from iTunes to IPhone, iPod touch shuffle mode, Using an iPhone without a SIM card

See the rest of the Archives...

Next: Ask iLounge 7-20-06

Previous: Reader Editorial: Summer 2006 iPod Speculation

Comments

1

Mike,

If you iPod is less than one year old (or less than two years old if you have AppleCare for iPod) and you are getting less than 50% of the advertised battery life using procedure Jerrod described, then the repair should be covered by Apple’s warranty.

Posted by Ned5555 on July 14, 2006 at 8:23 AM (PDT)

2

Bill,
You can view the pictures on an iPod Nano on a television if you hook it up via USB to an Xbox 360. The 360 can access both the pictures and music on the Nano for use through the TV.

Posted by zenprism in LA on July 14, 2006 at 12:02 PM (PDT)

3

When I connect my ipod nano to my computer it charges and says DO NOT DISCONNECT but it does not show up on itunes.What should I do!?

Posted by brttkng1225 on July 19, 2006 at 11:31 PM (PDT)

4

My computer crashed and I lost my iTunes music in my library on my windows computer.
The music is still in my iPod but until I get it back on to my computer I am not able to add any more songs. Does anyone know how to get the music from my iPod back on to my computer?

Posted by Skibumkjmj on July 28, 2006 at 4:46 PM (PDT)

5

i recently purchased a replacement iPod battery from [url=http://www.laptopsforless.com]http://www.laptopsforless.com[/url] and it works great but are there any advantages to the high-capacity batteries?

Posted by GreenApple123 on August 24, 2006 at 2:51 PM (PDT)

If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.





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