2010 iPod + iPhone Buyers' Guide

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Ask iLounge 8-25-06

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By Jerrod H.

Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Friday, August 25, 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:

This ought to be an easy question, I’d think: How can I quickly erase all duplicate songs from my iTunes library?

- Peter

A:

iTunes has a way to identify potential duplicate tracks in your library. Just select “Show Duplicate Songs” from iTunes’ “Edit” menu.

However, there isn’t a fast, one-click way to delete all your duplicate tracks from iTunes, but for good reason: not all songs that iTunes recognizes as ‘duplicates’ really are. Consider, for example, a “Live” version of a song and its studio version. Since the titles and track lengths are similar, iTunes often records these as duplicates, but to many users, they’re both worth keeping.

We’d recommend using iTunes’ duplicate-finding feature as a start, but taking the time to sift throught its results to delete only those duplicates you actually want to.

Q:

I own a black 30GB video iPod which works great. Recently, however, I tried to clean the surface of my iPod and its screen, using a solution called GooGone - I now regret it. The solution reacted with the plastic, clouding the screen and the entire surface. I went to an Apple Store to see what it would cost to replace the face plate. They gave me a ridiculous replacement cost of $250! I paid $300 for the iPod, so you must understand my shock. My question to you: is there another lower cost option to replace the faceplate besides buying a new unit?

- Danny

A:

Absolutely. Third-party, online iPod-servicing companies like iPodMechanic or iPodParts offer full 24-hour front panel replacements for $75 to $90.

If you’d prefer to save more money, and are comfortable doing the repair yourself, iPodParts will supply you with the part for a bit cheaper.

Q:

I’m not yet very experienced with smart playlists, and I was wondering if you could help me with something simple. Is there any way to exclude videos from iTunes’ default smart playlists like the “Recently Added” and “Top 25 Most Played” playlists? I’d like to force these to be music-only playlists.

- Dale

A:

Absolutely, and it’s easy.

To exclude videos from any existing smart playlist, simply highlight it in the Source column, select “Edit Smart Playlist” from iTunes’ “File” menu. Then, click the “+” sign to the right of any existing rules the playlist has, and add these two rules:

This will exclude files of the type “MPEG-4 video file,” “Protected MPEG-4 video file,” and “Quicktime movie file.”

Note that there is one important exception to this trick: it won’t work if your smart playlist is based upon either-or logic for its rule set. You can tell if this is the case if your smart playlist’s logic window begins with “Match any of the following rules.”

Q:

I would like to create a smart playlist of the 5 albums most recently added to my iTunes library. Is this possible?

- Joseph

A:

Unfortunately, the capabilities Apple has given smart playlists are entirely based upon song properties; although songs in an album may have the same information in their “Album” fields, they’re still largely independent.

What does this mean for smart playlists? You simply can’t specify a number of albums that have been recently added to your library.

Our recommendation to approximate what you’re looking for is a rather unsatisfactory one: simply decide on an average number of songs, play time, or file space that 5 albums would occupy, and make your playlist that way. here are a few suggestions:

And, as always, tell Apple what you’d like to see in future versions of iTunes here at their iTunes feedback website.

Q:

I have a 60GB iPod photo, and for some reason last week, it stopped displaying album art when playing music. When it is connected to iTunes, all the album covers are still there.

- Sean

A:

We’ve had a flurry of readers report album art issues on the iPod, although the details vary. Some users report all album art spontaneously disappering from their iPod’s entire collection, while others report missing art from only selected songs, and some say their album art displays, but with the incorrect photo-song associations, as if all their album art had become shuffled among their library.

In all of these cases, assuming your artwork is correct in your iTunes library, we recommend one procedure as an album art panacea:

Connect your iPod and allow it to synchronize. Then, open iTunes’ iPod Preferences panel, deselect “Display album artwork on your iPod,” and allow the iPod to synchronize. Then, re-enable the preference and sync again. This will force iTunes to recreate the special database of iPod-sized album artwork images, and should clear up any problems you were having.

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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: Why Custom Earphones Cost So Much: Inside Ultimate Ears' Labs

Previous: Ask iLounge 8-17-06

Comments

1

i’ve loaded loads of photo’s onto my i pod now then my computer crashed and i lost all origionals. i’m not sure if i selected to copy fiull resolution pics al well. is it possible to retrieve the pics from my i pod?

Posted by rmcerlain on August 26, 2006 at 12:25 PM (PDT)

2

i have a 20 gig photo and a 30 gig video and they share the same itunes on the one computer. however recently the video ipod will not update the videos that i put in itunes. they bith will up date the songs fine but the i pod video will not update the videos in itunes?

Posted by miami523 on August 26, 2006 at 3:51 PM (PDT)

3

i have a altec lansing inmotion iM7 and as your article mentioned the romote stinks (all else is great).  any suggestions for simple programmable remote to replace it?

Posted by dannodannodanno on August 30, 2006 at 6:18 PM (PDT)

4

I read your article about the suddenly missing artwork. I too started experiencing the same symptom after I started using Anapod Explorer.  When I click disconnect, I see a progress bar saying “Copying Artwork” that goes to about 5% before I get the “It is safe to disconnect” message.  I think this application may have something to do with the missing artwork.  I opened a tech support request with them

Posted by Xamiel on September 4, 2006 at 4:27 PM (PDT)

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