2010 iPod + iPhone Buyers' Guide

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Ask iLounge 9-22-05

Author's pic

By Jerrod H.

Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, September 21, 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:

How do I deauthorize a computer? My wife tried to open a song that I sent to her and she was told that she wasn’t authorized to open it. I think that this is because I already have 5 users “authorized,â€? since giving her my password didn’t help. Can I reset all 5 computers I have authorized in order for her to gain access?

- Ted

A:

Indeed you can, and in one of two ways. The first and most preferable of these only applies if you have access to the computers you have already authorized - simply open iTunes on one of those computers, go to the “Advanced” menu, and select “Deauthorize Computer…”. This will open up a single slot for your wife’s PC.

If you don’t have access to any of the 5 computers anymore, or you want to deauthorize en masse, Apple has given you the ability to completely deauthorize all computers associated with your iTunes account without you having to do them individually. To do so, go to the Music Store from any iTunes copy you have installed, and log into your iTunes Music Store account. Next, click on your account name in the top right corner of the iTunes Music Store window to go to your “Account Information” page. Simply select “Deauthorize all” to the right of the “Computer Authorizations” section. This may seem more convenient in many cases, but be careful - Apple only allows you to do such a large reset once a year.

Q:

  My new iPod nano came with a neat dock adaptor that I wanted to use to help me dock my nano with my Bose SoundDock and an old 4G 40GB dock, but it doesn’t seem to fit in either one. What’s going on?
 
Thank you!

- Anonymous

A: The new Universal Dock Adaptor shipping with the new iPod nano is not intended as an adaptor for past or current iPod accessories - it’s the first of a new breed of accessory interface hardware, and as such, it won’t be useful for some time. Soon, new accessories will be compatible with the Adaptor, and all iPods (including the full-size models) will ship with adaptors similar to that of the nano. Until then, you’ll have to keep your UDA tucked away somewhere… Sorry!
Q:

I am using the 2GB iPod Nano and it works great. However, I would like to listen to it at work through my work PC, so that I can charge and listen simultaneously. I was told I could do so, but I can only access the drive if I install iTunes on my system at work and choose not to associate the iPod with this library. When I do this, I can see my music on the nano but it is greyed out. How can I access these songs?

- Don

A:

This is possible, and you’re almost there! To make these songs accessible on your work PC, simply take exactly what you’ve done thus far, and put your iPod nano into “Manual Synchronization” mode. To do this, navigate to iTunes’ Preferences window (with your iPod is plugged in), select the “iPod” tab, and select the radio button titled “Manually manage songs and playlists.”

Granted, it is not terribly convenient to have to change this setting between your computers, but it will work. Check out our full tutorial on the various synchronizing methods here.

Q:

I find that occasionally the album art on my iPod photo gets corrupted, lost, or incorrect. In the past, I have sometimes been able to fix this by scrolling through the affected songs in iTunes then re-synching, but now that I have thousands of songs, this is impractical (and doesn’t seem to work anymore, either). The artwork is correct in iTunes. Any ideas?

- Keith

A: Although we’re not terribly proud of the answer we’re supplying due to its inelegant, brute-force nature, it will certainly work. Download and install the latest iPod Software Updater from Apple’s website. Plug in your iPod, launch the Updater software, and select the “Restore” function. This will wipe your iPod to its original factory state, allowing you to start clean by having iTunes completely rebuild the iPod’s navigation database (and re-build the miniature album art that accompanies the music). You’ll be less likely to experience a recurrence of this problem with this solution.
Q:

Having become familiar with iTunes 5’s new lyrics feature, I’d like to find a way to easily fill the lyrics box for all the songs on my Mac. I’ve found that pearLyrics Dashboard Widget does a wonderful job on the currently playing song, but it won’t step through my whole library. Any ideas?

- Anonymous

A: Two of our editors recently went through the exact same process, filling their iTunes libraries with lyrics using the pearLyrics widget. To automate the iteration through the library, they used the Needle Drop 2.5 AppleScript from Doug’s AppleScripts for iTunes. Download this Applescript and place it in your [User Home Folder]/Library/iTunes/Scripts/ folder. Then, launch iTunes, create a playlist of the songs you’d like to iterate through, and select “Needle Drop” from your iTunes’ script menu (the small scroll in your menu bar). Needle Drop will ask how long you would like to preview each song for (between 7 and 10 seconds should be plenty for pearLyrics to both fetch and write the text), and click “Ok.”  Make sure the pearLyrics widget is open and active before you begin, and all you’ll have to do is sit back and relax!


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: Sneak Peeks: Apple Expo Paris, Part 3

Previous: Sneak Peeks: Apple Expo Paris, Part 2

Comments

1

Why hasn’t anyone made a device to allow the iPod to record using a stereo mike?

Posted by reubs2279 on September 22, 2005 at 4:10 PM (PDT)

2

I am usin Windows XP The dropdown feature in the search box no longer works in either itunes or in the purchase music service.  I downloaded the latest today 9/25 and I still can not get it to work so I can select from artist, song, etc.  any ideas? Thanks, Bob.

Posted by rrosso1 in New Jersey on September 25, 2005 at 11:06 AM (PDT)

3

I live in Canada (vancouver to be exact) will the RoadTrip+ work up here? I’ve noticed on this forum most of the places that get mentioned are in the US.

I’m planning on buying a Nano soon so I found this accessory to be real handy compared to the FM Transmitter.

Someone help me!

Posted by govipod on September 25, 2005 at 1:10 PM (PDT)

4

I would like to have itunes watch a folder for newly added music. Is there a script or add on that can enable that?

Similar to Media Player.

Posted by Hansvdd on September 26, 2005 at 3:01 PM (PDT)

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