A question for all the iPod experts
Posted by: Jay on 17 November 2004
I have about 30GB of (my own!) music in iTunes loaded on my recent 12" G4 powerbook.
I have very little space left on the hard drive. Over the past few months it's dwindled from a huge 7GB to just 2GB. I have a feeling that with only 512MB of RAM and often running multiple programmes at once, the low hard-drive space is effected performance.
It'd be great to get these iTunes files off me HD. Is 40GB iPod the solution? I thought you kept your files on your mac and then just loaded the stuff you wanted onto the iPod. Or can I load everything onto the Pod and grab back 30GB? Any practical issues I should know about here?
Ta in advance. Jay
I have very little space left on the hard drive. Over the past few months it's dwindled from a huge 7GB to just 2GB. I have a feeling that with only 512MB of RAM and often running multiple programmes at once, the low hard-drive space is effected performance.
It'd be great to get these iTunes files off me HD. Is 40GB iPod the solution? I thought you kept your files on your mac and then just loaded the stuff you wanted onto the iPod. Or can I load everything onto the Pod and grab back 30GB? Any practical issues I should know about here?
Ta in advance. Jay
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by garyi
No practical issues to worry about Jay, but you run the risk of if anything goes wrong on the pod you will have to import all your tunes again.
However if this is not the end of the world for you (I don't see why it would be) get all the tracks on your pod, then delete them from itunes.
Download ipod rip from versiontracker, this will allow you to put the tracks back into itunes should you wish to in the future.
In the future the ipod when plugged in will flag a warning from itunes that its not the registered pod and do you want to make it, always click no or it will delete your ipod!
The other option is what I went for in the end (I had a 200 gig HD filled with tunes) to convert all the tracks to the 128 aac, I chose track by size and started from the top, deleting the ones that were imported as I went, this is time consuming though.
However if this is not the end of the world for you (I don't see why it would be) get all the tracks on your pod, then delete them from itunes.
Download ipod rip from versiontracker, this will allow you to put the tracks back into itunes should you wish to in the future.
In the future the ipod when plugged in will flag a warning from itunes that its not the registered pod and do you want to make it, always click no or it will delete your ipod!
The other option is what I went for in the end (I had a 200 gig HD filled with tunes) to convert all the tracks to the 128 aac, I chose track by size and started from the top, deleting the ones that were imported as I went, this is time consuming though.
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by throbnorth
Considering the time & expense [don't know about you, but my time's worth scads] of getting all those tunes on your hard disk in the first place, lash out and buy a standalone firewire hard drive. They are very cheap.
throb
throb
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by Jay
Garyi/Throb
Cheers guys.
I think the firewire drive might be just the go actually. I could use it to back up other stuff as well.
It means that I wouldn't run the risk of dropping the pod on the tube or something and losing all that music. The original cd's are a good 11,609 miles away so re-encoding would be somewhat problematic.
I kinda fancy a mini pod over the regular pod anyways.
So where would one get a firewire hard-drive in London then?
Jay
PS Garyi thx for that registered iPod issue! That could be disasterous
Cheers guys.
I think the firewire drive might be just the go actually. I could use it to back up other stuff as well.
It means that I wouldn't run the risk of dropping the pod on the tube or something and losing all that music. The original cd's are a good 11,609 miles away so re-encoding would be somewhat problematic.
I kinda fancy a mini pod over the regular pod anyways.
So where would one get a firewire hard-drive in London then?
Jay
PS Garyi thx for that registered iPod issue! That could be disasterous
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by garyi
Jay, you may be interested to learn that the brand new Apple Store opens this Saturday in London.
They sell third party stuff such as fire wire drives as well.
Otherwise there is Micro Anvika in Tottenham court road, but they are over priced.
They sell third party stuff such as fire wire drives as well.
Otherwise there is Micro Anvika in Tottenham court road, but they are over priced.
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by Jay
quote:
Originally posted by garyi:
Jay, you may be interested to learn that the brand new Apple Store opens this Saturday in London.
They sell third party stuff such as fire wire drives as well.
Otherwise there is Micro Anvika in Tottenham court road, but they are over priced.
Hey thanks for that. Where is the new store located?
I'm been to the Micro Anvika a few times and it's always packed. I wasn't really that impressed and am really surprised with Apple's lack of retail representation in London. I thought they'd have concept stores aka the mobile companies, Nike, etc...
Jay
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by throbnorth
Jay - PC world is the least hassle. They seem to be as cheap as anywhere nowdays, so why not ....
Mac types rather go for LaCie drives, because they are self powered and just Mac-y, but others are cheaper [Western Digital et al.]. Most are Firewire & USB2, and need no drivers, so just get the one that looks nicest.
Why not get an iPod mini - there seems to be a certain feeling that to get the best out of an iPod, you have to have one that is bigger than your music collection, but this is just really not true thanks to the Divine Glory of the iPod Smart Playlist [Nick Lees, pay attention here]. A thorough rummage at www.smartplaylists.com will give you examples that make your brain hurt.
I have a playlist called 'Radio Throbnorth' that draws from two other playlists that are comprised of recently added stuff and things that haven't been played for some time that I like a lot. Result - a blissful radio station playing lots of new stuff interspersed with golden oldies that I haven't heard in a while.
The good news is that to get the best from an iPod you should have your stuff stored on the computer rather than the pod and use playlists to access it, and harness the power of serendipity to your ends. Denying such possibilities it rather like saying 'I'm only going to listen to Radio 4 when I've looked in the Radio Times to see if there's something on I like.'
None of us can remember the totality of everything an iPod is able to store, yet all of us get great pleasure from hearing something which we haven't heard in ages or is far better than we remembered. Smart playlist can do this.
throb
P.S. The new Apple store is [sadly] going to be a concept store In Spades. It takes up most of Regent Street. Apple Wankers will be queueing overnight for t- shirts. Please Gary - say it's not you....
Mac types rather go for LaCie drives, because they are self powered and just Mac-y, but others are cheaper [Western Digital et al.]. Most are Firewire & USB2, and need no drivers, so just get the one that looks nicest.
Why not get an iPod mini - there seems to be a certain feeling that to get the best out of an iPod, you have to have one that is bigger than your music collection, but this is just really not true thanks to the Divine Glory of the iPod Smart Playlist [Nick Lees, pay attention here]. A thorough rummage at www.smartplaylists.com will give you examples that make your brain hurt.
I have a playlist called 'Radio Throbnorth' that draws from two other playlists that are comprised of recently added stuff and things that haven't been played for some time that I like a lot. Result - a blissful radio station playing lots of new stuff interspersed with golden oldies that I haven't heard in a while.
The good news is that to get the best from an iPod you should have your stuff stored on the computer rather than the pod and use playlists to access it, and harness the power of serendipity to your ends. Denying such possibilities it rather like saying 'I'm only going to listen to Radio 4 when I've looked in the Radio Times to see if there's something on I like.'
None of us can remember the totality of everything an iPod is able to store, yet all of us get great pleasure from hearing something which we haven't heard in ages or is far better than we remembered. Smart playlist can do this.
throb
P.S. The new Apple store is [sadly] going to be a concept store In Spades. It takes up most of Regent Street. Apple Wankers will be queueing overnight for t- shirts. Please Gary - say it's not you....
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by garyi
No Throb, not quite, we are going in Saturday anyways, and I will have a look inside but it will be late afternoon, lets face it, its going to be steaming in there all day.
I wouldn't be suprised if they release 10.4 as well.
I wouldn't be suprised if they release 10.4 as well.
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by throbnorth
Just happen to be going into the West End on Saturday, eh? Hmmmm.
Still, I'll be interested to hear your views !
throb
Still, I'll be interested to hear your views !
throb
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by garyi
Yea I know how it sounds, but we are 19 minutes from London here and as we are moving at the end of the month we were going to take a final 'easy' trip in.
The fact the apple store is open is the icing on the cake (for me not Sheila!)
The fact the apple store is open is the icing on the cake (for me not Sheila!)
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by throbnorth
I was walking past it last night - it really is extraordinarily big - the frontage is something like that of John Lewis. I await your report with baited breath.....
throb
throb
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by Jay
Thanks for the info Throb. I want small and self powered. Any quick recommendations? I looked at the groovy Lacie but they're a little big.
BTW, what time am I meeting you guys to queue for those t-shirts. Oh, hang on, I mean....catch up for a few beers......
BTW, what time am I meeting you guys to queue for those t-shirts. Oh, hang on, I mean....catch up for a few beers......
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by throbnorth
I think the LaCie is as small as it gets for self powered [and possibly even for powered].
I'm from the PC end of the playground, really - I just look at Apple in the way that a C19th Angligan bishop might think about Going Over to Rome.
throb
I'm from the PC end of the playground, really - I just look at Apple in the way that a C19th Angligan bishop might think about Going Over to Rome.
throb
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by garyi
you'll buckle one day Throb. One Day.
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by Dan M
I want small and self powered
I'm using a Firelite drive - works well and is compact. Mine is 40GB, but I think you can get bigger ones now.
cheers,
Dan
I'm using a Firelite drive - works well and is compact. Mine is 40GB, but I think you can get bigger ones now.
cheers,
Dan
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by Steve Bull
Been thinking about an offboard FW drive myself for exactly the same reasons, but my iBook only has one FW port. That being the case, how do I plug in both FW drive and the iPod at the same time? Do the external drives come with another FW port to allow daisy-chaining?
Steve.
It's a grand old team to play for...
Steve.
It's a grand old team to play for...
Posted on: 17 November 2004 by Dan M
Now you mention it, my Firelite has two ports on it - one has the cable to attach to my iBook. So I presume you can daisy chaim devices from the other.
Dan
Dan
Posted on: 18 November 2004 by Martin Payne
quote:
Originally posted by Jay:
Or can I load everything onto the Pod and grab back 30GB? Any practical issues I should know about here?
Jay,
I thought that you couldn't do this with iTunes?
cheers, Martin
E-mail:- MartinPayne (at) Dial.Pipex.com. Put "Naim" in the title.
Posted on: 18 November 2004 by garyi
You can put it involves third party software of which there is tonnes such as 'iPod Rip'