Ok, so you finally got your iPod. Don’t you just love it? Which one is it? The little one with no screen or the one with the large screen that you can actually watch movies on? Are you getting used to iTunes? Well have no fear, your Bali PC Advisor is here to help. Today let’s give you lots of extras to help you handle all this.
Syncing your music
While syncing music to your iPod has always been pretty easy, getting your music off iPod isn’t quite as easy—unless you’re using one of these handy apps, that is.
l Replace your iTunes with Floola
(http://www.floola.com/modules/wiwimod/index.php) (for Windows/Mac/Linux): Floola is a freeware,
cross-platform application that makes it easy to copy music and videos to and from your iPod from and to any computer. In all, Floola can actually work as a full-on iTunes replacement that can run from your iPod’s hard drive. And because it’s cross platform, Floola makes for an excellent all-around iTunes replacement if you’re not a fan of iTunes.
l If all you want to do is recover your music library from your iPod back to your computer,
iPod -> Folder (http://www.longfingers.com/ipodfolder/) (for Windows/Mac) is probably the simplest way to do it. Just fire it up, point it to your iPod, point it to a folder on your computer, and let it rip. It even has a “Include MP3 files only” option in case you’re borrowing tunes from a friend’s iPod and you don’t want their DRM-infected files.
Converters: Video and Audiobook
Yes, you could purchase TV shows and movies from iTunes, but if you’ve already got the DVD or you’ve downloaded a video that happens to be in the wrong format, why should you shell out more cash to Apple—especially when you can easily convert them for your iPod using free apps?
l Use Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/) (for Windows/Mac/Linux): The cross-platform freeware application HandBrake is the go-to application when you want to rip a DVD for your iPod or iPhone (or PSP or PS3 or AppleTV...). Just pop in your DVD, pick what you want for your iPod, and start ripping.
l Convert videos for your iPod with Videora (http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/) (Windows only): If you’ve got a video file on your computer that your iPod doesn’t support, fear not. Just plug it into Videora and let it do the heavy lifting for you. It even transcodes YouTube videos—all you need to do is give it the URL.
l For Mac users try iSquint (http://www.isquint.org/) (Mac): Make any video iPod-compatible with iSquint. Just drag the videos you want to convert into the iSquint queue, choose the encoding quality (which will also deter mine file size and time required to encode), and let it rip. You can even tell iSquint to automatically add the video to your iTunes library once it’s done encoding.
l Audio Book MP3s to M4B (http://www.freeipodsoftware.com./index.php) (Windows only): If you love a good audiobook but your book isn’t in the right format for your iPod, this handy little app will convert your MP3s to the iPod audiobook format (M4B) so you get all of the audiobook features like playback speed adjustment and “start from last position” functionality without the tedium of doing it yourself.
Miscellaneous iPod Utilities
l Integrate Your iPod with Last.fm with iSproggler
(http://www.last.fm/group/iSproggler) (for Windows) and iScrobbler
(http://www.last.fm/group/iScrobbler) (for Mac): If you’re a fan of the music recommendation service Last.fm like I am and you happen to do most of your music listening on your iPod, you can automatically upload your iPod listening habits to the site with whichever application matches your operating system. Just install, enter your Last.fm username and password, and forget it.
l Use your Shuffle as an ordinary MP3 player with iPod Shuffle Database Builder
(http://shuffle-db.sourceforge.net/) (for Windows/Mac/Linux): Just add songs to your iPod shuffle by simply dragging them to your shuffle without touching iTunes—making it much more like a non-iPod MP3 player that lets you manage your music using your file system.
Upgrades for Older iPods
A number of third party applications and utilities exist to expand the functionality of your existing iPod by modifying or installing new software onto your iPod. For example:
l Upgrade Your iPod Video to an iPod classic (for Windows): When Apple released the iPod classic, they gave it a simple visual refresh that one would think could easily be retrofitted to older iPods, but for whatever reason Apple’s not letting your run the fancy new interface on your older iPod. A replacement firmware for your video iPod brings the splitscreen interface of the updated iPod classic to your older video iPod.
