itunes alternatives?

Plekhanov · Post by **Plekhanov** » 2005-12-29 05:55am

My sister got an ipod for Christmas & itunes is doing her head in, it's a resource hog, awkward to use & won't let her name or organise her files how she likes (infact the bastard thing renamed & reorganised them without even asking her).

So are there any alternative utilities that allow you to up/down load stuff to an ipod without having to put up with apple's control freak tendencies?

Systems info - she has an ipod nano & a PC running W2K.

Plekhanov · Post by **Plekhanov** » 2005-12-29 07:27am

maybe I should clarify, she’s not looking for an alternate music download service (she already uses emusic & is very happy with it) but a alternative utility to itunes for up & downloading stuff too & from her ipod.

Her pc relatively new & powerful enough to run itunes it’s just annoying that it tends to try take over the whole damn thing & takes an absurd amount of resources for a program who’s only purpose from her point of view is to put files on her nano.

namdoolb · Post by **namdoolb** » 2005-12-29 07:27am

There are settings in the options. I use iTunes myself, and while you can't stop it being a bit of a resource hog, you can stop it from self-organising your mp3's

what you need to do, is select edit, then preferences....
Then hop across to the "advanced" tab. De-check the box that says "keep iTunes music folder organised".

There's other useful options you can play around with there as well, such as format options for when you import or burn songs.

iTunes isn't perfect, but it does a good enough job of allowing me to browse my music collection that I'm willing to forgive its flaws... at least until something better and free comes along.

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2005-12-29 07:28am

The problem with ipods is that very little software will work for them, due to apple being bastards.

I find itunes takes getting used too, although i don't have an ipod. The way it organises my files for me is nice, artist, album, song. all in subsequent folders.

although if its hogging resources i have no idea what you can do, minimising it certainly kills it required resources though

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2005-12-29 07:47am

Frankly, that's garbage. Apple have either been very open with their protocols or everyone's been really smart: there are literally DOZENS of iTunes-replacements. I used eph-pod for a bit, but didn't like it's search options, but xplay looked alright last time I checked it out. There is a whole industry around iTunes-alternatives.

For low-spec, I'd suggest ephpod. It's iTunes without all the flash.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2005-12-29 08:21am

I just found Anapod, it works well enough I suppose, its not much of a resource hog and its ridiculously easy to use.
http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/ctable.php

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2005-12-29 01:45pm

Stark wrote:Frankly, that's garbage. Apple have either been very open with their protocols or everyone's been really smart: there are literally DOZENS of iTunes-replacements. I used eph-pod for a bit, but didn't like it's search options, but xplay looked alright last time I checked it out. There is a whole industry around iTunes-alternatives.

For low-spec, I'd suggest ephpod. It's iTunes without all the flash.

Apple hasn't been open with the iPod. People have simply reverse-engineered the iPod database, and Apple hasn't bothered changing it in the interest of backwards compatibility. Besides, it's not like they lose a ton of iTunes users to third-party iPod utilities.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2005-12-29 08:49pm

As far as I know, you can put MP3s on the iPod simply because it shows up as an external HD. Simply click and drag. A friend came over and plugged his iPod into my computer and I loaded files onto it like this.

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2005-12-29 11:02pm

Alyeska wrote:As far as I know, you can put MP3s on the iPod simply because it shows up as an external HD. Simply click and drag. A friend came over and plugged his iPod into my computer and I loaded files onto it like this.

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong.

No, because it won't update the internal iPod database. However, there is a Windows Explorer extension called Anapod that will do this.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2005-12-31 03:14pm

phongn wrote:
Alyeska wrote:As far as I know, you can put MP3s on the iPod simply because it shows up as an external HD. Simply click and drag. A friend came over and plugged his iPod into my computer and I loaded files onto it like this.

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong.
No, because it won't update the internal iPod database. However, there is a Windows Explorer extension called Anapod that will do this.

There's also another program called SharePod that does the same, that I found the other day. It also lets you move files from your iPod, to get around Apple's annoying protection lockout in case you wind up losing the same files on your hdd but still have them on the iPod.

Dillon · Post by **Dillon** » 2006-01-01 08:33pm

If you use Winamp, this plugin might be of use.