Ipod virgin

[Osiris]

Since my goal is to use this device in my 370, i thought i'd post these questions here. And yes i did search before making this post Anyways, i'm basically an Apple hold out. I don't own any Apple products. Up til now i've been using a simple USB 32gb memory stick to play my mp3's.

I've been looking at the Ipods, Nano's, Touch, etc.. I'd like to be able to play video on the NAV screen from one of these devices as well as music. So with that, here are my questions:

-Which of these Apple products play video?
-What kind of connector do they use? And will it work in the Z?
-What music format does an Ipod use?
-Will i need to convert all my gigaquads of mp3's to some other format?
-Can i simply copy and paste my mp3's onto the Ipod?
-What video format does an Ipod use?
-Can i simply copy an .avi or .mpg to an Ipod? Or will it need to be converted?
-If conversion is needed for audio or video files, what application does this?
-Do i have to use itunes to do any of this? If so, do i have to pay for it?
-If i'm able to play a video from the Ipod onto the NAV screen, will the video playback stop when the car is in motion like it does for dvd's?

Thanks for any feedback!

[bigaudiofanat]

1. All but the shuffle and nano play videos.

2.Uses a 40 pin plug that is standard on all but the shuffle.

3.Most of the formats if you want the best uncompressed quality which takes up more space its called apple lossless. It will convert music that you put in that it does not reconize.

4.No just tell itunes when you install it to scan your hard drive for music and check the box keep itunes library orginized.

5. No not really not to meantion once you learn itunes you will love how easy it is to find music. NOTE you may want to run something like tune up media after importing all your music to fill in all the info and album artwork if you download of p2p networks.

6. MP4

7. I do not think so but plenty of converter software out there.

8. Just google it I have not needed to do this but I know there is a lot of free ones.

9. itunes is free and a great orginization software get use to it in 3 weeks or so. Yes this is what you have to use unless you downlaod other software but I do not recomend it.

10. Yes because you do not have a bypass on your stock system.

I will say if you never have owned one before you are going to love it after a few weeks of use. I started out with a ipod nano years back now I have a collection of over 840 full uncompressed albums ripped from cd's. I simply love itunes and my ipod.

[wilsonp]

#4 DO NOT check the keep itunes library organized box unless you want iTunes to move all your files around. If you, like me, already manage your MP3s in another program, don't let iTunes screw it up.

I recommend setting up some setting up some iTunes smart playlists for syncing MP3s to your iPod for the car (I call mine 370Z), setup the music sync to only sync selected items, and select the playlist. I also setup a Not 370Z playlist and manually move songs I don't want on the iPod to this list and setup the 370Z list to exclude the Not 370Z list. I also set mine up to exclude genre=Christmas and just put those on a CF card for the holiday season.

You could also use the only synced checked music and check/uncheck songs based on what you want on the iPod, but I have an iPhone that uses that flag.

Finally, you could set the iPod to manual mode and drag and drop songs (or videos) inside iTunes to the iPod to completely manually manage music.

[Osiris]

thanks for the info guys. So, let me see if i got this right:

-only ipod classic and ipod touch will do video
-they only play mp4
-I can drag my avi's or mkv's or mpg's into itunes and it will copy them onto the ipod in the correct format
-same with mp3's, i can drag into itunes which will then copy to the ipod in the correct format.

And to clarify, i do NOT want itunes to alter my mp3's or video files in any way. I simply want to be able to copy them to the ipod...and as long as it doesn't alter the original file, it can convert to whatever format it needs.

I also don't plan to purchase music from itunes...i have other methods of obtaining the music. And as far as video...say i wanted to copy one of the movies i've downloaded? I try to download the mkv format...and a lot of times these can be up to 4.5GB. Would that take a long time to convert/copy to the ipod? And what about native dvd format: .vob files? Can those be converted using itunes and subsequently copied over?

Oh, and which is better: ipod classic or Touch?

[bigaudiofanat]

Mp3's yes movie formats no you have to use a converter for that. I would advise against the drag and drop into itunes and just let itunes scan your computer and load them all up than use that sofwater tune up to orginize and corect the naems for them all.
Most converter software will have a option to keep the original video fiel or change it.

You can use your other methods to get music hoverver you will have to drag them into itunes even after letting it orginize.

I am a orginizer junkie and want everything with proper artist names, song names, album artwork and so on so I do not downlaod I but and rip full cd's for the best sound quality and orginization.

vob files just google ___ file type convert to mp4 and should be able to find a software to do that.


I think honestly if you give apple a change you will enjoy it.

[Osiris]

Originally Posted by bigaudiofanat

Mp3's yes movie formats no you have to use a converter for that. I would advise against the drag and drop into itunes and just let itunes scan your computer and load them all up than use that sofwater tune up to orginize and corect the naems for them all.
Most converter software will have a option to keep the original video fiel or change it.

You can use your other methods to get music hoverver you will have to drag them into itunes even after letting it orginize.

I am a orginizer junkie and want everything with proper artist names, song names, album artwork and so on so I do not downlaod I but and rip full cd's for the best sound quality and orginization.

vob files just google ___ file type convert to mp4 and should be able to find a software to do that.


I think honestly if you give apple a change you will enjoy it.

Yea, i've held out so long for this very reason...i never liked the idea of it modifying my files that i've taken a long time to organize. And i never liked the idea that i can't just copy and paste but instead have to let the device convert my files into it's proprietary format that can't be used by any other pc or music player.

But if i let itunes scan my computer, will that not modify the files? So, are you saying once itunes scans and has a record of your music/video, it can then easily copy them over? I'm willing to give it a try as long as my original files aren't altered.

[bigaudiofanat]

Just make a backup of your files before this. Just in case it does not do what you want.

If you want to manualy orginize and drag and drop some music into itunes than set to manual. I am just saying I know and used many other music orginization programs out there and this blows them all away.

Example
You import a cd from Black Eyed Peas

it will create not only a folder for that artist but another folder inside that of that album.

I am trying to explain it to you. mp3 files should be fine and should not need to be converted. Scanning your computer and adding files should not modify files but I am not sure.

mp4 is a standard format that everyone can use and a lot of times can be burned onto a dvd as well for watching.

[Osiris]

Gotcha. Well, backup is a good idea...but i had to buy a 2 terebyte drive just to hold all my multimedia files. So may be kinda hard to find enough space to back them up. But i guess i could use a few files for experimentation Now i just need to decide between the classic or the touch. I fly a lot, so i'm thinking the Touch for it's larger screen, but it looks like it only has a max of 64GB storage whereas the classic comes with 160GB and is cheaper.

[bigaudiofanat]

Ya I have a 160gb but it is filled but not with all my music because it is all uncompressed. LOL

Also I think I added the example after you replied to my post.

[Osiris]

Any size limitation on the mp4's? Would it play a 4.5gb mp4? Thanks for all the info!

[bigaudiofanat]

I think it will not have a problem with the size.

[Osiris]

thanks again, rep +1

[bigaudiofanat]

Originally Posted by Osiris

Any size limitation on the mp4's? Would it play a 4.5gb mp4? Thanks for all the info!

Not a problem man. I will say this even though I work for a company and my job title is PC Speacialist. I run a mac book pro dual booted with windows 7. I love it.

Also I am a audio Junkie like no other. So as I said I love orginization and when I can open itunes and type in the search anything from a artist, album name, or song title, even genre. I love it So fast. Any questions please ask.

[hdskull]

I have the current generation nano (owned the previous two generations as well), it stopped working with my headunit after 2 months(says reading/disconnected/reading/disconnected). I'm very confused as to why... However, the previous generation nanos never had any problems.

The ipod touch is a completely different piece of technology compared to the classic, I would recommend the iTouch. I think 64 GB is enough at any given time. You can always just plug it into you computer and swap media as you feel necessary.

If you choose the manual add option for iTunes, every time you drag a file into iTunes, iTunes makes a copy of that file and save it under the iTunes folder. iTunes will not alter your original file. Any changes you make to the media files will be made to the copy and not the original.

DVD format files are slightly more difficult to convert from my experience. Everything else is fine.. There is also no point in putting high definition videos into the ipod because the ipod only displays up to a certain size. Not to mention that converting a 4.5GB would take forever...

[bigaudiofanat]

Originally Posted by hdskull

I have the current generation nano (owned the previous two generations as well), it stopped working with my headunit after 2 months(says reading/disconnected/reading/disconnected). I'm very confused as to why... However, the previous generation nanos never had any problems.

The ipod touch is a completely different piece of technology compared to the classic, I would recommend the iTouch. I think 64 GB is enough at any given time. You can always just plug it into you computer and swap media as you feel necessary.

If you choose the manual add option for iTunes, every time you drag a file into iTunes, iTunes makes a copy of that file and save it under the iTunes folder. iTunes will not alter your original file. Any changes you make to the media files will be made to the copy and not the original.

Thank you for confirming that.