Ipod is piece of crap

[BlueSkyJaunte]

My 2G iPod worked perfectly fine for years until it took a swan dive off my belt clip onto the tile floor...

[red-beard]

Yes, but can you surf Pelican OT from your Ipod? Or can you only listen to music and watch videos?

Surfing from my Palm Lifedrive

[Yellowbird RS]

Originally posted by jhelgesen
How do I get Itunes completly off my computer? I've uninstalled, downloaded, and reinstalled. When I restarted itunes, it had all my old settings. Something is hiding some where.

uninstall itunes for the install disk then clean up the hard disk for the control panel menu then restart you lap and download the newest version from apple itune site.

[Yellowbird RS]

my modify ipod with a Ferrari theme

[techweenie]

My iPod is going on 3 years old. Never has given a lick of trouble, nor has iTunes. I have a fair number of MP3s I've ripped off my own CD collection along with a few songs purchased online and many more from coupons, "freebie" promotions, etc.

There is no "erase and reinitialize" command for the iPod, AFAIK, but there is a massive library of utilities you can use to do everything from PDA functions to setting up the iPod as an external hard drive...

[syncroid]

I have had the same unit (30gig video) for almost a year now. My OS is Winblows XP Pro. I had simular problems with the Itunes software at first. It turned out not to be the Ipod or the software for it that was the problem. I was running Norton Internet Security 2005. That was the problem. After uninstalling the Norton everything worked perfectly.

[jhelgesen]

Originally posted by syncroid
I have had the same unit (30gig video) for almost a year now. My OS is Winblows XP Pro. I had simular problems with the Itunes software at first. It turned out not to be the Ipod or the software for it that was the problem. I was running Norton Internet Security 2005. That was the problem. After uninstalling the Norton everything worked perfectly.

AHHHH HAAAA!

I'm running Norton Internet security also......

Let me see what I can do now. Anyway of giving itunes and such permission to use my machine?

[syncroid]

I completely un-installed the Norton Internet Security then re-installed the Itunes. It worked great after that.
That particular Norton product was the biggest piece of dung ever! Buggy as all get out! I hope it works for you.

[StevoRocket]

You can re initialise the ipod by downloading and running the ipod software updating program - I did this today and it gave 2 options..

1 - completely clear the ipod of music and files and load the software
2 - just update the software leaving the music and photos etc untouched.
I moved from version 1.1.1 to version 1.1.2 of the ipod software and it worked fine.

I use AVG free edition for virus checking.

[campbellcj]

My two-bits...

The iPod (I have a 4GB black nano) is a friggen engineering masterpiece; HOWEVER...

iTunes needs major help, at least on Windows platforms. Among other issues, it is very clearly not a program that originated on Windows from a UI and usability standpoint. I often use Winamp for ripping, burning and listening. It is not perfect either by any means, but runs rings around iTunes IMO.

[sammyg2]

My 13 year old daugher has an ipod but I've never actually used one and have no inclination.
I have my LPs and 8 tracks

[jhelgesen]

Yeah, I've found itunes sucks pretty bad so far, but have had very good luck with the Anapod software trial version. Think I'll pony up the $30 and buy the full version, looks like the way to go.

[jhelgesen]

Okay, I've spent 2 days on this thing, 3 hours just tonight. I have norton off, completly un-installed itunes and the apple software, bought a full version of Anapod, and thought all was good in the world.....but I can't complete a music upload to the unit. I work moving files and creating playlists for a few minutes and BOOM, the ipod resets itself and disconnects from the pc, loosing all the uploads I just made.

Its going back in the box right now, going back as soon as I can get back to best buy......

[Burt at Pelican Parts]

I've had my 20GB ipod since October of 2004. It's definitely one of my favorite toys and I've had very little problems using it with itunes on Windows XP. I've had no battery issues, it'll freeze if you try to skip too many songs at once. I use it quite a bit (walking to school, at work, in the car, etc).

Something I've never understood, what's the point of getting a video ipod? I just listen to music on mine, no need to be looking at it all day.

Good luck getting your issues resolved, personally I would just return it and get an 4GB Nano. There's not enough memory for my personal use but I've heard Apple is working on a 16GB and 32 GB version.

[jhelgesen]

I don't know that I'll use the video much, but my wife liked having pictures to share on it. Probably find a way to put my in car videos on there too.

[Dave L]

I have a 30Gb video, it hasnt caused a problem for me at all. My only complaint is the cost of some of the accessories.

I do have a video or two on mine but use it primarrily for music in the car and photos and music at home. In the car I had a Monster IcarPlay FM tuner/charger, it sucks, the volume was low so I had to crank the stereo to full to get usable volume at highway speeds. I recently had a Sony head unit with an Aux input on the front installed. Its perfect, with CD quality sound and plenty of volume.

At home I have a cable that carries video and sound to my reciever. I have it set up so I can run a slide show on my TV while listening to music.

[gprsh924]

had a 4G 20GB for two years, never one single problem. and i even setup it first on the home PC and moved everything over to my Dell laptop this summer

no need for a mac, as my dell was 900 and same spec macbook was 1500

that 600 lets me put up with a lot of headaches (havent had any yet though) it aslo bought a speaker system, an external harddrive, a keyboard and mouse set, a new jump drive, and a cable lock (and still came in well under that 1500)

[jhelgesen]

Returned Ipod #1 today. Guys at best buy had to verify it was defective, said please look around the store while we check it. Came and found me 1 minute later, said they had never seen one act like that before, please go select another one. Plugged in Ipod #2, within 5 minutes it had downloaded all my music files. I think I'm good to go now.

Now to find a good video transfer program to upload movies and my track dvds.

[StevoRocket]

AVS converts videos into all sorts of formats including ipod - then you drag and drop them into the library page and they get loaded.

[Yellowbird RS]

Use it to convert from almost any format (AVI, MPEG, VOB/DVD, etc) into crystal clear DVD-quality video for iTunes and/or your iPod.

If you're going to rip DVDs into Videora, you first need to install DVD43, which de-protects any DVDs in your PC. Then, DVD Shrink is needed to combine the movie's VOB files into one, and lastly, Videora iPod Converter is needed to get the videos encoded properly for iTunes/iPods. If you're only converting downloaded videos, and not DVDs, you only need Videora iPod Converter, which I will from hereon refer to as just 'Videora'. Note that any videos created with this guide will only be playable in Quicktime 7, iTunes 6 or an iPod video.

Videora iPod Converter (freeware):
[Website/Download] http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/

DVD43 (freeware):
[Website/Download] http://www.dvd43.com/

DVD Shrink (freeware):
[Website] http://www.dvdshrink.org/
[Download] http://fileforum.betanews.com/sendfi...ink32setup.zip

Encoding downloaded videos with Videora is fairly easy and self explanatory. If you need explanation, start reading from Step 11 below, and instead of using VOBs and such, just use the videos you want on your iTunes/iPod.

Getting DVDs into Videora:
---You only need to perform the following four steps once---
1) Download and install DVD43 from the above link, and restart. Make sure it's running after your computer starts up again (it's a smiley face in the system tray).
2) Download and install DVD Shrink from the above link.
3) Open DVD Shrink, and go to Edit -> Preferences...
4) Go to the Output Files tab, and uncheck Split VOB files into 1GB size chunks. Click OK.
---Continue----
5) Click the Re-Author button on the top of the window.
6) Find your DVD drive in the DVD Browser list, and open it. Drag the Main Movie to the left half of the window.
7) Click on the Compression Settings tab in the right half, and then pick No Compression in the drop down menu for video compression (it says Automatic by default).
8) Only check the audio track you want encoded to your iPod/iTunes (probably the first one). None of the subtitles will be converted, so you can uncheck all of those, too.
9) Click the Backup! button on top. Wait patiently as DVD Shrink analyzes your movie.
10) In the Select backup target drop down, select Hard Disk Folder. In the next box, type wherever you want your DVD files saved. Press OK and wait while it does its stuff (may take up to 20 minutes). Once DVD Shrink is done, move on to the next step.
---Start here for encoding downloaded videos, or keep reading for DVDs----
11) Open Videora iPod Converter. Click Transcode New Video, and navigate to the folder you chose in DVD Shrink for backing up the movie. Open the VIDEO_TS folder. (If you're using downloaded videos and not a DVD, just find the video you want to encode, and ignore the VIDEO_TS and VTS stuff)
12) There should be a file called VTS_01_1 in the folder (if you're not using a DVD, just find your video right now). Select it and begin encoding with H264/320x240/640kbps Stereo/128kbps if the video is fullscreen, or see this image for widescreen. Make sure that if your movie is widescreen, you encode with my widescreen profile. The encoding process takes awhile to complete, and if your PC is slow, it might take as long as the actual video. Sometimes Videora will jump to 100% quickly, but this is a glitch, and it's not really finished until "Transcode Complete" appears.
13) Once the encoding is done, Videora will say "Transcode Complete" and the final video (to add to iTunes) will be saved into whatever folder is written in the 'Output files to' box in Videora, under Setup.
14) To get the videos on your iPod, right click the iPod in iTunes, go to iPod Options and then pick a transfer method under the Video tab. Automatic updating is recommended if you're using the iPod on one PC.

Problems:
Problem #1: You try playing the video on your iPod and it freezes on a black screen, then goes back to the Video menu. This usually only occurs on 30GB iPods.
Solution #1: If you converted a widescreen movie, did you make sure to do it with the widescreen profile and not the fullscreen one? This also applies to fullscreen movies that might've been encoded with the widescreen profile. If you did either of those things, the video will not play properly. If that's not the problem, H.264, unfortunately, doesn't work all the time for some people. It appears to always work with 60GB iPods such as mine, but 30GBs sometimes have a problem. I'd recommend going back into Videora and re-encoding your video using one of the default presets.

Problem #2: When you try to transfer the video from iTunes to your iPod, it says "Some of the songs in the iTunes music library, including the song "(Video name)", were not copied to your iPod because they cannot be played on this iPod."
Solution #2: If you don't have it already, go here and download the latest iTunes. Once it's installed, open it and right click on the video that won't transfer. Click Convert selection for iPod, and wait for it to finish (it may take a while). Once the converting is done, delete the original video from iTunes (right click them and go to Get Info to see which was made first). Update your iPod, and the video will transfer over just fine! If that doesn't work, click here for an alternate solution created by DaProphecy of the Videora forums.
Note: The "Convert selection for iPod" option only works for videos that produce the above error message when you try to transfer them. If a video is already formatted properly, iTunes won't let you convert it further, even if there is some other problem with it.

Problem #3: When you play a video on an iPod upgraded to the 1.1 firmware (released 1/10/06), it works fine for about 30 seconds, then the video freezes and the audio stops working.
Solution #3: Don't worry, your videos are perfectly fine. However, the iPod's 1.1 firmware is not. Upgrade to the new 1.1.1 firmware (released 3/23/06), and the bug will be gone. Get it here: http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/

What do videos encoded with this method look like?
See for yourself! Everything is crystal clear, in almost perfect DVD quality.

New! Sample videos (Quicktime 7.0.4 required (included with iTunes 6.0.2)):
Pink Floyd - One Of My Turns (from the movie Pink Floyd The Wall)
Length: 1:00
Widescreen
Watch

"Skinner & The Superintendent" from The Simpsons (Episode 3F18 - 22 Short Films About Springfield)
Length: 2:51
Fullscreen