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Dave_G
03-14-2006, 08:36 AM
My son got the new $300 ipod and he initially set it up on my computer and it worked fine.

But he does not live with me full time and went to his mom's and he said that since he "registered" it on my machine, it didn't give him the same functionality on her pc.

I asked the guy at bestbuy where I bought it if you could run the thing on different computers and get the same operation, and he said yes.

Anyone here know what I am talking about?

Can you indeed run these things off of 2 different pc's?

If so, what has to be done?

Thanks.

Dave

ForeverAutumn
03-14-2006, 08:53 AM
Dave, I don't know about functionality but I had a serious issue with losing songs when I tried to run my iPod on two computers.

When I bought my iPod, I installed everything on my desktop and loaded up all my tunes. Then I put iTunes on my laptop, so that I could use it while at work and on the road. The first time that I hooked my iPod up to my laptop, because I had no tunes on there yet, and the syncing only works one way(iTunes to iPod), iTunes automatically synced my iPod and deleted everything!

I've been afraid to try to use it on two computers ever since then.

Apple needs to come up with some software that allows two-way synchronization. Heck, if my palm pilot can do it, I don't see why my iPod can't.

jasn
03-14-2006, 09:34 AM
I kinda remember this from my daughters iPod mini and plugging into my work laptop. I think all he has to do is acknowledge that he wants to switch his iPod to that machine as his default computer. It's no big deal. He can switch it back when he plugs into yours.

You may want to sniff this out a bit more here: iPod Lounge (http://www.ilounge.com/)

Stone
03-14-2006, 09:36 AM
I'm not exactly sure what the issue is, but are you using iTunes? I didn't have to register anything but I haven't tried it on two computers either. Can you un-register it?

And FA, I only recently started using iTunes, and I've found that its default setting is to automatically update the iPod (which deletes from the iPod anything no longer on the computer and adds to the iPod anything added to the computer since the previous synch). That setting can be switched to manual, which I haven't tried with two computers, but may have been the source of your problem.

Dave_G
03-14-2006, 09:59 AM
Yes, he is using the iTunes software.

Thanks for the inputs.

I'm not up to speed on these units so I guess I need to learn more.

Another weird thing - the bestbuy guy said the battery WILL die by 18 months of use, you have to send it in for a fix, and it's $105 for a new battery.

That seems like a scam.

Dave

BarryL
03-14-2006, 10:20 AM
My son got the new $300 ipod and he initially set it up on my computer and it worked fine.

Can you indeed run these things off of 2 different pc's?

If so, what has to be done?

Thanks.

Dave

When you first plug your iPod into a computer, it sets it up as the default. All of the tunes are in that computer, and they get downloaded to your iPod.

When you plug it into another computer, it tells you that that's not the host computer. It does this because otherwise, it will sync your iPod with the new computer, and your old tunes on your iPod will be wiped out. That's what's going on.

The way around this is to select to link to one of your two computers manually. You can then manually add songs to your iPod while keeping all of the other songs already on your ipod.

I'm sure you can go to the Apple web site and find some instructions. Try support, and then "Using the iPod on more than one computer."

There is also software available that allows you to copy from your iPod to your computer. It is third-party software. I've seen it at Staples, at around $20. I assume that this would allow him to copy all of the tunes on his iPod to his computer, then everything will be on one computer.

As for battery life, I still have a first generation iPod that my wife now uses, which has been in operation for at least four years with no battery problems. I've had my new iPod for about two years, and it seems to work fine. I notice that Best Buy carried battery replacements for the iPod, so I guess the problem is real and widespread. But I don't think that's any different than things like cell phones, where the batter just no longer carries a sufficient charge after a number of years.

ForeverAutumn
03-14-2006, 12:19 PM
There is also software available that allows you to copy from your iPod to your computer. It is third-party software. I've seen it at Staples, at around $20. I assume that this would allow him to copy all of the tunes on his iPod to his computer, then everything will be on one computer.


I purchased that software but I haven't had the time to install it. It allows you to burn a disk of what's on your iTunes so that you can have the disk as backup and also use the disk up update iTunes on other computers. I don't think that it interacts directly with the iPod at all...but I could be wrong. As I said, I haven't had a chance to install it.

BarryL
03-14-2006, 12:43 PM
But why would you need software to do that? You would just go to the file where all of your mp3s are and copy them to a disk. Unless it saves the directory to keep them in their file folders.

I was under the impression that that software allowed you to see the invisible files on the iPod so that you could download your iPod's content to a computer. You would want to do this if your computer crashed, but you still had the mp3s on your ipod.

3-LockBox
03-14-2006, 12:58 PM
This is why I avoided buying an I-pod. I bought a Sandisk Sansa E140 instead. Its got an expandable memory slot (prolly won't use it ever), but it does have SRS WOW circuitry, unlike my wife's Sansa M240, which doesn't and the sound quality on mine rules. And those itty bitty earbuds? They frikkin rock!

Those guys at Mac are marketing geniuses though, cuz when I was in Best Buy the other day, I heard someone come in and say he was wanting to look at I-pods. After a bit of eaves-dropping, I realized he was really talking about MP3 players in general, but had that catchy name I-pod stuck in his head. I actually heard him say (with a tone of surprise) "You mean it plays MP3s? I thought those were illegal".

ForeverAutumn
03-14-2006, 01:06 PM
But why would you need software to do that? You would just go to the file where all of your mp3s are and copy them to a disk. Unless it saves the directory to keep them in their file folders.

I was under the impression that that software allowed you to see the invisible files on the iPod so that you could download your iPod's content to a computer. You would want to do this if your computer crashed, but you still had the mp3s on your ipod.

You're right. Here's the link to the software that I bought. Maybe one day I'll actually install it. I didn't think that I could copy my files from iTunes on one computer and transfer them to another. I don't know now why I thought that.

http://valusoft.com/products/tunetransfer.html

Troy
03-16-2006, 04:22 PM
In iTunes preferences turn off "automatic update" and it will not connect to the library in the 2nd computer and download what is there. It will just use the iPod like any other external HD.

There is a shareware out there that allows you to DL from your iPod (or other unit). Check Cnet. Sorry, I'm blaning on the name, but I used it for the Mac once and it worked fine.

You guys, buying software . . . everythign you need for this IS free!

Yes 3LB, Jobs is a markeing genius. iPod is a generic term now like Kleenex or BandAid. Anyone remember the Sony Walkman? How did Sony miss the iPod market? Jobs completely reinvented how we listen to music. No, he didn't invent the technology, but he understood how to make it usable. And just so you don't think it's a fluke, remeber how he also grabbed his Apple OS (and the whole desktop/mouse concept) from Xerox after they developed it and couldn't figure out what to do with it. Jobs is like Henry Ford or Walt Disney, a true visionary.

N. Abstentia
03-16-2006, 04:46 PM
Man the more I read about iPods the more I love my Sandisk Sansa :)

Works just like a common flash drive. That's it. Drag, drop, done.

Bert
04-06-2006, 04:35 PM
Dave_G

I got my iPod yesterday and I am trying the freeware called ephpod
http://www.ephpod.com/
Alternatively you could buy Anapod http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

Good luck,
Bert