Ipod Managers

[Anupam]

Sope, the link does not work.

I have tried several of the iPod managers mentioned here, but I found only SharePod to be worth keeping.

I haven't tried Floola yet though.

[The_Blode]

Sharepod is amazing!

Blode.

[Sope]

Originally Posted by Anupam

Sope, the link does not work.

Oops, sorry about that.

Here it is properly -
10-alternatives-to-itunes-for-managing-your-ipod/

Nothing groundbreakingly new there but there are some potentially useful tutorials.

[Anupam]

Thanks Sope for reposting. I will agree that the list is old. There are a lot more iPod managers available now. I had Googled for the title of the link which you gave, and I had come across a whole lot of pages.

When I got iPod from my brother, I had prepared a list of iPod managers, and tried them out. Most of them required iTunes or QuickTime to be installed on the computer, and I found that ridiculous. If I had to install iTunes, or QuickTime, why would I want to go for an alternative to iTunes, which I want to get rid of in the first place.

iTunes is not all bad though. Its the best for managing your iPod, since other alternatives fall short somewhere or the other. And iTunes has got better a little. Recently, I have noticed that its setup size has reduced a lot. Also, I had posted a link on another thread in which slimming down iTunes, and keeping out unwanted extras, like Bonjour, was outlined. Helpful one.

[Sope]

Originally Posted by Anupam

I will agree that the list is old. There are a lot more iPod managers available now.

I agree, it's nothing groundbreaking but it's reference to programs compatible with Linux and Mac that were of most interest to me.

I think whichever alternative iPod manager you choose, you are still going to need iTunes installed somewhere for firmware updates and the like.

[Anupam]

Originally Posted by Sope

I agree, it's nothing groundbreaking but it's reference to programs compatible with Linux and Mac that were of most interest to me.

Yes, in that sense, the article is quite useful.

Originally Posted by Sope

I think whichever alternative iPod manager you choose, you are still going to need iTunes installed somewhere for firmware updates and the like.

True. For managing iPod fully, iTunes is the one. Other iPod managers miss out on some or the other features. Like most of the managers do not support video files management, not even SharePod. Same goes for photos.

Main problem with iTunes is the big size and the bloat, with the unwanted extras. Otherwise, its a very good software to manage iPod.

[Anupam]

I tried Floola yesterday. It requires some effort to be set up properly before it can be used. If you have iTunes on the computer, and the iPod had been used with the iTunes, then some settings have to changed, otherwise Floola will give a message that the iPod has not been set up properly, and then quit.

Also, initially, it requires the iPod make to be selected, and it gives scary messages that if iPod make has not been selected properly, the iPod may get damaged. Its a scary message, and so, this involves risk. I hesitated a lot before I tried it out.

After I had selected the right make of my iPod, then settings of iTunes had to be changed... like manually syncing of iPod, and not starting iTunes when iPod is plugged into the PC. But, even after these changes, Floola was giving some kind of warning message... which when I said no to, Floola just won't quit, and will just show "Floola Updating..." in its title bar. If I closed it, it would open itself again. I had to terminate it from the Task Manager. That was weird. Then, I ignored the warning message, and Floola ran fine. I found the interface quite good, after it ran... and it looks better than the other iPod managers I had looked at.

Although, it says that it can handle videos, but I could not see any option for that. Only music files were shown. Maybe the video feature will work with other iPod makes, as Floola is heavily dependent on the make(atleast that what seems to me).

So, if you can get it to run, after the scary message, and the settings, Floola can be a good alternative.

For managing music though, I found SharePod the best. Works good, and without any hassle.