I've been reading alot about iPods lately trying to understand as much as i can before buying, but I have a few questions. I see alot of people seem to not like iTunes. I've been reading about using winamp with the iPod but i'm a little confused. Everyone talks about using the winamp plug-in (ml-ipod), but the latest version of winamp has built in iPod support, i believe they call it "pnp-ipod". The difference it sounds like is that the built-in ipod support dosen't allow you to transfer from iPod to computer yet, like ml-ipod did. But then I read some stuff about the latest winamp screwing up ipods? Does anyone use the new winamp with they're ipod who could tell me if this is true? Also, I see that winamp does not allow you to transfer video to iPod. But is winamp compatable with the video iPods in every other way? Finally, do I even want to mess with winamp and an iPod? Is iTunes going to be better in the end? I've been a user of winamp for a looooong time, i'm real comfortable using it and i really enjoy it. But i don't want it messing up the iPod.
Indeed. You can still tranfer your music files onto the iPod, just not your videos. You can just as easily use both. You don't necessarily need to use a single media player. But if you don't want to do that, then I guess it's down to what you value the most - winamp or your iPod. iTunes is much criticized, but it is actually a great media player, and by far the best option for iPod users. It doesn't have the ability to integrate plug-ins like winamp does, but I strongly advise using it -- if anything, just to manage your iPod.
I would recommend purchasing the Redchair software for loading and navigating your pod. What's nice about it is its ability to tranfer music FROM you ipod back to your pc...it has a lot less restrictions than itunes. The interface isn't as pretty, but the software is very stable. http://www.redchairsoftware.com/ There's other similar software, but this seems to be the best. what's nice is the $25 allows for lifetime upgrades!
Feelflows, I also use Anapod Explorer (Redchairsoft), which is a great software, but at the same time, I still feel one should stick with iTunes, as it does the job, and it's free.