[iMacfan]

Hi,

I'm impressed with the latest round of iPods, but I've managed to wait long enough until the RDF has worn off and I'm happy with my old ones again. However, I wonder if there are any solutions which have appeared for the two issues I have found, which would make my 60gig iPod photo perfect.

1. When left plugged in the dock via firewire overnight, with the computer off, the battery runs down.

2. I keep my music stored in lossless, which of course reduces the amount even a 60gigger can store, and has a hit on battery and overall life of the iPod. The shuffle and nano have an option in iTunes for having all songs converted to 128bit AAC, which is really all I need for most listening purposes (I'd just rather never to have to rip my CDs again). Is there any way I can do this for my full size iPod. I realise that it takes some processing power, but surely 4 cores can convert a thousand or so songs in an hour?

Thanks for any help in advance,

David

[wilsonng]

#1
when the computer is off, there is no power going to the firewire connection. when the firewire connection has no power, the ipod won't get charged.

It's better to get an iPod power adapter or a third party dock that has a power adapter....

#2
You'l probably have to set your iTunes importing preferences to 128kbps AAC, highlight your Lossless file, go to the Advanced menu and select Convert Selection to AAC. Then create a smart playlist that says "File Type is AAC" and Bit Rate is 128" and call this "iPod Source" or something. This will create a playlist of all your 128 kbps AAC music. Use this is your source playlist for downloading to the iPod.... You can create new playlists and smart playlists from the "iPod Source" playlist.

You can play the Lossless version in iTunes when you're near your computer and sync the iPod to the "iPod Source".

I wished there was a nicer interface that would combine the Lossless version and a reduced bit rate version and display it as one song instead of 2 separate songs.... Then I can set the iPod preferences to automatically download the lower bit rate version if desired....



I don't remember the nano having the option to downsample the music to 128 kbps AAC. I thought that option was reserved for the shuffle?

[iMacfan]

OK, looks like on the format issue I will just have to resort to workarounds.

As for the battery - the problem isn't that it doesn't charge when the computer is off, it is that the battery is actively drained - overnight is enough for the iPod to be dead in the morning.

David

[iREZ]

why would your ipod drain of power when connected to a power source?...youre not making any sense to me

[iMacfan]

Originally Posted by iREZ 

why would your ipod drain of power when connected to a power source?...youre not making any sense to me

I'm not sure what I'm saying is confusing everyone, but since I've managed to stump two regular posters, I have to assume that it is me.

Here goes again: iPod photo -> Dock -> FW cable -> Mac turned OFF. This configuration steadily drains the battery. I'm pretty sure that it was a known problem at the time. Maybe just everyone uses USB 2.0 now?

David

[Mr_E]

That happened to my 2nd gen. Not to my 5th gen - it doesn't dischage if I leave it connected.

On my macbook (and I think on my old powerbook), I'm pretty sure it still provides power to the port when it was off as long as it was plugged in...
...maybe that was jsut USB.. now I'll have to try it.

Originally Posted by iMacfan 

I'm not sure what I'm saying is confusing everyone, but since I've managed to stump two regular posters, I have to assume that it is me.

Here goes again: iPod photo -> Dock -> FW cable -> Mac turned OFF. This configuration steadily drains the battery. I'm pretty sure that it was a known problem at the time. Maybe just everyone uses USB 2.0 now?

David

[luckyjoe]

Me too - my 4G iPod will charge via FW even when the MacBook is asleep or off.

Tom P.