Rest

Posted on 2006/11/16 23:55:02 (November 2006).

[Thursday 16th November]
Not much to report. Left work at a reasonable time, keen to have a restful evening at home. Spent a while fixing problems for Lorenzo on the new blog engine - the roll out of these sorts of things never runs that smoothly.

Chie had done a one-off day back at her old job today as her replacement had quit within her first month (!). So I got back into cooking duties, but it was a very simple affair - just pasta of the tube variety.

I went to bed very early, before 10, I guess this may have been a delayed reaction of the jetlag (I'd been fine the last few days) but I felt really knackered. I fell asleep to the soothing sounds of my iPod.

On the subject of iPods etc, I feel I ought to say something topical about Zune as it has just been released and all that... but I think it has all already been said. Personally I think I'll just stick with my iPod, if it's all the same with you.

Hi John! Yeah, that Zune site is.. well "pathetic"! So this is the demographic they are aiming for, eh? Doesn't inspire me one bit. Sadly... Because as you know I love gadgets!!

I still seem stuck with only my Shufle, but am enjoying it despite it's simpleness! Since I bought the PSP I have really enjoyed converting and playing videos on it so I'm kind of wondering if I really need a full spec iPod just yet... Though knowing me... !! :))))

Posted by Nigel at 2006/11/17 07:40:02.

I have heard tha Zune is a piece of shite... I didn't know you bought a PSP, I did too!! :) Which games are you running on it?

Posted by Lox at 2006/11/17 09:16:12.

Hi Lox (Not ignoring you here John!! :)))

Well I got Tomb Raider free with the PSP, but I haven't tried it yet! Mostly I've been buying UMD films - Bourne Identity/Supremacy, Carry On Camping (!) Ipcress File, Thunderbirds...

And I've got a couple of memory sticks to copy my own videos to! Splendid!

Posted by Nigel at 2006/11/17 09:38:09.

I thought the PSP was actually a really good piece of kit - can't it do everything an iPod can do (videos,music) plus also "proper" games...? Not that I'm all that interested in games myself, but I get the impression the PSP is an overall higher spec device.

The iPod probably just has the upper hand on usability, and that warm glowing feeling you get inside whenever you use any Apple product.

(Soon I won't have to feel guilty about making such disloyal comments!)

Posted by John at 2006/11/17 10:47:37.

How much storage has the PSP got Nigel?

I got an 80GB iPod, which I'm now beginning to realise was a bit stupid. I'm using iTunes on the Mac Mini to manage the library, and that only has a 60GB hard drive (much of which seems to have mysteriously vanished with the OS and everything).

As far as my understanding goes, the iPod basically syncs with your iTunes library - i.e. if you don't have a file in your library (in my case on the Mac Mini HD) then it can't be copied on to the iPod.... and if I delete a file from the iTunes library on the Mac Mini, then next time I sync up it also gets deleted from the iPod.

...so with a (less than) 60GB capacity for my iTunes library I can't ever actually make full use of the iPod drive.

Or maybe there's a gap in my understanding here somewhere?

Posted by John at 2006/11/17 10:53:39.

This page looks so much nicer on the Mac!

Posted by John at 2006/11/17 12:50:41.

Well the PSP comes with only 32MB built-in, but also takes Memory Stick Duo cards. The films and games are on those odd UMD disks so take no resourcebeyond their running. Home-brew videosand music have to go on cards. i have a 1GB and a couple of 512MB at the mo'.

As for setting in iTunes I'm pretty sure you can switch off the complete sync'ing which makes iTunes delete songs from the iPod which aren't in the library.

Yep, Ive just plugged my Shuffle in. You get extras options when it's plugged in you can't see when it isn't. Highlight the iPod name on the navigation panel. There's now a "Settings" tab in the main window, behind the "Content" tab. In there you can tick or untick selected song sync'. Also you can set how big the Data partition is going to be (i.e invisibe to iTunes)

Also at the botom of the main widow there's the AutoFill options. Set it all "off".

Personally what I do when I attach the Shuffle is just to either select new music to transfer and drag it to the iPod, or drag them to trash to remove. That way what's in there remains safe.

:)

Posted by Nigel at 2006/11/17 13:15:18.

Hi guys - I've just posted a blog entry with a pic of my PSP browsing the Maison! Thought it might be of interest!!!! :)))

Posted by Nigel at 2006/11/17 13:39:10.

John: In my opinion they are two different things. Ipod is much more convenient if you want to listen to music on the go, is small and light (as far as I could see). PSP I feel is much better for movies and games, but it's bulky and lacks memory space...

Posted by Lox at 2006/11/17 13:57:26.

John - you can change you iPod preferences to switch off auto syncing of music. So that music only gets explicitly copied by you. The key benefit being that any music you delete off your Mac will remain on your iPod instead of getting automatically deleted.

Posted by dsp at 2006/11/20 00:42:58.

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