There's not really a straight forward way of doing what you're asking as far as I know. The problem implies lots of assumptions. For example, what do you do when the play counts don't match on the portable and the main library? Which one "wins"? It's a lot of decision making that MC doesn't support.
But really, is it relevant to making playlists anyway? Do you care that you've heard the song once at home and once on your portable?
There are a ton of reasons for moving from the horrendous world of itunes to MC. I think you know lots of them. It would be a shame if you let a feature like this sway you back to itunes where you have no control, and are subject to new user interfaces with every single release.
Brian.
If I were to look at this in a psuedocode way:
1. Sync device with MC library (copies across playlists and metadata to the device)
2. Use device.
3. Reconnect device to PC.
4. Compare ratings and play counts:
4.1 If rating (PC) <> rating (Device) Then rating (Device) = rating (PC) [this could be an issue, the only way to address it would also to look at WHEN the rating was altered; the
one with the most current date would take precedence.]
4.2 If play count (device, at sync) <> play count (device, currently) Then play count (PC) = play count (PC) + (play count (device, currently) - play count (device, at sync) [This
may require an additional field]
5. Sync any new playlists
I don't care about where I played it, just how many plays I have. For example, I have playlists such as:
○ plays greater than x
○ plays less than 25 and played in the last month and with a rating > 3
○ plays = 0 and rating ≥ 4
and so on. I have many such playlists which utilise play counts, which makes these playlists dynamic; once I have rated and grouped my songs, the library organises itself through playlists.
The sound quality increase and other benefits do definitely outweigh the issues, but this is something I would definitely like to have. I am willing to look into coding/ developing for something like this, as it would seal the deal for me.
Submeg