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[nickb]

I think my previous post got removed or something.
Anyway, anapod, Media center or Itunes?
Why not anapod and why not itunes?

[razumik]

nickb

I have been using an IPOD with Media Center for several years and in that time have tried iTunes and Anapod as well.  In the end I always come back to Media Center.  Before I list the reasons why I come back, I will mention that Media Center does not currently support album art, video, or lyrics on the IPOD...and until recently did not work with the Shuffle (which is why I tried the others in the first place)...though in the past few weeks they have improved the handheld portion of the program and hopefully will have cover art support soon.

Reasons why MC is better (for me):
   1. Very Customizable.  You can pretty much arrange Media Center anyway you want.  The more music you have, the more necessary this becomes.  With iTunes you are pretty much forced to view your library in one way.

   2. More features.    I have used it for several years and continually find cool stuff that I never saw before.

   3. More powerful smartlist functions.  If you can think of a smartlist, there is probably a way to create it in Media Center if you are creative. You can create your own database fields in MC and the more you use them, the more uses you find for them.

   4. Library Browser.  I am not sure how many people use this, but I love it.  I sort it by date imported and have it be the first screen that MC comes to when it opens.  I then look for the album I am in the mood to listen to and the press play.

   5. There are a ton of 3rd party plug-ins for MC that improve the overall experience like "Playing Now" and a lot of King Sparta's plug-ins.

   6. The MC forum is great.  If you have a question there is generally another user that can answer it.  If you have a problem, one of the developers will actually look into it. 

I am sure that I could think of more advantages to MC but I wanted to just list the things that affect my use of MC and the IPOD.  As an overal media program, iTunes and Anapod do not even compare.

General drawbacks of Anapod and iTunes:
   iTunes - Not very customizable.  What you initially see is what you get.  The more music you have the bigger this issue becomes.  It also drives me crazy how tied it is to its online store. 

   Anapod - Does not actually manage your music.  Even when I used Anapod to work with my Shuffle, I still managed everything Media Center, exported my playlists, and then used Anapod to transfer the music.
   
Hope this helps,

[LonWar]

Syncking a large amount of files in Anapod takes forever!!

MC is very quick, as it has a library. You can also do smartlists in MC.
Anapod isn't bad if you have a small amount of files.

[carfac]

I think MC is very good for the Music end of things- and if that is ALL you do, it is all you need. The above reasons are all very valid and true.

However, if you want to do other things- like put your Outlook Contacts into iPod- MC needs to be augmented. (Not replaced, but augmented). I would also recommend at least getting the test version of Anapod, to see what else CAN be done. There was enough additional things that it was worth if (for me) to use both.

dave

[lOth]

I have been using an IPOD with Media Center for several years and in that time have tried iTunes and Anapod as well.  In the end I always come back to Media Center.

Same here. As mentionned above, smartlists is one of MC's strongest points as compared to both iTunes and Anapod. However, one should note too that the potential complexity of MC's smartlists is impossible to replicate on the iPod. In other words, no dynamic playlists on the iPod with MC. Although certainly more limited in their possibilities iTunes smartlists are transfered to iPod as dynamic playlists.

However, if you want to do other things- like put your Outlook Contacts into iPod- MC needs to be augmented.

We can still hope to see these features implemented in MC some day. Steve?

[SteveG]

Someday... Yes. One step at a time. Artwork is close. Then photos, then video then contacts then whatever comes next.

[LonWar]

Someday... . Artwork is close.

I am liking the sound of this!!

[weaser42]

Lyrics, lyrics, lyrics!!!

[pank2002]

Another important point is that MC runs on slower computers. iTunes doesn't. I only tried Anapod briefly and it didn't work that well.

I have used MC since the third generation of the iPods, and generally I think it works very good. As pointed out by others one can easily select what music is to be put on your iPod. I like Larry's syncing-method (might be sticky. Otherwise search for it).

Currently what I miss the most is dynamic playlists. While I recognize that MC's smartlists are generally more advance it would be nice to transfer some of the more basic -- in particular dynamic lists containing ratings (i.e. music with 4 stars) and most played.

-Rasmus