INTERACT FORUM

MC will do everything you describe. In fact, it is one of the only programs I know of that will do exactly what you described. There have been several posts regarding the use of smartlists for working with an iPod and I'm sure they'll be relevant.

You can define playlists manually or by using rules for the categories you described. For example, I have a playlist called World Beat Master that includes all music where the genre=African, Arabic, Brazilian, etc.

Then you can define a smartlist based on any other playlist, specifying a modifier for random sorting and for limiting it to the memory size of your player. To continue with my example, I then make a smartlist called World Beat where the definition is playlist=World Beat Master, sorting=random, limit=1000 megabytes.

I usually add another parameter, to exclude songs I've heard within the past month. That way each sync gives me new tunes.

Once you've built these lists (which is even simpler than it sounds) it's just plug & play. Every sync will give you a fresh batch of tunes. Depending on how you've defined your smartlists, new music will be categorized appropriately without any further intervention from you.

I'm betting that MC will directly support any player that turns up as a storage device. However, you can always select any playlist and use the Move/Copy command to copy the files in the playlist to any other location.

i'll jump in with a similar question.

 Can you're smartlist exclude files that have been recently synced?  So in otherwords not only would it exclude stuff you listened to recently on your computer but also stuff that you've listened to on you're portable device.

  I burn mp3 data cds so i want it to remember what I've already burned and not reburn those songs.

i'll jump in with a similar question.

 Can you're smartlist exclude files that have been recently synced?  So in otherwords not only would it exclude stuff you listened to recently on your computer but also stuff that you've listened to on you're portable device.

  I burn mp3 data cds so i want it to remember what I've already burned and not reburn those songs.

I'm not too sure of what you are asking, but if you save the files you sync to a playlist, you can use that playlist as a list of files to exclude from another playlist.

For instance, I have an avoid playlist set up with most of my annoying or outsider music listed, this way when I create a playlist or smartlist I can make sure that "songs" in that playlist don't appear in my new playlist. Works well in "party" situations or if I need a quick series of tracks for a long drive I don't have to worry about being driven nuts.

If I were spending that sort of money on a portable it would have to be the new IPod.  I heard that they were going to release it at $199 in the US.  Not much chance of a similar price in the UK