iPod Issues: A Do-It-Yourself Guide (Part I)

Ever since its launch, the iPod has sold a million pieces – and with every piece sold there are some who have had to face the brunt of Apple's inconvenient after-sales service. Many of my friends had to return clueless from the Apple store because more often than not you're given the "sorry sir we can't help you with this" runaround. Recently a friend's iPod screen started acting up, and the guys at the store said they can't do anything because they don't repair screens. Nice, what?!

Then there are those niggling problems that can get people panicky. We can't blame you if you want to avoid the routine of going to the Apple store – where they may take ages to fix your pod, no matter how minor the problem is. Sometimes there's an easier fix for these tiny glitches. I'm here to see you through some easy ways to working around the norm.

Transferring songs without syncing in iTunes
If there's anything that puts people off about the iPod it would have to be iTunes. I've been an iPod user for ages and hardly ever use iTunes, as many users will attest to the pain that iTunes is. It’s slow as hell and doesn’t allow you to transfer content to your iPod from any other computer once it’s already synced to one.

However, there's a simple solution to this. All you need to do is simply not sync your pod. When you plug your iPod to a computer, iTunes will ask you if you want to sync the content. This will erase all existing data. Just choose ‘no’ and click on 'manage your files manually'. This will allow you to drag and drop your music directly into the iPod through iTunes. Just select your music and drop it on the iPod icon in iTunes. You don’t even need to put the music in the library.

Alternatives to using iTunes?
You can avoid using iTunes if you hate it as much as I do. The latest Winamp has a plugin that not only detects your iPod, but also asks you to choose from a list of Pods. Your iPod will be displayed under ‘Portables’, once you access the media library. Select the songs you want to transfer in Winamp and right-click to choose ‘send to’. Your iPod will be displayed in the drop-down menu after the right-click; just select it.