A few questions from a new user...

[Roy RFC]

Hey guys,

I just bought my first iPod/MP3 player. I went for the 16GB iPod touch which I am really enjoying but have a few questions some of which may seem idiotic but I'm totally new to this so hope you guys can help me out :p

1. How can I get movies on my iPod touch? I am in the UK so the iTunes store doesnt rent movies. Is it possible to burn stuff from a DVD to the iPod? I have some movies on my PC in avi format is there anyway to get them onto this thing?

2. Does the XBox 360 or PS3 recognise the iPod for playing movies/music in anyway?

3. Some tracks have long periods of "dead air" cause they are leading to a hidden track or it's the last track on the album which is a pain when you're on shuffle. Is there a way to skip these sort of gaps?

4. Is the iTouch capable of HD?

Um sure I had other questions but can't think of them right now. Anyway hope you can help a guy out!

[Roy RFC]

Can the XBox 360 or PS3 hook up with the iPod touch to play movies or music?

Is it HD compatible?

I have a few albums that iTunes can't locate the cover art. If I add them manually what is the best size and file format to use and any suggestions for the best places to get this art?

Some album tracks have long periods of "dead air" as it's building up to a hidden track or is the last track on the album which is a pain when you have shuffle on. Is there a way to skip the gaps?

[BlackWolf]

well, they should be jpg files as far as I know, resolutiona round 200*200 should be enough (300*300 to be sure) and you can get them from google image search or amazon ;-)

[DerekVOF]

First, which other three? :D

As for the album art, Apple sells tracks with 600x600 artwork. You can grab artwork from Google image search or Amazon. This site works well and is fast - http://albumart.org/

[Roy RFC]

Umm my posts keep getting deleted for some reason lol Think I may have been when I've edited them so won't edit this one.

Thanks for answering that question. My other questions were:

Is there a way to hook it up to the PS3 or 360 to play movies or music?

Is the iPod touch capable of HD?

And is there a way to skip gaps within tracks? Some have long pauses when building to a hidden track or after the last song on an album which is a pain when you have shuffle on.

Appreciate any help and hope this post doesn't disappear.

[DerekVOF]

1) No, I don't believe it can connect to the PS3 or 360. The iPod Touch doesn't support a disk mode or function like a flash drive like previous iPods

2) HD? I don't believe so, but can't say for certain. I thought Apple was only doing HD on the Apple TV right now

3) Yes, hold down the forward or back buttons and they'll scan. Or tap the artwork and use the slider to drag through to where you want...

[BlackWolf]

no, the ipod is not capable of HD. maximum resolution is 640*480. although I'm not sure if this is the same if you output the video to a tv

[Roy RFC]

First, which other three? :D

As for the album art, Apple sells tracks with 600x600 artwork. You can grab artwork from Google image search or Amazon. This site works well and is fast - http://albumart.org/

Great site thanks!

[kornchild2002]

1. You can rip and encode your DVDs just fine. Search the TV & Video forums as that topic has been discussed many times. You can also convert your AVI videos as well. Again, that is all covered in the TV & Video forums here on iLounge.

2. No, not the iPod touch. The PS3 recently added compatibility for the 3G iPod nano and iPod classic but nothing for the iPod touch for either console. I don't know if the Xbox 360 works with the 3G iPod nano or iPod classic as I don't have any to test with but I do know that the iPod touch doesn't work with any of them.

3. You can do a couple of things. You can tell iTunes where to start playing an audio track but you will miss the beginning of the song. You can also use WAV editing software and either take out that hidden song or remove the gap.

4. No, the iPod touch (what is this iTouch you talk of? :p )is compatible with videos up to 480p. HD movie rentals are done with the Apple TV only and will not be a part of the normal iTunes Store.

[Stay Alive 305]

3) It recognizes your iPod but will only recognize .MP3 files.

It will not realize songs bought from the iTunes store.

[kornchild2002]

3) It recognizes your iPod but will only recognize .MP3 files.

It will not realize songs bought from the iTunes store.

? Are you talking about the PS3/Xbox 360 working with the iPod touch? If so then no, those consoles don't support the iPod touch as it doesn't use standard firmware. The OS is integrated into the player and the memory uses a file system (I think NFS+) that isn't compatible with those consoles.

[DerekVOF]

FYI - Apple typically uses HFS+ not NFS+... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HFS%2B

Not really a matter of the file system being incompatible with the consoles. If that was the case, Macintosh would be able to mount the iPod Touch, but they can't. It has to do with Apple locking down access. In addition, don't forget that the iPod Touch is more mini-computer than the old iPods which were more like external hard drives - you have different drivers to connect computer-computer than computer-hard drive.