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XPlay: iPod with Windows
meanie writes "Mediafour, a company which specializes in cross-platform software introduced the XPlay software to link up your iPod with Windows. Looks like a solid product, but since I didn't buy an iPod due to lack of a Mac, I haven't been able to check out the software. Anyone try this yet? I might just buy an iPod now."
Now if I get an Ipod I can go to CompUSA and download Office XP from a Windows PC onto the Ipod's hard-drive.
$cat
I tried out the beta version with the 5 gig model. It works pretty well. I think they did a good job of extending the iPod's audience.
.doc, etc.)
One thing that the poster failed to note was that it does allow you to seamlessly transport files between the two platforms, and, in some cases, will even aid in file translation, by reading the MacOS file descriptors and translating those into simple extensions (.mpeg,
I wonder if Steve's going to patch the iPod to make it incompatible with 3rd party software such as this?
Michael C. Hollinger
This sound a little familiar to anyone else?
:)
Guess the editors lack some long term memory.
---
"how can the same street intersect with itself? i must be at the nexus of the universe!" - cosmo kramer
$499 for the iPod, plus ~$30 for a firewire addon card (unless you have one on your mb, or have SBAudigy), plus $30 for the software... adds up to a very pricey little toy on a Windows machine.
I've been sitting on the sidelines for a while now because of the costly barrier to entry, and pretty much given up on the iPod. Toshiba's unit, though maybe not as cute and revolutionary, makes a whole lot more sense on a Windows system both technically and financially.
There's a sourceforge project for HFS Plus on Linux listed as an alpha kernel patch which seems usable as of 6/6. HFS Plus is the filesystem used on the iPod, and Linux already has good 1394 mass storage support, so somebody just needs to roll a nice song browser, and the linux users can have an iPod too.
;) ;)
OK, Linux users probably don't need a song browser, but it sure would be nice.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
my ipod was amazing for the time that it worked (about 5 days). Xplay was amazing, worked without flaw. I blame their lack of a "beta expired" message for killing my ipod. They put an error up instead which read "your ipod must be disconnected and reconnected to function since you recently did an ipod restore". I then proceeded to try other programs to fix it, ended up formatting the entire hard drive, and now whenever i plug it in it reboots my computer. xplay, i loved you, but why in hell did you not give a simple "beta expired" message??? my 400 dollar toy is now a farking paperweight!!!
The word on the street is that Apple is going to release their own Windows iPod software as soon as Macworld July. Remember you heard it here first. Unless you heard it somewhere else already :)
I suppose it's a good idea. Tons of folks have speculated that Apple sells more Macs because people want iPods and need Macs to run them. This may be true, but perhaps the iPod can be the "gateway drug" of PC to Macintosh conversion for some.
You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
Since then things improved rapidly, and the company is responsive to what people say. The software is working well for me (final beta, not upgraded to 1.0 as yet) and they even added a playlist-related feature that I requested.
Its advantage over Ephod is that it includes an HFS+ reader with the software. Ephod requires you to have some form of Mac drive-reading software already (MacDrive or MacOpener), whereas XPlay comes with a stripped-down MacDrive driver anyway.
Cheers,
Ian
Its great that Windows users will get to feed MP3s to this player, however, without iTunes, I think you will be missing the full "iPod Experience". I don't think I have ever seen a hardware product work so well with software. Its just plain seamless. Even my Mom was able to figure it out on the first try when my Dad gave an iPod to her after seeing mine. The VCR flummuxes her -- it has flashed 12:00 for three years.
I am sure that XPlay is some devious plot by Steve Jobs to get all of you guys to switch. I don't see how XPlay can compete with iTunes in dealing with the iPod. iTunes is the best UNIX based MP3 player around, if not the best MP3 player, period.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
how do you update your iPod?
I want 2D games back.
I have been doing the beta test stuff with xPlay on my 10 gig iPod and purchased the 1.0 version yesterday.
I had a few minor problems with a couple of the betas with respect to firewire ports. In my case the Audigy Fireway ports sometimes hung, but many others had no difficulty whatsoever with the Audigy cards. I went to the Adaptec Duo card and have had no problems since.
I have about 1,663 mp3s at 140 kbit or so encoding and have used about 7.34 gig of the 9.27 or so available. I use the remaining 1.92 gig to backup the office data daily. Works great. Obviously, it is not a longterm backup solution but it amounts to the belt part of my "belt and suspenders solution." It gives me that little extra comfort level.
Now I just need to find a cassette adapter which will work in my GM car radio and I will be happy.
The 4-pin FireWire port is perfectly compatible with iPod (or any other FireWire/1394 device, for that matter) - it just lacks the power leads that the larger port provides. So your Gateway notebook can't charge the iPod, but will be otherwise fine. Some devices (but not iPod) might require that power come from the FireWire bus, in which case you'd probably need a repeater with A/C power in.
All Macs have the 6-pin port that provides bus power. Add-in PCI FireWire cards do, too.
Just as a side note - all the DV camcorders I've seen (including my Canon ZR40) use the 4-pin variant - it takes up less space.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
I've have a 5GB version for about six or seven months. For the first few, until I got myself a belt-clip for it, I carried the little guy in my hand most of the time.
I usually have decent coordination, but I guess there's something about having $500 of hardware in your hands that makes Nature want to mess with you. I somehow managed to trip two or three times while carrying my iPod, each while it was playing. There wasn't a skip, pop, distortion, or anything like that. When I plugged it into my iBook, it came up just fine, I could transfer files and music... In one case, I broke my fall with my hands, which put most of my body weight on one corner of the iPod. The result: a barely visible dent.
Overall, I've found my iPod to be VERY durable. The poor thing's been dropped, broken my fall, been sat on, been in my backback going to and from campus on the bus (where backpacks routinely get kicked, tripped over, etc.), and I recently even left it sitting in the glove compartment of my car for one of the hottest weekends in Houston. No problems, and no damage beyond some faint scratches. (They really should have made the thing BRUSHED aluminum! Scratches don't show up as well, and neither do fingerprints!)
Your mileage my vary, of course, but I don't consider my iPod to be very breakable.
-Ster
P.S. MacWorld did an iPod "Torture Test" in March 2002, and it held up quite well. Unfortuately, the article is not online, and I don't have that issue here right now. -S
It helps if you're playing with facts rather than a bunch of crap which isn't accurate.
1. No, the battery isn't replacable by the user. But it holds a 10 hour charge quite admirably, and it's a long-life Lithium-based battery. By the tame you would need to replace the battery, you wouldn't be using the iPod you have now anymore.
2. Of course you have to send it to Apple for a battery replacement. It's a special battery built just for Apple. However, it is trivial to dissassemble the pod and remove/replace parts.
3. 90 day warranty is accurate. However, you can obtain a very cheap 2 year warranty from many brick-and-mortars selling it, Apple has been known to support it past the warranty, and many credit cards will double your warranty time.
4. I've dropped my iPod 5 times. It still functions, and it isn't any worse for wear. The things are built to be solid, which is why...
5. Solid state doesn't matter. First of all, 5 or 10 gigs in solid state would be ungodly expensive. Beyond that, though, the iPod *IS* solid state when it's playing! Unless your song exceeds half an hour, the hard drive comes on only long enough to copy it into the iPod's RAM, then shuts back down. There are no "moving parts" to worry about for most songs. On top of that, the drive used in the iPod is one of the smallest and most rugged drives on the market.
While perhaps their intention was it would sell more Macs, Apple can, and does sell the 5GB iPod at 400 bucks and make a hefty profit. Look at a possible iPod competitor, the Toshiba GigaBeat. It uses the same 1.8" hard drive the iPod does, yet its removable and uses a PC card interface(read: more expensive), and they are marketing it for 400 dollars as well. Apples integrated solution, using their own software and hardware technologies, has to be much cheaper to produce. Although perhaps it was Apple's intention to sell more Macs with iPod technology, they KNOW its a good thing that 94% of the computer world is now able to use the iPod, which will bring in massive revenue to use to produce even more cool hardware (which will then, of course, be hacked to work with Windows).