Review: ImTOO iPod Computer Transfer

Exactly like iTunes but better! Of course it has its ups (literally transfer files from iPod to Computer!) and downs (boring and simple interface), ImTOO iPod Computer Transfer is so far the best I've used. 

There's another software, Xilisoft, but I'll get to that on my next post. 

So here goes, ImTOO iPod Computer Transfer:

Installation

Pretty simple, straight to the point. Though I dunno if it's my Internet connection causing the problems, but I had trouble downloading the Installer. 

Interface
Honestly, it looks exactly like iTunes but just the lower version of it. Reminds me of the 90s or Windows Classic version. But nevertheless, it's easier to understand than the CopyTrans interface.


Adding Music

• Just like iTunes, drag and drop interface.
• What I like about this is that you can rip music from other iPod/iPhone devices. You know how when you plug in your iPod to another computer and it wipes out your iPod library and syncs to the computer instead? Well ImTOO manages this seamlessly! You can just copy music off other people's iPod without messing their device's library! Cool!
• It supports all versions of iPod, iPhone and iPod Touch. Even iPod Nano 5 (video). 
• It syncs with iTunes, so in case there's a problem with your device, there's always iTunes to back it up!

Playlists
It's pretty ordinary and common. Separates Audiobooks from Podcasts, TV Shows, Movies and the like. 

Artwork
Though there's no album artwork view, this is the only program that lets you browse songs in little thumbnails! Pretty good, so you'd be able to determine which ones that still doesn't have artwork!

Tags
No tagging feature.

Video
Pretty much loads the videos. Supports more video formats (M4V, MP4, MOV, MPEG-4, H.264) than most iPod Transfers! Sweet, no need to convert videos.

Photos
Pretty simple use, just basic load and view. Not so much album management or editing feature. 

TV Shows, Podcasts and Audiobooks
Just basic stuff, works like iTunes. Although there are other audiobooks that are being considered as ordinary songs.  

Built-in Player
Nope, not available. 

Computer library management
Works like iTunes: you can manage the info both on iPod and computer, transfer back and forth. 

It doesn't have the Genius too, though it's not as important. 

Rating

☺☺☺½ O

3½ /5 Smileys

Review: Copytrans

There's a multitude of iPod transfer software on the market that it's so confusing to choose just one. 

Here, we'll try to review as many iPod transfers as we can. We are not sponsored or endorsers either. We feel it's just fair to tell readers which ones are reliable and which ones aren't. 

Since iTunes doesn't support iPod to computer transfer, a lot of programs have sprouted claiming to do the two-way transfer.

First software we've tried out is CopyTrans (http://www.copytrans.net/copytransmanager.php)

Installation

There are actually two options to install:

a. a list where you choose which ones to install

b. "for advanced users" option

Interface

Pretty simple and straight to the point. Although the squares divisions are distracting and can be a bit confusing with all the information on the window. 

Adding Music

• Pretty easy, just drag and drop the files you want to see on CopyTrans.

• It works the other way around, first drag and drop files to your iPod then from there you'd be able to drag these to iPod playlists.

• There are two progress bars on the side to show you the progress of the transfer. 
• It supports iPhone and iPod Touch to 2.xx firmware though. Dunno if they're already updated this problem. Apple sure updates their firmware pretty quick. 
• Upon exit, a prompt would pop-up asking you if you want to apply changes on your iPod or not. Though this can be disabled on the Settings menu.
• Lastly, it creates a backup of your iPod or iPhone (iPod Touch) database before you save any changes so that you could revert back to the old database in case something goes wrong.

Playlists

Works like iTunes, though one thing I can’t do is that I can’t re-order the tracks on my Playlists. What the… ?

Artwork

Found on the upper right corner of the window. Nothing special.

Tags

No batch-renaming capabilities?! I don’t want to waste time tagging EACH and EVERY song man, I don’t have that much free time. Grr

Videos

Interesting they have this little thumbnail (in the album artwork area) of the video you’re about to play. Cute, yes. But what’s the use? It’s almost microscopic to see any details with it.

Photos

Booo! It doesn’t support Photos!

But I have to admit, I don’t sync photos on my iPod, I actually have 3 photos on my Nano now.

TV Shows, Podcasts and Audiobooks

CopyTrans recognizes which ones are podcasts, audiobooks or  which ones are TV shows. Although TV shows downloaded on torrent are not recognized as TV shows but as videos.

Built-in Player

Won’t play other video formats (.aac or .m4a) other than .mp4 unless you download the codec.

Computer library management

Sad to say, you can’t manage your computer’s music library with this. It only works with the device (iPod, iPhone or iPod Touch) itself. You also can’t sync device contents with your computer.

Conclusion

Generally a good iTunes alternative, although I’m not too happy for the unavailability to organize your computer files, so you’d still need your iTunes for this.

Not that it’s important, it lacks the Genius that iTunes has.

Though no need to re-learn the interface navigation, I just can’t get over the fact that the interface is really confusing and cluttered. IT does look simple but it’s just too much info. 

Rating

☺☺☺O O

3/5 Smileys

Next up: ImTOO iPod Manager