02-21-2007, 09:46 PM

I've had my 30 gig Video for well over a year now and I'm wondering whether I should reformat the entire thing for my MacBook or keep it with my Dell. I don't have any new CDs to put on the iPod right now but I may in the future. My entire iTunes library (about 1200 songs, most of which I've never heard) has already been transferred from my Dell to my MacBook. So, in order to decide whether to reformat or not, I need to know if anyone knows how fast the stock MacBook disc drive can rip a regular CD with, say, 12 songs on it. If it is quick, do you think I should go ahead and reformat it or just keep it Windows based?

Thanks in advance!

02-21-2007, 10:11 PM

I have an older 20GB iPod that I used to use all the time on windows PC's and now I use it on my mac AND windows pc's... Never reformatted even once. I just keep it set to "enable disk use" (what ever it is called).... It connects just fine to both my iMac and Windows machine....

02-22-2007, 04:55 AM

my ipod mini is windows formatted and all my computers are macs ! so lije RIDE said i just enable disk usage and it works fine with anything.

02-22-2007, 10:26 AM

I formatted my 30 GIG to Mac, but only after making sure all the music I wanted off of it was already on my Macbook. I only did it because I wanted clean off some of the garbage that had accumulated from using my iPod as a portable hard drive. In the long run, I don't think it really makes a big difference.

02-25-2007, 09:24 PM

i have a imac at home and use pc's at uni, so i just format on uni pc.
then i can use it as portable hard drive at uni and home, and still be compatable on my imac with itunes. (ipod mini)

02-28-2007, 05:44 PM

I would keep it formatted for Windows if you plan to still use your Dell, but if you don't want to use your Dell go ahead and re-format it for mac. Like other people said if your iPod is Windows formatted it will work on both your computers but mac only works on mac.

02-28-2007, 05:55 PM

If your PC is still going to be used, keep it at Windows. I don't know of any benifits of formatting for mac.

04-20-2007, 04:27 AM

well, i did some searching, and this thread seems appropriate.

i may have to break down and get an ipod (a HD model, not flash).

mainly what i want to do is have a portable hard drive full of music that i can play at home or at work. i want it in simple folder format (in genres, not albums) so i can just drag whatever i want to the media player of choice, and browse the ipod as if it were just any other HD.

as i understand from this thread, if i use the HD mode of an ipod i should have no issues just going back and forth between my work pc and my mac at home, right?

if i do this, if i can do this, will it be just as easy to use for use when not connected to a mac or pc? i mean, if i don't use itunes, will the ipod still just find any mp3 files anywhere on it and make them as easy to access as if i were using itunes?

maybe i'd just be better off (and get more space for the buck) going with a simple 2.5" 80-100Gb HD in an enclosure. but then i'd lose the ability to play "on the road."

04-20-2007, 12:30 PM

My iPod arrived in Mac format, which Iintend to retain.

It shows up on my PC via MacDrive.