Best way to go from PC to Macbook?

Hi all

I've just bought my daughter a 13" Macbook and a 30gb iPOD Video.

She currently has a Sony Laptop and an iPOD Mini.

What would be the best way to get her music off her old systems onto her new Macbook and iPOD?

Thanks

Easiest way is to use iTunes' backup feature. Depending on how big her library is, you might want to buy some DVD blanks first. I was faced with the same situation: http://pika2000sblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/switching-to-mac-day-2.html
Couple catches:
1. Although you retain ratings and play count, you loose last played tags. Not really an issue if you don't use that tag in smart playlist at all.
2. The backup feature won't backup any playlists. However, you can export playlists quite easily.
3. After switching to the Mac, you might want to restore her iPods with iTunes on the Mac. Although Macs can read and transfer music fine on Windows formatted iPods, you can only update the firmware on Mac formatted iPods.

pika2000 said:

3. After switching to the Mac, you might want to restore her iPods with iTunes on the Mac. Although Macs can read and transfer music fine on Windows formatted iPods, you can only update the firmware on Mac formatted iPods.

Click to expand...

Really? You are saying that using my iPod under windows, I cannot update the firmware?

You can update firmware only on the computer the iPod is formatted under. So if you format the iPod under Windows, you need to use a Windows PC to update it, and if you format it under OS X, then you need a Mac to update the iPod.

As for moving files, I would actually recommend Ethernet. The transfer speeds are very fast and you won't waste blank CDs or DVDs.

Migrate Your Files

Thanks. That is what I was thinking.

Kash said:

As for moving files, I would actually recommend Ethernet. The transfer speeds are very fast and you won't waste blank CDs or DVDs.

Migrate Your Files

Click to expand...

Question is, will this keep ratings and play counts? Of course, if those things don't matter, than you can simply re-import any music from the PC to the new Mac.

To migrate ratings and play counts, you will need to move the two iTunes library files from the old computer to the iTunes directory on the new computer.

joshbrez said:

To migrate ratings and play counts, you will need to move the two iTunes library files from the old computer to the iTunes directory on the new computer.

Click to expand...

Simply copying those 2 files won't work. PC and Mac have different directory structure. The OP has to do some manual editting on those files. I'm not sure if the OP/daughter would want to do that, which is why I suggested the simpler backup route.

pika2000 said:

Simply copying those 2 files won't work. PC and Mac have different directory structure. The OP has to do some manual editting on those files. I'm not sure if the OP/daughter would want to do that, which is why I suggested the simpler backup route.

Click to expand...

That's how I copied my library from my PC to my Mac, and it seemed to work just fine.

Thanks for the tips guys.

I think I'll just copy the MP3s from PC to MAC via my NAS and let iTunes index them anew on the Mac - then sync the new iPOD.

That works. I backed mine to an external HD then transferred.