How would you guys sync a 40GB library to the Pilot's two 8GB drives?

[Jackboot]

I'm sure there are lots of people here with the same problem but I can't figure out how you might be dealing with it!

I have a 40GB music collection on my PC. Obviously, the Pilot only allows the 8GB internal and 8GB (in my case) external SD memory. This means I have to pick and choose what goes on the pilot.

The problem is this: I'm trying to create two 8GB playlists to sync to the internal and external memories of the Pilot. Windows Media Player 11 does not tell you how large a playlist is before you attempt to sync it; it only tells you if the playlist is too large (over 100%) to sync to the device. This makes it impossible to gauge what to choose to include from my large 40GB library on each 8GB playlist. The only (seriously half-assed) solution is to add a little bit to a playlist, sync it, and see what percentage memory is remaining. BOGUS!

So what do you all do? Since WMP11 doesn't offer sufficient functionality in this regard, do you use a different media organiser? HELP!

[CrowdAds]

[zarquon]

If you just drag and drop the files into the player through Explorer, its easy to keep track of the file sizes. I've always found that to be simpler and more intuitive than playlist syncing.

[Carbon88]

http://www.mediamonkey.com/

Originally Posted by Jackboot

I'm sure there are lots of people here with the same problem but I can't figure out how you might be dealing with it!

I have a 40GB music collection on my PC. Obviously, the Pilot only allows the 8GB internal and 8GB (in my case) external SD memory. This means I have to pick and choose what goes on the pilot.

The problem is this: I'm trying to create two 8GB playlists to sync to the internal and external memories of the Pilot. Windows Media Player 11 does not tell you how large a playlist is before you attempt to sync it; it only tells you if the playlist is too large (over 100%) to sync to the device. This makes it impossible to gauge what to choose to include from my large 40GB library on each 8GB playlist. The only (seriously half-assed) solution is to add a little bit to a playlist, sync it, and see what percentage memory is remaining. BOGUS!

So what do you all do? Since WMP11 doesn't offer sufficient functionality in this regard, do you use a different media organiser? HELP!

[Jackboot]

Originally Posted by zarquon

If you just drag and drop the files into the player through Explorer, its easy to keep track of the file sizes. I've always found that to be simpler and more intuitive than playlist syncing.

The problem with that method is whittling down a 40GB music collection into two 8GB collections. Creating playlists (that indicate how many GB) is much better so that I can change what music is included in each playlist as it grows. In other words, when first creating an 8GB playlist I may think that I want every Beatles album on it, but as I start to approach the 8GB limit I may decide that I only have room for my favourite Beatles albums. This is where a playlist is better than dragging and dropping music onto the player.

In addition, using UMS mode for the pilot seems to do cause errors with album art and booting the player in my limited experience.

Originally Posted by Carbon88

http://www.mediamonkey.com/

Does mediamonkey allow you to create a playlist that shows its file size as it grows?

[Carbon88]

Download the free version and give it a try. The free version is much like the free version of Winamp - slightly dumbed down but still really useful.There's a learning curve but after an hour or so of playing around with it, you'll be a pro.

[Conchchowder]

Originally Posted by Carbon88

http://www.mediamonkey.com/

I hate mediamonkey. It makes monkeys of my icons.

[mattschuette]

It's been some time since I've used MM, did they ever fix the whole can't sync to external memory problem? That was kinda the deal breaker for me. Also, MSC (UMS) is perfectly capable of syncing album art provided it's embedded in the MP3, the files use id3v2.3, the images are in the neighborhood of 250x250 or so and are NOT progressive jpegs. Easy as pie =)

[nobs]

MM3 will not see the external in MTP, but can sync as a drive (UMS) for both external and internal.
m3u does not work without way too much work.

I just use J River MC12 and sync my playlists in UMS.
As mentioned, the Pilot will not read m3u correctly, so I re-sync the same playlist in MTP mode and the pla files work; even though MC12 does not replace the files under MTP on the Pilot (or NS-DV).

PIA, but it works for me.