iPod HELP!! iPOD HP compatible with iMAC G5??

[mam]

I just received an ipod hp as a gift and have opened it, but haven't yet begun setting it up. I am looking for a new desktop and am seriouslly considering buying an imac g5 (my first mac ever).

BUT

the apple salesman I spoke with told me that the the idiots at hp made the ipod hps so that they are not compatible with macs, but that there is something I can download so that it WILL work with my new mac. does anyone have any experience with this problem and/or any suggestions? Thanks so much!!!

mam

 

[G5Unit]

I thought all Ipods worked with mac and pc. Who was this guy?

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, I'm guessing he was talking about the iPod updater software which will reformat your Windows-formatted iPod to a Mac-formatted one. This isn't really necessary as a Mac will recognise a Windows iPod but a PC won't recognise a Mac one so it should work out of the box. Using a Mac, you don't have to reformat your iPod to be Mac-formatted. Windows-formatted iPods will work just fine.

The only reason I can think of that you would want to make the iPod a Mac-formatted iPod would be because generally the Mac one is more reliable as a portable drive. I haven't actually had any experience with an HP iPod but I imagine it's pretty much exactly the same as a normal 4G iPod. If not, ignore everything I've said and ever will say.

 

[mduser63]

mad_jew is right. Hardware-wise, an HP iPod is exactly identical to an Apple iPod, and it will work with a Mac. If you want to reformat it as a "Mac iPod", just run the latest iPod updater with it hooked up. Like he said though, it should work out of the box as Macs can recognize and deal with "Windows iPods" just fine.

Note: A "Mac iPod" is just an iPod formatted using the HFS+ filesystem used on Mac hard drives, while a "Windows iPod" is an iPod formatted using FAT32, which is the filesystem Windows computers use (or commonly used until WinXP anyway). Macs can read and right FAT32 volumes, but Windows computers can't read HFS+ volumes (not without third-party software). AFAIK, HP iPods are pre-formatted as FAT32, while Apple iPods are pre-formatted as HFS+.

 

[Nuc]

I have the HP model

My 4G HP iPod works with my mac. So you will be fine. I don't remember ever reformatting it though....

Nuc

 

[mam]

PHEW!

alright! that's great news because i've been getting really excited about getting a G5 and i didn't want to have to worry about that. thanks so much for your help, who knows where that guy got his information from... not knowing anything about macs initially, i just assumed he knew what he was talking about, but i'm glad i checked here first!
Thanks again!!
mam

 

[TreeHugger]

alright! that's great news because i've been getting really excited about getting a G5 and i didn't want to have to worry about that. thanks so much for your help, who knows where that guy got his information from... not knowing anything about macs initially, i just assumed he knew what he was talking about, but i'm glad i checked here first!
Thanks again!!
mam

get the G5 imac! or just a mac for that matter, you'll be much happier.