The best way to handle my iDevices

[eidolon]

Right, I'll set the scene first and hopefully somebody can help advise me on the best way to deal with my iDevices.

I've got about 40gb of music in MP3 format that I've ripped from my CDs over the years. This is nicely organised on my PC.

I've got a 32gb iPhone 4, a 64gb iPod Touch, a 60gb iPod Classic, a 1gb shuffle and my iPad 2 64gb just arrived today. Yep, I know it's probably excessive but I tend to use them for different purposes (one for the gym, one stays in the car, one for my jeans pocket etc)

Anyway, can somebody explain iTunes libraries to me? Ideally I want all of my music on my iPod touch and maybe have a different selection of choice music and audiobooks on my iPhone with my upbeat running songs on my shuffle etc. Essentially each device will have its own music/apps etc. What's the best way to deal with this? Do I need multiple libraries? If I set up my touch library then plug in my iPhone, is iTunes likely to wipe my iPhone and replace the music/apps with the ones from my touch?

/confused...

 

[PR.]

Use Smart Playlists, if you've put the effort in and all your music is neatly tagged then it should be a pretty simple process.

I have my iPod Classic with all my music, then my iPhone has a smart playlist of music that's rated more than 2 stars and has been listened to in the last 6 months, that means all my current popular music gets synced and when I get bored of it, it falls off and frees up space for more new stuff.

As for Apps, just untick "Sync new apps" and then add/remove as required.

I have an iPad 64Gb, iPhone 3G 8Gb, and iPod Classic 120Gb all using smart playlists to keep music (and videos) rotating without running out of space.

 

[whitecrook]

You pc will see each device separately and will keep track of what is what when you plug it on