I got a new laptop. I don't wanna use itunes anymore if I can help it... it is so slow and clunky and "helpful". What are the current options people like for something slick, lean, fast, and easy to use?

what do you want out of it?

I have been looking into Rdio lately.

I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard good things about that Amazon cloud thing.

I want to easily import, I want it to be free, I want to be able to dump things onto my ipod shuffle, and I don't want it automcatically searching for shit (ie slowing me down and running in the background). Not a lot, really.

a co-worker suggested foobar2000 to me, but I don't have issues any issues with iTunes.

I always say this when people bring this up, but a lot of your problems could probably be solved by changing settings in iTunes. You can turn off all automatic syncing and automatic importing. That should stop it from searching your computer for files. Other automatic things like Genius can be disabled, too.

I mean if there is truly a better option, I'd love to know about it, but as long as I'm using Apple devices, I feel like I'm pretty locked in.

I set almost everything in iTunes to manual, but it's still gotten clunkier and more buggy over the past few years/updates. The degree to which Apple keeps things under strict control means options are kinda limited, though.

Yeah, I was going to respond - "This is really a problem" because aside from the random times that I try to import something and it won't work, I've never had much of a problem with it.

this

No,



...this.

So do any of those suggested programs work with an ipod?

You've got a PC, not a Mac, right?

If I had to go for a free single software solution, I'd have to go with MediaMonkey. Really, I just upload everything to the Amazon Cloud, which has pros and cons, but MediaMonkey is a player, ripper, burner, supports auto-tagging and about any file format you can imagine and can be synched with iPods, iPhones, Android devices and more. I can't say the usability is as easy or intuitive as iTunes, but it is a lot quicker and less clunky Bit of a learning curve to using it and if you tell someone else to go over to your computer and play something they will be lost. But, I am an avowed iTunes hater because I find it maddeningly bloated and clunky and don't like the lack of FLAC support among other things. Mostly I just play MP3s from the cloud when listening to digital stuff, but I do still keep an external drive full of music that I can burn to CDs or whatever and I use MediaMonkey for that with no problem.

PC, yes.

Rdio is a soundcloud thing, not what you are looking for,

I've used Media Monkey for a couple years. Does everything I need and is not owned by Apple.

I wonder why iTunes on a PC is so clunky.
I never even realize its open on all of my great Apple products that I love and worship.

I think it has to do with Quicktime never working very well on a PC. Just Apple software and Windows not getting along, I guess.

In general, iTunes on a Mac = no issues.

I hate itunes too and apple in general. If there had been any competitive product to the Ipod that offered similar memory I'd have jumped to buy it instead of the ipod just to avoid itunes. As far as I know, there's no way to avoid itunes though. I haven't really had problems with it luckily and do opt as drinky said to turn off all automatic functioning and I also turn down every update.

Another happy MediaMonkey user here: )

Truth.

I still use winamp as my default library/ipod/organizer/player/ripper. But mostly because I paid for it 12 years ago and still get free updates.

I love Winamp, organized folders by artist and album, and drag and drop.

the one thing i cant stand about the Mac is that I cant use mediamonkey. perfect PC program. i have a 120,000+ song library on itunes/Mac though, and it doesnt cause me any problems. i would tweak a few things about it, but for the most part, it does everything i need.

i wish there was a program for making mixes though (RIP musicmixer/musicIP)

Yeah, for a simple most-in-one PC solution, MediaMonkey is probably your best bet.


*sniff*