EphPod 2
Pros: EphPod is extremely easy to use for transferring music to and from the iPod. The sync feature works well. It supports the “extras"that the iPod has. Playlists can be added at any time without requiring a full sync, unlike other programs. It’s free!
Cons: Navigating through the menus and windows may be difficult or unintuitive for some people. It doesn’t handle some ID3 tags very well, and it doesn’t allow mass-editing tags. Calendar support is hardly adequate.
Developer: Joe Masters
Website: www.EphPod.com
Model: EphPod 2
Price: Free
Compatible: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Note: Two screenshots accompany this review.
Philong Ta
09.12.02
iPod Envy
Long before the Windows iPod, there was EphPod. With a simple yet effective interface, EphPod provides an easy way to transfer music to and from any iPod. It also has a variety of other features and provides support for the iPod’s Contact and Calendar features.
Just The Basics
EphPod’s main function is to copy music over to the iPod and modify the iTunesDB file, a proprietary database file the iPod uses to organize, display, and play all audio files. Because EphPod deals mostly with putting music onto the iPod, it is a very clean-cut program with complex features that is excellent at what it does.
EphPod was designed to be completely independent of disk format, which means it’ll work on any drive that Windows can read, whether it be a PC iPod (formatted with FAT32 which Windows can natively read) or a Mac iPod (formatted with Mac HFS+ and requires MacDrive or MacOpener for Windows to read). In addition, it is compatible with iTunes3 and MusicMatch Jukebox Plus, so it can be used simultaneously with other software and on either the Mac or PC iPod. Thus, EphPod works with any iPod.
The Interface
The interface is plain and straightforward. It consists of two main windows, the “iPod View” on the top and the “Songs” window on the bottom. The bottom window displays the ID3 tag information for all MP3’s, and clicking on the labels causes the songs to be listed according to whatever tag that was selected. Holding down “shift” and selecting another label further lists songs according to your needs. Using this effective setup, EphPod allows fast and detailed access to all music on the iPod. In addition, music files can be viewed by artist, album, playlist, or all songs, so what you see in EphPod resembles the iPod’s own menus and elegant interface. When songs are being transferred, a progress window appears that displays the current song being copied, time remaining, and the transfer rate.
Features
Designed to transfer music to the iPod, EphPod has all the features you’d expect. It is able to add MP3 or wav files to the iPod with just a few clicks of the mouse. It can also add entire directories and subdirectories of music at once, making things more convenient. Unlike other programs, EphPod also fully supports existing m3u playlists. However, its capabilities don’t end there.
Working with playlists is one of EphPod’s great features. Arranging songs within a playlist is as simple as click-and-drags. Adding songs to a playlist by artist or album is as easy as dragging selected songs from the bottom window to the top window. It also has an innovative option that allows the creation of a playlist of any recent files that were added or of a certain genre. In addition, you can arrange the order of playlists to how you want them to appear on the iPod, or just have EphPod arrange them alphabetically.
EphPod also has a synchronization feature that allows one-button updating of the iPod’s content. Setting up the files or folders that you would like to synchronize between the iPod and the computer in the Config menu is quite tedious, but it only needs to be done once. After that, syncing music with the iPod becomes marvelous. More important, it is a true sync feature that doesn’t just delete and recopy all songs over to the iPod.
Going beyond the essential features, EphPod is the only program that provides an effortless transfer of songs off the iPod and onto the computer. As with all of EphPod’s other features, it just requires a few mouse clicks and becomes extremely useful for recovering lost files or sharing music on other computers. For extra usability, you can customize how you would like EphPod to name the music files when they are copied to the computer.
Extras
Although EphPod’s excellent functionality lies in transferring music to the iPod, it is also the only program that supports the “Extras” that Apple recently added to the iPod. EphPod can create and edit contact and calendar information, as well as export contacts from Microsoft Outlook. While its contacts support is thorough, the calendar feature is more basic compared to Outlook or other software. However, EphPod’s additional features are convenient for quickly editing the extras and for those who don’t heavily rely on those features but would like to use them.
A Work In Progress
One of the best things about EphPod is that it is still being developed. Joe Masters, the sole creator and developer of the superb yet free program, is constantly working to improve and expand its features. EphPod does have a few bugs that pop up here and there, but none of them really limit its usability or features. But, because it has remained more of a “hack” or freeware program than a commercial application, it is very easy to send Masters comments, requests, and bug reports, or communicate with him directly. Critical bugs are quickly addressed and fixed in the next update of the software. New versions of EphPod come relatively often, with Audible and “Smart Playlist” support expected soon.
Conclusion
EphPod is incredibly effective at what it does. It fulfills any needs that arise in transferring music between the iPod and computer. Because it is a simple program that has no heavy reliance on Windows, drivers, or an integrated GUI, it works well and doesn’t have any unnecessary features that may cause problems. But, since it wasn’t designed to manage and organize a music collection, other programs may be necessary to compliment EphPod.
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Anyone know how well EphPod works with the new 3rd generation iPods? Would you reccomend it over XPlay? And one last question, with the new iPods can you hook it up to PCs and Macs without reformatting the drive? Thanks!
since you can read mac-formated drives with this windows tool that is mentioned in the article you can just format you ipod drive with hfs+ and keep it for mac and windows .. without reformating..
I did format mine into Windows format before I tried EphPod. Now I just install the free part of EphPod (without the MacOpenner) and it works! Of cause I still need my iPod manager running in my Windows.
Just that I have to find out some way to get rid of the iPod driver in my MusicMatch now.
I’ve been using it with a G3 IPOD and having problems with tracks skipping. It is probably due to some configuration but since it isn’t consitent it is hard for me to figure out what the problem is.
I’ve been using EphPod with Windows 98SE on a 3G 20Gb iPod and it has worked brilliantly. Intuitive, simple, got all my music on within 20 minutes of opening EphPod for the first time (including transfer time). I’ve set it up to Sync with one click, but i’m wondering if it’s possible to have it load and sync of it’s own accord when the iPod is connected?
Note: turn off the internal file copy apis and use the windows ones.
I’ve lost the entire contents of my iPod more than once when Ephpod went down the wrong way. Had to reformat the iPod and start again… don’t let that detract you from using this program, tho, it’s quite good.
How do you get movie reviews on your iPod with EphPod?
How do you get movie reviews on your iPod
Why bother with boring reviews?
I download movies to my Lyra and watch them there. 200+ hours on a single handheld.
I can quickly scan through the movie - if I don’t like it then I click to another.
I am maxing out my Comcast 3Mbps cable downloading DIVX movies.
Maybe if Apple brings out video iPod I will go back, but until then this Lyra is the best early xmas present ever! I find I hardly use my iPod these days, except for running.
i’d recomend you guys try anapod explorer by redchairsoftware. the program can be found at redchairsoftware.com/anapod. i think you’ll all thank me later!
mbellt- i am having the same prob as you with this software. i can’t get the news headlines to sync properly. on my 3g. if i was just getting single movie reviews tho i would just cut and paste into a text editor and save it as .txt. and manually move it into notes. or i pod library works well too (also freeware).
I have a 30gb iPod which I am using with my XP windows machine.I am thinking of getting a mini iPod for my wife. Will I be able to synch the mini using ephPod and will I have any problem using both iPods with the same computer?
What is the best program which u use with the new 3rd generation iPods? Why u think like that?
1. Anapod
2. Xplay
3. EphPod
4. Ipod Agent
quote -Why bother with boring reviews?
I download movies to my Lyra and watch them there. 200+ hours on a single handheld.-
I wonder how you pack 200 hours of standard divx video on to a 20GB player…
ephpod 2 says it works with iTunes. I wanted to use it to edit tags. I had all sorts of problems with something booting out my connection, then it corrupted the disk, and I have to re-format my iPod. No worries cause I have it all in iTunes, but I don’t remember having these problems with earlier ephpod and MusicMatch. Anybody experience similar probelms? Ideas? suggestions? Alternative tag editing software that plays nicer with iTunes?
I’ve been using Ephpod since I had a 2G iPod (i’m now on a 3G with new battery) and I’ve never had a problem with it, even when I was using the 2G with the old MacOpener software. I now use iTunes to upload & cdrip to the iPod, & then use Ephpod to download (or upload if I want to...) from the iPod when needed. I also use euPod Volume Boost to ramp those tunes up, and MP3 Tag Studio to edit all the tag’s.
Believe me when I say this...I’ve tried ALL the software out there for use with the iPod as well as the Musicmatch’s & all the other rippers, and all ther various taggers like Dr Tag, etc.... and the combination I’ve found above is by far the easiest !!
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