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General discussion

Palm T/X is NOT Compatable with iTunes

Aug 19, 2006 6:30AM PDT

I bought a Palm T/X and I'm happy with it in most respects. But I am an iTunes user, so its incompatability with iTunes renders their music playing feature useless. Even with an expansion card and a third-party program, I have not found a way to download songs from iTunes or CD's from my Mac (OS 10.3.9) to my Palm T/X.

The Palm T/X needs audio files in an MP3 format and iTunes formats their music in AAC format (I think). I've read the Palm user manuals and forums, and apparently there is no way to format music you bought on iTunes so that it will be read-able on your Palm. I also bought a program called mOcean, which claimed to make iTunes compatable with the Palm T/X, but after I bought it, the user manual stated that it could not convert DRAM files, which are the kind that iTunes uses. mOcean's documentation claims that you can upload CD's of your own, format them as MP3's, and then download them to your palm, but the two CD's I've tried have also not had music in MP3 format, and I have not found a way to convert them. So far, the only song I've been able to download to my Palm has been an MP3 that a friend emailed to me.

The Palm documentation and sales pages don't explicitly state that their product is not compatable with iTunes, so I wanted to clarify this for other prospective buyers. It has taken me several hours, $20 for mOcean, and $30 for a memory card to realize that the Palm T/X has many other uses, but that its music player is essentially not functional for iTunes and Mac users. Maybe someone who is better at reformatting files has found a way around this, and if so, I'd love to know about it. Otherwise, I'm hoping that I can save some other iTunes users some time and money.

Discussion is locked

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CNET Music Forum
Aug 19, 2006 6:59AM PDT
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It also doesn't state it works with other media players.
Aug 19, 2006 8:10AM PDT

But in regards to iTunes, that's a closed world. From memory there is all of what Apple offers and that one phone.

Do you consider this closed world to be a flaw overall?

And once I have an AudioCD, isn't it just a hop, jump to having a MP3 file?

Bob

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I dunno about i Tunes Yet
Aug 19, 2006 9:39AM PDT

I havn't done much with that yet, still learning about OS X..Happy

Lot's of applications available to convert audio formats but not sure of what is out there for Mac?

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Here's what you do
Aug 19, 2006 10:07AM PDT

''The Palm T/X needs audio files in an MP3 format and iTunes formats their music in AAC format (I think).''
If you are talking about purchase music, you are correct. Let's assume you have a bunch of tracks in iTunes that you ripped from your legally owned CD's.
Go to preferences/Advanced/Importing and select MP3 as you file type of choice. Close preferences.
In the library, select the tracks that you want to convert to MP3. Either Right Click, Control + Click or go to the Menubar - Advanced and select ''Convert selection to MP3'' Poof, you are done. Export the MP3's to the desktop and have you way with them.
For purchased music with DRM attached, burn it to a cd and import it again using the same settings as described above

Beware, there are those that say that the iTunes MP3 converter is not the best in the world but it is the easiest solution to your problem.
You don't get to using iTunes much, do you?

P

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CD's would not import in MP3 format
Sep 13, 2006 6:50PM PDT

I use iTunes daily, but I use it on my computer or with my iPod, so before I bought a Palm T/X, I had no need to convert files.

I tried to follow the directions like yours, that were given on the Palm help site. Even when I followed all of the directions, I could not get the songs to import in MP3 form. Some of the CD's I tried seemed to have files in DRAM or some other form that would not convert to MP3.

I've liked the T/X's Blazer program and DataViz's Docuents to Go, but I haven't yet found any way to play music that doesn't require making additional purchases of music I already own.

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Importing from a CD
Sep 13, 2006 9:59PM PDT

Go to preferences/Advanced/Importing and select MP3 as you file type of choice. Close preferences.

Tracks on a regular CD are usually in AIFF format and iTunes will import them easily and convert them to MP3 on the fly.

DRAM is a type of memory. I think you mean DRM and that could be true. Just what CD is it that you are trying to import?

P