Sync Two iPods

'Tis the age of multiple MP3 Players -- specifically, the ubiquitous iPod. I got my first one, oh, about two years ago. A little bit of a learning curve, and I was able to load all my music -- some 2000 songs, or 5.5 days of music nonstop. Then I added eBooks and podcast subscriptions. I used to be impressed at CD changers that handled several disks. Imagine.

The iPod's music quality isn't top of the mark, but the trade-off is I can enjoy my music, read books and listen to interesting programming more often than in the past. I decided I needed something less complicated, a tad less content to browse through when I wanted a quick listen. So I got an iPod Nano.

I had to figure out how to maintain it on my computer, since I already had another iPod configured through my iTunes software. (You an get iTunes for free at Apple.com). The process of syncing two iPods on one computer is a piece of cake and there are a couple of ways to do it.

Easiest for me was telling iTunes to update each iPod with separate playlists. I created playlists by following the prompts under "File" then "New Playlist" in iTunes. I can change the lists as often as I want. My main player has all the music I own; the Nano is only loaded with one playlist at a time.

To add the music to the second iPod:

1) I plugged the secondary iPod into my computer with the provided USB cable.
2) Opened iTunes and selected the player icon from the window below "Devices".
3) Once I clicked the "Summary" tab, I made sure "Manually manage music" wasn't selected.
4) I chose "Sync music" and "Selected playlists".
5) I could also have selected "Manually manage music" then dragged songs and playlists to the icon for this iPod.

There's another way to work through this. I can create separate iTunes libraries for each player. On PCs, you can't plug multiple iPods in simultaneously -- evidently you can with Macs. To create the separate libraries, according to Apple's documentation:

1) Hold "Shift" while opening iTunes.
2) Up comes a dialog box where you'll choose "Create library."
3) Name the library and save the file -- iTunes will open with your new library file loaded.
4) Open "Preferences" and click "Advanced" then "General."
5) Deselect "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" and click "OK" so iTunes won't duplicate existing media files.
6) Now drag the music or podcast files you want into iTunes or use "Add to Library" in the "File" menu.
7) When you have all your files, connect your iPod and sync the library, then quit iTunes.
8) Hold "Shift" and reopen iTunes, then click "Choose library."
9) Select your original library and click "Open" and you can switch back and forth between the two for different iPods.