iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition

What You Need to iPod

The iPod is designed to communicate with a Mac or a PC, which serves as the loading dock for tunes. Fortunately, it doesn’t have especially demanding system requirements. Here’s what your computer needs to use a video-enabled iPod or iPod Nano with iTunes 6:

• A decent amount of horsepower. For the Macintosh, Apple recommends 256 MB of RAM and at least a 500-megahertz G3 processor as a minimum, but if you want to use the video iPod and iTunes, you’ll need a 500-megahertz G4 processor and a video card with at least 16 MB of memory on it.

  For the PC, you need at least a 500-megahertz Pentium-level processor and at least 256 MB of RAM. If you plan to watch and use video with your iPod and iTunes, you’ll need a 1.5-gigahertz Pentium-level processor or faster and a video card with 32 MB or more of memory. (Just about everything in life is better with more memory.)

• A recent operating system. For the Mac, you need at least Mac OS X 10.2.8, but if you want to use any of the video features, you need to make sure your version of Mac OS X is at least 10.3.9. You’ll also need Apple’s QuickTime 7.0.3 multimedia software or later installed.

  On a Windows machine, you need Windows 2000 or XP to use Apple’s iTunes software for Windows. Like the Macsters, Windows people also need at least QuickTime 7.0.3. for video fun.

• A USB 2.0 connection. Older iPods that predate the 2005 arrival of the video-playing Pod and the Nano can still use a FireWire connection for transferring songs ...