Why does my iPod classic 80gb only have capacity enough for < 14000 songs when 20000 songs is the advertised space available?

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Why does my iPod classic 80gb only have capacity enough for < 14000 songs when 20000 songs is the advertised space available?

I haven't had trouble until recently when my iTunes library surpassed 13,000 songs and then I quickly had to start leaving my videos and tv shows off of my ipod in order to sync it. At this point I have just over 14,000 songs in my library and can not sync at all because of the lack of space available. However what is advertised is the capacity for 20,000 songs. I understand that the hard drive is significantly smaller than advertised at 74.31GB of space when empty as opposed to the 80GB which is advertised. But I am having a hard time distinguishing the loss of 5.69GB (which is already really a deficient feature that is an immediate devaluation of about $18) and the 7.1% of space lost on purchase and how that equates to a space of over 6,000 songs lost when in actuality the loss should equate to a space of 2,817 songs. That's far more than double...with a capacity that should still be open to 17183 songs. I understand that this is an older version of iPod and not a concern to probably anyone but myself at this point in the growing age of technology. But there aren't currently any other mediums than the same model I have to grow in capacity and to go to an alternative route that still wouldn't meet my capacity problems would run me $200 plus as well (Touch, iPad, etc.). I would just like to not have to purchase another form of technology because mine is not up to par with its claims. If anyone can trouble shoot or help me out with my conflct, it would be utterly appreciated. Thank you in advance to anyone who takes time and concern from their day to help a disgruntled college student with their iPod problems.

iPod classic, 80GB

Posted on Oct 17, 2012 11:22 PM

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Answer 1

Ingo2711

Level 10

80,307 points

Oct 18, 2012 3:07 AM in response to Zane Adams

Even on your computer you can't use the advertised capacity of your HD, see this article for more info:

How Mac OS X and iOS report storage capacity

To put more songs onto your device, try to use a different setting for the import quality, i.e. 128kb/s instead of 256kb/s.

Copied from http://www.apple.com/ipodclassic/features.html

Song capacity is based on 4 minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; in 256-Kbps AAC format, song capacity is up to 20,000 songs; actual capacity varies by encoding method and bit rate. Video capacity is based on H.264 1.5-Mbps video at 640-by-480 resolution combined with 128-Kbps audio. Photo capacity is based on iPod-viewable photos transferred from iTunes. Actual capacity varies by content. Battery testing conducted by Apple in August 2009 using preproduction hardware and software. Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced (seewww.apple.com/support/ipod/service/battery). Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information.

1GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity less.

Those 20.000 songs are mentioned for the 160GB model.

Message was edited by: Ingo2711

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Oct 18, 2012 4:19 AM in response to Zane Adams

The S.I. prefix Giga is used to mean both 1000x1000x1000 and 1024x1024x1024. Computer software typically uses the second version, but using the first number makes the same number of bytes appear bigger when expressed as Gb, so is favoured by hard drive manufactures.

80Gb₁₀ = 74.3Gb₂

It's a bit like specifying a quantity in gallons without saying whether they are US or Imperial gallons - everybody gets the same volume but one number will be bigger than the other. I could offer you a tank with 10 Imperial gallons of fuel in it - but if I tell you it's 12 US gallons it sounds like you're getting more for your money.

Once the total size of your library exceeds the capacity of your device all you need to do is create some size limited playlists to determine what goes on the device. Don't sync all movies, sync one or two that you plan to watch soon. Likewise with TV Shows. Limit podcasts to unplayed episodes and finally create a music subset. What worked for me for some time was a smart playlist called Steve's Tunes defined as Playlist is Music and Playlist is not Exclude where Exclude was regular playlist that I would manually add to until Steve's Tunes was small enough to fit. These days I run an iPhone and have a number of smart playlists with ? Gb of most played, ? Gb of highly rated, ? Gb of recently added, ? Gb of essentials, ? Gb of unplayed etc. Each time I sync I get slightly updated selection without having to put any extra effort in.

tt2

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