by William Earle

Created on: February 13, 2008

Technology is a wonderful thing. We can all of our favorite music, pictures, video clips, etc. with us wherever we go using a little invention called the iPod. What's even cooler than creating a 200 song playlist for your next trip? How about watching your favorite movies on your iPod as well? Sure, it might seem pointless at first to put something made for the "big screen" on a device with a screen that's only 4 inches, but after seeing how well the movies look, it's definitely worth it. Image how quickly a road trip or flight could be when you have your favorite movies to keep you company. With that said, here's how it's done.

For Movies Already on Your Hard Drive
The latest version of iTunes makes it simple to transfer files from your computer to your iPod. This is probably the most used feature for putting video onto an iPod because so many people have videos already stored on their computer. The first thing you need to do is convert your video files (.mpg, .avi, etc) to MPEG4, which is the file extension the iPod recognizes. There are many different types of software to allow you to do this easily. One that I have found useful is called the iPod Video Converter 1.32. You can download this from download.com and run a search for "iPod Video Converter." This is freeware, and it will only take up 1.37MB of hard drive space.

After you have converted your videos to MPEG4 open up iTunes (comes free with an iPod or you can download it from Apple's website), click on File, Add File to Library. Select the video, or videos, you wish to add then click Open. It's that easy.

Downloading Movies from iTunes
If you've ever visited the iTunes store, you know they have just about anything you wantif you want to pay for it. Unfortunately, iTunes does not just charge you one fee to download all you like. You are charged a per file fee. This can be expensive, but the ease of downloading, the quality of the files, and ease in knowing you are not breaking any copyright laws makes it worth the cost. To get to the iTunes store, click on "Store" in iTunes, then on "Home." From the home page, click on "Movies," and begin your search. The iTunes store allows you to search for a title, or browse by category. Most movies cost about $15 each for new releases, with older movies being somewhat cheaper.

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