Alternatives to iTunes

Ynought

Registered
Like iPhoto, iTunes seems to be slowing my machine down. (powerbook g4). Granted I only have 512 of RAM it's still annoying and i'm not getting any memory any time soon. I have about 25,000 songs (mostly external) and i'm assuming the database access is part of the slow response. anyway, any suggestions?
 
Where are they "external"? Most likely your problem is with your external
storage. If in harddisk, try firewire 800, it is faster than USB2.
 
Firewire vs USB2 is unlikely to make a difference, unless its FW800. With normal FW (FW400), USB2 is actually faster (480mbits/s vs 400mbits/s), though for sustained transfer Firewire does slightly faster (but mp3 playing isn't sustained transfer, that would be copying multigigabyte files etc).

More likely just a RAM issue, iPhoto certainly grinds with not so much memory, and iTunes can as well, though not nearly so much. Audion is popular and should be pretty lightweight, though if you _just_ want a player, quicktime should do actually, or even VLC, which at leas has a playlist feature (and is anyway a great video player). Look here for a whole range of options.

I would recommend the extra RAM, though, even f you have to wait a while to get it, with OS X, more than 512 makes a pretty big difference.
 
iTunes should run beautifully on a Powerbook G4. My guess is "external" means either USB 1, CD-Rom, or somewhere on a network device. In any of these cases, switching iTunes to something else won't make it suck any less.
 
25,000! yikes, that's impressive!

I'm afraid unless you're willing to buy more RAM or go back to OS9, your apps are going to be sluggish. It's like shooting yourself in the foot and complaining when it hurts to walk. You can change to a more comfortable shoe, but the source of the problem is the bullet wound, not the footwear.

that analogy got a little weird towards the end there...
 
I have one of the early G4 Mac Minis. Used to be slow in all sorts of places, but upgrading the RAM was the best IT investment I think I've ever made. Everything flies now, including my 60GB music collection on my separate Lacie drive. Goodbye spinning wheel!
 
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