LG Chocolate 3 can definitely work with Mac/iTunes
THIS IS FOR ALL THE DUMMIES OUT THERE WHO WANT TO GET MUSIC FROM MAC/ITUNES ONTO A LG CHOCOLATE 3 PHONE WITHOUT TOO MUCH FUSS. THERE MAY BE BETTER/EASIER WAYS, BUT THIS HAS WORKED FOR ME. I spent HOURS figuring this out (I realize many of you will laugh that it took so long...).
Disclaimer - I bought a new LG Chocolate 3 (Verizon) and am using it with an iBook G4, OS X 10.3.9, iTunes 7.6.2 (9). I know there are much newer versions of iTunes, I am just waiting until I buy a new Mac...
After I bought this phone I realized that making it work with a Mac/iTunes might be a challenge, and was upset that the phone instructions make it seem as if VCast is the only way you can get music. $15/mo for borrowed music? Fahgetabahtit. I did A LOT of googling, forum searching, etc and figured out the easiest way for me (=dummy) to get music on this phone. Much of this may seem elementary to all the Mac gurus out there, but I am posting this for people like me. And, perhaps I'll get some interesting feedback from a guru! Some of this may (obviously) be specific to my Mac hardware/software.
THE BASICS: This is an mp3 player, not an iPod. iTunes by default will import your music as .m4a files, and when you buy music on iTunes it comes as a protected file, .m4p. .m4a can easily be converted to .mp3 (see below), whereas .m4p I think requires that you burn a CD and then import it as an .mp3 (see below). There may be other options, but I don't buy a lot of music on iTunes, so I'm not too concerned. ACC is another way of saying .m4a, Apple's format. I know I am scratching the surface here, but this basic understanding helps understand the simple steps below.
You can download all your music as .mp3 into iTunes as follows: iTunes/preferences/advanced/importing - change importing encoder to file type you want, e.g. .mp3 - you can also choose the setting, or kbps, which determines the quality - I tested "high quality" .m4a vs "high quality" .mp3 vs "higher quality" .mp3 and could tell no difference on a very high quality stereo (NAD preamp, McIntosh MC30 amps, Infinity RS6 speakers) - the file size is slightly higher for equivalent .mp3's. Seems that .m4a may be a better format in terms of quality per MB used, but .mp3 is certainly more ubiquitous.
You can convert .m4a's to .mp3's once the encoder has been set to import as .mp3 - simply select the song or songs, right click, and select "convert selection to .mp3. This can take some time, perhaps 5 minutes per album, depending on the kbps setting and file sizes. You can tell which files are .m4a's, .mp3's, etc by clicking "kind" in the View Options window (under View tab). Once you convert, then there will be two listings of that song in your library on iTunes, and there will be two files in the iTunes Music folder in Finder (one with .m4a, one with .mp3).
I have a mishmash of .m4a, .m4p, and .mp3 on my iTunes (because I never really payed attention...), and a very easy way to create a list of all my .mp3 songs (which would therefore be available for the Chocolate 3) is to create a new smart playlist (I called it "MP3") and then go under "file" tab and "edit smart playlist" and make it match "kind" "is" "MPEG audio file" (or however iTunes lists your .mp3 files when you click "kind" in the view options). Now you have a list of all your .mp3 files. Next, I created a playlist called, oddly enough, "Chocolate 3", to which I dragged all the .mp3 files I wanted to put on the phone from the "MP3" smart playlist. Any other files I wanted on the phone that weren't already .mp3's, I just converted as above, dragged into the Chocolate 3 playlist, and accept the fact that I now have two files for each song (can always delete one set). An added feature is that the "Chocolate 3" playlist lists how many songs and how much memory is required in the bar at the bottom of the iTunes window.
To transfer music from your Mac to the phone, many folks have raved about a freeware application called BitPim, apparently it uses Bluetooth to let you access your phone from the computer? Some have used this to sync their contacts, others to transfer music, but I've read it is very slow for music transfer. DO NOT try using the USB cable that came with the phone - all you will do is start charging the phone using your USB port... I had no interest in learning how to use BitPim, let alone having to download it, etc, and no interest in slow transfer, even if wireless. Don't get me wrong - I am sure there are some great advantages to BitPim/Bluetooth - but for a dummy trying to get music on the phone, read on...
What has worked for me is the following: buy a SDmicro card and card reader. Insert the card into the phone so that the phone formats the card. Pop the card out, insert into card reader, and insert into your USB port. Once the computer recognizes the card reader and card, open it up and you will find a few folders, one of which is "my music". Open this folder. Have iTunes open at the same time. Highlight the music you want to put on your phone in iTunes (from the library, from the MP3 smart playlist, from the Chocolate 3 playlist, or even from a folder using Finder, whatever - they just have to be .mp3 or MPEG audio file) and just drag it into the "my music" folder on the card. THIS IS IMPORTANT - you cannot drag folders from iTunes Music library using Finder - the phone (at least mine) does not recognize folders - the files must be transferred on their own, as loose files. ALSO - I could not transfer large numbers of songs at once, so I did it 1-2 albums at a time - perhaps b/c my 'puter is getting old?
Eject the card reader, reinsert card into phone, open up my music, and either sync or go to your song list and the phone will automatically sync. It recognizes artist, genre, album, song, etc - it might be able to pick up some album cover art, etc, but it didn't for me. Frankly, I couldn't care less. I'm just happy I don't have to return the phone... iPhone isn't for me - AT&T isn't good at my house, and I frankly DO NOT want internet/email on my phone. I need to spend LESS time on the web. Not more!
You can create playlists on the phone, but I don't think you can transfer playlists from iTunes to the phone. Also, the songs are listed alphabetically if you search by artist, but in correct order if you search by 'album'. As you won't be able to sync this device to your iTunes playlist, it might be best to erase albums/songs you want to get rid of using the phone itself, then eject the card and add songs as above.
Well, I hope this helps, and I hope it is a reasonably simple way to make things work for some of you. I really like the FM transmitter feature - I can play music in any car now, and I can play through my iPod speakers at work with either a 3.5mm male/male cord or using the FM transmitter. You can also use wireless headphones using Bluetooth. Nice...
I am getting a new Mac in the near future. If there are any significant changes, I'll let y'all know.
