Xplay 2

by Mediafour Corporation

Product Features

• Expands and improves use of iPod with Windows
• Quickly and easily transfer music to and from the iPod
• Improved support for international characters
• Displays album art; supports play counts; drag-and-drop interface
• Compatible with Audible files, AAC files, and auto WMA-to-MP3 conversion

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00023XDY0
• Item model number: XP20-E0WR
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 23, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,606 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)

Product Description

MEDIAFOUR XPLAY 2

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars how to share an iPod, March 17, 2005

By 

T. Steinwart (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Xplay 2 (CD-ROM)

An undervalued feature of this software is its ability to let you read and write a Mac formatted iPod in Windows, both through its native XPlay interface and iTunes for Windows. Granted, the extra translation layer (borrowed directly from their MacDrive software) slows the process down a little but the flexibility is well worth it if, like me, you have both Macs and Windows machines. (NB: If you use MacDrive you don't need XPlay to access a Mac-formatted iPod in iTunes for Windows - that capability comes built in.)

I don't care for the native XPlay interface personally: why make something look and act like Windows Explorer when Explorer is only marginally functional? but more importantly, XPlay doesn't support Smart Playlists, to which I am addicted. I use it strictly for its cross-platform capability.

Overall I am happy with this software. It stays out of the way when I don't need it and works seemlessly when I do. If you're running Windows ME/2K/XP and have a Windows-formatted iPod I'm not sure what its value is, but if you're running and older version of Windows or (like me) want to share an iPod between a Mac and Windows, XPlay is indispensable.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why can't all software be this powerful and easy???, February 1, 2005

By 

Steve Cross "Stevie" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Xplay 2 (CD-ROM)

I installed it and that is all there is too it. Within a minute of installing XPlay I was transfering music to my iPod. It was as easy as using any other disk on my Windows XP computer. I can do everything I did with iTunes, but it just feels better, more "Windows" with XPlay. It really is one of the easiest programs I have ever used.

Also, a friend of mine uses XPlay with his Windows Me system. With XPlay we were able to copy music off his iPod and save it to his PC. Pretty cool!!!

I was leary when I first read reviews on here about both XPlay and Mediafour as a company. I am not sure what experience others had on here, but for my money this is a first rate program.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Windows Media Player, September 29, 2006

By 

K. Ni "book maven" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Xplay 2 (CD-ROM)

I received a IPod Nano as a gift. I've been listening to music on my Dell Axim so I keep my music library (mostly paid Yahoo subscription music without the drm anymore) on Windows Media Player 11 (latest version). The IPod is great as it is, far faster than the Axim, which uses a flash cards. However, the Ipod is an Apple product and Apple doesn't allow any synchronization outside of Itunes. To me WMP provides a far better shuffling environment onto my nano, so I was able to stick with WMP thanks to Xplay.

Pros:
-Xplay allows Windows Media Player to send music onto the Ipod, and allow them to be recognized.
-Xplay converts any wma files into mp3 when you shuffle music onto ipod since ipod cannot play any wmas.

Cons
-Apple continues to update their software and block Xplay from working (their nasty hatred of microsoft). So make sure your Xplay is up to date and don't let Itunes update your Ipod or software.
-There are no clear instructions, but Windows Media Player 11 and 10 work great for me.