How to Transfer Videos to Your Apple iPod

The latest fifth-generation Apple iPod does more than just play music. It also functions as a video player -- and with either 30GB or 80GB storage capacity, you can carry along a lot of your favorite movies, TV shows, and videos for watching on the go.

Videos on your iPod have to be encoded in the .M4V, .MP4, or .MOV, file formats, and should have a maximum resolution of 320 x 240 pixels.

As you might suspect, most videos you already have stored on your computer, as well as all commercial DVDs, are in a totally different format and resolution. Which means you can't just copy your existing videos to your iPod -- they have to be converted.

With that in mind, there are several ways to get videos onto your iPod. We'll look at the most popular methods -- from the easiest to the hardest.

The Easiest Way to Find Videos for Your iPod: The iTunes Store

Converting Existing Videos with Quicktime 7 Pro

This is a really easy to way to transfer any of your own videos - including any you've previously downloaded from the Internet and home movies transferred from your video camcorder - to your iPod. Converted videos transfer easily from your iTunes software to your iPod, the next time your iPod is connected to your PC.

Transferring DVDs for Windows Users

Transferring DVDs for Mac Users

Michael Miller is a writer and commentator on technology and digital lifestyle topics.