How to Play the iPod on Your Computer, and Other iPod nano Tips

Ever have your iPod charging on a computer that didn't have any music on it? You probably wish you could play your iPod on the computer speakers don't you? Well guess what, you can. Read on for quick tips to have you rocking like an iPod guru.

Play iPod on Computer Speakers: In iTunes, click on your iPod on the device list (left-hand side of the screen). Select the "Summary" tab in the main screen and click the "Manually manage music and videos" checkbox. Now for the easy step: choose the song or play list you want from the list for your iPod and hit the iTunes play button. (Still confused? I have pictures on my website to help you out.)

Who Needs an Alarm Clock Anymore? My old alarm clock lives in the bottom of my dresser drawer now. It's been replaced by my iPod nano and a good set of speakers. My nano's alarm clock does everything I need, and travels with me wherever I go. Here's how to turn your nano into your alarm clock.

Navigate to the Extras menu and choose Clock > Alarm Clock. Your first step is to make sure the Alarm is toggled on. Next, choose Time and scroll to set when the alarm should ring. Now choose the Repeat menu and decide if the alarm should go off once, daily, weekdays, weekends, once a month, and so forth. Now for the bigger decision: Sound. You will set the iPod to Beep or to a Playlist. Playlist sends the sound through earphones or an external speaker — which is what I use at night. Beep uses iPod's built-in speaker. Ok, your alarm is set up and ready. Enjoy!

Fall Asleep to Music: Now that you've figured out how to wake up, let's talk about falling to sleep with sound. I like soft music in the background, but don't want it playing all night. Use the iPod sleep timer (also in the Extras section) to set an automatic shutoff. I set mine to play for 60 minutes. This obviously works best if you have a set of speakers in your room. I've reviewed iPod speakers on my website.

Bump up the Volume: Wish you could rock out a little louder? Check out the Volume Limit option on the Settings menu. Use this option to dial your iPod's maximum volume up or down. You can also adjust the sound style from the EQ (equalizer) menu.