So your iPod went to that electronics graveyard in the sky, and you replaced it with a non-Apple player. But your music library still sits inside iTunes, complete with painstakingly crafted play¬lists that you'd rather not lose. Do you have to switch to another music manager and re-create your playlists?

Not if you download iTunes Sync. This free Windows utility syncs any iTunes playlist to non-Apple players. Install iTunes Sync, fire up iTunes, and plug in your player. Right-click the iTunes Sync icon in the system tray, and choose Configure MP3 Players. Click Add, give your player a name, and click the button next to MP3 Player SubFolder to Sync to.

One caveat: iTunes Sync currently works only with players that receive a drive-letter assignment when you plug them in-a category that includes phones such as the BlackBerry Pearl and the Motorola Razr V3. After selecting the desired sync folder on your player, choose a folder structure (indicating how you want copied songs to be organized) and the iTunes play¬list you want to sync with. If you want more than one playlist, you can use iTunes' smart-playlist feature to create a new playlist that in¬¬cludes the ones you want; you then choose that playlist to sync with your player.

After making those selections, close the config window, right-click the iTunes Sync icon again, and choose Synchronize MP3 Player. Click the Sync button and sit back while your playlist breaks free of its iTunes shackles.