Syncing itunes library (but not necessarily files)

[dontbesojumpy]

can i manage my iTunes library from a laptop and have the organized file attributes sync to a desktop pc without remote hosting or something that requires internet or having both computers on at the same time?

i organized my "music" folder using itunes and built my perfect library of only the stuff i want synchronized to my ipod. i have other folders of music but i do not want any of it in my itunes library or syncing to my ipod.

all the correct art is in, the genre tags i want, correct file and song names, etc etc. it's my perfect library and took around 100 hours to get there. but it's on my laptop and my stereo is hooked up to a desktop pc.

i have a usb system to drag-and-drop files from one pc to the other, all i have to do is plug it in usb-to-usb, drag and drop the files and voila, i have the files on both computers.

so i can put the laptop's organized "music" folder on the desktop so it is actually on that computer;s HD, if i need to.

can i also copy my itunes files--or whatever specific "library" files across the computers and have both itune libraries match? i do not want to have to keep my laptop on or open in order to listen to music on the other computer. i also don't always have internet here so i do not want to rely on being online to listen to music on the second computer (i presume this nixes 'networking' them together?)

i would love to be able to manage my library from my laptop as i come into new music or delete old stuff, then copy or sync the changes to the desktop without a huge ordeal.

i would also really love to be able to keep an accumulative play-count for my ipod and both sessions of itunes.

is any of this possible...?

 

[dontbesojumpy]

is the "home sync" feature all i really need?

 

[ssddx]

if you do all of your managing at home and not on the road... instead of using the laptop or pc hard drive you could use a network hard drive. this way you only need one pc on at a time and you can access the files.

the problem is... if you take your laptop with you, the files are gone.

not sure what home sync is... but there is probably a feature to keep all libraries synced as you want. i've never used it myself... i've always done it manually.

 

[dontbesojumpy]

okie doke. home sharing is exactly what i needed to do.

if anyone cares, here's what it accomplishes: it allows you a new source in the left column on itunes, and much like your ipod's source selection, you can pick it and play. the thing is, when you "stream" it it's like your ipod--column view only, no cover flow, all that. but you can select the entire library, click "import," and it brings the library from the host computer to the one you're on. all music files go into itunes/content/music and they will be organized and syncronized as they are on the host computer. only they'll live on both computers now.

the only small issue is all the "find artwork" artwork that was found will have to be re-found, all manually added artwork is where and how it should be.

cool cool cool.