So how long does it take to load a 160GB iPod using the Convert Higher ...

Question

I have a 160GB Gen 5 that I bought when first released back in the day when they were $400. Through a number of changes, the most recent being the advent of the Convert Higher Bitrate Songs to 128bit AAC feature, I decided to look at what more music I could store. After all was said and done, I ended up with a bit of a disaster with cover art not being properly applied to the music being played. I decided to *restore the ipod* based on suggestions in the discussion boards, and equally important was following the hints and tips here.
http://www.samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/grouping.asp
The advice is especially important in very large library situations to ensure you have uniqueness in the albums you want to display. Hadn't really given it much thought until I had the ability to see the individual albums for the 40K songs on the iPod via the cover art view.
Finally the point of the post...
*So how long does it take to load a 160GB iPod using the Convert Higher Bitrate option now available in iTunes 9.1?* The specs on my computer are not highend by any stretch, but it's no slouch, and neither of the CPUs are ever pegged. At this point I've lost count of how much time it's taken, but the load is going on 3-4 days. With some breaks in between because I need to check each incremental load to verify there is no cover art corruption, correct bad tags and such, but for the most part the loading is visibly slow, and I'm sure the conversion is the cause. I'm not really complaining at this point, but there is clearly room for improvement. And of course unless there is a redo involved in which case I will get quite cranky.
*I would like to hear the experiences of others.*
Finally to lend a bit more credence to the performance concern, my 32GB iPhone 3GS for only about say 28GB of music takes about 24 hrs to load from a 2.2GHz dual core intel laptop, again using the convert higher bitrate option.

Answer 1

With AC power adapter it takes 3-4 hours for a full charge. With the USB charger it takes 9-0 hours for a full charge. I am not happy with them removing the AC charger and other accessoreis at all. It's business but it still stinks.
I know I would rethink my purchase but would most likely end up buying the Micro anyway