Export iTunes Playlists to TiVo

I've tried all sorts of media streaming hardware to get music from my PC to my home theater system, but every time, I go back to using my trusty old TiVo to do the job. It's already got a wireless adapter on it, its interface is familiar, and it means I don't have to add yet another piece of hardware to my setup. (Eventually one runs out of electrical sockets.)

But here's the catch: I use iTunes, and iTunes stores playlists in a proprietary format, not the .m3u format that every other piece of hardware and software on the planet uses. The upshot: You can't play an iTunes playlist on TiVo. 

As recently as last year, there was an easy solution here: Just open Windows Media Player, grab your playlist full of songs from iTunes, then drag them over to WMP, where they would appear in the proper order. Then save that playlist as an .m3u file that TiVo can see. Sometime in the last year, either iTunes or WMP were "fixed" so that you can't drag songs from one program to the other. Great.

Enter a solution: TiViTunes, a downloadable app that does one thing and does it well: It converts iTunes playlists specifically for TiVo. Just download, install, and run the program. TiViTunes finds your iTunes playlists, and you can select the ones you want to export. A single click finishes the job, and at my annual holiday party this Saturday, it all worked perfectly. (Note that TiVo will only play MP3s, so your DRM AAC files won't play on a TiVo no matter what.)

The software is $5, and though I'd prefer it to be free, that's a pretty reasonable charge for someone's hard work. If you're in the same predicament that I've been in, I doubt you'll find an easier solution. (But if you do, let me know!)