I apologize in advance if this is a common question... I'm sure it is but I had no clue what keywords to use to search for it...

Here's the deal: I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 notebook which I'm not THAT attached to. I would frankly prefer a more mobile laptop. But it has a 4-pin firewire connection which, luckily, works perfectly fine with my 5 gb second generation (Windows [obviously]) iPod.

However, it's an enormous pain in the a&& to use it presently. This is my normal routine

1. The iPod connected via the firewire cable to the to the standalone charger which is plugged into the wall.
2. I want to add a song or change a playlist so I have to remove the firewire cord and insert the 6-pin to 4-pin adapter and then plug it into the Dell's 4-pin firewire port.
3. I have to startup Musicmatch (God, I hate that POS program :mad: ) and go through a somewhat painful if usually reliable transfer process.
4. I have to painstakingly make sure that my hardware is undocked by right clicking on the taskbar, waiting, blah blah blah.
5. Unplug the iPod from the firewire cord and I'm ready to go...

until:

6. I get back and I'm out of batteries. So I have to painstakingly remove the 6-pin to 4-pin adapter off the firewire cord, reinsert it into the iPod and set it back in the wall socket.

Obviously I'm being overdramatic but this gives you a picture of what a huge HUGE HUGE benefit it would be for me if I could just dock my stupid iPod and let it do both data transfer AND charging all at once and never have to worry about any of that.

But, as I mentioned earlier, I have an Inspiron with a 4-pin connection.

But, as I also mentioned earlier, I'm kind of in the market for a new laptop (non-Man though).

So here are my questions:

1. Is there any way I could adapt my Inspiron 8200's 4-pin firewire so that the 15 gb v.3 iPod I plan on purchasing will sync perfectly (data AND charge) when I dock it?
2. I've heard I could buy a "firewire hub" and connect it to the Inspiron to act as the intermediary between the v.3 dock and the Inspiron itself. Would that work? I don't want some huge 6-slot firewire hub though... is there something small that could be utilized for that?
3. What's this I hear about USB 2.0. I'm not very familiar with these data transfer systems. Does the v.3 iPod have USB 2.0 and if so would this whole issue be moot? Would I be able to use the dock for both data transfer and charging with my Inspiron laptop?
4. If all else fails and I purchase a new laptop (I'm in the market for one anyway) does anybody know of a non-Mac laptop that has a 6-pin firewire which would work with the iPod

You can obviously tell that ease of iPod use is prominent in my next computing purchase :D

Sorry for the long post but thanks for the help that anybody can provide!!

All hail the pod!