Note: with build 1486+ the 'phantom tracks' problem seems to be solved (though 'phantom playlists' will be fixed in 1487).

Please confirm that it works for you.

Thanks.

-Rusty

p.s. I've noticed that iTunes sometimes doesn't refresh the 'bar graph' showing iPod contents when changes are made (in those cases, switching from the device and back seem to trigger an update).

Try the following:
a) download build 1485
b) delete all tracks from the device in MM (1485)
c) sync a single track via iTunes.
--> All the 'phantom' tracks/playlists from build 1483 are deleted from the device

Once the above steps are taken, all sync operations seem to work as expected.

Does that work for you?

I'm using the latest 1485 build and the syncing process proceeded fine. However, when I check my iPod, there are only 18 songs, while a check on iTunes registers the rest of the 5000+ songs under "other" instead of "audio". Re-syncing does not solve the problem and the second sync resulted in only 17 songs being reported to be on the device. It seems the tracks are on the iPod but it just doesn't recognise them. On MM, the tracks show up as per normal on the iPod's device pane. I'm running on iOS 5.0.1 and Windows Vista Home Basic.
Please inform if there is any other relevant information I should provide.