Ipod Vs Creative Zen Touch

[Jase]

Hi There,

Now this post is really off-topic, but seeing that there seems to be more IT professionals on this forum than in Microsoft, :lol: I thought I'd ask for your opinion on which MP3 is better, as I am thinking of buying one for my trip to the states.

Cheers,
Jase

 

[dane]

I've not familar with the Zen, but how could you pass up the little white IPOD!!

I have had mine for close to a year now, and it has been brilliant. It survived a 3 month trip through the states and treking through Equador & Peru.

Itunes it great to organise all your music on and you have to admit the IPOD looks the part.

I'd strongly reconmend getting one. It also doubs as a nice little portable hard drive which for these days can be quite handy.

If know someone that is a student you can also get a 5% disount at an apple store if they purchase it.

 

[gyro]

Hey hi there
Firstly great forum I have learnt heaps of great beer related stuff
I dont post in very often in any forums but when I see a topic like this I feel compelled to return the favor and help out

I am a service tech and have worked specificly with audio equipment for 10 years

Now the Ipod is very popular and is not a crappy mp3 player but it has a long way to come before it is the best main reason is the battery is unservicable giving the unit a 2-3 year life span then it is back to apple for a new battery and a charge of what ever they want as no one else can change the battery.
The control interface leaves much to be desired that little circle on the front might make it look space age but it is a very sensitive plastic panel witch requies a full replacement part from apple should you be a little to rough with it and any moisture gets in there (pretty hard to do but I am sure my wife could do it) you have no controls at all
Itunes is ok if you like to be told what software you have to use other systems will let you cut and pasted files like a removble drive and if you buy a player with pic bridge you get a lot of storage for you digital camera Ipod cannot do this

I would be looking at the zen for a cheap option or a Iriver if you have a little bit more cash

If your off to the states you may even want to buy over there (cheaper) Duty free may even be a cheaper option

My pick would be the Iriver PMC -120 hold 80 hours of video as well as music with a built in spk and a 3.5 inch screen and cost about $650au if you buy in the us

 

[Jase]

Thanks Gyro,

Had a look at the iriver. Nice.

Just talking to the boss at work, and he suggested for the amount of $'s for the iriver, I should look at a PDA. Does the same job as the mp3, but have the advantage of bluetooth and wi-fi as well as emails etc. And best of all, it's a full tax deductible :lol:

Any suggestions for PDA's?????


Cheers,
Jase

 

[Kai]

The iPod's the biggest selling player for a reason, in terms of ease of use it's pretty hard to beat. From the reviews I've read, the scrolly thingy on the Zen can be a bit fiddly.

I have an iPod and as Dane says they're pretty bloody hard to pass up.

 

[Jez]

I've had one of the older 30gig Zen NX models for a few years now & love it.

I haven't tried an Ipod but it's pretty telling when JB Hifi have a large sign in their MP3 player section stating words to the effect of "we are not responsible for Ipod problems. You need to contact Apple direct" and their phone number. This is the only MP3 model they have with this referral.

If I had my choice again would get an iRiver or the Zen Touch. Mine is so old now it doesn't even have a radio let alone let me store photo's..........

Jez

 

[redbeard]

my vote is for an ipod. i use mine everyday. the battery is a concern, thou if u spring for the extended warranty, thats covered. as to jb hifi, they rely on high turnover not customer service for their profits. perhaps their sign should be "we are not responsible"

one thing i would do, whether u get an ipod or zen, is buy a decent pair of bud earphones - sony or shure if u can afford it. huge difference in sound quality. just like homebrew vs vb ;-)

 

[joecast]

my vote is biased since i only have an ipod (mini). but i love the little thing. the scroll wheel takes some getting used to , but the sound quality is great and the storage capacity is huge. and only $100 more for the 20GB. and ill take itunes over wmp and day!
joe


disclaimer: i am not an employee of apple.

 

[Jez]

back when I was doing my research prior to buying my Zen there were a lot of internet reports of Ipod having the odd compatability issue with microsoft windows. This was over 2 years ago so a lot of these issues have probably been addressed - I take it all you ipod owners use it with PC's rather than Mac's?

re: the JB HiFi sign - yep, they're all about high turnover but I just thought it was weird that they only had a sign distancing themselves from any ipod probs. Obviously at least a few customers have had probs if they need to put a sign up. Then again, I guess the ipod would be selling by the truckload & with that sort of volume you would be bound to have probs here & there.

Jez

 

[nonicman]

I have an ipod, (1 1/2 years old). The only draw back is itunes, it doesn't work with all optical drives (check the apple website to ensure your drive is supported.). You may have to flash upgrade your optical drive. If your drive is not supported itunes cannot read your CDs, and you may flashupgrade your drive to death (as I did ).

 

[RichLum]

Just talking to the boss at work, and he suggested for the amount of $'s for the iriver, I should look at a PDA. Does the same job as the mp3, but have the advantage of bluetooth and wi-fi as well as emails etc. And best of all, it's a full tax deductible :lol:

Any suggestions for PDA's?????

[post="45029"][/post]​

I have the iPAQ2210
I got it about a year ago and was looking for an mp3 player at the time.
I wanted an mp3player that I could also use as a recorder. I play guitar so wanted to be able to record ideas or quick jams etc. All the mp3 players I looked at had pretty poor recording quality. The mic in the iPAQ is a lot better than any mp3 player I looked at as well as the format - most mp3 players only recorded at low rates (8Kb/s mp3) as they are aimed more at just speach recording.
My iPAQ lets me record at 16 bit 44khz wav or straight to 128kb/s mp3.

As for mp3 playback there are a number of different apps available.
I use a free one (GSPlayer) which if you are familiar with WinAmp will probably like.

Storage is not as big as iPod but is removeable... I have a 1Gig CF card and a 512 SD card in there and can easily pop them out, put them in my PC card reader and transfer files a lot quicker than via most mp3 players do via USB.
Plus the drag and drop functionality is a lot better than the iTunes system.

Other advantages of the iPAQ are the business side if you want to sync outlook etc. but if travelling you can use it to play games etc whilst still listening to mp3's (good if waiting at airports or bored on the plane).

Also means that you have a sort of mobile photo album. I can take photo's of something, pop the camera CF card into the iPAQ and copy it the iPAQ and then take it to work or where ever and show people.

It is a bit bigger than the smaller mp3 players, but the improved recording quality and the other functionality is worth it for me.

Downsides are that the storage media is an extra cost - but if you have friends that use the same media it is real easy to swap files etc.

If you just want a straight mp3 players though I'd go something like the iRiver. You can just usb it to any PC. My friends with iPods have siad they can only sync with their iTunes... This itself makes it a bit or a problem if you are planning to travel with it...
If you really like the look/style of the ipod though then that may be more important.

Rich

 

[johnno]

Just talking to the boss at work, and he suggested for the amount of $'s for the iriver, I should look at a PDA. Does the same job as the mp3, but have the advantage of bluetooth and wi-fi as well as emails etc. And best of all, it's a full tax deductible :lol:

Any suggestions for PDA's?????

[post="45029"][/post]​

Downsides are that the storage media is an extra cost - but if you have friends that use the same media it is real easy to swap files etc.


What about the life of the battery? My experience with the iPaq has not been the best regarding this.

 

[RichLum]

I haven't had any probs with my battery...
I can charge it 3 ways
Via the cradle which I keep at work
Via USB cable (same cable syncs and charges off USB port) that I use at home
Or straight via powerpoint (if you don't need to sync).

Longest I've used it to play mp3's (with screen turned off) whilst walking around the city and was playing for about 3 or 4 hours and I think it was about 1/4 of the battery used.
You can replace the battery yourself, or even buy a spare one and charge the spare in the cradle at the same time as charging the one in the PDA.

Obviously another cost if you do this but maybe handy if you are travelling and not able to charge all that often...

Rich

 

[bradmcm]

I suppose here is where I jump in and say I love
my Sony Hi-MD Minidiscman.

12 hours off 1 AA battery. Huge advantage if your battery
goes flat.

1 Gigabyte Hi-MD discs hold 8 CDs at CD quality, 34 CDs at passable compression.
MD80 discs (reformatted to Hi-MD) hold 2.5 CDs at CD qual
and 10 CDs at passable compression.

Plus I can record with a mic and also store computer data as well.

Love it!
B)

 

[christ]

had a zen for about a month but sold because i didn't like it that much. i've now got a 40gig ipod and i couldn't be happier...so easy and sounds so good.

 

[Kai]

I've looked at those HiMD players, unfortunately the recording head on my old MD player broke rendering it more or less useless to me. Where I think HiMD would have excelled is as a 'floppy replacement'. CD-Rs and usb flash drives are handy but not a real replacement. Unfortunately I think it's far too late for any such move. And too late for my to buy a HiMD player too, no point when I have a 40 gig iPod already.

re: the JB HiFi sign - yep, they're all about high turnover but I just thought it was weird that they only had a sign distancing themselves from any ipod probs. Obviously at least a few customers have had probs if they need to put a sign up. Then again, I guess the ipod would be selling by the truckload & with that sort of volume you would be bound to have probs here & there.

Also remember that the iPod battery issue did get a heap of publicity, so it's possible they put the sign up just from that rather than from any real complaints.

 

[Thunderlips]

If they were of a similar price for the same size storage I'd probably go for the Ipod.
A while back I also had to make the choice. At the time the Ipod was hideously overpriced with the 40gig version at about $1000. The 60gig Creative Zen Extra was about $700. I went for the cheaper price, extra capacity and ability to carry a spare battery. It's held up well and it's even been dropped onto a concrete floor. It hit the ground with a thud, the cover popped off and the battery went flying across the floor. I was sure it was stuffed but after putting the battery back in and turning it back on it was playing as normal and has been fine ever since.