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iPod or Zune?

S

SuX0rz

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 30, 2002
Messages
1,292
I've had a 3G iPod for about two years now and I've decided it is time to up grade. Of course, it has come down to the Zune and the iPod. I've done a lot of searching on this forum and on google but I can't seem to find an unbiased review of the two.

I know that the iPod is the safe bet, but I'm kind of curious about the Zune. As it is, I think I might just buy each at Costco and return the one I don't like.

Which one would you chose?
 
Well, the one major drawback i think with the ipod is that it scratches so easially, so a case is a must... I'm not sure about the zune but because its all black it seems like it would be less noticable . However, as far as functionality, i just use my mp3 player to play mp3s, i dont do anything else on it, and i believe both of these players do it well enough for most people.
 
I've heard that the Zune has superior audio quality, is that true or is it more of a matter of preference?
 
zune hands down. i was messing with one at worst buy, and it was better than my 5.5 ipod. the quality and feel is great.
 
Zune, no contest. Microsoft really put out a quality product It is IMO way ahead of the iPod and many other sites agree (it won lots of awards including best audio device of the year at IGN). I just hope they can penetrate the market because they deserve it. And if you plan on getting Vista or have XBOX360 then it is clearly the choice for you as it has a lot of great integration features with both.
 
I already have an X360 and I will be getting Vista. Zune sounds like the front runner right now. I also like having the player that many others don't.
 
the interface on the zune is great, bigger screen, better controls, and you can hack it tooo, if you look for reviews beware of apple fan boys, from what ive seen zune is better!

P.S. Zune lets you transfer songs to other zunes ( 3 play/day limit unless you hack it)
also i think it supports WMA which is more compressed then mp3 so more songs just don;t get brown.
 
as far as i know its going to be mainly based on the headphones and the bitrate of the song, but i could be wrong.
 
I heard that the brown Zune was actually the most attractive of all the colors and that that color had sold the most?

I just dl'ed the Zune software, so I could get a feel for and see if i liked it over iTunes. Man, I love it so much more than iTunes. I think I lost sight of how crappy iTunes is because it is the only game in town. I'm definitely going to get a Zune now, I just hope I don't have any hardware issues that I've read about.
 
Zen.

Oh wait, you said iPod versus Zune? Never mind, in that case, buy neither and save your money. The Zune would be worth something if Microsoft hadn't crippled it to only Windows Media Videos after advertising it as supporting DivX, XviD, and H.264 (can you say "false advertising"?).
 
I'd have to recommend the iPod. With the Zune, you are limited to 30GB. Have you seen how small the 30GB iPod is? The Zune is almost double the volume. The iPod can fit in a pocket.

The 30GB Zen Vision:M is even larger than the Zune.

Even the 80GB iPod is smaller than the Zune.

I haven't looked into the sound quality of the Zune, but the sound quality of the 5G iPods is excellent. Older iPods had some interference and noise problems related to the hard drive spinning, but this has been eliminated. Sound quality is great.
 
take the ZUNE. Don't listen to anyone.
IPOD = Kia
ZUNE = Maybach

take your choice ;) :)

I love my zune. the .wmv format allows for more videos than the ipod.
The sound quality is amazing. So is the video quality. It looks like hi-def to me
 
I'd say Zune as well. If you do a search, you'll find my review of it from my two friends who brought theirs over my house to play with. They brought along their iPods as well. But to answer the simple question, the sound quality sounded *much* better on the zune using the same song and same headphones vs. the iPod. Now with the hacks, thats a whole other territory where the zune wins hands down right now, and in the future. :p
 
i agree with the zen vision m -->30gb @ $200.
i dont know about the person above but the zen fits in my pocket fine with my non bud pos headphones

both of the other companies make me wana hurl...is the zune now compatible with vista? such a great idea lets make a product not compatible with our new OS.
 
Wait until January 8-12. Apple is supposed to release a new ipod that has a touchscreen and is widescreen. At least that is what is rumored. Wait until then and if it is not released get the ipod anyways.
 
Spartan611 said:
Wait until January 8-12. Apple is supposed to release a new ipod that has a touchscreen and is widescreen. At least that is what is rumored. Wait until then and if it is not released get the ipod anyways.
Click to expand...
ipods are over rated. IT's a freakin trend shit item. Everyone has gotta have one. Same thing with PS3
 
i chose the zen vision m over the others
why because it has a very high quality screen
i can watch dvds on it supports divxs
the audio is awesome love the sound this thing puts out
fits in my pocket lots smaller than zune
i can hook it up to my tv use it as a storage device
and it was cheaper than the others
I the earbuds it comes with are really nice
and are comfortable.
 
123Lanoix said:
i chose the zen vision m over the others
why because it has a very high quality screen
i can watch dvds on it supports divxs
the audio is awesome love the sound this thing puts out
fits in my pocket lots smaller than zune
i can hook it up to my tv use it as a storage device
and it was cheaper than the others
I the earbuds it comes with are really nice
and are comfortable.
Click to expand...
The Zen is physically larger than the Zune IIRC. It's much thicker.

Also, everything you listed applies to the iPod. It's smaller than the rest, converting from DivX format is easy (and free), great sound, smaller than then Zen (even the 80GB version is smaller than the 30GB Zen), it hooks up to a TV, and it's a portable hard drive.
 
I would say wait till this new year come alot newer thing with ipods if u wanna go that route. and If u wanna go MS route zen is relative in newborn stage so u know there will be serveral bugs till another generation come out and updates come out.

my .2
Jason
 
How likely is it that Apple is going to release a new iPod in the next few weeks?

Although there have been a lot of good things said about the Zen, I have had some bad experiences with their mp3 players in the past. Their customer support isn't that great either. I'm not saying that things haven't changed, but I really don't like giving Creative my money.
 
I don't have a recommendation per se other to complain about my iPod. Despite Gates' assurance, the battery situation still sucks. My friend has a Zen and has had problems also.

So, not that the Zune is the answer to everyone's prayers, but it is the player next in line to find my perfect system. One problem is what do I do with the music I downloaded from iTunes if I go with the Zune route? What's the best - if there is a way - to make that purchased music playable on the Zune?
 
i personally enjoy the zune interface more than the ipod's, wouldnt have minded a touch sensitive wheel though, still quite nice :p

sound quality was better than his previous zen touch micro, so thats a plus (less crackling at higher volume levels W/ Rock EQ vs Rock EQ

screen is VERY nice, and has a slightly raised rim, so it will be harder to scratch, and the Brown/green DOES look quite nice IRL

the finish of the whole player is very nice, slightly rough, so youre hands wont feel sticky if you hold it for a while to say, watch a video, and the UI changes based on what you are doing if its music, it stays vertical, if it s a video or pictures, everything (the controls) flip to make widescreen easy to use :p
 
I did some looking around about the 6G iPod and if any of those designs are close to correct I don't think I'd want one. Why would anyone want to watch a screen full of finger prints?? That would drive me crazy!

I do realize that most of those are fakes, but still, why have a touch screen?
 
If you don't feel like waiting around I would say definitely get the Zune.

But if you don't mind waiting a few months then just wait for the next iPod because I'm sure Apple's not planning on letting MS steal their thunder so the next iPod will definitely be a step above the Zune.
 
InorganicMatter said:
The Zune would be worth something if Microsoft hadn't crippled it to only Windows Media Videos after advertising it as supporting DivX, XviD, and H.264 (can you say "false advertising"?).
Click to expand...

thats not true, i have H.264 and a couple .mp4s on my zune...other formats it doesnt natively support can be converted, which isnt such a huge headache. and i wouldnt call it a maybach, but i wouldnt trade for an ipod...
 
AMD RULES said:
IPOD = Kia
ZUNE = Maybach
Click to expand...
Wow, um, wow. Apple is considered high priced, yet you called it a Kia?
And, news flash, the Zune is a rebadged Toshiba Gigabeat S. Hardly Maybach territory.

Glad you like WMV quality videos, but .H264 is a much superior video format.

-E
 
MrE said:
Wow, um, wow. Apple is considered high priced, yet you called it a Kia?
And, news flash, the Zune is a rebadged Toshiba Gigabeat S. Hardly Maybach territory.

Glad you like WMV quality videos, but .H264 is a much superior video format.

-E
Click to expand...
H.264 may be better than WMV, but DivX completely outdoes both formats in quality/conversion time. H.264 takes almost 12 hours to convert a movie on my Core 2 E6300, it'd probably take 18-24 hours on the OP's paltry AMD64-X2. I just convert a 2.5-hour movie to XviD for my Zen in 54 minutes.
 
InorganicMatter said:
H.264 may be better than WMV, but DivX completely outdoes both formats in quality/conversion time. H.264 takes almost 12 hours to convert a movie on my Core 2 E6300, it'd probably take 18-24 hours on the OP's paltry AMD64-X2. I just convert a 2.5-hour movie to XviD for my Zen in 54 minutes.
Click to expand...
I think you are getting the two confused. Quality vs conversion time are two different things. its like comparing a compressed DVD to HD and saying DVD is better cause it took less time to convert. the 5G iPod supports .H264 natively, hence a higher quality than WMV. That was my only point

-E
 
MrE said:
I think you are getting the two confused. Quality vs conversion time are two different things. its like comparing a compressed DVD to HD and saying DVD is better cause it took less time to convert. the 5G iPod supports .H264 natively, hence a higher quality than WMV. That was my only point

-E
Click to expand...
My point was that the unit supporting a technology is meaningless if we can't use the technology in a realistic scenario.
 
Personally I am disappointed that there is no Divx support, but I will say that the screen and interface is really appealing to me on the Zune.

iPod is successful since it is so simple. It is a matter of fact and no fan boy can change that. Itunes, simple, iPod, simple. This is good for mainstream as any idiot can pick it up and it just works (which I think is great, works great for my grandma/grandpa, friends, cousins, etc.).

The problem comes in when you want to do more or get a bit more from the device. The zune IMO has a bit more complicated menu system, but it is way cooler and IMO much nicer.

I am a current 4G Photo iPod owner (one with NO crackling/HDD access noise) and I am mainly curious about the audio quality on the zune. I would love if it was at or better than the ipod since the menu system and bigger screen is really neat IMO. Also, WMV is better than that stupid Quicktime format apple makes you convert to as alot of my stuff is already WMV.

I still want touchscreen though...thus I wait to see if apple will come out with their rumoured one that has been rumoured for months/years...................... :eek:

O ya, everyone can be quiet about ipod sound quality, yes it is very good and much better than most, my XFI sounds better....case closed :p (only exception is the line out from the bottom connector, that sounds about the same and sounds awesome, but thats not how you run headphones now is it!)
 
Well I ended up going with the 30GB iPod. The reason being was that was all that was left at my local Costco. They did have the Zune a while back but no sight of it now. They still have it on the website, but I don't really feel like paying for shipping. I guess I'll try the iPod out first and wait to see if Costco comes back in stock with the Zune.
 
SuX0rz said:
Well I ended up going with the 30GB iPod. The reason being was that was all that was left at my local Costco. They did have the Zune a while back but no sight of it now. They still have it on the website, but I don't really feel like paying for shipping. I guess I'll try the iPod out first and wait to see if Costco comes back in stock with the Zune.
Click to expand...
You chose wisely. The 30GB iPod is miniscule in comparison to the gargantuan Zune.

Get some decent protection for its easily-scratched surface.
 
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