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iPod or Zune??

Hey I appreciate all the comments. I am going tonight to p/u one of the players. Like I said previously, I am leaning towards the iPod. I think it's very sleek & easy to use. It's design seems more advanced than either the Zune or Zen. My only concern with the iPod is being restricted to iTunes. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. One player that I read about more recently is the Toshiba Gigabeat. Every review I read claims it stomps any player out there. I don't see them in BB or CC. I know the Zune is basically a Gigabeat but the Toshiba's footprint is smaller than the iPod. Thanks again everyone.
 
Ipod if you were to ask me. I dont like the zune, I dont see what the zune really does that an ipod cant. Zune did so badly, I dont see how theyre going to continue to support it the way the ipod is. My only beef with the ipod was that the thing scratches the second you open it. I think its on purpose so you have to buy a case... but other than that Ive had my g5 ipod and love it still.
 
Agent Orange 615 said:
Ipod if you were to ask me. I dont like the zune, I dont see what the zune really does that an ipod cant. Zune did so badly, I dont see how theyre going to continue to support it the way the ipod is. My only beef with the ipod was that the thing scratches the second you open it. I think its on purpose so you have to buy a case... but other than that Ive had my g5 ipod and love it still.
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What exactly did the Zune do badly? The Zune store, maybe. The player itself is quite excellent, better than the iPod IMHO. The UI is fantastic, battery life is excellent and it sounds great. I've been using mine for more than 6 months now with no problems. Now, I don't use the Zune store, nor do I intend to. Then again I don't use iTunes either.

There is one reason more than any other that I like Zune better though. The lack of touch sensative controls. I primarily use my player in the car and a touch sensative wheel to control the player is a road accident waiting to happen. I find I barely have to look at the screen to change playlists and make changes because there is a tactile feel to it.
 
Spike.. said:
The main thing I dislike about the ipod is the proprietary audio format they make you use. its also a pain to manage on multiple computers from what a friend of mine was telling me. Anyone with an ipod know anything about that?
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I don't have one, but you don't have to use their proprietary format. It will play MP3 files, so you can continue to buy CDs, rip them, and compress to MP3 if you want (I know that's what I want). Apparently there are alternatives to running iTunes as well.

The proprietary thing is the iTunes Music Store, which has AAC files wrapped with DRM. AAC is a format some people rip CDs to, but it does not belong to Apple.
 
I currently own a black Zune, and have gotten to play with the 30gb ipod video and the creative zen vision M.

The creative player does indeed have a better screen than the Zune, but I wasn't too impressed with the interface, nor with the fact that it would lock up seemingly for no reason. The Zune has only frozen once and that was because I dropped it 3 feet onto a tile floor. :( Still, a quick reset and it was back to normal.

The ipod my sister owns and thoroughly enjoys....have to listen to her blasted country music all the time now that she has an FM modulator....but she complains constantly about the iTunes software. I spent about 5 minutes trying to hook her up with some 3rd party transfer software, but had problems with it and she decided she'd live with the iTunes instead.

I am indeed biased towards my Zune and enjoy it immensely, especially with the battery life I get from it, though if I had the cash and Creative got rid of that glitchy touchpanel for navigation, I'd be very tempted to get a Vision M.
 
ok..the zen vision has a better screen...i must admit that now... but the vision IS thicker than the zune...my friend has a vision M so i have seen it with my own eyes...it could of have had been the fact that he used his vision M while eating pizza but i did not like the metal in the back of the vision M...

On resolution: remember firmware is still in development that could be fixed with 2 months of getting engineers going at it, that is one of the main differences between a ipod and a zune
do you want a product that is thinner, and slicker NOW? or will you have faith in microsoft to work out the firmware bugs? its all opinion
 
i went with the ipod so I could load rockbox on to it. the only reason.
 
get zen vision M kicks the ipods ass in video quality and the battery life is twice as long as the ipod zune never had experience with it.
 
One thing the zune has that's unbeatable: sound quality. Look on any audiophile forum and you will see people loving the zune for that.
 
Personally, i love my ipod, im not sure which generation, but an old black and white 20GB one. i see the videos being a little too big, too costly, and unnecessary(screen isnt even worth watching videos) and same with the nanos - 4gb is nothing. atm, id go with a zune
 
As a ZVM Owner I love mine, videos and sound quality are great.
The thickness doesnt bother me cuz the features it brings to the table are worth it, another reason I chose the Zen is the screen is great.

I've only locked up once and that was because my friend Paco went apeshit with the touchpad and pressing buttons that the same time.

I've used the video out cable and will be using it alot more and the tv out is great! Granted there are ALOT of acessories for the Ipod BUT itunes is the reason I didnt go with a pod and the battery life sux, 2 hours for video compared to 4 for the zen.

I work 12 hour shifts and my battery lasts 5:30pm-7am with normal use continous play with the screen locked or 6:30a with a 30-45min video (enough to watch a lost/BSG episode on Break) there are 3 other ZVM owners in my dept here at work and Everyone of us loves them.

I avoided a zune cuz the wifi is useless and you have to use M$'s software to use it, zen is Drag & Drop and the divx/xvid support is nice too :D

Enjoy which ever player you get.
 
Popping in for a sec.

I had the iPod, swithched to a Zune as I love the interface.

Both work great, had 0 problems with either one. Syncing was easy on both. iTunes is a bit more dumbed down so anyone can use it, but the Zune software is still really really easy to use.

I have no idea about protected music, all my stuff is ripped from my CDs to MP3 so I can use whatever software I like :cool:

Watching videos on the Zune is better than the iPod Video even though they are similar resolutions, but not quite as good as some of the Creative players.

Zune is also supposedly adding Wifi Store in a soon to come firmware and the Zune 2 is coming sometime as well (MS is actually looking to get a Zune factory up and running). I think we can say the Zune is going to stay for awhile and is not doing as badly as some might think...(I have seen quite a few of them around).
 
I would just like to state that my ZVM has had absolutely no problems (it's never locked up on me :confused: ). But I have to say, the Zune doesn't have the best SQ, the iAudio X5L sounds much better, at least to me. I've owned neither, but both have been used on our home speakers and my truck speakers (which are no slouch, MB Quart's FTW :D ), and the X5L is the best sounding MP3 player I've ever heard. However, the ZVM is overall better IMO, simply because I found it to have a better UI.

The only thing I don't like about it is it doesn't have native controls through my HU in the vehicle, whereas I can just plug an iPod in and it controls it (Pioneer Premier 590IB).
 
To comment on sound quality.

I use Sennhesier HD555s and Etymotic ER6i Headphones/Earphones. (Both very nice pieces of kit).

The Zune and iPod sound very similar. I prefer the sound of the Zune over the iPod though. Both sound close to my XFI but are a bit worse. All sound better than the Zen Vision:M I used.

Keep in mind these differences are very minor and using any normal headphones the differences are almost impossible to hear as they all sound good. Also depending on how you output to your stereo/vehicle they may sound different (90% of the time I listen with Headphones/Earphones so I cannot really comment on in car/stereo).
 
What is everyone's thoughts about the Zen Vision: W? I keep hearing a lot about ZVM, but so very little about the W (which is the one I'm looking at).

Does the W have the same quality screen as the M (but slightly larger)
 
I'm fairly certain the screen is the same. Just go down to Best Buy or something and look for yourself.
 
Blown 89 said:
I'm fairly certain the screen is the same. Just go down to Best Buy or something and look for yourself.
Click to expand...

The best buy around me doesn't carry the Zen Vision: W for some reason. I have no idea why, it was built like, 3 months ago.
 
I like the Zune screen because I wanted to use it for a lot of video viewing. In most regards, the iPod or ZVM are better (size or battery life or capacity) but in the store the Zune screen blew me away, it felt like watching a small TV versus a postage stamp on the iPod or ZVM, for the other things Zune was good enough even if not the best. Just my 2 cents.
 
Neither. I would not buy either the iPod or Zune 1.0.

I won't buy an iPod because Apple refuses to support subscription services. For the past three years, I've paid ~$7/mo for unlimited legal access to an unlimited amount of music from Rhapsody / Yahoo. That $7/mo fee buys our family access to every new song to play on three different PCs and three different music players. You can choose whether to download the actual song files or stream them over the web.

I won't buy a Zune because it's big and unwieldy. It's just what you would expect of a first-generation product. I'm sure Microsoft will do a much better job the second-time around, just like with Xbox and Xbox360.

I currently use a Sansa 8Gb because I wanted a relatively slim flash player with reasonable capacity that supported subscription services. The low price ($110 on sale) sealed the deal. My next player will be a flash-based player of equal or smaller size with 8-16Gb capacity, possibly the second-generation Flash Zune. Microsoft charges more for its Zune subscription service (and doesn't support other subscription services) so the Flash Zune will have to be pretty darn good for me to bite.

I don't really need a player with video since I watch all my TV shows streamed from a Tivo Series3 to my Motorola Q with a Slingbox.
 
Grentz said:
I like my Zune. I came from an iPod and I like the interface on the Zune much better.

Frankly you should go to a store that has both out and try both of them. See what interface you like better and pick that one.

The Zune software has been flawless for me and itunes has been buggier for me than the Zune software in its latest update (even though apple claims they have fixed the issues, they still remain on all 3 of my PCs...)

Pick which unit you like better and go with it. For me the Zune interface is awesome and what I am now keeping after using both for extended durations :)
Click to expand...


im right with him, i justed to own a g4 ipod, switched to zune and i love the zune as well.

its an acquired taste though, its a little bigger and sutff. the one thing i couldnt stand about the g6 ipods were that when you would click to view all the songs.... it would lag for about 10 seconds, the zune is similar... but tis 3 seconds rather than eternity.

thats what relaly sold me on the zune.


but seriously do what this guy said, hold both in your hands at the same time and compare them.
 
I had an iPod for many many moons and loved it like a child.

One day I decided that I would like to play some songs in Winamp that I had painstakingly edited for correct artist, lyrics, etc in iTunes. The tags had not been written to the files and all of my work was gone :(

I immediately cursed the day that I ever believed that Apple could be anything but the rotten money hungry grubbers that they really are. No large corporation truly cares about its customers. MS is the same way, but the thing with MS is that they are tailored to developers which makes sense since they started as a software company.

Currently I have a T-Mobile Dash with a 2 GB MicroSD that is my music player and since I can update it daily, I realized that I really don't need to have any more than 2 GB of music with me and I cannot see the point in watching video on a 2.5" screen.

Full disclosure: I work for Avanade which is a subsidiary of MS.
 
I like the Zune personally. Its got some fancy features and isnt so friggin....iPOD like.

I have yet to get a Zune, but I own an iPOD, Archos 504(awww yah) and a Sansa. Personally, the Sansa kicks ass because of the features and size, but I have more then 8GB of music and I loath having to sort what to load onto a player. I just like to dump all my music on and not think. Anything less then 10GB is useless IMHO since you have to sort what you want and what you dont.
 
KenF said:
Neither. I would not buy either the iPod or Zune 1.0.

I won't buy an iPod because Apple refuses to support subscription services. For the past three years, I've paid ~$7/mo for unlimited legal access to an unlimited amount of music from Rhapsody / Yahoo. That $7/mo fee buys our family access to every new song to play on three different PCs and three different music players. You can choose whether to download the actual song files or stream them over the web.

I won't buy a Zune because it's big and unwieldy. It's just what you would expect of a first-generation product. I'm sure Microsoft will do a much better job the second-time around, just like with Xbox and Xbox360.

I currently use a Sansa 8Gb because I wanted a relatively slim flash player with reasonable capacity that supported subscription services. The low price ($110 on sale) sealed the deal. My next player will be a flash-based player of equal or smaller size with 8-16Gb capacity, possibly the second-generation Flash Zune. Microsoft charges more for its Zune subscription service (and doesn't support other subscription services) so the Flash Zune will have to be pretty darn good for me to bite.

I don't really need a player with video since I watch all my TV shows streamed from a Tivo Series3 to my Motorola Q with a Slingbox.
Click to expand...

I love my 8gb sansa.
I didnt feel like jumping though Apples hoops just to use an mp3 players. Its small but not too small like the Ipod mini.
It's built in fm tuner doesnt work that great however (something with using the headphone as an antenna) I get off and on good reception at best. At least on the stations I listen two which are at the end of the radio spectrum (107.9 is one). but like the video feature, I haven't actually used it as much as I thought I would.
Still an overall awesome player with good battery life, perfect for working out.
 
I've owned an Ipod, Zen, and Zune. (well my brother owned the zune). I think my favorite so far would be the ipod. the zune has alot of cool features, but I never used them, like music share, or fm recording. I mostly used it as a media player. Also Zune software is a pain in the ass to use, constally resynced my device which would wipe the drive clean. Zen, I used for a fairly long time, while it was nice, I wasn't all that impressed, never used any of the additional features. If your looking for a media player, go with the tryed and trusted. Ipod.
 
Cloughy12 said:
I've owned an Ipod, Zen, and Zune. (well my brother owned the zune). I think my favorite so far would be the ipod. the zune has alot of cool features, but I never used them, like music share, or fm recording. I mostly used it as a media player. Also Zune software is a pain in the ass to use, constally resynced my device which would wipe the drive clean. Zen, I used for a fairly long time, while it was nice, I wasn't all that impressed, never used any of the additional features. If your looking for a media player, go with the tryed and trusted. Ipod.
Click to expand...
How do you FM record? Haven't seen that feature. Also on the Zune you want to make sure to turn auto sync off. With that on it is a huge pain to chang, move, add, or delete music on the zune.

Edit: The way that I put music on my Zune is to have the folder open where my music is and then drag the folder with music and album covers over to the sync section on the Zune software. It is really simplistic for me to add music now. How-ever you won't find any directions from microsoft. Hell even thier tech support won't know that. They are pretty useless.
 
Official info on the Zune 2.0 release hasn't been issued yet. They have said that the unit will be thinner and have a larger HDD available. They're also releasing a Nano competitor with a flash based HDD.

Personally, my ONLY beef with the Zune is size. I spend a lot of time at the gym and you definitely know it's in your pocket - and you certainly couldn't run outside with it.

I prefer the UI over the iPod and my screen has taken a beating and doesn't show a single mark. I've seen iPods scratched while removing them from the packaging.
 
I think they keep the Zune out of Media Center and WM Player to avoid monopoly legislation. We've seen this is the past. Microsoft isn't allowed to make all their products work seamlessly together because MS is too damn big. Apple just doesn't have that problem.

Someone counted that MS started as a software company. They still are a software company - so is a Apple. What Apple does, and MS is starting to do, is create software and put it in a pretty package. The iPod is much more about software than hardware, especially when you consider all the integration and iTunes and whatnot.
 
I have an 80GB Ipod with 2 GB of music on it sitting in the glove box of my car hooked up to my Alpine Ipod ready deck ... so I can't comment on video/picture quality ... or sound quality really as it's plugged into a couple grand worth of car audio equipment and I have never used head phones with it... can't comment on how easy it might get scratched up as it sits in it's little protective felt or whatever case , in my glove box...:rolleyes:

so yeah ..I strongly recommend getting an Ipod because it's better! :p

..how and why it's better , I have no idea ..but I know what I'm talking about!
 
personally, I hate the Zune's interface. the directional pad isn't touch sensitive for volume and navigation, and the interface is frustrating. plus, no itunes. I have a 30g video and I love it. apple has better support for the ipod than M$ for the Zune. I say ipod.
 
The directional pad isn't touch sensitive? No, they're buttons, you press them. Personally I hate the pad on the iPod. If I want to take my volume up 1 notch, I can press Up 1 time. It's not rocket science.

Also, no iTunes? Thank god for that. The Zune software is almost exactly like Windows Media Player, but redesigned for use with an mp3 player.
 
aburgard said:
I think they keep the Zune out of Media Center and WM Player to avoid monopoly legislation. We've seen this is the past. Microsoft isn't allowed to make all their products work seamlessly together because MS is too damn big. Apple just doesn't have that problem.

Someone counted that MS started as a software company. They still are a software company - so is a Apple. What Apple does, and MS is starting to do, is create software and put it in a pretty package. The iPod is much more about software than hardware, especially when you consider all the integration and iTunes and whatnot.
Click to expand...
Considering how the 360, Windows, and the Zune work seamlessly together I'd have to disagree.
 
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