MP3 player decision

Hello everyone,

After borrowing a friends iPod Shuffle I've finally decided to get an MP3 player. Right now it's basically between a 20gig ipod or a Creative Nomad Zen Xtra. The zen is cheaper so thats a plus, and I've heard decent things about them....what do you think of them? I was thinking about the Zen touch also, but I heard from someone that it stores all the files on the player in the same folder...which wouldn't work for me because some of my songs have the same names. Is the Zen jukebox like that also? Another thing I don't really like the sound of is having to install a driver and use creatives software whenever I want to transfer to the Zen.

Also a question about the Ipod; can I just drag and drop music on to it and have it recognize it? I really don't want to switch to iTunes because I have everything set up just the way I like it in Winamp...speaking of which, I saw an ipod plugin for it (http://www.mlipod.com/index.php). Does anyone use it? It seems like it would be all I need.

Thanks for your opinions

I personally like the ipod. I've tried both and went with a 20gb 4g. As for adding music to the the ipod, you cannot just drag and drop from say, windows explorer as you can on some others. I don't see that as a problem since several GB music collections are hard to manage that way.

I have used the winamp plugin and it works great, though I personally use itunes. There are also several other 3rd party programs that will also work.

Dayton

check out the iaudio x5, one of the nicest players out there. <$300 gets you a decent sized hd (20-30gb), color screen, movie-playing ability, good sq, fm radio and line-in. i'm getting it as soon as i get the cash to replace my zen micro.

i have an ipod, but havent tried a creative yet so i cant say anything bad against creative, but im very happy with my ipod and enjoy it very much, also the video ipod looks really nice. 30GB for only 300 plays videos, and is actually pretty thin

When you buy a hard drive mp3 player make sure there is some type of warranty.
A hard drive mp3 player can die on you very easily. I had a zen micro die on me but it
was still under warranty so I got lucky.

I work at the geek squad and let me say this about Ipods: they break... a lot. Everything from the battery which is sure to die in 1-1.5yrs, and can only be sent to apple for replacement. Freezes, firm\software glitches are pretty common, and I'd hate the fact of having to have itunes on my comp just to put songs on my mp3 player, especially since I use a nice auto filer that puts all my mp3s in their respective categories (easily switched by changing the ID3 tag). Lastly, with any drive based mp3 player, its not a good idea to go jogging, bonk it around in your coat, etc with it. I personally have an older NexII that works great and uses CF cards, my 512mb one holds 140 or so songs, just enough to skip through to the one i want to hear without having to look at the thing and go through 4 sets of menus, eesh.

=my 2 cents

your specs about the battery are fabricated, and you say a lot of ipods break, but what percentage of ipods break? i'm willing to bet you have no idea. (you sell more ipods than anything else, so of course you're going to see more ipods come back)

you CAN replace ipod batteries yourself, often for as cheap as it is to replace other player's batteries. they all use the same type, and all have roughly the same lifetime.

right now, the ipod comes in 30gb for $299 ($269 if you're a student). the cowon / iriver / iaudio x5 (its closest rival) is $275 for 30gb. the screen on the ipod is 64% bigger than the x5, and has double the fps (15 on the x5, 30 on the ipod). if you look at the specifications, the ipod is also significantly thinner. right now, the x5 does not have id3 tag browsing (only filetree), and does not support any DRM options. the ipod, however, has a case that is more prone to scratching, and does require you to use some sort of software. the x5 has more sound "enhancers" and a customizable eq, while the ipod just has a whole bunch of preset eqs to choose from. both players can play video, but the x5 has better video playing battery life (ipods is only around 2 hours). for audio, their battery lives are very similar. the x5 has a usb on the go port on its side, so you can plug in another device and transfer stuff. the ipod requires a special accesory. the x5 offers fm radio and recording, the ipod does not. the x5 and the ipod both allow you to transfer data without drivers.

the zen xtra is no where near either of these players in terms of size (its huge!), features, and just all around newness. its got an old school greyscale screen. in my opinion, the ipod would be a much better choice right now. if you post what price you are seeing the zen xtra for, that would help. i would not put the zen xtra and the ipod in anywhere near the same category. the zen xtra is very outdated and would be the strict budget choice.

I'm willing to spend up to probably $250 (which is the price of 20gig iPod photo). I don't really need the color screen, but it's only about $10 more than the non-color one.

I found the Zen Xtra 30gb at newegg for $190. I'm still not really keen on the design though with all the buttons on the side, and like you said it's bigger than an iPod. Also theres the issue of all the songs being in the same folder (which I'm not sure is true or not) and having to use creatives program.

I'm definitly leaning toward the iPod now. I realize for $50 more I could get the video, but I don't really plan on watching videos.

I went with a 6gb Rio Carbon myself. I like it a lot. Drag and drop. Simple, easy to use menu. ~18hr battery life on average. Small.

http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/shop/_templates/item_main_Rio.asp?model=306

And if I break it I've got a 6gb CF card for my camera.

If you're going to be carrying it around a lot, listening while you're walking around or something, then I would say go with the iPod or something else smaller than the Zen. I have the Zen Xtra 30gb (Bought it on eBay a few months ago for $150), and it's great for what I need it for. But I really only use it in the car, and sometimes at work, so I don't have to worry about holding it. It's rather bulky, and I wouldn't want to be carrying it around if I were going jogging or something.

The side buttons are very easy to get used to, once you hold it, the buttons are simple, they're right where your fingers are.

where are you planning on getting the photo? you can't get them from apple anymore (unless you're talking refurbished) i dont think.

for $50 more, you're getting better sound quality (the older versions have worse base response), 10gb more storage, a thinner package, and a much better screen.

Well the iaudio m5 can play " MPEG1/2/2.5 Layer 3, WMA, OGG, ASF, FLAC, WAV (11/22/44Khz, 16bit, MONO/STEREO)" these file types (I took it straight from their home site) which is certainly more than the ipod can play. Also, it's $222 at newegg. It's your personal preference though, and I suggest, if you can, to go to an electronic retail store. Hopefully they'll have an apple on display that you can try and hopefully a few others.

the m5 would be another budget choice. its like a super stripped down version of the x5. greyscale, no fm, no recording. its still the same size and shape, as the x5 (which is $28 more)

the ipod can play
"AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF"
and
"H.264 video: up to 768 Kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats
MPEG-4 video: up to 2.5 mbps, 480 x 480, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats"

I have a Zen Touch. I love it.. Good UI, great quality sound output.. I know this WAS the best one for sound output.. I don't know if the new apples have caught up yet..

Yes, it only has a mono-color screen.. If you're buying an mp3 player to do things aside from listening to mp3's, don't get a Zen Touch. The new Ipod screens are fancy, yeah.. If I were getting something to do media, I myself would get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16855102131

Its big, but its still cheaper than an Ipod (with that huge rebate anyways) and its got a VERY nice screen I hear...

I have tons of songs with the same name on my Zen Touch.. You can do that.. I don't know why you heard otherwise.. Of course, all of mine have full ID3 tags.. IE Artist Album etc... But I have like 4 copies of the OAR song Hey Girl, and they are all individual.

Re: Ipods breaking. Well, its obvious that there are people who don't have ipods break. If they all broke, no one would own one.

That said, for the Zen Touch, my experiences are 50% failure. I bought mine, and two days later the touch thing failed - must have been a defect.. Brought it back to Cambridge Soundworks, they just gave me a new one. My friend bought one, hers is flawless.

Ipods, for me, 100% failure. I know its strange, but I do NOT know anyone who has an ipod that didnt break. I have 5 or 6 friends who have them.. One hard drive crashed - one lost all button function - one just stops everything.. cant turn off, need to wait 6 hours until the battery dies..

I'm sure my case is overexagurated.. Obviously every ipod doesn't break.. But every one I've ever seen has.. so you know where I spent my money :- ]


My friend has an I river. The sound output sucks. BUT, if you don't care (IE you're just gonna use it while jogging with your $15 walmart headphones) I would consider that.

I like the iRiver H10.

Linkage (click)

Pic from Newegg. 'nuff said.

If you don't plan on using iTunes specifically...do yourself a favor and get a *REAL* MP3 player...

iRiver makes fantastic products that have better features and cost less than comparable ipods...or you could go the whole other direction with other brands.

If you want one that is small, very portable, looks cooler then a ferrari and has a good battery life, get this one:


(actual size about 8x1.5x3cm)

I bought it with some advice from david and i like it alot. Comes with 512 or 256 MB. Weighs only a few grams and is shinyyyyy Plus the sound quality is extremely good. It has a built-in accu (no battery) which lasts very long and charges quickly over USB.

me, im a fan of ipod, since now we can play video on them. Apple backs their products well, and if ou do manage to break it, theyll be fixing it up just fine.

I got nothing against the other Mp3 players, but ive mainly dealt with ipods...a few dells.

My gf found my ipod shuffle on the ground at the gas station....after she ran over it. Works great for me, and if i want i can get it warrantied under apple care. oh and if it breaks under warranty, and they have no old models in stock, you get an upgraded one.

Cons about the ipods are theyre limited on formats. if your ripping it all yourself, hey no problems, but if your like me and have a bunch of .ogg and .FLAC laying around, you gotta spend time reconverting.

that's a good point, i dont know how many we sell a day on average, but i do know we take 3.2 a day for service on average sooo....... even if we sold a hundred a day, which i'm sure we don't, that's still 3.2% breakage. I'll try and get more stats for you guys from work.

my vote is with millhouse, the iriver is great display and size, plus can work with just dragging songs in, unlike some that require software, and gives out firmware upgrades..