MP3 player decision

[techun]

creative 40 gig was cheaper than the 20 ipod at ccity yesterday

also check cyber deals for $190 20 gig video player

 

[9mmCensor]

the creative zen xtra has a horrible control system.

I hate it.

I use my as a external Hard Drive.

 

[MadSkillzMan]

Now are these other players flash based or hard drive based? thats another negative IMO on apples side, however theyre nanos are flash based

 

[Captain Slug]

If you're not insistant on having your ENTIRE music collection with you at all times I recommend...

MobiBLU DAH-1500i 1gb CUBE: $129.72

I'm using Sony MDR-J10 headphones with it and the output of this player is extremely impressive. The controls are straight-forward, the screen is very easy to read, and the battery life is more than enough for a full day of classes. It interfaces and charges through USB 2.0 and can easily be clipped through a belt loop or worn around your neck. I've never felt safe shoving my mp3 players in my pocket and be unable to change tracks or volume and potentially sit on it or receive scratches from other things occupying my pockets.

I'll never be purchasing a hard drive MP3 player.

 

[zip22]

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.

also consider this: whats the demographic that buys the ipods? i'm guessing the majority of people buying the not-ipods is more tech-friendly than the people buying the ipods.

also, i thought it seemed like we were just talking about hard drive players here. what happened

 

[MadSkillzMan]

captain slug that is u3er 1337

Im gonna slap apple, iTunes 6.0.1!!! grr i just updated last week!

 

[jnev_89]

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.

sorry for replying so late, i forgot abut this thread.

the ipod may have a better screen with higher fps than the x5, i'll give you that. BUT, it is hard as hell to get video encoded for the ipod. it plays h264 only (i think, correct me if i'm wrong, there might be one other format). the x5 plays almost any format. wmv, avi, mpeg4, etc) of video, and you dont have to (you can if you want) compress it. plus, the x5 plays MUCH more formats of music than the ipod does. mp3, ogg, wma, flac, wav. the ipod plays aac, alac and mp3. plus, the x5 has better sq (though the ipod does have a better line-out). i've never heard that the ipod supports drag/drop. the x5 does now play drm files with the new firmware 2.10.b6. the x5 also has a fm radio and line-in.

both are good players, though the x5 has more features and most people think it has better sound quality.

 

[zip22]

have you tried the new x5 firmware? from what i heard (which wasn't much) it wasn't working correctly. not to mention the fact that even if the drm IS working, the firmware its bundled with is rediculous. you can only use the USBOTG port for DRM content (and it only transfers at usb1.1), and need to use the subpack for all the other content. if you are using the USBOTG port, you also need to plug in the ac adapter.

i already went over the ipod formats (some of which you missed)

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"

are you sure you dont need to convert video? EVERY review i have read says you need to convert video to play on the x5.

have you tested the sound quality on the new ipods? i didn't think you had. it is better the previous versions and people are reporting it does not have any of the flaws of the previous versions. the x5 does have more customizable options, but not people will find these useful.

the x5 has more features, but it is not nearly as refined as the ipod in terms of ease of use. sound quality is subjective.

 

[Stavros]

I <3 my Ipod. Got it for my birthday and have been loving it since. My vote is witht the Ipod.

 

[jnev_89]

have you tried the new x5 firmware? from what i heard (which wasn't much) it wasn't working correctly. not to mention the fact that even if the drm IS working, the firmware its bundled with is rediculous. you can only use the USBOTG port for DRM content (and it only transfers at usb1.1), and need to use the subpack for all the other content. if you are using the USBOTG port, you also need to plug in the ac adapter.

i already went over the ipod formats (some of which you missed)



are you sure you dont need to convert video? EVERY review i have read says you need to convert video to play on the x5.

have you tested the sound quality on the new ipods? i didn't think you had. it is better the previous versions and people are reporting it does not have any of the flaws of the previous versions. the x5 does have more customizable options, but not people will find these useful.

the x5 has more features, but it is not nearly as refined as the ipod in terms of ease of use. sound quality is subjective.

yes, i have heard both. the 5g ipod is available at the apple store already and my friend has a x5. the x5 sounds better from what limited experiance i have listening to both of them (i didnt check what bitrate songs were on the ipod when i listened to it though, my friend uses 128kbps mp3, as much as i tell him to use a higher bitrate). on most audiphile forums though, it has been generally acknowledged that while the 5g ipod does sound considerably better than the 4g, it's not at the level of the shuffle or the x5. when using the line-out the ipod will have much better sq than the x5 however.

for the people that you are talking about you are right, yes, the ipod would be better for them. the people at ocforums though are usually more tech-savvy than most of the people that buy ipods, so i thought (apparently i was wrong though) that they would appreciate the abundance of features that the x5 has over the ipod.

oh and yes, you're right, you do need to convert video for the x5, i was wrong. from what i've heard though, it's a fairly easy process though, while (again this is just what i've read) that the process for the ipod is so time-consuming that it's not even worth doing.

 

[zip22]

listening to different songs at different bitrates with different headphones cannot give you even the slightest idea of comparable audio qualities.

tech-savy does not necessarily mean one cannot appreciate a well polished UI. sometimes you just want something that works perfectly. i know i would never use FM, any recording features, or the numerous sound enhancements on the x5, but i realise there are people who want or need it. the x5 has the features, but is just not as well put together as the ipod. i realise many may presume it biased as all hell, but ilounge's review of the x5 is very good (in fact better than cnets or pcmag, who both seemed to hate it). their review of the new ipod is also very detailed, and comparing the 2 reviews could give a good idea of the strengths of each player.

 

[MadSkillzMan]

actually sound wise, you can IIRC, set equalizer settings on iTunes for songs, then when theyre on the iPod they play with that EQ setting

Now if it allows volume Logic to work on the iPod, then theres your winner

 

[Echo_]

if your music is well organized in filetree x5 is awesome. also an id3tag browser is coming out,

id say cowon has better customer support than apple, frequently updating firmware.

i was reading on www.head-fi.org how one canadian couldnt find a retailer for an x5 so they setup a private ebay auction for him.

id reccomend goin to www.head-fi.org and asking them what player is best for you. most other places will just say get an ipod

 

[zip22]

that same argument was brought up on razers forum recently after a bunch of problems with the new copperhead. "at least they listen to customers"

i don't give a **** that a company listens to what i have to say. if they put out a crappy product, and it takes a number of months to get it fixed, while other companies have products that are working as they should flawlessly, i'll take the product thats working even if the other company is updating the firware and trying to fix all the crap. cowon has been claiming that drm10 and id3 tag browsing and the 60gb versions were "coming" for a long long time. the drm10 (again from what i have heard) still doesn't work, and id3 tagging will now "take some time".

i'm also looking on head-fi and can't find much about an ipod v x5 comparison. everyone seems pretty pumped about the new ipod.

 

[jnev_89]

listening to different songs at different bitrates with different headphones cannot give you even the slightest idea of comparable audio qualities.

tech-savy does not necessarily mean one cannot appreciate a well polished UI. sometimes you just want something that works perfectly. i know i would never use FM, any recording features, or the numerous sound enhancements on the x5, but i realise there are people who want or need it. the x5 has the features, but is just not as well put together as the ipod. i realise many may presume it biased as all hell, but ilounge's review of the x5 is very good (in fact better than cnets or pcmag, who both seemed to hate it). their review of the new ipod is also very detailed, and comparing the 2 reviews could give a good idea of the strengths of each player.

then lets agree to disagree. cool?

 

[nicspits]

i know i'm bringing this back, but for anyone that was interested, i found this about ipods:

http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/ipodfailures.html

so if we discount everything after february of '05, it looks like a failure rate of 6.4% is the lowest, and a grand overall average 13.7% of 8926 ipods. So 1 in 7.3 fail on grand total average, as much as 1 in 3 and probably as little as 1 in 20 or there abouts.

If anyone is still looking to buy an mp3 player, let me reiterate, don't get an ipod !

 

[MadSkillzMan]

and your gonna tell me dell's mp3 players have a much better crap rate?

 

[zip22]

or any other manufacturer for that matter.

a few very choice quotes from the part you actually have to read

Many readers acknowledged damage or accident as the cause of failure. Dropped iPods, followed by immediate or gradual failure, are common.

hmmm. so other players are more drop resistant? i find that very hard to believe.

this error in the survey is brought up again here

iPods are vulnerable to damage, and we saw a lot of failures related to drops or immersion. More technically-minded users understand that there are certain risks to a portable device with a spinning hard drive, and, indeed, many iPod drives failed when dropped.

and again

There are a number of reports of weird iPod problems, where the iPod was sent to Apple, Apple reported no problem and returned it -- and the iPod worked flawlessly thereafter. We suspect Apple technicians may have performed "factory resets" using the iPod Updater software, which is known to fix many iPod gremlins.

Some failures were quite esoteric or colorful. Two readers reported drive failures at high altitudes (over 4000 meters), one with expedition photos on board. (DriveSavers rescued the data.) Another reported that his iPod froze to death -- while in use on his motorcycle on the way to work one cold winter day! A school administrator reported 129 click-wheel iPods with 17 failures, 60 Color iPods with 3 failures, and another ten killed by students. One reader had an iPod fried by a defective voice recorder; another iPod failed due to a faulty wall power adapter -- which killed three Genuis Bar iPods before it was identified as the culprit!

The last big cause of iPod failure is simply accident. Dropping, knocking, immersing, tossing, or otherwise abusing an iPod almost guarantees problems. An iPod may survive a fall or two, but if the drive is spinning, you may need a replacement. Connector damage is a risk, too -- even if the drive is not spinning, circuit damage may ensue.

your survey proves nothing eccept that getting an ipod would be better than other brands because of the support offered for idiots breaking their players. nice try, though.

 

[rseven]

I'm not getting into iPod arguments as I don't own one, but my wife and oldest daughter do. Someone had asked about availability of the 20G Photo model and it's here.

I have heard of people having scratch issues with not just the Nano's but the new video models as well. It may tarnish their reputation in a big way if it's not resolved.

 

[JCLW]

So link1305, did you get one yet?