shadowbeard Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I've been a longtime visitor/listenor to OCremix, but never really posted (didn't really have anything important to say or technical skills to offer, so I just kept quiet.) Recently, I just got a new job, and really want to treat myself to getting rid of the old minidisc player with my first check. You guys know more about music than any other group I know of, so I thought you all would be the best to ask: Which would you recomend, the iPod, or the Zune? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razumen Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Neither, I'd get the Creative Zen: M. Of course if you like paying a premium just for the brandname, by all means, get the Ipod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowbeard Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 I've honestly never heard of that one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Neither, I'd get the Creative Zen: M. QTMFW :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Israfel Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Check out iTunes first. If you like it (like I do), get an ipod, otherwise go with something else. Probably not a Zune though, that thing's been getting a lot of bad press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merk Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I guess it depends on what you're looking for in a player. iPod has more formats, Zen Vision: M has more colors, Zune has Wifi. There are other differences of course, size, price, etc. You could compare the technical specifications of the iPod, Zune. and what I'd go with, Zen Vision: M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Vagrance Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 My suggestion: 1. Go to craigslist/eBay/newspaper 2. Find the cheapest mp3 player you can that is a brand name and that has the features you want and is in an acceptable condition for you 3. Buy it Don't get too sucked into the different brands and such. Seeing of how you'll probably only be playing mp3's anyway, it shouldn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowbeard Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 In all honesty, ease of use is a must. I'm not too tech savvy. That's probably the biggest interest of the iPod, was to link up to iTunes. If the Zune or this Zen is easy to use though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 with my zen, I just plug it into the usb (and the little adapter thing), click on the icon > media > music (or something like that), then drag and drop everything. adding videos were a little difficult at first because it will only play specific files. But once I found a converting program, it was all uphill from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowbeard Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 what/where is the converting program? Zune is definately out. It's between the Zen and iPod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowbeard Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 last questions, then I'm done: With the Zen, can I put together playlists on the unit to listen to? Also, can I import itunes format music? That's where I've gotten most of my music from. Finally: (yes, I'm totally oblivious to how these things work) will I be able to upload podcasts and things like downloaded anime episodes to something like the zen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linkspast Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I dont get it Why dont you guys like the Zune? My brother has one and It seems just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentChasm Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Zen Vision: M has a program to convert video if it's incompatible with the player. It will automatically resize it to fit the screen and reencode it to the formats the ZVM supports. You can also use programs like AutoGK and alltoavi to convert videos to compatible formats if you want more settings. iTunes music won't work in its original form. You would need to convert it to mp3 or something else using iTunes or another program to remove the DRM. For podcasts there's the "ZENcast Organizer". It can handle all the video and audio podcasts and automatically transfer them to the player. If something is incompatible it converts it automatically before it transfers it. It supports MPEG, DIVX, XVID and WMV for video. Has a FM radio. You also don't have to use any of the software that comes with it at all if you have WMP10 or WMP11, as it is a MTP device. You can just drag and drop files onto it in folders. You can make playlists/slideshows on your computer and select which tracks/photos you want on them. You can also make playlists on the player itself by adding tracks to the now playing list and saving it as a playlist. Customizable: Set backgrounds, menu appearance and menu configuration (If Music, Video, Pictures, Now Playing, etc are on the main menu and in what order they're displayed). 60GB has a USB Host Feature (plug camera into it and download photos to it without a computer for more storage space). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Anime episodes? HMM! Probably. I mean, that's what the Zen Vision is for, isn't it? The only time I've seen anime on the go though, was when a friend of mine had Haruhi on his PSP. That was pretty freakin' cool! The Zen can probably do the same thing, but I dunno how well the screen might work for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I've seen at least all or most of the Chappelle show season 1 on my little Zen:M. It runs great. The only thing I've notice (and this could be caused because of the conversion) is that is the camera is moving very quickly, then the video will skip frames. And some of my conversions don't have the audio sync up with the video =( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Well, video conversion is almost always messy if you're going lossy-to-lossy. What format does the Zen use? .3gp or some other bizarre format? Or can it actually load .avi with DivX? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentChasm Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I've had the problem with the audio/video sync before too. I set AutoGK to resize the video to Width:320 and audio to MP3 CBR 160 and I haven't had any problems with the sync on the files I converted since then. It can actually load AVI with DivX and Xvid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowbeard Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 sounds like the Zen is the way to go. My only final concern is the stuff I've bought over Itunes in the past. The Zune interface can't even load the purcahsed songs. For the Zen, i'd just drop them in a folder and they would be automatically recognized? Sounds easy enough for even me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inimitable Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 In my expierience, the Zen is the way to go if you want portable (MP3) music. It's cheaper, easily updated, just as good as the iPod, etc. The iPod, however, has the video and micro incarnations. Since i haven't tried a Zen MP3 player except for the Mp3 music, I can't compare. If you're looking for strictly musi, go with the Zen. If you're looking for a more expensive, perhaps more functional deice, look into the iPods or high-end Zens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Dog Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 PSP. Duh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentChasm Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Inimitable: Zen also has micro ones: http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Portable-Media-Player-Black/dp/B0007Y79G2/sr=8-1/qid=1169288149/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-3453379-9665731?ie=UTF8&s=electronics and the Zen Vision (regular, M, and W) are the video incarnations. shadowbeard: I was under the impression iTunes had the ability to right click on the file in it's interface and convert it to MP3. I've seen it done in other versions but I haven't really ever used iTunes. If you can, then you could then load those files on the zen. You might check iTunes and see if you can convert the files. You could convert them all to MP3 before you buy to ensure that that method works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malaki-LEGEND.sys Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Get a Zune. Seriously. You'll be the third person who ever bought one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 PSP.Duh. Well, it sucks with no playlist support and all that, but it probably has the most functionality of any device for its price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Mage Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Zune = evil, DRM infested, POS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al3xand3r Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Between Zune and iPod: the Zune. Between Zune and Creative: Creative. The above recommendations are for hard-drive based players. If all you need is a flash-based player with 1-2 gigs, get a Sansa. Nice little players from that company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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