iPod vs. Zune

[alaan]

Microsoft's Zune and the 30 GB iPod both have the same capacity and price tag. Even the cost of accessories are all identical. So which player is a better buy. Thanks.

[mountain_rage]

They are both ripoffs, but in the end if you are going to chose between the two get the one that has the features that suit your best. The Zune is set to offer the ability to update your library wirelessly, thats the only feature that really makes it stand out in my opinion. The Ipod has major market recognition, what that give you is extra product support (podcasts, accessories, connectivity etc...). Personally my next player will probably be a Sandisk Sansa(e200), they give you the same standard features as the others, but you also have get a micro-sd slot, Fm radio, microphone for recording, and a self replaceable battery, all that for less then the others.

[aboghosian]

read some reviews here of both
http://reviews.cnet.com/Music/2001-6450_7-0.html?tag=cnetfd.dir
the sandisk sansa is really a good buy
i saw a 8gb one for 120
but that might be too small of a storage capacity for you

[rainbowdemon]

Self-replaceable battery??

[Signa]

mountain rage is right, they are both ripoffs. though i will say this. my sister has a zune and i find it quite impressive. if i had 30 gigs of music or didnt have a PSP for videos, i would consider it fully.

however, the new line of ipods are also the first ones ever to impress me. given how well established they are in the market (hell, there is this awesome phillips portable dvd player that has an ipod dock in it), it might acutally be worth looking into one of them. personally, i found one by RCA that was a 5GB for $100. throw in the ability to work as a storage device and it just kicked the shit out of the nanos of the time. ($200 for 4GB)

in the end, its all up to you, but personally, i would wait to see what other companies bring out to compete with the ipods because the are almost always better.

[mountain_rage]

Self-replaceable battery??

Sorry bad grammar on my part, user replaceable battery. You essentially don't have to ship them to the manufacturer to replace your battery. I'm not sure how they are attached but I do know you can change them yourself. In my opinion that sure beats spending 80$ to send to factory to get the battery replaced.

Look http://www.sandisk.com/Products/ProductInfo.aspx?ID=1988 20$ for a battery. If you ask me thats a great feature.

[Tic3]

The Creative Zen series are pretty nice. The Vision W is available in a 30 or 60 GB capacity and natively plays AVI, WMV9, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4-SP, MJPEG, DivX 4.x/ 5.x, XviD-SP. It has a 4.3" WQVGA wide aspect high-resolution TFT LCD screen, TV-out for movies and photo slideshow, and also a user-replaceable battery.

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=210&subcategory=211&product=15752&nav=1&bypass=1

The new Zen flash-drive players are smaller and come in 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB capacities. They also play DivX and Xvid movies encoded to 320 x 240 resolution.

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=16999&bypass=1


I'd recommend one of those before an I-Pod or a Zune.

[mountain_rage]

Also I haven't looked into them much but Samsung seems to have some interesting players with some really different features. Like Bluetooth, speaker on the back. Not sure about the rest but they seem to give interesting variations.

[Sephiroth]

If your considering a Zune then you shouldn't waste time looking at the 30gb and look at the new ones coming out next month, the 80gb one has way better battery life than the 30gb Zunes. As always though you should wait until it comes out and see if there are any problems with it before buying it.

The iPods are overpriced and a bit overrated IMO at first it was innovative but I mean they just added coverflow and bigger hard drive to the "classic" versions. Coverflow has been part of iTunes I guess for a while now and it look nice if you organize everything by album if you don't then its worthless. If you can stand iTunes then its not a bad player.

[crazyfinx]

The Creative Zen series are pretty nice. The Vision W is available in a 30 or 60 GB capacity and natively plays AVI, WMV9, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4-SP, MJPEG, DivX 4.x/ 5.x, XviD-SP. It has a 4.3" WQVGA wide aspect high-resolution TFT LCD screen, TV-out for movies and photo slideshow, and also a user-replaceable battery.

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=210&subcategory=211&product=15752&nav=1&bypass=1

The new Zen flash-drive players are smaller and come in 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB capacities. They also play DivX and Xvid movies encoded to 320 x 240 resolution.

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=16999&bypass=1


I'd recommend one of those before an I-Pod or a Zune.


I agree Ipods and Zunes are a total rip, much rather have a zen then these two

[thomasz1]

Maybe you can look here. I think here something for you. Try to find in it. I found it last night.
http://www.accessorygeeks.com/ipod-accessories.html.

[Petrena]

While you are deciding to buy an Ipod, maybe you want to look at this that I recently aquired an Ipod, and certainly seems okay to me, and I was searching as you do because I wanted to learn how to use my Ipod effectively because it didn't really come with alot of instructions, and I was curious. However to cut long story short I came across this website, that not only tells you about Ipods, but Iphones too, as well as other mobiles, and there are just tons of tips for windows and everything. You do have to read through it, but there is alot of things that you can do for free and alot of freeware that can help with all kinds of problems that can help sort out your Ipod.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/50-free-tools-to-make-your-ipod-better-and/


I hope it helps.
Petrena

[mailrachit]

ipod touch is very good. a 3.5" screen seems really good compared to a 2.5" screen of ipod classic but a ripoff. personally i would prefer ipod over zune when considering ipod & zune only.

[dis4bled]

personally, i have had both in my possession and i prefer the ipod.
sure, the zune has the "wireless" feature, but it is also looks like a tacky chunk of plastic from fake fireplace...haha
bigger screen = better? depends what it is used for, battery life does deteriorate noticeably quicker than the ipod

hope this helps bud

[plztouchmymonkey]

i heard the wireless on the zume is horrible.

[shawners]

I bought a zune 120 gig for 183 at newegg.. it was 20percent off, then the combo deal was for a AV kit that you can use to remote control and dock to your tv or your stereo. So that was a 40 dollar value.

I hate that it plays mp4 and wmv only, im hoping the firmware update will update the xvid portion so we can watch it. The zune software didnt recognize some songs in folders and i have to find out why. Its fast loading on to my player. The screen is beautiful.
Would it be worth 250?? probably not, but 183 with free shipping and no tax and a AV kit. It wasnt bad.

Go to www.techbargains.com or www.passwird.com to find the best value. Nothing is more disappointing then paying retail.