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what mp3 player should i buy?
AshMoney
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
mp3 players are technology, right?
i've decided the time has finally come and i want to purchase one this weekend but with all the various ipods, zunes, and etc out there i'm not sure what the best player for the value
video's not really a concern and really, i'm just looking for a way to lessen the buyers remorse i know i'm gona have
so any sugestions? what do you guys like and have?
any help will be apreciated
i've decided the time has finally come and i want to purchase one this weekend but with all the various ipods, zunes, and etc out there i'm not sure what the best player for the value
video's not really a concern and really, i'm just looking for a way to lessen the buyers remorse i know i'm gona have
so any sugestions? what do you guys like and have?
any help will be apreciated
AshMoney on
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EDIT: What format is your music encoded in? Do you buy DRMed music, and from where?
Bad people.
I recommend one of the above.
This is going to be a very painful thread.
i'm willing to spend up to about two fifty or so, i'm really trying to figure out the best value and just get some people opinons
i'm tempted by the zune but everyone i ask just say buy an ipod, so many choices though!
just being able to drag and drop mp3's wouldn't be to bad either, are the ipods or zune easy to work with?
It's pretty rad
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As someone who owns an iPod (and has used a Zune heavily), I can support this suggestion. They both have good points and bad points, but unless you have very specific needs, you can't really go wrong. Look at reviews for specific details.
My advice: Stay away from any online music stores that sell you DRMed music, unless you are comfortable being locked into buying a specific brand or class of player in order to listen to said music in the future. 98% of CD's are remarkably easy to rip into mp3's, and generally online music stores aren't as cheap as they'd like you to think (unless you listen to a lot of singles as opposed to full albums).
This is the way to go, see: my last post.
30 gig iPods and 30 gig Zunes both retail for $250. However, if price is a concern, you'll generally find better deals on non-Apple hardware, as Apple is a little stingier with the savings. That said, you'll probably want to take a player you're more comfortable with over $20-30 in savings.
There are lots of things to consider. Do you care about FM radio? Zunes have them built in, but with an iPod you need to get a separate piece of hardware. Do you value lots of choices for third party accessories? Apple has the Zune beat hands-down right now for that.
Not happening with the Zune or the iPod, not without extensive hacking at least. Record companies don't like drag and drop support (easy piracy) so seeing it officially supported on big-name players is rare.
DS - $130
Media Dock, the cheapest, but kinda shitty, homebrew dock - $20(also comes with the passcard)
CF Card - $20 for a 1gig one, or a bit more for higher capacity up to 8 gigs.
Total = Minimum of $170.
By drag and drop, I guess he means from Windows directly to the iPod/Zune? Because essentially, right now, both iTunes and the Zune software pretty much allow for drag-n-drop...I mean, all you have to do is drag your mp3s from Windows Explorer into the software for Zune and hit sync. For the iPod, all you have to do is drag from Windows Explorer into the iPod icon within iTunes.
Also, I think you can drag and drop freely both to and from your iPod with Mediafour Xplay, which temporarily integrates into Windows Explorer when you run it...it allows browsing your music by artist, album, genre, etc...right through Windows Explorer. You can copy music from it too, though it won't break DRMs. Protected .m4p files will still be .m4p files when you copy them off the iPod.
I'm not sure, and rather doubt, the Zune has anything similar...yet.
Okay, time to farm green items.
I also highly recommend the Sansa. I just got the 2 gig model and couldn't be happier.
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A great player, but I've had some problems with it--namely, the thing crashes when updating the database. After returning the original, my replacement Sansa did the same thing after about a month. Otherwise, it's a great player--flash based, FM radio, no requirement to use itunes or other proprietary software. Maybe I just got unlucky.
At any rate, I replaced it with a Samsung T9, which I found to be even better after getting used to the interface.
Last I saw, the Zune had very rough workarounds that enabled drag and drop support. I'd imagine a third party solution will appear eventually, but who knows. (Good call on Xplay, I forgot about that, but I definitely can see why people want no frills, no extra software drag-and-drop, and it's a shame many players don't support it.)
Yes.
I do the full Apple's bitch setup, with buying music on my PB through iTunes or uploading my CDs.
My GF has a Nano on her Windows machine, and has no problems. Screen is pretty tiny, though.
Also, their subscription thing is an awesome deal. 14 bucks per month, unlimited download. Yeah, you're just renting the music, but I don't mind.
I had an e260, and I loved it. The only problem was that the firmware was a llittle choppy, but that's not a real problem..
Problem is, mine dun broke. So I'm either buying an e280, or waiting for that sexy, sexy Sansa Connect to come out. Sansa Connect is basically an e200 with better firmware, and wireless capabilities. Wireless capabilities meaning 'squirting' a la zune, or syncing with the pc, or Net Radio. It's nice.
I thought about getting a Zune, but apparently they aren't available in Canada yet.
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I find that the easiest way to handle this kind of decision is to download iTunes and Zune Marketplace, play around with 'em both and get a feel for which one you like best. Because, really, getting either of those players means that your best integrated experience will be found in their respective software front-ends.
Once you have a feel for the software, head out to Best Buy or wherever they have floor models around you and get a feel for the interfaces. Personally, I find that the iPod's clickwheel facefucks everything else out there with its awesomeness, but it's really a YMMV kind of thing.
But, if you get to the point where you can't stand iTunes or Zune Marketplace, find both interfaces nothing special and would like something that'll just let you use Windows Explorer or whatever, then get a Creative Zen Vision or similar device.
Personally, the iPod would be my choice:
1. Smallest player in just about every form factor it has a model in.
2. The unfuckwithable clickwheel.
3. iTunes is a class-leading jukebox with masterful synergy with the iPod.
4. Tons of accessory support.
5. Excellent audio (not many players can do lossless) and video quality (same can be said for other players with H.264 support, including Zune).
6. A small selection of great games.
7. The fact that a fuckton of video media is already encoded for the iPod, from video podcasts to illicit content.
8. Better battery life than the Zune or other clones.
9. Brighter screen than the Zune (which has a 0.5" larger screen at the same QVGA resolution) or other clones.
10. Great search feature that comes in handy with tons of music.
11. Gapless playback. The Zune doesn't have this, but I believe iRiver does. Not sure about Creative.
12. Capacity up to 80GB, which has a surprisingly attracive $/GB ratio.
13. iTunes + iPod is the undisputed king of content, with tons of music, movies, television shows, podcasts and video podcasts to buy and/or download.
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But this is a no-video solution, lacking support and features. It does have an FM radio, however. But I really support the argument of these people in that your main choices will probably be between the Zune or the iPod. At the specific time of purchase, the Zen was cheaper with more capacity (meaning I was able to get a bigger once, since my budget was limited), but lacking video features. I wasn't interested in those features, and so it fit my specific needs. So honestly it depends on your specific needs.
On the whole, I find that Apple products (I have a Macbook too) beat everything else out there when they work as intended, which they often don't. But I'm still buying their stuff, so it can't be that bad.
I'm impressed. This is the fairest post you've made with regard to the Zune. I almost feel bad clamoring for you to get banned and raped by bears.
To offer a few counter, pro-Zune points, I will say the following for the Zune:
1) The Zune Marketplace is fairly comprehensive. Not as comprehensive as iTunes Music Store, but it has mostly the same stuff.
2) The Zune Pass is excellent if you would otherwise buy a lot of music. Again, it depends on what you listen to, but even a lot of newer indie stuff is on there. Most of it, actually. Zune Pass allows you to download an unlimited amount of music to your Zune for 15 bucks a month.
3) Touch wheel vs. D-Pad. Well, this is up to you. I really like the clickwheel EXCEPT it is very frustrating to use an iPod in the Winter. You cannot use the touch wheel with gloves on. So, if you do a lot of Winter traveling or powerwalking or jogging or whatever, the touch wheel can be a bit aggravating. I like Zune's navigation, and there are more organization options on the Zune itself, and it's easy to cycle between artist, album, songs, genre, etc.
But, again, there are pros and cons to both and I think they even out in the end. It depends on what secondary features grab your eye.
Here's a short list of the things I've done to it, off the top of my head:
Dropped in a puddle
Dropped in a full coffee cup
Left overnight in a snowbank
Dropped onto concrete floors several times from pocket/counter height.
Slammed against the ground after I bailed on my skateboard (three to four times for this one) ...I do mean slammed, not just dropped.
Spilled acrylic and oil paint onto it.
Daily abuse of being in my pocket/bag nearly every day wherever I go.
After all that over about four years now, the worst that happens is it locks up on very poor quality songs, and at worst (which has happened only twice) had an error and required a quick format.
It's old, worn, only has 256mb memory, but it was built like a tank with a solid aluminum shell (only plastic bit is the screen), can play nearly anything you throw into it (even things which the manual says it cannot play), and doesn't need "syncing" or whatever stupid ass junk some players make you do with proprietary software. Just open it up like a flash drive and drag/drop whatever you want into it.
Given a choice between this and a new ipod, I'd take the ipod so I could pawn it off and buy another one of these, and pocket the extra cash left over.
Ditto, just got the sansa e250 and I love it. 2gigs for $100 off of newegg.
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Holy crap. Someone remind me about this in July.
I can't wait for this to ... ROLL OUT.
Pre-order now instead of risking it selling out.
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* you don't plan on purchasing/downloading anything from iTunes (Apple's proprietary bullshit is... uh... bullshit)
* you're just going to rip your CD collection to iTunes and aren't interested in buying music online
* you want to have a large music library available on your PC to make playlists
An iPod is great for this. It's easy and user friendly. I'm not a PC geek, so I think an iPod works fine if you're not looking to do anything besides rip your CDs and make some playlists. If you enjoy fiddling with sound files/MP3 files and like tinkering in a PC fashion with your MP3 player and your MP3 library, I'd avoid an iPod and iTunes like the plague.
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If I had the spare cash, I would. Hell, I'd get the 2-pack.