Perusing the MP3 player market.

Taretch

I've finally decided to upgrade from my, somewhat ancient, Rio MP3 player (512 mb ) and have literally been lost in the sea of new model MP3 players.

I was wondering if some people could share some insight into some of the new generation players. I've been seriously looking at the Zune, but I've heard some discerning comments about the software providing a bit of a headache. I haven't really wanted to limit myself to the iPod, yet I'm not opposed to the idea of owning one at all. Creative seems to have a varied market, but none of the customer reviews seem to be anything short of 'anti-iPod' biased for the Zune or any of Creatives products.

My price range is extremely flexible, so just looking for some basic recommendations at the moment. Any help/input is appreciated.

scootch

if you got the $ or you prefer using itunes player, ipod is your best option.

the other players make me use horrid stuff like music match and windows media player to interface with the player. ugh!

my delldj just came with a nifty shell extension for windows explorer. man, I loved that. wish all players did that.

red_wyrn

If you go with the iPod, go out of your way to make sure you follow the directions and that your computer doesn't crash while its plugged in the usb port...

I learned that the hard way today.... yesterday.... .... recently.

Kyougu

I have the Zune, and I couldn't be more pleased with it.
It too was my first real mp3 player, and I really been enjoying it. Yeah, it's bigger than the Ipod, but it's never bothered me. Also, I preffered it's organization methods to the Ipod. I just find it easier to find songs on it. The screen is really nice for watching videos on it, and being able to put your own wall paper in it is a cool little touch. Battery life seems to be about what you would expect, with video draining the most, but getting some good hours with just music. The whole wi-fi thing is pretty worthless, but its there in case you want it. And it has built in radio, which is nice in case you're like me, and occasionally listen to morning shows.
The software isn't that bad, is just that set up can take forever (Make sure your window security packs are up to date) and it can be a resource hog sometimes. Apart from that, I have no complains with it.
My biggest complain, is with how great videos look on it, putting them is a pain in the ass. It ONLY plays WMV videos, so be prepared to do alot of converting.
Really do, it's a quality purchase.

Taretch

Kyougu wrote: »

The software isn't that bad, is just that set up can take forever (Make sure your window security packs are up to date) and it can be a resource hog sometimes. Apart from that, I have no complains with it.

This portion concerns me just a bit. I am overseas for an ample amount of time at the moment, and am currently limited to a secure network that limits my downloading abilities. How much of an issue is it not having current up-to-date security packs? The Zune is what I'm leaning towards purchasing, just want to make sure it's not going to be unusable for the length of time that I'm away from home.

Lord Lycan

I went with an i-river a few years back, a 20gig one.

Using it is a breeze, dropped it many a time and it still works ok, check em out if you haven't already. Only thing that annoys me is that it doesn't charge on USB, but thats just me being picky.

Kyanilis

As an iPod owner, I've never had problems with it. I've got an 80gig model which is more than enough to use for anything. Personally I use it as a flash drive as well, and its far large enough to hold any type of music collection. I don't use iTunes at all, prefering to use Winamp to manage my music on it.

I'll admit that the Zune manages to do the whole video thing a little better overall, but when it comes down to it the iPod has always done its music right.

Dublo7

I friggin love my Zune. I'd definitely recommend one.
Also, about the Zune software, 1.3 is pretty friggin stable. The only problem I've ever had with it, is sometimes Album art gets switched.
The program works as it should, so I don't see how people are still complaining.

The iPod nano however is probably the best music-centric mp3 player on the market. It's small, it's sexy, and the sound quality surpasses the HDD iPod models.

Silmaril

I recently got a Zune and I'm pretty happy with it. I'm still getting to grips with the software, and I think I've hit a bit of a brick wall when trying to create a playlist with over 3000 tracks, but thats no biggie really.

I'll echo the "Video is awesome, but goddamnit where the fuck is the avi support?" sentiment.


Well worth the money if you can fill the majority of the space with music.

Taretch

Well, I have a bit over 160gb of music to throw around... so making good use of any space I'll have shouldn't be too much of a challange.

My brother also owns a Zune and raves about it (I'm somewhat skeptical on his opinions though ;-)), and it seems like some of the community here feels the same way. Perhaps it's time to make an investment. Should be nice carrying around a larger portion of my collection than what I'm currently accustomed to.

Kyougu

Taretch wrote: »

Kyougu wrote: »

The software isn't that bad, is just that set up can take forever (Make sure your window security packs are up to date) and it can be a resource hog sometimes. Apart from that, I have no complains with it.

This portion concerns me just a bit. I am overseas for an ample amount of time at the moment, and am currently limited to a secure network that limits my downloading abilities. How much of an issue is it not having current up-to-date security packs? The Zune is what I'm leaning towards purchasing, just want to make sure it's not going to be unusable for the length of time that I'm away from home.

I'm pretty sure they're required. I never updated mine, so before I could install the software, I had to completely update mine, which just took forever.

Dublo7

They're not all required. You just need XP Service Pack 2.

SithDrummer

The Creative Zen Vision: M is damned amazing, save for one (arguably important) flaw - the default software for getting files onto it is terrible, and even the best third-party software isn't much better.

However, once everything's on it that you want, the thing's a dream. FM Tuner, Microphone, video support for all kinds of filetypes (+ automatic conversion from uncompatible filetypes), on-the-fly USB transfers from other media storage (I can plug my camera directly in and move all the pictures over without using the computer as a middleman), a phenomenal screen, and great battery life.

scootch

yeah.. my friend has a zen.. it's freakin sweet.

Fristle

You might compare battery replacement plans before you buy any player over $100. Because I know a few friends who've been burned by buying attractive Korean models *cough*Cowon*cough* then found the battery replacement service "lacking" (understatement) 18 months later.

imbalanced

I recommend any of the players from JetAudio, but apparently they're calling themselves COWON in America now. The players support pretty much every format, have easy to use software/firmware updates, look aesthetically pleasing, and can be used as USB thumb drives for file/media transfer. No middleware needed!

I currently have the 30GB COWON A2 and it rocks, but I've heard good things about the smaller iAudio stuff too. http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/

reddog

I just got a Zune from my girlfriend upgrading me from my 3G iPod. I absolutley love it.

With regards to the size of it, if you want a screen that big, of course it's going to be a little big but honestly I don't notice it cause my old iPod was kinda big too.

I have no complaint's about the Zune except that the software needs getting used to. After coming off of using iTunes all the time, it is definitely different. It does use a little more resources than iTunes but all you need to do is get used to the software working with the Zune. It's easy to upload songs and pictures. Movies are just annoying sometimes just because of the fact it doesn't accept AVI files but it hasn't bothered me that much since there are ways around it.

The FM radio is a great plus too cause if you're tired of the music you got and the movies, just put on the radio! Definitely get a Zune.

Hakkekage

I'm echoing the Zen sentiment. It's fantastic and supports many types of video files, and what it doesn't support, converts nicely.

I have a Zen: W, which is huge, but great for video. The screen is about the size of an entire Zen Vision: M and plays spectacular colors. I love it because I generally don't shove earphones and listen while doing nothing; I prefer to watch videos. Having House in beautiful HD on the fly is so awesome.

Big Dookie

I just got my wife a 30 gig iPod for Mother's Day. It was my first experience with a "high profile" MP3 player, and I have to admit that I was fairly impressed. Using it with iTunes was easy as cake, and transfering her entire CD collection (over 100 CDs) was very painless. All in all it was a very good experience. I'm not an Apple shill, but I have no problem recommending the iPod. There's a reason it's as popular as it is, and now I'm starting to understand why.

Plus, there's a ton of iPod accessories to choose from. Anything you could ever possibly need.