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Sansa mp3 or Zune
Kerbob97
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
so I am looking at getting a mp3 player, primarily for the gym, but also for the car. I am tired of being in the gym and hearing Fergie, Black Eyed Peas, and then Gwen Stefani looped over and over and over and...
So Ipod= not an option, and I am looking for something like a Zune or a maybe even a Sansa as I have heard good things there.
What I want in order of importance:
Good Sound
2GB minimum prefer more though
compact
good interface
color screen
radio - video
any thoughts or reccs?
Anything new coming out?
So Ipod= not an option, and I am looking for something like a Zune or a maybe even a Sansa as I have heard good things there.
What I want in order of importance:
Good Sound
2GB minimum prefer more though
compact
good interface
color screen
radio - video
any thoughts or reccs?
Anything new coming out?
Kerbob97 on
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Posts
just more I hate the whole Itunes thing.
Plus I have like 15 GB of mp3s already.
@Aurin which model did you get and how much $?
What I ended up doing was getting an iPod 80G and putting Rockbox on it. Rockbox is a replacement firmware that lets you just copy (or rsync, or whatever) a directory tree of MP3 files onto your iPod and play them in the organization you already have. No importing into iTunes, no miscategorizing things because of crappy ID3 tags. If you want to boot into the Apple Firmware so you can use iTunes to play videos or something, you can do that too.
There are downsides: if you DO want to use iTunes to download DRMed music you can do that, but you have to play it from the Apple firmware which means rebooting the iPod. Rockbox will not play videos, although why I would want ot watch videos on a 2.5" screen is beyond me. Rockbox is also not as stable as the Apple firmware and it eats up batteries somewhat faster. I've had it crash on me several times, mostly when playing WMAs (oh yes, Rockbox lets you play unencrypted WMAs too). You can just reboot the iPod when that happens. The interface is a little different but it is skinnable.
It looks like it has a trackball for a controller.
Also has anyone tried the WiFi Sansa?
The no-bullshit downsides:
- Get a protective case or at least a clear skin for the thing, black shows scratches.
- The GUI is a bit spartan. It's plenty user-friendly, just not sexy.
- Video looks kind of mediocre on that tiny screen. The same is true of any device smaller than an iPhone, though.
- Not a downside, really, but you need to have your MP3 tags in order to get the most out of the device.
So that being said, it's light, sturdy, nice-looking, good-sounding, really cheap, and there's a growing homebrew community popping up around it. You could do a lot worse than a Sansa e2xx.
I had the Philips for almost a year. It was decent enough. It froze a bit more often than it should have, and deleted ALL of my music once, but.. for the most part it always worked fine. Resetting it fixed just about everything. It has FM, but.. no video or colour screen. Not that you'd want to watch video on a screen that tiny. After having it for over a year, it accidentally slid off my lap and broke. It's thicker than a Ipod nana, but otherwise not any bigger.
After I broke my Philips, I decided to give the Creative Zen V Plus a try. It lasted for all of a week, heh. It didn't hold a charge for longer than 5 hours (audio only), and.. this line in the instruction booklet it came with was rather discouraging:
"WARNING: This product contains chemicals, including lead, known to the State of California to cause [cancer, and] birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling."
To make matters worse, the version I bought was IN SUPPORT of breast cancer. Wtf.
There were other things I didn't like about it, though I loved how it looked and felt. The most annoying thing was the reset button. They have those horrible puush reset buttons that you have to force a pin, or something really tiny into. Honestly, who carries stuff like that around with them? It froze all the time, too. UGH.
I returned it a week after I got it.
Finally, my Sansa. I got it a few weeks ago.. and I like it a lot, so far. It holds a charge for a really long time, it hasn't frozen on me yet, and the sound quality is REALLY good. It has video (not that I'd watch it on such a small screen), FM, and a colored screen. It takes a little while to get used to the buttons because they're kind of small, especially if you have a hard case (which I'd recommend, since I'm sure it'd scratch pretty easily), but I like the selection wheel on it a LOT better than the ones on the Ipod Nano (plus, you don't have to deal with itunes, which is always a plus!). The price is really reasonable compared to some of the others, and I find that it can go a lot louder than my Philips can, though.. the Zen did have really good sound quality aswell (it had better, considering who makes it!).
Over all, I think you're much better off going with the Sansa. However, I haven't gotten the chance to play with the Zune, so I can't really say if it's better or not.
Goodluck!
anyway i love my samsung yp-t9 its 4 gigs which is more than you really ever need. unless your going on a trip and are going to be away from a computer, which is silly, dont do that. zunes are pretty huge arent they? my samsung is tiny and works really well for a run even after 90 minutes it doesent seem to throw off my weight balance (my old rio did) it also works with rhapsody which has helped me out alot now that i live in fear of the riaa.
yeah, they are about 30 gigs.
Shit I thought he was talking about the physical size.
Shogun Streams Vidya
and video playback is kinda nice to have i geuss, but ive never used it on my mp3 player after the first 2 weeks. if im ever in the position where i could watch video i usually have my phone around, which for cartoons is definatly good enough.
Now, having said all that, I wouldn't buy an iPod either
The software included is not really that brilliant or that bad, it's an Explorer replacement where you can drag and drop but also includes a wizard if that's more your thing.
Hope all that helps and have fun with whatever you end up buying
Good Sound - I would say so. Their earphones are better than the iPod earphones. They just fit better and feel nicer, along with their magnetic thing that keeps them untangled when not in use.
2GB minimum prefer more though 30gb
compact hmm. That might be different. The Zune is a bit thicker than my old ipod. zune = ~0.5inches thick. When you work out, you could (and should) buy an armband, so I don't think it'll be much of a hassle.
good interface YES! You can personalize your background and the bigger screen looks all nice and simple. Very easy to use, too.
color screen Yup. Full color.. unless you put a black and white background picture I guess.
radio - video Radio and Video. Your antennae is your headphone wire, I believe. Video converting for Zune just takes a while, though, so that kinda sucks.
I've never used Sansa, so I don't have much or anything to say about that...
Sansa 8 GB
$129.00 at Office Depot. Of course you can never use those coupons for anything useful tech wise, only staplers and paper. :roll:
So unless someone else can tell me how to get a better deal, OR get a Zune for $150, that looks like a great deal to me.
or the Sansa 4GB for $99.
Going once....
Minor complaint I have is that after about 6-7 months the scroll/volume wheel on it is all gummed up and impossible to move a lot of the time. I opened it up (probably voided any warranties I had) and tried to take it out to clean it - no luck, but it does seem to move a lot easier now.
I bought the 8GB Sansa, and a day later this comes out!