iPod or Zune?

[Rhainor]

...However, the iPod can play many more audio formats,...

Example, please? (*other* than QuickTime-native formats)

...and convert them with the iTunes application as needed.

Any audio file that the Zune software can read but the Zune itself can't play, the software will convert to WMA format during the sync process. I've only seen this happen maybe once with my Zune. All my music is in either WMA, MP3, or WAV format, with the vast majority in MP3 -- and none of it is DRM-infested. It all plays fine. The one time I saw the Zune software bother with converting an audio file was when it found some random sound file outside my "My Music" folder and auto-sync'd it.

Similarly, any video that the Zune software can play but the Zune can't will be converted to WMV format. At the same time, if the video is too large, it will be reduced in dimensions to fit the Zune screen, so the Zune won't have to resize it on-the-fly.

The only formats I've come across that the Zune software doesn't have a codec for are those that are native to QuickTime, such as MOV format video files.



[EDIT]
After checking the options for my Zune software, it supports formats with the following file extensions:

Audio:
WMA
MP3
WAV
M3U
M4A/M4B

Video:
WMV
MPG/MPEG
MP4
M4V

 

[Grimfang]

I've experienced both Zune and iPod.

I wanted something outside of the norm, so I went for a Zune. The software was unbelievably unstable and buggy on my computer. When I managed to fully load the Zune software without it freezing up on me, I had a hell of a time getting it to sync my songs. When it decided to sync, it would put about 5 - 10 songs on my zune and then stop/freeze up.

Disillusioned and saddened, I went back the next day and turned in my Zune for an iPod (30gig video).

The iPod has done nothing but give me joy so far. It's pretty straight-forward and simple to get it going. Plus, you have the iTunes advantage if you plan on buying music online. iTunes has almost anything you could want.

Also.. you'll want to get a screen cover so you don't get scratches. Unfortunately, covers and cases are expensive as hell. I wound up taping saran-wrap over the screen. It's so ghetto, but it costed me a penny xD

 

[patrucius]

if your going to use it primarily for music than I would suggest the ipod hands down I have one and I love it, although if your gonna put alot of videos on it go for a zune

 

[DruoxTheFurrinator]

Zune, because it outclasses the Ipod in every catagory, AND no one will steal it -.-"

 

[nobuyuki]

I recommend the Creative Zen as well. Almost always offers better features for less price, and you're not stuck with proprietary garbage (for the most part). Though I personally think players with big hard drives on them are stupid AND expensive. SD Card players are cheaper, smaller, and more stable.....

 

[DruoxTheFurrinator]

I was gonna grab a Creative Zen...now i'm sure I will XD Awesome

 

[DavidN]

My problem with iTunes is that is does all I want and quite a lot more that I don't (defaulting to open up whenever I play a two-second WAV file is a bit rude). But it can be beaten into submission, and at least it's not RealPlayer.

 

[Grimfang]

If you wait a while, I'd say a Zune would be better than iPod, if you ignore the fact that:

iPod + iTunes > Zune + Zune Service

Zune has the big screen and neat little song sharing and what-not... but it's full of bugs still. I read somewhere that the Zune was an OEM Toshiba Gigabeat... just dressed up and few more features.

In time, if DRM's are ever killed (too good to be true... then definitely get a Zune. But, for now, iPod is the most convenient mp3 player out there.

 

[Rhainor]

If you wait a while, I'd say a Zune would be better than iPod, if you ignore the fact that:

iPod + iTunes > Zune + Zune Service

AFAIK, the iTunes Music Store doesn't give you the option to choose between pay-per-track and a monthly all-you-can-download subscription. (keeping in mind that I don't use either, but rather get my music via other methods)

Zune has the big screen and neat little song sharing and what-not... but it's full of bugs still.

I have encountered no bugs with my Zune.

I read somewhere that the Zune was an OEM Toshiba Gigabeat... just dressed up and few more features.

I call bullshit. That's no more true than saying it's a repackaged iPod Video, which isn't true either.

In time, if DRM's are ever killed (too good to be true... then definitely get a Zune.

80 or 90 percent of the people who are computer-savvy enough to have to worry about DRM are also computer-savvy enough to know how to get around it. Perhaps 6 of the three hundred or so music files on my computer are DRM-infested, and the only thing keeping me from exorcising the DRM from those is my overactive case of laziness. The rest of my music is in unprotected MP3 or unprotected WMA format (with a few WAV files scattered around) and it all plays just fine on the Zune.

But, for now, iPod is the most convenient mp3 player out there.

Only because it's been around longer and has established market share.

 

[Grimfang]

I call bullshit. That's no more true than saying it's a repackaged iPod Video, which isn't true either.

I call your face!
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/first-generation-microsoft-zunes-are-toshiba-oems-second-generation-notsomuch-196720.php

No bullshit. I dunno if it's true or not. That's why I said "I read"... not that "It is".
xP

And I don't care much bout DRM's. It doesn't take a computer savveuneer to be able to get torrents, or whatever alternative music acqusition method you'd prefer.

I'm just saying... most people don't want to have to deal with all that. It is a good deal more tedious than hearing samples of songs and buying them. I've decided to support artists, and even the industry, cus I like music and would like the artists to get what they deserve.


And earlier on in this thread, I said this:

The software was unbelievably unstable and buggy on my computer. When I managed to fully load the Zune software without it freezing up on me, I had a hell of a time getting it to sync my songs. When it decided to sync, it would put about 5 - 10 songs on my zune and then stop/freeze up.

I didn't mention how my Zune randomly turned off also. To experience all these problems in a couple hours tells me that it is not worth the $250. That was my experience with it, at least.

 

[Rhainor]

I call your face!
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/first-generation-microsoft-zunes-are-toshiba-oems-second-generation-notsomuch-196720.php

No bullshit. I dunno if it's true or not. That's why I said "I read"... not that "It is".
xP

It should be noted that when I say "I call bullshit", I'm not saying you're intentionally giving misinformation; I'm just saying I think your information is wrong.

I've decided to support artists, and even the industry, cus I like music and would like the artists to get what they deserve.

Indeed. Just please, please don't buy the RIAA drivel that DRM is intended to prevent piracy for the benefit of the artists. DRM is a scheme by the recording labels to squeeze more money out of the consumers and into their own pockets; exceedingly little of that gets funneled back to the artists. With the possible exception of the *really* big-name artists, they all make the vast majority of their money from tours, non-music merchandise sales, and the like.

And earlier on in this thread, I said this:

The software was unbelievably unstable and buggy on my computer. When I managed to fully load the Zune software without it freezing up on me, I had a hell of a time getting it to sync my songs. When it decided to sync, it would put about 5 - 10 songs on my zune and then stop/freeze up.

I didn't mention how my Zune randomly turned off also. To experience all these problems in a couple hours tells me that it is not worth the $250. That was my experience with it, at least.

I've had my Zune software lock up maybe twice, and I don't recall ever having the Zune itself randomly power down except for the one time I ran the battery dead.

As with all things, YMMV.

 

[Grimfang]

As with all things, YMMV.

Haha, definitely.

Sorry, didn't mean to come across like an asshole there. My friends and I always do the "your face!" thing... :

And, yes, artists make a very small percent of the profit from CD sales. But they still get their sales in numbers and just having sold "X" many albums will give them more opportunity.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates agree on one thing -- the destruction of DRM's. That means DRM's must be the evil of our times or something...

 

[The Sonic God]

You know... if all you want is music... buy a tiny MP3 player and stick a Lithium AA battery in it. It will run forever...

I *still* have yet to buy any portable multimedia player. Can't find a reason to buy one.

 

[Polarity]

Zune. I used a friend's iPod for a couple weeks and the Zune's UI is far superior. It's all very quick and easy to use. The Zune software takes a while to configure itself to your computer, but in the end it works pretty well. Not to mention you don't need a case for the Zune. I've got some scratches on mine after dropping it from my shirt pocket, but besides that it still works and looks like it did when I got it on launch day.

 

[addik]

psp, 4gig cards are like $60 at best buy

 

[DavidN]

Well, seeing as this topic's been brought back from the dead...

My dad bought a Zune last weekend, and from what I've seen of it I actually really like it (the controls and interface) over my iPod. The software, however, is appalling - it takes even more work than iTunes to beat into submission, and it crashed twice during the evening I spent trying to convert a video to put on it.

But being able to convert Apple-specific formats was a real surprise, and very appreciated. Apparently the resolution of the screen is the same on both even though the Zune's screen is actually bigger, but I can't say it doesn't look good.

 

[Janglur]

I would say:

iPod

Reason:
Zunes use actual harddrives. Meaning if you drop it, it's Kaput. At target, that's the reason 2 of the 3 (total) we sold in june came back.
iPods use a programmable flash memory (NAND I think?) and thus are resistant to drop-crashing.

 

[Rostam The Grey]

I won a free iPod at the CFUNITED conference last week...

 

[Dragoneer]

Reason:
Zunes use actual harddrives.  Meaning if you drop it, it's Kaput.  At target, that's the reason 2 of the 3 (total) we sold in june came back. iPods use a programmable flash memory (NAND I think?) and thus are resistant to drop-crashing.

Zunes and iPods use 1.8" micro 3200RPM hard drives. Zune and iPods also both have NAND memory, usually 64MB for play-buffer. I think the 5th gen Mark II ipods (80GB) may have 128MB on-board memory, but I'm not sure. I know 4th gen iPods had 3MB, then 5th gen went to 64MB.

Nanos, Shuffles and iPhones are the only iPods that use NAND as its primary storage device.

Also, I've dropped my iPods (4th gen 20gB, 5th gen 80GB) a few times, never had issues. Mind you, if you're dropping electronics of any nature, eventually it't die no matter what.

 

[net-cat]

I've never used a Zune. I would assume that it's just as locked to Windows Media Player as an iPod is to iTunes.

I had an iPod nano for a semester. I liked the iPod, but I got so fed up with iTunes that I sold it and bought a SanDisk Sansa. :/

It's a bit bigger than the nano, but it has 8GB of on-board flash (probably NAND flash, not that it really matters) can take MicroSD cards and can function in either Microsoft's Media Transfer Protocol mode or as just a regular Mass Storage Device. (Although in the latter, it has to rebuild the database after you unplug it.)

 

[Janglur]

Reason:
Zunes use actual harddrives.  Meaning if you drop it, it's Kaput.  At target, that's the reason 2 of the 3 (total) we sold in june came back. iPods use a programmable flash memory (NAND I think?) and thus are resistant to drop-crashing.

Zunes and iPods use 1.8" micro 3200RPM hard drives. Zune and iPods also both have NAND memory, usually 64MB for play-buffer. I think the 5th gen Mark II ipods (80GB) may have 128MB on-board memory, but I'm not sure. I know 4th gen iPods had 3MB, then 5th gen went to 64MB.

Nanos, Shuffles and iPhones are the only iPods that use NAND as its primary storage device.

Also, I've dropped my iPods (4th gen 20gB, 5th gen 80GB) a few times, never had issues. Mind you, if you're dropping electronics of any nature, eventually it't die no matter what.

I was actually referring only to the current generations.  IE, the Nano (2, 4, and 8GB) and Shuffles.
At target, they were my #1 responsibility.  (MP3 player sales, that is.)  Second was console sales:  The 360 and Wii sell themselves, we all gave up on PS3s.  We sold zero in May.  [Compared to 8 X360's and 65 wii's]

I also reccomend the Creative Zen. It's deceptively well made.

 

[RailRide]

What i'd get, but am still searching.. and failing...

1. AAA or AA battery-powered
2. FM radio.. for randomness factor.
3. SD or MicroSD slot. Will fit my phone, camera, mp3 player, etc... Easy changing of albums.
3. Voice recorder (optional). May come in handy.
4. 1G+ of internal memory.

I've been looking for something similar. Right now the closest I've gotten is this solid-state MP4 player.

No standard battery in this unit, but it's small enough to slide easily into that "useless 5th pocket" on a typical pair of jeans, it plays music and video, has an FM tuner with recording, voice recorder, e-book(text) JPG and so on. It has 2GB onboard, includes a MiniSD slot (I've found the unit accepts SD cards--I've got a 2GB in mine--with no issues or pre-formatting required, unlike other Chinese MP4 devices) and a built-in speaker with decent volume in any reasonably quiet room.

What I'm still looking for is one of these MP4 players that includes camera/camcorder and FM tuner/recording. Haven't seen one yet, though I did spot a unit at a computer show with similar firmware in an iPhone-ish form factor that included a camera, but it only had 1GB onboard. Battery was dead on the display model so I couldn't tell if it could FM record.

All of these generic Chinese media players I've seen so far are agonizingly slow in the scrolling-through-filenames department.

---PCJ