iPod or Zune
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I never thought I'd say this but I'm thinking of getting a Zune. My old (well, one-day-past-warranty) iPod nano has become so unstable that it's barely usable. I was thinking of getting another then realised the Zune has - Wifi - A radio - support for WMA - a lower price tag - longer battery life Anyone had experience (and comments) with both?
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
I have a first-gen Zune and an IPod nano (that I won). Both cost the same retail, about 80 bucks. The Zune has wifi, FM, 30GB and a nice, usable UI. it uses its own software, not WMP, but I wish it did use WMP. You can sync wirelessly, but its a bit wonky. Syncing w/ the wire charges the battery, so that's what I do. I get at least 10-12 hrs on a charge. The nano is a little toy that's good for playing random music when you really need it, like riding the bus. Otherwise, its close to useless. I'm not sure why 'Evil' matters, as Apple's concern for its user base is also ~zero. If you want bang for the buck, get the Zune. If you like shiny, expensive things, get the IPod.
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I like the Creative MuVo better. http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=215&product=17474[^] thankfully, the 4 gig one comes only in black. it's a little larger than a usb stick, can be used as one, doesn't need that FRACKIN quicktime software of doom and has a radio. It also plays .WAV files if you're into pure quality at the expense of #songs. I got my son one for his birthday and the thing is cool. a usb stick with earphones, basically. The drawback? no clip. Oh yeah, no need for those flippin' cables, too. ...Steve http://shazware.com
I have the 1GB: http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=215&product=15441[^] Handy device and takes ONE AAA battery..
Rocky <>< Blog Post: Sites and Domains for sale! Tech Blog Post: Microsoft Live Writer Plug-ins! Photo Stuff Blog Post: CHDK Motion Detection and other stuff - Quick notes!
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I have the 1GB: http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=215&product=15441[^] Handy device and takes ONE AAA battery..
Rocky <>< Blog Post: Sites and Domains for sale! Tech Blog Post: Microsoft Live Writer Plug-ins! Photo Stuff Blog Post: CHDK Motion Detection and other stuff - Quick notes!
Glad ya like it, but have ya seen the T200 4 gig? I got my son a T100 4 gig, but I'm gonna get a T200 and swap with him. I don't need the display or radio (and he might dig em). Still pretty cheap, and not even any battery to deal with. Although, ehm, 10 hrs means you're a bit tethered to the pc. But it keeps the songs fresh.
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>I wish they would release an api so we could write our own library management for the thing. PlaysForSure?
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. [Chineese Proverb] Jonathan C Dickinson (C# Software Engineer)
I have a couple of zune 30s and they intentionally didn't use the playsforsure api. Which means that nothing else can synch with it. It also means that you can't plug it into any car stereo yet, though kicker is making a unit that will plug into factory car stereos.
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I have two Zunes, the original 30 and another 4 gig. They are both great. The wifi on the Zune though is limited only to other Zunes. It is not really true wifi at all.
Well it is limited to other Zunes or synching with your computer via your network. My problem with the synching is that it doesn't let you use WPA2.
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Glad ya like it, but have ya seen the T200 4 gig? I got my son a T100 4 gig, but I'm gonna get a T200 and swap with him. I don't need the display or radio (and he might dig em). Still pretty cheap, and not even any battery to deal with. Although, ehm, 10 hrs means you're a bit tethered to the pc. But it keeps the songs fresh.
The biggest problem I have is the battery. I love being able to carry a spare or if the battery dies I can just pull over to the next available super market and pick one up. This is a big selling point for me. It was even a large consideration when I purchased my new digital camera a month ago (Canon S5 IS) which takes four AA's. I love flexability :)
Rocky <>< Blog Post: Sites and Domains for sale! Tech Blog Post: Microsoft Live Writer Plug-ins! Photo Stuff Blog Post: CHDK Motion Detection and other stuff - Quick notes!
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I have a couple of zune 30s and they intentionally didn't use the playsforsure api. Which means that nothing else can synch with it. It also means that you can't plug it into any car stereo yet, though kicker is making a unit that will plug into factory car stereos.
Should have called it iMaybePlaysIfYouAreLuckyPunk (the i to make it super-cool like iPod). Really, I tend away from the brand names: Zens just work. Show up as a removable disk and let me manage my own damn syncronisation. Mass storage device is to Linux as iPod Touch/Zune is to flipping knobs on an ENIAC.
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. [Chineese Proverb] Jonathan C Dickinson (C# Software Engineer)
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Should have called it iMaybePlaysIfYouAreLuckyPunk (the i to make it super-cool like iPod). Really, I tend away from the brand names: Zens just work. Show up as a removable disk and let me manage my own damn syncronisation. Mass storage device is to Linux as iPod Touch/Zune is to flipping knobs on an ENIAC.
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. [Chineese Proverb] Jonathan C Dickinson (C# Software Engineer)
All I can say is that if that were true, then iPods would never have taken off. There were devices that looked like mass storage devices well before Apple walked onto the stage, and no matter how fervent the argument, nothing changes the fact that Apple still continues to have 90% of the market with their "flipping knobs" that are easy to use for the average consumer. My mom and dad both got clunky looking Zens and my mom's stopped working right after the initial warranty, whereas my original iPod lasted 3 years (after which I decided I wanted something cooler and got an iPod video). I've played with a lot of devices, and most are a pita compared to iPods and Zunes. User interface counts. Mass Storage Device access may be nice, but if the device is worthless for actually sorting and listening to the music you want to listen to at the time you want to listen to it, then the device has failed its primary function. I've played with quite a few non "brand name" devices and even found spelling errors in the interface. I mean come on. At least attempt to do it right.
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No, where did you see that?
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:
At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
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Here is the link: http://canon2008promotions.onlinerebates.com/intro.aspx?country=ie&view=promos[^] Check the conditions though; I think it should apply for you, but I am not 100% positive about it.
Rage, you made my day. I can get €100 cash-back for the HF100. Thank you very much for the info. I owe you a pint or ten anytime you are in Ireland.
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:
At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
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All I can say is that if that were true, then iPods would never have taken off. There were devices that looked like mass storage devices well before Apple walked onto the stage, and no matter how fervent the argument, nothing changes the fact that Apple still continues to have 90% of the market with their "flipping knobs" that are easy to use for the average consumer. My mom and dad both got clunky looking Zens and my mom's stopped working right after the initial warranty, whereas my original iPod lasted 3 years (after which I decided I wanted something cooler and got an iPod video). I've played with a lot of devices, and most are a pita compared to iPods and Zunes. User interface counts. Mass Storage Device access may be nice, but if the device is worthless for actually sorting and listening to the music you want to listen to at the time you want to listen to it, then the device has failed its primary function. I've played with quite a few non "brand name" devices and even found spelling errors in the interface. I mean come on. At least attempt to do it right.
Brilliant argument man!!! Although with the new iPod Apple have lost many customers in the Linux realm (not me, but it is a statistic). Meaning that they can't play music at all. Maybe my perspective of the iPod Touch would improve if Apple released info about how to update it with music. And all the "music [I] want to listen to" is OGG. So not much support from that perspective: so by your definition the device has failed. Maybe the Yampps are the answer, but the interface is horrible!!! Your iPod, if 3 years old, works with mass storage (meaning a music player can convert the files for you): so I don't think you have a clear view of my perspective. I am not advocating the Zune, iPod, or Zen. All I am saying is that these big companies need to learn about open standards instead of locking their customers into sub-standard software. When you consider that Winamp is all Nullsoft does you must realise that they must have gotten really good at it: and IMHO they have.
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. [Chineese Proverb] Jonathan C Dickinson (C# Software Engineer)
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I've never used a Zune... I have an iPod nano (2GB from, whoah, 3 years ago?) and like it, but I've heard good things about the UI of the Zune. My biggest question about the Zune would be its syncing software. iTunes gets the job done with iPods, although it certainly has issues. I'd rip my own fingernails out if I had to use Media Player to do it though... MP seems to do everything to 90% satisfaction, and getting that final 10% is enough to drive you insane. (Ripping, burning, library management... it's all JUST annoying enough to make me not use it.) My iPod recently just decided to mark its entire library as "used space" but I couldn't play any music. I was able to reset it and reload it though. I'm hoping it doesn't get increasingly unstable, I think I've been lucky so far. ("But hey, I thought Apple products never suffered from mysterious debilitating bugs!")
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency! -Emily Dickinson
I use my phone for the rare occasions when I listen to music away from my computer or a stereo. A 2GB microSD card is enough capacity for me - I can fit nearly half of my 5GB music library on it. Regarding software, I just stick the card in a reader (using a micro-to-standard SD adapter) and copy files onto it with Windows Explorer.
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Brilliant argument man!!! Although with the new iPod Apple have lost many customers in the Linux realm (not me, but it is a statistic). Meaning that they can't play music at all. Maybe my perspective of the iPod Touch would improve if Apple released info about how to update it with music. And all the "music [I] want to listen to" is OGG. So not much support from that perspective: so by your definition the device has failed. Maybe the Yampps are the answer, but the interface is horrible!!! Your iPod, if 3 years old, works with mass storage (meaning a music player can convert the files for you): so I don't think you have a clear view of my perspective. I am not advocating the Zune, iPod, or Zen. All I am saying is that these big companies need to learn about open standards instead of locking their customers into sub-standard software. When you consider that Winamp is all Nullsoft does you must realise that they must have gotten really good at it: and IMHO they have.
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. [Chineese Proverb] Jonathan C Dickinson (C# Software Engineer)
Sorry to get back to this so late, but I took vacation. I concede that if you want to listen to OGG at the moment, that you are severely limited in what you can use. [edit] After a bit more thought, I think that you are coupling format to content. It would be like saying, "I want to watch Beta" instead of "I want to watch a movie". My favorite music media + encoding was actually minidisk with Atrac Rev R. I can't listen to that very easily anymore, other than at home, so I just use the proprietary MP3 encoding on a hard disk. If I wanted higher definition, I could theoretically use AAC. My brother uses OGG and FLAC. [/edit] I remember trying to use some of the alternative windows software to synching my first iPod and it all crashed before it could load anything, so I'm assuming that one of the updates made them useless. While the iPod is a mass storage device, the music library requires you to update some xml database file that I've never bothered with. I'll admit that I don't own an iPod Touch or iPhone, so if they changed the interface significantly, then I have no good understanding of it. Interface matters, and support for a wide variety of formats also matters. The problem is that you have to convince the right people to do both. I've gone through the pain of converting video for the Zune 30 and the narrow decoding capabilities they put into it for video are maddening.
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I never thought I'd say this but I'm thinking of getting a Zune. My old (well, one-day-past-warranty) iPod nano has become so unstable that it's barely usable. I was thinking of getting another then realised the Zune has - Wifi - A radio - support for WMA - a lower price tag - longer battery life Anyone had experience (and comments) with both?
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
I have had one since December and like it better than my son's iPod. While I don't use the radio feature alot, the WiFi syncing is great. Drop it in a dock near the front door and it syncs via my wireless network. It doesn't use media player, it uses its own software that is a bit flashier and links into the Zune marketplace. It imported my windows media player library easily and I have purchased a few albums from the marketplace. They clearly mark if an album has drm so you can decide up front. The interesting thing is that windows media player also gets the new album, although I am moving away from media player and exclusively to the zune software. There is a social aspect where it can track your plays and report it to your social profile, if you want. I have found it an interesting way to find new music by looking at others that listen to artists that I like and seening what else they listen to. All in all it has been a positive experience and by the end of this year it will officially have games (I have the beta loaded now).