To ipod or not to ipod

spiki

spiki

spiki

Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2005
Posts
917
My mother recently gave me £200 as a little thank you for helping out my kid brother with an important university assignment - not a bad deal!

However, I am looking to buy a 30gb MP3 player and just can't decide on an ipod 30g (latest version - 6th generation?), a creative zen vision m or wait until the Zune arrives.

I have been researching and taking account of experts and customer's views on many many websites but seem to have paralysis as to what to buy.

Sound quality for music is most important. I also want something that is easy to use, reliable and although video is not the primary reason for purchasing, in time I will upload some of my 'backed up' movies from my collection.

Can anyone help me make my mind up and spend this £200 wisely?

Thanks
 
Do you have one yourself?

The concern I had about this was many users have reported the unit freezes when shutting down and its quite bulky.
 
i dont no, i choose an even bulkier full pmp touch screen player. The vision:m is very good though and i dont know anybody with those problem. TBH its only bulky to peopel who are acustomed to ipod's. They arent that bad at all and the screens are far better, not to mention the battery life and codec support.
 
Sounds good. Where I live there is nowhere nearby where I can try it out, although my kid bro has an ipod 30gb so I have some idea about it. I thought it was just alright but didn't blow me away. Just curious how the new ones compared...

Do you think Creative intend to release a new version of the Vision M before Christmas? Its been on the market now for about a year, hasn't it?
 
Both are good players - Altho I have a Zen Vision:M Id go with a iPod at the mo - you can rockbox it now - so can play lossless files and gapless playback... its smaller but the battery life is worse!

Creative are releasing a 60gig version of Vision:m that also has a USB Host! But its also even fatter :o
 
3 years ago I followed the advice of "iPod haters" and I regretted the decision.

I have since upgraded to the iPod photo and now the iPod video, and they are both fantastic. Sound quality is gradually getting better, but perhaps iPods aren't fantastic if you're hardcore about your audio quality.
 
Tommy B said:
3 years ago I followed the advice of "iPod haters" and I regretted the decision.

I have since upgraded to the iPod photo and now the iPod video, and they are both fantastic. Sound quality is gradually getting better, but perhaps iPods aren't fantastic if you're hardcore about your audio quality.
Click to expand...

do you believe its a better choice over the vision:m? if so, what are your reasons?
 
My personal reasons for preferring the iPod 30gb over the Zen Vision:M are the marginal cost difference (eg, not enough to make a difference to me), the fact that the iPod will do gapless, the better music store, better software for managing the device, and larger range of accessories. Also the iPod is thinner.

Edit: Also the iPod has a better interface.
 
Thanks for all your feedback folks - more confused than ever. Maybe I should wait for some user reviews of the latest iPod.
 
Last edited:
well the sound quality blew me away on the ipod... im no musical expert but i was extremely pleased - improves with better headphones too

there small, light. well supported by griffen etc as well as by many car head units, now support gapless playback.

only downsides are - everyones got one so it isnt going to be that statement, and the battery can be a bit poor if watching video (but remember it is a secondary feature)

then again im a biased apple fan boy ;)
 
Can anyone tell me a little more about the software and transferring files procedure. I have a few questions:
Can I drag and drop with an iPod?
Can I play ripped CDs from my collection on iPod?
Is it easy enough to convert WMAs for iPod?
How does the Creative software operate?
Thanks again and sorry for being so in the dark!
 
If you have WMP10 installed on a PC the ZVM is plug and play! You can drag and drop with ipod but only if you got Rockbox installed.

Yes you can play ripped CDs on both ipod and ZVM.

There are software that will convert wma to mp3/acc on the net - but there will be some minor sound quallity loss - if you have a large libary of WMA files then go with the ZVM - but with WMA battery life is a lot less on ZVM!

Never ever tried Creative software - always used Drag and drop on my ZVM - to rip CDs Ive used EAC/Lame - for Videos used DVDx/Xvid.
 
Zen Vision:M. Yeah, its a bit morer bulky, but the software si a lot nicer, and the video quality and sound quality is top notch. I thought my Iriver H10s sound quality was good until i tried my vision:m.

Its not that bulky to be honest, it took me a day or two to get used to it compared to the size of my H10, but it doesnt bother me at all now.

Best thing to do is go down your local electronics retailer (cant name them) and have a play with them both. Personally i prefer the ZVM to the ipod, the software may be more diverse, but the player is much more customizable, you can set your own themes and backgrounds etc. The A-Z search is a fearute Creative have used for a long time, and personally i think it works better on the ZVM as it hasnt just been added as an afterthought mid-firmware release.

Also, i prefer the touchpad on the ZVM, the click wheel is OK, but when scrolling through a lot of files, you get a bit fed up, whereas the ZVMs scroll bar will automatically go up and down the listing if you use the top/bottom of the touchpad.

As for freezing on the ZVM, mine has done it twice, while i was just constantly hitting the next track button, i think i hit it a good 30 times and eventually it froze, but other than that its been no less than perfect. Its easily sorted by hitting the reset button, and job done :)

Personally, i think people that take the ipod over the ZVM are daft as the ZVM technically is a better player, albeit just a little thicker and they are identical weights.
 
Last edited:
Caged said:
My personal reasons for preferring the iPod 30gb over the Zen Vision:M are the marginal cost difference (eg, not enough to make a difference to me), the fact that the iPod will do gapless, the better music store, better software for managing the device, and larger range of accessories. Also the iPod is thinner.

Edit: Also the iPod has a better interface.
Click to expand...

hmmm vegi is quiet right. its drag and drop if you have wmp10, and there arent many people who dont.

lets try and simplify this a little:

ZVM:

+ Longer battery life (around 4- 4.5 hours reported for video)
+ Better screen
+ drag and drop with media player 10
+ Better sound quality
+ Bettery Codec support
- Not quite as easy to use
- Slightly thicker
- Non-removable battery
- scratches easily

ipod video 30gb

+ iTunes music store
+ Slightly thinner
+ Very easy to use
+ Better range of accessories
+ Gapless support
- Limited codec support
- Poor battery life (3.5 hours quoted for video, closer to 2.5 reported from many users)
- Sound quality isnt as good, though better than previous generations.
- Non removable battery
- Scratches easily

Can anybody think of anything else?
 
Last edited:
james.miller said:
ipod video 30gb

+ iTunes music store
+ Slightly thinner
+ Very easy to use
+More accessories available
+Gapless playback
- Limited codec support
- Poor battery life (3.5 hours quoted for video, closer to 2.5 reported from many users)
- Sound quality isnt as good, though better than previous generations.
- Non removable battery
- Scratches easily

Can anybody think of anything else?
Click to expand...

Yep, added them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom