ShadeZeRO Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 Hey everyone. Before I start talking, please no Hardcore I <3 THE IP0D iT R0Xx0rZ my B0XorZ, and no M$ bashing. I was wondering if I could get some insight on my soon to purchase mp3 player. There's very few criteria I want (besides the obvious good performance) : 20GByes or more memory. : Easy to connect to windows : Allows for all my music (mostly CD rips, I don't know if they are "protected" since I don't use WMV for it). : A good PLAYBACK Battery life (None of that 12893 hours standby, 1 hour played). : Most importantly, it just play video's, in as many formats as you can get it in. -- WMV, and AVI would be good atleast. A couple of players I was looking at: -Creative Zen Vision: M (If I could get the W, it would be sick, but its expensive) -Microsoft Zune -Toshiba Gigabeat S (but is it considered old?) -Mabey the Apple IPOD (but not really). I don't want to spend more then $249 retail, but If possible, keep it close to $200 as possible (links very much appreciated). Thank you =) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Games Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 just get an iPod they are in their...nth generation now, my brother just got a 30GB etc Zune is cool, but it is brand new...and look at all the problems the iPod had when it was brand new, first-third generation stuff etc iPod has been around long enough, it's and iPod world my friend. I'm not really sure why you are against an iPod. I hate them too, and I hate Apple, and Steve Jobs, etc, but I even snagged my brother's used 4GB Nano iPod when he bought the 30GB (and I talked him into getting the 30GB model since again, they been around the longest, and they are the best players out there) ps: we don't use iTunes for our iPods. We use Winamp. I never have had a problem with ripping music then putting it on my iPod. It plays video in mp4 format, and that's no problem since there are plenty of free mp4 converters (and most websites already use mp4 or iPod compatible video since it owns about 85% or more of the portable music/video player market...so no one on earth is dumb enough to not make their vid iPod compatible) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadeZeRO Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 the only reason I am against the iPod is because of iTunes. If you get an iPod you are forced into using (and I assume only purchasing from?) iTunes. I also hear, if you add your personal collection to it, they tag it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashura Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 I own the Zen Vision: M and it's been a great player for me. I've had absolutely zero problems with it and it has all of the ipods functionality and then some. It sounds great, looks great, battery lasts long enough in my opinion, and you can just plug it in and use the explorer in a drag and drop style to move files over, or you can use the Creative MediaSource program. I highly recommend it. My only problem so far has been that if I buy a song off of iTunes, I have to burn it to a cd and rip it as an mp3 to use, but that's more of a hitch cause of iTunes and not a real Vision: M problem. Highly recommend it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Games Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 the only reason I am against the iPod is because of iTunes. If you get an iPod you are forced into using (and I assume only purchasing from?) iTunes. I also hear, if you add your personal collection to it, they tag it. you are forced to use iTunes??? really? i buy my cd's from the new & used music stores, amazon online, etc then i rip with to the pc with Easy CD-DA Extractor program then i use winamp to put them on our iPods you hear they tag your personal collection? in what way? and lets be honest....you hearing things like this and then spreading them without knowing any truths is a very very ugly way that rumors spread across places like internet. I hate iTunes and I refuse to use it. The very first thing I do when I plug an iPod into a computer is run Winamp and the little ipod plugin for it, then up/download songs via Winamp's Library. screw iTunes. I hate that spyware/malware/stupidware system-hogging bunch of crap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_bowtie Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 It seems everything is geared towards Ipod more than any others... You can go anywhere and get accesories for thre Ipod... As far as the Toshiba gigabeat....I have one...I have the 40gig one...Mine is the 1st revision and I love it... very easy to use... and sound quality is awesome...and you can sore pics on it... But...Toshiba has a new gigabeat out... and it is very on par with the Ipod and Zune... The 60gig Gigabeat is $230.00 or less and have a better/bigger screen than the Ipod..it has only 20hrs battery life but you can put movies under sereral formats as well as songs...and you can save you camera pictures to the Gigabeat and then load them to the PC later... Just check out the New Gigabeat at Toshiba.com...Plus the new model has FM radio with presets... They all seem nice but I have only used the Gigabeat as my friends have had Ipods...And as H_G says..there is a way around Itunes... Thats the reason I didnt get a Ipod... There are several way to load music to the Toshiba unit... There were problems with some players and Media Player 11 but I use 10 myself... I just rip the cd's to the player and the ones I've downloaded I convert and rip to cd and put them on the player... you get the best battery life with WMA 64kb files... Enjoy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadeZeRO Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 The Zen Vision M looks very promising, even though its getting dated, it still supports a hell of a lot of video formats (which is good, because I hate converting stuff, and losing quality, and all that jazz). The screen is smaller, but I suppose it might be worth it just for the functionality. @ AG, yeah, I have been mislead. Thanks for the info. @ dr_bowtie, You mentioned on the gigabeat s, if I already have downloaded music, I have to burn them to a cd, then re-rip them? or did I just misread that? So this is what we're at right now Votes: 1 - iPod Video 1 - Creative Zen Vision M 1 - Toshiba Gigabeat (new model) 0 - others. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashura Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 If you're doing this by votes, it's hard not to assume that the iPod is gonna win considering that's the majority's mp3 player. Is that the final factor you're basing your decision on? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadeZeRO Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 I'm not really going by votes, but it helps me keep track of everyones points. I've been doing some research all day. It seems like the Zen is the most feature packed, and preferred by most people. Due to : Large scale support for many different video formats (must for me). Decent price ($180 street for 30gb). Good battery life. Easily connect to PC (windows explorer works well). Even though it looks ugly as hell, I think I might end up with the Zen as it is the most feature packed for the price, and most places give it at least an 8/10 on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashura Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 I'm not really going by votes, but it helps me keep track of everyones points. I've been doing some research all day. It seems like the Zen is the most feature packed, and preferred by most people. Due to : Large scale support for many different video formats (must for me). Decent price ($180 street for 30gb). Good battery life. Easily connect to PC (windows explorer works well). Even though it looks ugly as hell, I think I might end up with the Zen as it is the most feature packed for the price, and most places give it at least an 8/10 on it. Those are all reasons why I bought it. Hopefully the appearance will grow on you, I personally think they look pretty nice in person. But if video is most important, maybe you should save for a bit and go for the Creative Vision W. It ships at 290 I think with it's bigger screen, which I think is worth it if I'm gonna be watching a lot of videos. Unless of course, you're ok with the small screen on the iPod/Vision:M/etc, then I'd say Vision M is your best bet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadeZeRO Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 I'm fine with a small screen. A larger screen would equal a lot less in battery time. I will use for music alot, but I'm going on a plain trip to India, so I just thought I'd get a few gadgets before I go. Plus, I can't watch movies in class too. My budget doesn't allow for the Vision W, its over $100 more then the M. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_bowtie Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 nope... With the Toshiba you can either Sync it with Media Player and copy them that way or use the Gigabeat software to load the music... I have all my music on my pc anyway so i just sync's with MP10 and it took like 5 minutes to load 7gig to the player... you can move any music you already have loaded to the player pretty easy... I wish they had as many nifty gadgets for the Gigabeat as they do for Ipod... you can get boomboxes that you pop your Ipod into and power or a Alarm clock power by a Ipod... those are just too cool... I really like mine for traveling.... My car stereo has a 1/8 auxilary jack in the face plate and I just plug the player in and go...no more stopping to reload the cd-changer....and no more carrying 200 cd's... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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