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Zune HD v. iPod Touch v. others?

post #1 of 13
10/30/09 at 5:38pm
Thread Starter 
Hi all,

I'm currently in the process of looking for an upgrade to my Zune 8. I've run out of capacity, and there's not much I'm willing to delete when I'm adding new music.

So, I'm looking for a new player. I owned a Zune HD for a couple of days, and overall was really impressed. However, I got two that had dud screens, so I figured I would wait for a bit as it was probably just a bad batch.

I mostly listen to music, but every now and then I will watch a video or two. However, one feature I'm really looking for is web browsing capability. I don't always take my laptop to classes, so the ability to check email, bus schedules, and the like would be really handy.

I have experience with the Zune HD and the iPod Touch as far as browsing. I though both were pretty decent, although the inability to open any attachments or PDF files on the Zune is a bit annoying. Is this the case with the iPod?

Also, if there are any other players out there that would fit the bill, feel free tom mention them. Most of my music is either max quality VBR or lossless WMA, or 320 kbps mp3. However, I could just use db PowerAmp to convert, I suppose... Although I'm not fond of iTunes that much.

As far as capacity, at least 16 gigs, although more is fine by me.
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post #2 of 13
10/30/09 at 5:56pm
iPod can do much more than Zune HD (app store). For a DAP, get a Walkman or an amp to the iPod if the internet is your priority. I don't think iPods play WMA. SONY supports AAC,MP3,WMA but no lossless except WAV and no gapless so far and no Safari either.
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post #3 of 13
10/31/09 at 1:06am
I am not sure that the ipod can open those file types either. But if you plan on using your DAP to play music and you already have a zune then i think that maybe the zunehd will work for you. IMO the zunehd builds on the already fantastic zune experience and if you have the patience, i believe that updates in the future will continue to do this. It has fantastic sound quality and the UI is dreamy, it far surpasses any other dap i have used including the ipod touch.

As you can tell i am a zune fanboy. But i would say that if you are looking for a DAP to play games and browse the web mostly with music and videos being a secondary concern then the ipod is probably the better choice. Due to the app store, better browser and jail breaking facilities.
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post #4 of 13
10/31/09 at 1:15am
The Touch can open PDF's from email attachments, and also in Safari IIRC. I also remembering being able to open Excel and Word files from emails.
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post #5 of 13
10/31/09 at 3:52am
I'm going to have to agree with abellaw. I'm no "Zune Fanboy," in fact I'm very anti-Microsoft, but they really did outdo themselves with the Zune HD. It's hard not to fall in love with the fluidity and personality of the UI. If your just looking for a media only experience and do not much care for apps, Zune HD would be your choice.
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post #6 of 13
10/31/09 at 6:18am
On iphone(so it should be same on touch) you can buy some pdf reader. I use goodreader. With it, youi can read pdf, word, txt and others. It cost something around 5 bucks.
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post #7 of 13
10/31/09 at 6:35am
STANZA reader, a free app... all the books you want...
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post #8 of 13
11/6/09 at 12:19am
I sometimes wonder if we are even talking about sound quality anymore with these players. It seems all the talk is about PDA functions and web browsing.


All I want to know is if the Zune HD is in the same league as the iPod Touch because I held one at Best Buy and I have to say that hardware is impressive. The back is finished in some kind of brushed metal and the front is attractive. It was much smaller than I expected and frankly it outdoes Apple in build quality (mind you I use an iPhone as my daily phone). It feels like a solid metal slab with a screen on the front.

Also it has video playback and output capabilities the iPod touch does not have like HDTV output. It bodes very well for future WinMo 7 phones hopefully.

But when push comes to shove I really don't care about all that. I just care that it sounds better than the iPod touch. So does anyone know?
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post #9 of 13
11/6/09 at 3:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sxr71 View Post
I just care that it sounds better than the iPod touch. So does anyone know?
With the Zune software you can chose the source quality and player quality up to 320kbps, which is just about what the majority of peoples mp3's are.
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post #10 of 13
11/6/09 at 4:34am
To my ears all zunes sound better than ipod. It seems the general consesus that zunes sound better than ipods. But you would have to listen for yourself before you find out which one sounds better.

But if you just want to know if they are in the same league as far as unamped and directly from the headphone out...the answer is most definitely yes.
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post #11 of 13
11/6/09 at 5:48am
^^ya,the zune headphone out is better than my sister's nano thats for sure,but the touch 2g SQ trumps the zune120 via headphone out,thats why i sold it.i dont like safari browser as i think it is slow and doesnt render text when you zoom in,i much prefer opera mobile and opera mini.as for the apps,definetly the touch is better but 70% of the apps are crap and not useful so i dont download that much.the zune software is ALOT BEETER than itunes and easier to navigate and sync.
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post #12 of 13
11/8/09 at 1:06pm
Thanks for the info guys. I'm just wondering now, if the Zune HD is firmly competitive with the iPod world, how does it compete with the likes of the Cowon S9 and Sony X?

On iPod I use AAC at 288kbps generally. I guess Zune can handle AAC and WMV lossless.

Does the HD have a line out for when I choose to amp it?
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post #13 of 13
11/8/09 at 3:03pm
the zune HD doesnt have a line out
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