[egoLein]

Hey

In the last couple of weeks I was like everytime looking out for new reviews for those players, but still I dont know what to decide for


Creative Zen Neeon
Contra that disturbs me most: The Lag between the songs
Is there already a firmware update that fixes the, as I read about 6 seconds lag between some songs (4-6sec - right?)? I even read, by some songs its about 15 seconds!

And the USB charger, is it true that the Neeon needs only 3 hours to charge? And afaik it is no common USB cable, its a USB-to-AC-Charger (creative cable, not a comon cable), right?


Iriver h10 5gb
The Player i read the best ratings from. Firmware 2.0 fixes most annoying things or most problems, and the complaining customers seem to be few.

Contra: Imo its _very_ ugly. Only possibility would be the black one
And the playtime is just about 6-8 hours!


Ipod Nano/Video
Didnt read much reviews bout them, cus I already know the common problems. The Battery problem, afaik Ipod already replaces the battery for free in Europe in Warranty time?!?
Slowly Ipod is being more and more a possibility for me, cause every player has bugs, it seems like Ipod has the most technically-matured players?


Olympus m:robe the 5gb one
Has a crappy Software. You have to deselect every track you do not want to Sync, or just delete everything in the library except the tracks you want to sync.
Very good looking, but because of that software actually no real possibility anymore.


_
By all players (except Ipod) I read Opinions/Ratings, by the Neeon it seems to be 50:50. Some say, its a waste of money cus of the buffering-lag between the tracks (the small display wouldnt annoy me that much I think), some say its acceptable, some dont even talk about it. The Neeon just looks so ****ing good, and like noone has it in Europa, lots of my friends have Ipods (Nanos/Minis/Videos), one more point why i actually dont want to buy myself an Ipod.

As said, the Olympus has the crappy Software and a not-long-going battery.



Any Ideas/Hints/References/Opinions/Experiences?

Please avoid Replys like 'Omg ipod is teh best go buy it'


Thx 4 Help

egoLein


*** EDIT ***
oh yeah, and i heard that the neeon freezes often?

 

[LaBreaHead]

Have you seen and held the iRivers in your hands? I don't think they look as good in photographs, but I think they look much better "in person" (since you commented on their appearance). The darker-color ones, especially.

I would have considered the Neeon as a potential replacement for my 5GB Rio Carbon (should anything happen to it) a few months ago ... but the Rio is working very well, so there hasn't been a need to consider it further. I agree that for music listening, the Neeon screen is a non-issue. You should check, though -- the sound output might not be as good as that of the Micro, if that's an issue for you. (Speaking of Rio, if you can still get a new 5GB or 6GB Carbon or Pearl, you should consider that, too. Much better looking in person, very slim, very good sound, easy to put in a pocket ... and not a fingerprint magnet, like the Olympus, which I will admit looks good.)

Flash memory has its advantages, so the iPod Nano might well be the way you want to go.

 

[aaroncort]

The M:robe sound quality is bad. I bought one and gave it to my girlfriend after a couple of weeks. Even amped it sound thin with rolled off treble and week bass. The mids were good, female vocals sounded amazing. Even though they are very cheap I'd spend the extra money to get a good player.

P.S. you have no idea how crappy the software is...... Its a nitemare to use and the transfers are slow. It will only rip in WMA as well and if you delete a song from your library there is no way keep it on your player when you sync it will automaticly be deleted.

 

[egoLein]

Rio Pearl? Havent found anything of that one in the Internet (not even Rio-Page)

Concerning iriver: yeah, the black one would be the only possibility for me. But the Neeon just looks more .. lets say spacy

Sound Output could be an issue, but afaik, the Micro has excellent Quality, and when its just 'might not to be as good as', sounds like not a BIG difference, that would actually be no point if there arent worlds between the sound quality

And the carbon is really much better looking in person?

Anyone any experiences with Neeon? Good ones are welcome too

egoLein


*** EDIT ***
one more thing bout the Rio Carbon
I didnt find a country-specifier on the page of the Rio, not even an english version of the page. Just Japan. Are the firmwares good enough built (languages)? (If i could find them on the page!)

Good friendly Support?

 

[azncookiecutter]

How about the Zen Micro? It is, in many respects, much better than the new Neeon. First off, an easily replaceable battery, and the gaps between songs are very short (although not gapless). You can find it for pretty cheap these days, especially the Zen Micro Photo taking the limelight. It also undercuts many of the other DAPs you mentioned in price. Sure, there's the occasional issue of defective headphone jacks, but Creative has fixed that long ago.

EDIT: And Rio is dead, so absolutely no technical or warranty support, in case you every run into problems with it.

 

[Ingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by azncookiecutter EDIT: And Rio is dead, so absolutely no technical or warranty support, in case you every run into problems with it.

Uh, no. DNNA was/is responsible for the warranties after the Rio collapse. I don't think you can find a new player from an authorized retailer anymore, however.

 

[s2pidstoner]

to OP

The Pearl that was mentioned was the Rio Carbon Pearl. It's a newer/different version of the Carbon that has a different color scheme (white/black to original's silver).

This is the original

 

[egoLein]

By my decision i go alot after design, and the Micro, saw it only on pictures in Internet, but I dont really like the design

My Favourite would be the Neeon, I dunno why Im so convinced with Creative (I had a Muvo, had to replace it 4 times)..

I think now the only possibilities would be the iriver h10 and the zen neeon. Any experiences with them?

If the gap is small between tracks, i wouldnt care, but in reviews from neeon i read that its 4-6 seconds, and 4-6s are very long, that actually is the only thing because i didnt buy it till now, but its a major point.
As well as the freezing is a major point too...

 

[egoLein]

In the reply of Creative for my question how i could solve the lag-problem of the Neeon between the tracks, he told me to do following:

1. Creative Mass Storage Driver 1.07.00.250 (3.24 MB)
Filename: MStorage_PCDRV_LB_1_07_00_250.exe

2. Creative Zen Neeon Firmware 1.009.00 (2.14 MB)
Filename: ZenNeeon_PCFW_LF_1_009_FM.exe

Any experiences if it helps? If yes, how much does/will it help? How much will be the lag after installing those?

Thanks for help

egoLein

 

[IpaqMan]

You can find some brand new Rio CE2100 (2.5gb version of Rio Carbon) at some F.Y.E. Music stores. I saw a few black and green ones on sale ($80 after $40 rebate). I have a Rio Carbon 5GB (factory refurbished for $100). I like it with the new "hacked" firmware with better playlist support and a "sleep" timer. The Carbon is slim and operable from a pocket. It also supports Audible.com books. Navigation is via tags or folders.

I just bought a 4GB Ipod Nano along with the new Apple radio remote. You can't operate the Nano by itself from a pocket but the new remote solves that problem. The remote works like the Shuffle controls (all clicks, volume). The Nano also supports Audible.com books. The remote is pricey at $50 but it integrates very well into the Nano and does not add any bulk at all and is very well made.

 

[Jubei]

Bought a Neeon for my sister for Christmas - the thing lasted 3 weeks before it decided to freeze in a bad way. Reset button did not help. Build quality was so-so, alot less impressive than my ZVM.

I wouldn't recommend the Zeeon.

 

[egoLein]

Hey

Thanks for all your help guys!


The 2 remaining players I am interested in are the Zen Micro and the Iriver h10.

I could get the Zen Micro for the same price or even cheaper, the 6gb one (Iriver would be 5gb, so 1gb more _for the same price or even cheaper_)


The only things why I am still thinking about my decision are first:

The headphone jack problem about the Creative, but as 'azncookiecutter' said, it is already fixed? Are you 100% sure?
Could it be that some retailers in Austria still have the old Creative player, where the headphone-jack-problem could appear?

second:

The Iriver h10 (for 230€ including shipping) has 2 years warranty.

As already said, I had to replace my Creative Muvo 4 times (now they wont replace it anymore), so I had 5 players.
By 4 of them broke the harddisk! ('Media Error' -> freezing -> no starting anymore)

So I'm a bit scared because I think every harddisk player will sometime break, I know, some of you have their players for years, but others for just some months or something, and a 2 year warranty, isnt it worth a lot?

Because I'm a bit scared I would pay like 30€ more to get a player with 5gb (instead of 6gb) with a 2 year warranty, but, is it worth it?

What do you think?

Thanks for help

egoLein


*** EDIT ***
Could you tell me the loading-time for the Zen Micro over the USB cable?
Will i have to buy an AC-Adapter to get a more-or-less fast load of the battery?
The software that comes with the Zen Micro is a must-have, so I cant drag and drop through Windows Explorer?

 

[azncookiecutter]

Some people who bought their ZMs during its first runs of production have the characteristical problem of headphonje jacks. All the later ones that I've seen have no porblems at all, including mine. Even if the problem surfaces, I'm pretty sure Creative would replace the player for free.

 

[austonia]

get the nano. best ipod yet

 

[egoLein]

Sorry but, did I ask you for your opinion for other players than the Creative Zen Micro or the Iriver h10?

Quote:

The 2 remaining players I am interested in are the Zen Micro and the Iriver h10.

Or do you see maybe a question written by me 'which ipod do you think is the best one austonia?' ?