[viper69]

I am as yet unsure which one to get.

I am not concerned about their differences in: size, weight or screen size.

I am concerned with their ease of use, particularly as it relates to transferring music from my PC (Windows98SE) to either MP3 unit.

Here's how I envision using either unit. RIpping/DLing music on my PC and making playlists on my computer..and downloading the various playlists to the MP3 player and selecting a certain playlist based on my mood and hitting shuffle for that particular playlist. Without question I will want to skip back and forth through songs of any given playlist that is playing to hear a particular song..how frequently I would do that..I am not sure.

Lastly..don't give me a response.."get the zen the ipod sucks" such simplistic responses offer me no knowledge to make an informed decision.

I have played with both units at CompUSA yesterday.

and I am completely not sure which one is better for my purposes.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[lextek]

I'm not sure how the windows software works with the iPod. I'm sure it is similar to iTunes. You can bounce around in playlists on the iPod. I find the iPod very, easy to use. The scrollwheel is a big plus. It has built in acceleration to zip through all your songs and playlists. So I vote for the iPod. And it sounds great.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by viper69 Here's how I envision using either unit. RIpping/DLing music on my PC and making playlists on my computer..and downloading the various playlists to the MP3 player and selecting a certain playlist based on my mood and hitting shuffle for that particular playlist. Without question I will want to skip back and forth through songs of any given playlist that is playing to hear a particular song..how frequently I would do that..I am not sure.

If this is the way you primarily listen, the iPod is perfect for you -- that's sort of the design aesthetic around which it was created. Scrolling through songs in a playlist is easier on the iPod than on any other MP3 player I've tried.

The one criticism I have of the iPod is its lack of abilty to "queue" songs on-the-fly. But it doesn't sound like that's a priority to you.

 

[viper69]

thanks

 

[lextek]

Queue, make a "playlist" on the iPod itself. Perhaps in the next firmware update.

 

[grancasa]

The iPod is one cool piece on engineering. I'd say get it just for the cool non-moving scroll wheel.

 

[viper69]

Your response was exactly the type of response I do not need..Evidently you didn't read what I said.

' a cool piece of engineering" as you put it just does not really explain anything at all.

Thanks but not thanks

 

[Pat]

I'm in the same boat as you, Viper69. I'm looking to get either the iPod or Zen. Here are my personal thoughts:

I know all I need to know about the iPod from reading this board. At least I'd like to think so. The consensus is that it works great, looks great and most importantly sounds great. If only I had a Mac, this would be a no brainer. But for me, the iPod would create two complications. First, my PC runs on Windows 98se. Since the included Software is NOT Windows 98se compatible, I'd have to use EphPod . Second, my PC does not have integrated firewire ports. I'd also have to buy a firewire card. These are hassles I'd rather not have to deal with.

The Zen on the other hand seems to be that it's geared towards PC users. It also comes at a cheaper price (per gig). Other than those two facts, the Zen is shrouded in mystery. I have no idea what it sounds like. I have no idea how well it transfers mp3s. I have no idea about it's ease of use.

I'll probably end up with an iPod unless I am clearly convinced that the Zen is superior.

 

[richpjr]

I believe the sound of the Zen should be the same as the NJB3, which an awful lot of people seem to feel is the best sounding hard disk MP3 player out there (I have one and agree!). Somebody mentioned in another thread that it does not have a line out - not sure if this is an issue or not, but the iPod does not have one either.

Better sound, much, much cheaper ($499 vs $299 with rebate last time I checked) and only a hair bigger? I'd take the Zen.

I don't think you can go wrong with either of them.

Good luck.

Rich

 

[onex]

Reasons why to buy the iPod and not the Zen:

- Zen does not show up as a drive letter on your machine when you plug it in. You need to install the creative Playcenter to communicate with your Zen. Zen cant be used as a portable harddrive, unless you use Playcenter for file transfer.

- Zen IS bigger than the ipod and around 1/4 bigger heavier than the ipod.

- Zen has a unlogical navigation system. In compare to the iPod, the buttons are smaller, and placed on the one sides of the unit, meaning that you cant click the buttons to ajust volume as your Zen lies in your pocket.

- Zen screen is just one third of iPods screen.

- The ephpod free software is truly superior to the playcenter used to control the Zen. Moving music on and off the iPod is MUCH easier than with the Zen.

- iPod is Apple. That means quality, good warranty and good support if you get in trouble. The iPod looks better, and really is a better unit than the Zen. Ive owned them both.

sorry for my english...

onex from denmark, europe, using pc with win98 and ipod and ephpod...

 

[williamgoody]

Viper

Will you be using a portable amp with either unit at all?

 

[Flasken]

Quote:

Originally posted by onex onex from denmark, europe, using pc with win98 and ipod and ephpod...

COOL another dane!! Are you from copenhagen too??

 

[richpjr]

I have never used ephod so I can't comment on it. However, you can pick up the Notmad explorer package that will give you a windows explorer interface to your Zen. It won't show up as a drive letter but it will allow you to access both data and music files with it as well. Creative does include a separate program to transfer data files to the Zen, though it isn't as nice as Notmad.

Your other points are valid, though they may or may not be important to some people. The one item I keep going back to is better sound for a lot less money.

I looked at the iPod long and hard and almost picked one up but they are just too expensive for what you get.

Rich

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by richpjr I believe the sound of the Zen should be the same as the NJB3, which an awful lot of people seem to feel is the best sounding hard disk MP3 player out there (I have one and agree!).

As an aside, those comments mainly refer to listening via the line-out on the NJB3. I think the iPod's headphone jack is better than the NJB3's.

If the Zen doesn't have a line-out, and uses the same headphone jack as the NJB3, I would suspect the iPod to sound better given the same audio files.

As for the price, you get what you pay for. The ease of use, both while using the iPod, and managing data, is worth a lot to me. I used a few of the Creative players and they were an exercise in frustration in terms of menus/navigation. I also use my iPod as a bootable hard drive and portable data storage, so that's worth more to me, as well. If ease of use and FireWire hard drive functionality aren't important, then the price may seem high.

 

[richpjr]

I haven't done an A/B comparison for a while between the two (actually it was between a NJB3 and an iPod - I assume it's the same with the Zen) for quite a while, but I remember liking the NJB3 a tad better, but nothing significant.

If you need the iPod to appear as a drive letter than clearly the Zen won't work. As I said above, I use Notmad and it works just like windows explorer does. I regularly bring large databases from home to work and it works just fine.

The navigation on the iPod is simpler than the Zen, but after getting used to the Zen, it isn't a big deal to me.

As I said, I don't think you can go wrong with either, but in MY CASE, the extra money wasn't worth it. Of course, on a place like Head-fi - talking about spending more money on toys is kinda silly!

Rich