[fappar]

its only $400 retail, so i will buy it if my next paycheck allows... hehe



anyway, what is the difference between the two zen players?


im off to sleep now, but i will check this thread in the afternoon when i wake.

 

[T07]

Actually since dumping my ipod I've found out that any zen can be 60gb. As it uses a standard notebook hard drive you can swap the 20gb for a 60gb yourself, step by step instructions around if you do a search, ........ it takes 2 minutes. The hardware needed to configure the drive is all built in.

Take note Apple.

 

[T07]

Found the page.....

http://www.extrememhz.com/zenupgrade-p2.shtml

 

[fappar]

thats cool, but a 20gb zen is 300, while the 60gb zen is 400.


the lowest price for a 60GB drive is $172 (thx pricewatch)




anyway, is there any difference 'sides the drive capacity?

 

[James]

Indeed, T07 is correct. I upgraded a Jukebox 3 in a similar manner. It's straightforward and very satisfying!

Contrary to fappar's assertions, the calculations works out slightly in favor of upgrading yourself. The price of a new Zen is about $270, a Fujitsu MHT 60GB from newegg.com is about $178, and -- here is what fappar missed -- you can sell the 20GB for more than the remaining difference, if you don't absolutely suck as an eBay seller, of course

. You end up saving money if you upgrade yourself, but definitely not time or energy.

For the moment, however, there is another difference between buying a new Creative Zen 60GB and upgrading to 60GB yourself: the firmware is hilariously better on the Creative version. As far as I know, the highest version for a 20GB USB 2.0 Zen is 1.01.01, whereas the Creative-branded 60GB comes with firmware 1.11.01. You get things like dynamically scrolling track and album names in all views, a new "Modern" Now Playing skin, clock screensaver, etc. Not to mention twice the track limit.

I have no idea what the latest firmware for the USB 1.1/Firewire looks like; it's currently at 1.12.02. Perhaps Austonia can help with that.

 

[MadDog]

Quote:

Originally posted by fappar thats cool, but a 20gb zen is 300, while the 60gb zen is 400. the lowest price for a 60GB drive is $172 (thx pricewatch) anyway, is there any difference 'sides the drive capacity?

It's a good price considering, triple disk space with longer battery life as compared to 1st generation firewire model which cost just as much (w/out rebate). Wonder why they don't make USB2.0+Firewire version any longer.

I am now thinking about upgrading it to 40GB at around $110.

For those who are upgrading it to 60GB, you may want to check this from a user at nomadness.net:

I've just upgraded my Zen 2.0 to a 60GB drive following the guidance given elsewhere on the 'net. This was necessary as I only had 60-odd MB of space left and still had at least a couple of dozen LPs to sample onto it.

However, I've found that I can only get 5340 MP3s onto the new 60GB drive whereas the original 20GB drive had over 5500 on it when I replaced it!

I've taken files off and loaded others on in their place and it still stops at 5340 (though PlayCenter merrily goes on lading more on without comment!).

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by James For the moment, however, there is another difference between buying a new Creative Zen 60GB and upgrading to 60GB yourself: the firmware is hilariously better on the Creative version. As far as I know, the highest version for a 20GB USB 2.0 Zen is 1.01.01, whereas the Creative-branded 60GB comes with firmware 1.11.01. You get things like dynamically scrolling track and album names in all views, a new "Modern" Now Playing skin, clock screensaver, etc. Not to mention twice the track limit. I have no idea what the latest firmware for the USB 1.1/Firewire looks like; it's currently at 1.12.02. Perhaps Austonia can help with that.

I traded my Zen for a Nomad 3, but I had one of the first Firewire Zen's (October '02). My Zen didn't have scrolling track and album names (one thing they really need). I have upgraded my NJB3 to 60gb, very easy. I have about 700 full albums on it, all tagged 100%. Nomads (excluding the new 60gb Zen) have a 8-10k track limit depending on amount of ID3 tag data used to make the database. But if you have a lot of large files, like DJ sets (60-120mb) then the track limit becomes less of a problem, and even an 80gb drive is useful. Even if you max out the database you can still use the extra storage space for data.

 

[fappar]

hmmm... i wonder. could i buy the 60gb and downgrade to 20? my lappy has a 20, and a 60 would be nice. that way, no selling of hard drives or anything. it would just be like upgrading the lappy for $100, saving $70