[Waveblade]

My younger brother bought a Creative Zen 8GB under my recommendation and now after 2 years I'm possibly retiring my Creative Zen Microphoto.

Now, the 16GB Zen is like 160 while the X-fi is like 180 or so. But the X-fi had some nice headphones so the difference is not that much if you take that into account.

Now I usually have most of my music in 192kbps and some v0 stuff. I'm just wondering if the slight thickness and slight half ounce difference gives it a better "feel". Also is there any battery life difference between the two? If I don't use the features of the X-fi, will it be a waste? I hear the wifi is more of a gimmick than with good amount of usage. *shrugs*

Feedback would be good. Thanks!

 

[G-man]

i would go with the X-fi. if you already own headphones, then sell the ones supplied for $50ish, and if you don't use them. also, i have heard the "X-fi technology" seems to be quite good on low bitrate music such as yours, so that is always a plus. in truth, for the extra 20 bucks, just go for the new one. why arent you going for the 32 gb model?

 

[Waveblade]

I am upgrading from my 8GB one and frankly, if I wanted a 30GB model or more, I'd aim for the HDD one.

32GB would just make me have music but never

 

[G-man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waveblade /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am upgrading from my 8GB one and frankly, if I wanted a 30GB model or more, I'd aim for the HDD one. 32GB would just make me have music but never

in that case, there are other 16 gb models out there. the house favourite being the cowon D2. look it up on this forum, you will only hear good things (for more than the real reason)

 

[Waveblade]

Sorry, pressed post message a tad early!

Anyways, I think that having 32GB would be a waste since it is substantially more, and I don't think I'd get the usage out of it. I am not a music "collector", hence I'm sticking with flash for now. Right now with my constant deleting of music I listened to once and never listened to again, I'm hitting the limit of my 8GB Microphoto. So I think by the time I breach that capacity, it won't be for another few years.

Also one more question. Is it possible to replace the battery via third party means? It's really too bad replaceable batteries aren't standard but I have no complaints about the battery life, since it is double of my previous player when I first got it (now it's about half if not less than its rated 12-14 hours)

 

[G-man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waveblade /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also one more question. Is it possible to replace the battery via third party means? It's really too bad replaceable batteries aren't standard but I have no complaints about the battery life, since it is double of my previous player when I first got it (now it's about half if not less than its rated 12-14 hours)

that is completely dependent on the model, manufacturer etc. bit i think it is doable, whether or not 3rd parties do it is another issue

 

[Waveblade]

I haven't played around with the Cowon D2, but I don't want something like a touchscreen.

It looks very good, but it isn't just for me.

 

[G-man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waveblade /img/forum/go_quote.gif I haven't played around with the Cowon D2, but I don't want something like a touchscreen. It looks very good, but it isn't just for me.

fair enough. still look around before you make your mind up. there are many many alternatives.

 

[Waveblade]

I have looked at pretty much everything though. Either it's out of my price range, or I don't like it simply.

So it seems that the x-fi has some better battery life along with some of its features. I suppose that is another bonus.

Honestly though, I've looked around quite a bit. Outside of Cowon D2, which I haven't tinkered with, I have tinkered with most other mp3 players as well as read reviews, etc.

 

[Warhawk]

I personally wouldn't get the x-fi mainly because the 'x-fi' feature is software based and not hardware.
So it's just like BBE, SRS WOW, or DNSe.
Of course they're not all the same, but the same idea.

Also because of all those tiny buttons!
And the firmware isn't that great either.
Have you seen video footage of it?
The way you use the buttons for the keyboard for wifi features is horrible.

Have you looked at the new sony lineup?
They have a 16gb model you could look at, and one has bluetooth features.
Plus, according to many here, they have stellar sound quality.

 

[minimelody]

Be it hardware/software most importantly is that the sound quality is good. Tried the x-fi with the latest firmware & music with x-fi turned on sound pretty nice. Actually I didn't like the buttons too but I realised there's a good point about that. When you are navigating your player in your pocket, you can know which button you will need to press on