Zen Touch & Dell DJ - budget players?

[pretzelb]

I was just curious if the Zen Touch and the Dell DJ were good budget players or if there are some known audio quality issues with them. I've read some reviews on them and they seem to be rated well. But after watching these forums for a while I hardly see them mentioned. Is it because the lack the features of a the more expensive models?

I think I'm a user who would be happy with less features if audio quality was still good, especially if the price was right. I'm wondering if these players are just skipped by many because they don't meet the needs of a demanding user.

 

[apnk]

Yeah they're great cheap players, but guess what feature heavy player is priced the same? The Rio Karma

 

[pretzelb]

I've given up on the Karma. I think I got the idea to buy a player about 1 month too late. Now it's hard to find a new one at a good price from a decent (imo) seller. I almost bought a refurbished one from uBid but they went too fast. The final slap in the face was Amazon had them for $300 when everyone had them for around $220, and then they went and raised the priced to $350 today. To be fair, it's probably just the limited stock bumping the price up as it's really from a reseller via Amazon.

If there were a Karma 2 with just minor changes I think I'd jump on it.

 

[AuroraProject]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pretzelb I've given up on the Karma. I think I got the idea to buy a player about 1 month too late. Now it's hard to find a new one at a good price from a decent (imo) seller. I almost bought a refurbished one from uBid but they went too fast. The final slap in the face was Amazon had them for $300 when everyone had them for around $220, and then they went and raised the priced to $350 today. To be fair, it's probably just the limited stock bumping the price up as it's really from a reseller via Amazon. If there were a Karma 2 with just minor changes I think I'd jump on it.

Dell has them for $210.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/P...ctlisting.aspx

 

[apnk]

I bought mine for $190 new from computers4sure.com. They have bad ratings from resellerratings ect but I have had no problems with them so far.

 

[pretzelb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuroraProject Dell has them for $210. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/P...ctlisting.aspx

Oh for crying out loud. I swear I checked them earlier this very week and they had zero. It's starting to freak me out how Karma's availablility keeps toying with me.

 

[tomphillips]

My Zen Touch is great, i love it. I know at least two other people who own one, and one of the listens to it when he goes skating and the thing is totally destroyed - dents, chips, abrasions - must have been dropped loads... yet it still works fine! Very well built.

In my opinion, the sound quality is spot on. I've read a lot of people like the very good noise to signal ratio, or something along the lines of that, and that its very good. But tbh I don't have a clue what it means

 

[ILikeMusic]

Most of the Creative players (including the Touch) provide audio quality that is a good as or better than anything available on the consumer market. I would also say that the 'fit and finish' on the Touch has finally equaled the iPod, although the circular touch pad on the iPod is easier to use than the vertical touchpad on the Touch. The Touch is a little bigger/heavier than some units, but also boasts a no-BS 24-hour battery life which is unmatched by any other HD player. All in all a very good value.

 

[crimsonadam]

The Dell is built like a tank. It's heavier than some of the other players, but that's because it's built so solidly. So, there's an obvious trade off there.

However the sound quality is clearly inferior to the Karma. The bass is not as present, the meat of the frequency range is not as strong, so that the audio output will sound weaker and thinner than on the Karma. When i went from the Dell to the Karma, this was immediately noticed. Immediately.

The user interface of the Dell is really well done and is easy to use, as is the little scroll wheel.

But, if the price is equal, i would not hesitate for a second to recommend the Karma, even with all of its "problems."

 

[pretzelb]

FWIW, I did a quick test of the Zen Touch at Best Buy and I have say I really liked the interface. It had a good number of buttons and the touch pad was easy for me to pick up. I can see where others may not like the touch pad but I really enjoyed it, probably because the menu was so small. I didn't have headphones so I couldn't test the sound. It also felt very sturdy. If the Dell line is even strong because of the materials, it must be like a tank. Not a bad idea on Dell's part since I'm sure there are many who want something sturdy.

Dang, wondering if I should have gone with a Zen Touch. Oh well.

 

[crimsonadam]

Isn't the Dell DJ made with Creative parts. For some reason i want to think that the interface in the Creative line and the DJ are extremely similar. If indeed parts is parts then it makes sense that there wouldn't be much of a difference, except for the build.

But the DJ is indeed meaty, you'll know when you've forgotten to put it in your pocket.

 

[pretzelb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crimsonadam Isn't the Dell DJ made with Creative parts. For some reason i want to think that the interface in the Creative line and the DJ are extremely similar. If indeed parts is parts then it makes sense that there wouldn't be much of a difference, except for the build. But the DJ is indeed meaty, you'll know when you've forgotten to put it in your pocket.

I thought they "looked" the same so I expected someone to bring it up but no one did. It's hard to say from a review standpoint since the Zen Touch seems to be praised but the Dell just kind of gets a lukewarm review. Then again, I'm finding it hard to find reviews besides PC Magazine and Cnet, and I'm finding PC Magazine reviews to be bit odd at times.

 

[mkozlows]

I posted a review of the Dell DJ30 here, so won't repeat myself (look at my old posts to find it quickly; I haven't made that many, so it'll come up in the first page or two). In general, I think it's a perfectly fine player, once you install the PlaysForSure firmware. The UI is great, the connectivity (MTP and USB Mass STorage) is perfect, the aesthetics and build quality are (in my opinion) better than anything this side of an iPod, the sound quality is adequate (it doesn't measure up to the sound coming from a HeadRoom Micro DAC/Micro Amp combo, but is fine when compared to an iRiver H340 and better than a Creative Zen PMC), the price is obviously superb, and the lack of features leads to a pleasing simplicity if you didn't care about the features.

Caveat: I had problems with Yahoo's subscription music service; it's unclear whether the fault is Yahoo's or Dell's, but if you want to do that, you might want to check out something else.