[Cool_Torpedo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neblin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Please define "good care" I like to dance, jump and occassionaly headbang to my music. Perhaps the ipod classic (its HD, especifically) cannot keep up with me?

Oh nothing special, I never had a protective "second skin" for it, so it's scratched and has a couple of marks since I opened it to replace the batteries. Just being careful not to drop it on the floor from more than a couple of feet, not dropping liquids on it... normal care I suppose. Mine has travelled with me accross the Pond several times, has run most of Europe and comes with me every day in my commute to work, always in the jacket or pants pocket. I always try not to set to charge the battery until it's completely dead and don't connect it to the PC unless strictly necessary, usually when the battery is very low or empty.
I'd say this thing is pretty tough. If newer models are built like this old one, I'd expect them to last more than five years without problems. Harddisks are supposed to be better nowadays, so probably it'd last more.

Rgrds.

 

[ricthaman]

My vote goed to the ipod.

I hated ipod form the start of it for only one reason: Awfull SQ.
Now I have a Touch, Nano and Classic and I like the sound of the classic the best. The classic give sme a more detailled and a more living sound. It's just great for all my music. Add a great interface and superb ease of use to that and great integration with my Mac and you're done.

I even decided to sell some stuff, since I remembered that I'm a poor student and need my cash. I thought about it alot and eventually ended up selling my MZ-RH1 and Touch. (the nano belongs to my old man)

I have no regret of it, and I'm perfectly happy with my iPod Classic. Great device. I do have a walkman (flash) for when I go and do rough stuff which could break the ipod.

IMHO you can't go wrong with the classic

greetz

 

[dgs]

I have to vote for the ipod at the moment. My ipod died, so I went out and got a zune. It's a nice little machine. However:

1. it has the annoying interference when switching songs, switching menus, etc. I can live with it. the ipod is silent save for the music.
2. it does not load AAC files. When you load them, it converts them before placing them on the zune. if i wanted mp3 files, i would convert them myself using better software than they are likely providing. very annoying. a deal breaker. Since i can't control the conversion, i don't even know if the zune is downsampling my files. at least the ipod puts on what it says it puts on.
3. the video screen is bigger, but the colors are terribly oversaturated, and the contrast is way too high (things are either bright or cast into a black shadow--shadow detail in particular is lost). So, the ability to see increasing subtlety on the bigger screen is essentially washed out by the fact that half the screen is cast into darkness. the ipod screen is smaller with less contrast, and a better approach to both midtone and shadow detail rendtition.


I went to the Apple Store and it turned out that they exchanged my ipod for free, so i have been doing a side by side with them--with 320 aac files on the ipod and whatever the zune is converting those files to. the sound quality of both is good, but as others have noted, the midrange is much richer on the ipod. the bass is thicker (but not cleaner or more articulate) on the zune. the highs on the zune can be a bit irritating--a bit of a push in part of the treble for impact that can be grating. I like them both okay soundwise, but the ipod has a more neutral and balanced sound to me...

However, I should point out that my ipod died after about 6 months of erasing itself every few weeks. My new ipod has not had such problems (yet). Both are 160GB classics.

 

[vulc4n]

The Zune is the better choice so long as you can deal with the PC side software.

IMO, the Zune would be by far the best player on the market if I wasn't forced to use the Zune software. I love the UI on the Zune itself.

 

[lamewing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgs /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1. it has the annoying interference when switching songs, switching menus, etc. I can live with it. the ipod is silent save for the music. 2. it does not load AAC files. When you load them, it converts them before placing them on the zune. if i wanted mp3 files, i would convert them myself using better software than they are likely providing. very annoying. a deal breaker. Since i can't control the conversion, i don't even know if the zune is downsampling my files. at least the ipod puts on what it says it puts on.

STRANGE...
1. My Zune 80 accepts AAC files just fine as did my Zune 30.
2. My Zune 80 is silent when changing menus except for the sounds effect that you can turn off.

I think you have something wrong with your Zune

 

[dgs]

the zune accepts AAC files, but if you look at "device" while the unit is syncing, it (very quietly and in a tiny font) alternates the message "syncing" with "converting." Maybe I am wrong, but...I have no better explanation for that message. If I am missing something, could you tell me so that I can load AAC files on my zune?

the interference issue when changing songs and menus is unfortunately, fairly well-established. It seems to be that some zunes have it, and some zunes don't. Trying to explain why the folks at Circuit City should replace my zune because it does that has proven next to impossible. C'est la vie. My ipod, however annoying to deal with a "genius," was replaced on the spot with no hassle (other than waiting for 20 minutes to speak with a genius...

 

[tstarn06]

Can you define "interference"? Do you mean the sound effect? Mine also turns off easily. Strange yours won't. Also, doubtful Zune SW would convert files to MP3 (it would be WMA if anything), but I have listened to both and they are pretty close SQ-wise. Never loaded an AAC onto the Zune, cause I don't have iTunes, but I am going to check it out and see if it sounds any different side by side with MP3 or WMA.

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Quote:

the zune accepts AAC files, but if you look at "device" while the unit is syncing, it (very quietly and in a tiny font) alternates the message "syncing" with "converting." Maybe I am wrong, but...I have no better explanation for that message. If I am missing something, could you tell me so that I can load AAC files on my zune?

Why you didn't Reverse Sync those AAC tracks and see if the bitrate or something else was changed from the original tracks ?
better yet, post one of those AAC files.

 

[dgs]

interference = crackling, static, etc. when moving around the device's features, switching songs, etc. You can probably do a search here or in google and find others with this problem. It's not the sound effect (I may be dumb, but not that dumb).

As for the AAC issue--I am much less interested in solving it than you guys are. I am willing to accept the fact that I might be misunderstanding some message that the zune is rendering on syncing. I retract that complaint with the zune if others do not find that they have the same problem. I am going to use the zune when doing yardwork, etc., where none of these issues will bother me at all. When I get around to resyncing, I will be happy to determine if there is a bitrate difference or confirm a format switch. But in the end, given all your responses, I probably mistook the conversion of an QT video file for an AAC audio file (assuming that QT video files are indeed converted).

I do like the zune--and in the grand scheme of things, it is a nice portable player. In many ways I like it more than the ipod. I was just remarking on the issues that lead me to prefer the ipod in my own case.

Thanks to you all for your attempts at trying to address my problems with the zune.

 

[wicker_man]

I personally have owned a 160GB iPod Classic (Black) since September 2007 and it has been great. I like the integration with iTunes (charge + sync by just dropping into dock) and the battery life is excellent. I am currently burning in my new JVC HA-FX33 Marshmallows and it has been running for nearly 24 hours and the battery monitor is showing just over half.

Before that, I had a 3rd gen 40GB iPod which is about 4 years old and still works perfectly (although the battery only lasts a few hours now).

I haven't used a Zune, so cannot comment. Also, they are not Mac compatible, so I cannot use one.

 

[Denver Max]

I will say that the "iPods only last 2 years" statement is wrong.

I still use my 1st generation iPod on a regular basis. It's 6 years old now. Still gets 5-7 hours of battery life. My only problems with it are its lack of Apple Lossless support and its lack of a dock connector to use with all of the iPod-based sound docks that we have at work.

On a related note, I have a 5th generation iPod (30GB) and have been using it for 2.5 years. Keeping it in a case or with the invisible shield (shieldzone.com...amazing), it still looks like new, and it performs well too.

 

[OblivionLord]

Anything that requires me to use a proprietary program just to inset music files like iTunes with iPods .. does not get my vote...

Zune all the way

 

[arteom]

you have to use zune software with the zune...

which is really the only downside with this player, you have to have all your files tagged correctly. Besides that I do love the zune80, its a great little piece of hardware. The sound quality on it is better then my zen v m. Its clean, clear and wide.

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Songbird support is coming. or you can try with zSuite (zAlternator)

 

[Walie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OblivionLord /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anything that requires me to use a proprietary program just to inset music files like iTunes with iPods .. does not get my vote... Zune all the way

you might want to think that over again