Ipod vs Creative

[Taejin]

Originally posted by: Wuzup101
I'd have to say that I recently purchased an iPod after owning several other mp3 players and I love the little thing. Okay so there are some weak points... the battery only lasts 10 hrs... so I have to remember to charge it at night every few nights. And um... okay can't really think of anything else that I need. I admit it would be nice to have an FM radio in my iPod so that I could never listen to the 2 poorly tuned radio stations that it did recieve. But I think i wont complain as i already have 13gb of music on it that I can listen to.

The one thing I think you all are missing is it's an mp3 player, that's all it was ever ment to be. The reason it's so popluar is it 1) looks good 2) is built well 3) is EASY to use. Yes believe me, I'm an engineering student, I can pretty much opperate anything you give me. I enjoy the ease of use of the iPod. I enjoy not having to screw with it all the time. It just makes life easier. I enjoy having iTunes (which is much better then Win MP IMHO) manage my music. I enjoy it updating my iPod with all the new songs I've ripped whenever i connect my iPod to my powerbook... yes I don't have to drag and drop... it just does it...

Right, for you, the iPod is great. Unfortunately for others (like me), we keep our own music organized, we don't like having proprietary software forced on us, we find more features @ less price attractive, and the comparative ease of use from the scroll wheel from the iPod does not justify the price to us.

And in all honesty, if the iPod was only "meant to be an mp3 player" why exactly does it have a crappy FM tuner? Why exactly can it play games? Under your logic wouldn't that totally defeat the purpose of being "just an mp3 player"? I think your wrong about the iPod just being "meant to be an mp3 player" - Apple seems to have grander plans than that.

If the white skin, Apple name brand and the scroll wheel is enough for you, then so be it. All I have to say is at the most *basic* function, Apple does worse than my iRiver (I own both - reiterating) - that is to say, playing music. In case I come under fire about "OMG U NEVER OWNED A NEWER GEN IPOD" a bunch of my friends have newer gen iPods, with the same earbuds I do, and the sound quality is good, just not as good as the iRiver.

So there you have it. In *my* world, it loses as an mp3 player, every which way (except for the scroll wheel).



EDIT: The most important feature to me in an mp3 player is its sound, hands down. I sampled a bunch of different mp3 players at BB, and went with the iRiver.

EDIT2: iPod can't even play .ogg, which is one of the best lossy codecs out there. I have most of my music collection converted to .ogg, which I can play on my iRiver.

 

[robertk2012]

The ipod doesnt have an fm tuner so I can tell you are real experienced with ipods.

 

[Wuzup101]

I guess listening is subjective then, because my x-gf had an iRiver mp3 player and it certainly didn't sound any better than my iPod does. As far as the "it's ment to be an mp3 player" ... well that's the truth, it is... it doesn't have a crappy fm tuner in it (that's yours remember... not the iPod). It does have solitare I believe or something like that... might even have more stuff... who knows... i've never seen anyone play them. Steve jobs has said it time and time again. Apple wanted to make a product that was great at one thing... not a product that was okay at a bunch of stuff.

Besides the 20gb iPod is half the size of the 20gb iRiver, and the price difference isn't that much. Best buy has the iRiver on sale now for $279 which is $50 off of the normal price (or so they say). The 20gb iPod is $300 w/ free engraving from the apple site (or $280 if you're a student/teacher).

To each his own though... if you like to fiddle with your mp3 player instead of using it... then the iRiver isn't a bad decision. I mean it does what it's supposed to... plays digital music. I'd just sooner not have to screw with anything and have a device do all it's updating on it's own. Besides the damn click wheel is just that good...

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: Wuzup101
I guess listening is subjective then, because my x-gf had an iRiver mp3 player and it certainly didn't sound any better than my iPod does.

Judging using what, the garbage phones they ship with it?

As far as the "it's ment to be an mp3 player" ... well that's the truth, it is... it doesn't have a crappy fm tuner in it (that's yours remember... not the iPod).

What's crappy about it? I suppose if you live in the middle of nowhere you might not get good reception, so granted FM tuners aren't for everyone. Dell and Creative offer players without FM tuners for far less money than the ipod. Creative's is attractive in particular, $200 for 40gb of storage.

Besides the 20gb iPod is half the size of the 20gb iRiver, and the price difference isn't that much.

The iaudio 20gb is around $270 and smaller than the ipod, it's got a lot of features as well. The 40gb model is an even better value at about $335 vs. close to $400 for the equivalent-storage offerings from iriver and apple.

To each his own though... if you like to fiddle with your mp3 player instead of using it... then the iRiver isn't a bad decision. I mean it does what it's supposed to... plays digital music. I'd just sooner not have to screw with anything and have a device do all it's updating on it's own. Besides the damn click wheel is just that good...

In other words, you have trouble using even simple electronics? Personally I had the hang of the iriver I toyed with within a minute or two.

 

[robertk2012]

Why is it you think ipod users have trouble with electronics? Most all the users I know are some of the brightest people out there. Kind of like with the mac. Average iq of a Mac user is 10 points higher than a windows user I would bet its the same for the ipod.

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: Wuzup101
I guess listening is subjective then, because my x-gf had an iRiver mp3 player and it certainly didn't sound any better than my iPod does.

Judging using what, the garbage phones they ship with it?

As far as the "it's ment to be an mp3 player" ... well that's the truth, it is... it doesn't have a crappy fm tuner in it (that's yours remember... not the iPod).

What's crappy about it? I suppose if you live in the middle of nowhere you might not get good reception, so granted FM tuners aren't for everyone. Dell and Creative offer players without FM tuners for far less money than the ipod. Creative's is attractive in particular, $200 for 40gb of storage.

Besides the 20gb iPod is half the size of the 20gb iRiver, and the price difference isn't that much.

The iaudio 20gb is around $270 and smaller than the ipod, it's got a lot of features as well. The 40gb model is an even better value at about $335 vs. close to $400 for the equivalent-storage offerings from iriver and apple.

To each his own though... if you like to fiddle with your mp3 player instead of using it... then the iRiver isn't a bad decision. I mean it does what it's supposed to... plays digital music. I'd just sooner not have to screw with anything and have a device do all it's updating on it's own. Besides the damn click wheel is just that good...

In other words, you have trouble using even simple electronics? Personally I had the hang of the iriver I toyed with within a minute or two.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: robertk2012
Why is it you think ipod users have trouble with electronics? Most all the users I know are some of the brightest people out there. Kind of like with the mac. Average iq of a Mac user is 10 points higher than a windows user I would bet its the same for the ipod.

Those who're less intelligent or less knowledgeable will almost always go with whatever is more popular without question - windows & ipods. Further, the price on Macs precludes most people from buying them, and even those who can afford it easily will mostly go with the $500 Dell vs. the $5,000 Mac. Granted many intelligent people who know what they're doing use windows, the difference is that they know why they're using it and would likely switch if another OS better suited their needs. I find most Maccers to be pretentious and most ipod owners to be very young. In both cases, fashion is of paramount importance and tech-noobiness is the rule rather than the exception.

This is all off topic though, as the OP watned to know about the players themselves, not their owners.

 

[konakona]

Average iq of a Mac user is 10 points higher than a windows user I would bet its the same for the ipod.

now THAT gets an official seal of WTF approval from me.

 

[EightySix Four]

I personnaly like iTunes on my comp, i use it over WMP10, I have an iPod 20gb, love it, simplicity is best, I don't have to go searching for music, I make sure and keep all my tags correct in iTunes. I plug it into other comps all the time with no problems, we have multiple mac's in the house, although I run pc's mainly and it will work on them even while windows formatted. Alot of other players are great, cheaper, more features, but IMUO (in my useless opinion) the iPod's software and control are supperior and that's why I made my choice.

 

[raildogg]

i believe the rio carbon pwns the ipod

 

[Wuzup101]

And I believe people that say pwns (or any of that other l33t speak) were probably dropped on their heads as children... again just personal oppinion.

BTW, the headphones were Beyerdynamic DT250-80s, a fairly decent set of studio headphones.

I'm also sorry that I came off so harsh. I still don't believe that any of the current hard drive based mp3 players best the iPod. However, if you wan't the extra features like the fm tuner, it's something you won't find in an iPod. I personally bought the iPod because of it's sleak design and ease of use. I like to just be able to drop something in my pocket and go without having to screw with anything. I also like the integration with iTunes, which some people here might not like. But it's easier than dragging and dropping if you don't want to worry about messing around with your music. BTW, i personally don't think that the iPod is any better looking than any of the other mp3 players out there. It's not bad looking, and I love the flush design. However, I also like the look of that iaudio player. If it were based on looks I probably would have bought that.

From the origional post, I personally wouldn't buy either the iPod mini or the zen micro. You get a much better deal price per gb wise if you step up to a regular 20gb iPod or other 20gb mp3 player.... and they aren't that much bigger... either one will fit in your pocket.

 

[Googer]

Ipod with Pictures any day over Creative ZEN. Because there is notihing Creative about Plagerism.

 

[Taejin]

Originally posted by: Googer
Ipod with Pictures any day over Creative ZEN. Because there is notihing Creative about Plagerism.

iRiver with FM tuner, recording, line in/out, pictures, video playback, USB On the Go and moddable Boot/Shutdown screens any day over the Ipod that shows pictures.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: Wuzup101
And I believe people that say pwns (or any of that other l33t speak) were probably dropped on their heads as children... again just personal oppinion.

BTW, the headphones were Beyerdynamic DT250-80s, a fairly decent set of studio headphones.

I'm also sorry that I came off so harsh. I still don't believe that any of the current hard drive based mp3 players best the iPod. However, if you wan't the extra features like the fm tuner, it's something you won't find in an iPod. I personally bought the iPod because of it's sleak design and ease of use. I like to just be able to drop something in my pocket and go without having to screw with anything. I also like the integration with iTunes, which some people here might not like. But it's easier than dragging and dropping if you don't want to worry about messing around with your music. BTW, i personally don't think that the iPod is any better looking than any of the other mp3 players out there. It's not bad looking, and I love the flush design. However, I also like the look of that iaudio player. If it were based on looks I probably would have bought that.

From the origional post, I personally wouldn't buy either the iPod mini or the zen micro. You get a much better deal price per gb wise if you step up to a regular 20gb iPod or other 20gb mp3 player.... and they aren't that much bigger... either one will fit in your pocket.

Problem with itunes/ipod is that you're pretty much forced into it. Granted you can try your luck with notoriously buggy 3rd party software packages like anapod, but Joe User won't know they even exist and has even less of a choice than the knowledgeable user. If you like itunes, that's fine, noboby's saying you're not allowed... personally, I'd rather not install malware (QuickTime) with my music player and prefer something powerful, simple, and with a tiny memory footprint - ie. foobar2k. With most other portable players I at least have that choice. Itunes is notoriously buggy as well, btw. Glad you haven't experienced problems, but a lot of people have - especially those with large collections, > 40gb/5k songs.

If the ipod was $200 or even $250 for a 20gb model (though at $250 it better at least include a case) I wouldn't have much of a problem with it, but of course Apple couldn't sell it at that price, which is all it's worth, and still afford to advertise. I want to pay for a player, not advertisements on tv - I don't even watch that crap save for baseball.

Originally posted by: crazySOB297
I personnaly like iTunes on my comp, i use it over WMP10

Of course you do, wmp10 sucks as well. There is other PC music management/playing software out there.

 

[Wuzup101]

I've never really heard of anyone with problems with iTunes (especially on a mac... but that's to be expected). Most of my friends who use it in the dorms are on Windows platforms and all of them seem to think it's the best thing since sliced bread. I guess if you don't like the software though that's reason enough not to buy the iPod, and I totally agree with you there. However, there's too many people that do like the software's ease of use, another reason why iPod sales have been so high. Personally the reason I got rid of my previous mp3 player (a sony MD sport) was because the software interface was so god awful slow it wasn't even funny. It used to take me 20min to arrange a new MD or change something on my current disc.

BTW, I will say that I hate the iPod photo... I think it's quite overpriced and well... kinda a stupid idea. And the damn commercials are just anoying. I really don't think they needed to advertise anyway, they already had the largest peice of the mp3 player market share. They defintely should have just lowered prices instead of making those crazy commercials. I do kinda like the U2 one though... especially because U2 did the commercial for free...

 

[loic2003]

Gurck, how many times have you had this argument?!!!!






Everyone stop crying. Some like the iPod, others don't. That's the way it is. Neither party is going to be converted (I still like the iPod regardless of Gurck's slander ) so how about we all give up on this thread?

willbemcse: toss a coin, both players are good.

 

[stickybytes]

The creative zen micro is quickly gaining steam and creditability. I heard creative has some lofty market share goals for the coming year. i personally like the ipod but i don't see what everybody see's in them. I read in an article by Pc magazine that basically anything beats the audio quality of the ipod these days. Oucchhh.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

I personally can't notice any damned quality difference between ANY MP3 player I've EVER listened to (all using same source MP3) using my cheapo-depot Sony MDR-E828's. I'm not a big audiophile, although I AM somewhat picky about how I "think" it sounds. I can tell that dollar-store headphones are crap, I personally think that anything below 192 kbps is crap, and if its OGG, WMA9, or AAC anything below 128, depending on the song. But I can't tell the difference between my friends's Creative Zen Touch, Creative Muvo (the screenless one), Creative Jukebox Xtra, Samsung Yepp, iPod, or iRiver (its a flash-based mp3 player, the older usb 1.1 one, not the newer one). For me, its all about software (on the PC side), size, and pretty much how it looks. The Zen Touch is okay-looking, a bit chunky, but its easy to get used to, but Creative's bloatware is alot worse than any of you think iTunes is, not to mention you can feel the hard drive spinning up. The Muvo is okay, but its a flash-based player, not for me. Jukebox Xtra? Its too fvcking huge, the thing is a monster (compared to a 4th Gen iPod), and two people I know have had very well taken care of Xtra's go bad on them, one was 30GB, the other was 40. The Yepp was nice, but I'd lose something that small in a day or so. I DID notice a bit better audio quality on the iRiver, but its not enough to sway me to buy it (iRiver's flash-based players are extremly overpriced compared to the Creative Muvo N200).

It all boils down to your opinion, personally, I'm stuck between an iAudio M3L, or a U2 iPod, and I'm having a hard time making a choice, not to mention I freaking love iTunes, ages better than WMP10, and I have a bit of music in AAC I'd have to convert, but it shouldn't be a hassle if I go something un-iPod.

:beer: Cheers :beer:

 

[Taejin]

Originally posted by: loic2003
Gurck, how many times have you had this argument?!!!!






Everyone stop crying. Some like the iPod, others don't. That's the way it is. Neither party is going to be converted (I still like the iPod regardless of Gurck's slander ) so how about we all give up on this thread?

willbemcse: toss a coin, both players are good.

Go to your nearest BB or CC and try out the players from Apple, iRiver and Creative (and whatever else is out there).


-Bring your own set of cans to test-drive the mp3 players.

Don't listen to the reps, they know enough to help the most ignorant consumer, and if that is you, ignore my advice on the reps.

 

[Rock Hydra]

Essentially, buy for what functions you want. Read some reviews, read some specifications. You are buying this for YOURSELF, so go by what YOU want YOUR MP3 player to do, because many others use it for different reasons. Don't buy features you're not going to use, as nostalgia sets in when you realize you paid for something you didn't need/want. Although I don't own a mass portible MP3 player as I think the price:capacity ratio isn't appealing to me, I would say find something that suits you and what you do. So, think of some things you would want in an MP3 player and see which one fits best. I'm sure you'll be happier that way.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: sheik124
I personally can't notice any damned quality difference between ANY MP3 player I've EVER listened to (all using same source MP3) using my cheapo-depot Sony MDR-E828's.

Of course you can't, speakers/phones are as important as source, and Sony products are garbage.

For me, its all about software (on the PC side), size, and pretty much how it looks.

Money doesn't figure into it for you? Are you wealthy, or do you just bug mom & pop when you want something?

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: sheik124
I personally can't notice any damned quality difference between ANY MP3 player I've EVER listened to (all using same source MP3) using my cheapo-depot Sony MDR-E828's.

Of course you can't, speakers/phones are as important as source, and Sony products are garbage.

For me, its all about software (on the PC side), size, and pretty much how it looks.

Money doesn't figure into it for you? Are you wealthy, or do you just bug mom & pop when you want something?

1. I expected some sort of flaming from you

2. I don't give a rats ass if Sony products are garbage, these phones sound better than the crap that comes with players, and its good enough for me, I already said that I'm not a big audiophile, I think its riddiculous to spend 150 dollars on EARBUDS (Shure E3c). IF I was gonna spend THAT much money on headphones, I'd get some closed ear headphones.

3. Of course money figures in to it, and no I don't ask "mom & pop" when I want something, I save up money, and I do things like mod xboxes and build PCs for people to get some extra cash (just a high school student)

 

[Gurck]

I didn't flame you, why are you being so defensive? Fact of the matter is that sound quality is only as good as the weakest link, and even an ipod's bad sound quality is outclassed by cheap sony garbage. The phones are the reason you hear no difference, not the players. And most of AT is college age, so it was reasonable to wonder if you were, in which case the general way of getting things is to ask the folks and not worry about price - you yourself stated that the only things affecting your digital audio player choice would be PC software and looks.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

I know thats all you said, I just didn't find it as funny as you did.
I really can't justify spending upwards of 30, 50-60 MAX on headphones, because I don't sit down at home in a little corner and listen to music, I only use headphones on places like buses, in class, etc etc. And I already stated a million times, I'm not an audiophile, as long as it doesn't sound like its coming out of a telephone, its fine for me, but I can tell the difference between 64 and 128 kbps, and 128 and 192.

ALSO, if you think the E828's are garbage (I know they're garbage, but they aren't the worst thats out there) what do you recommend for 30-50 bucks? I was thinking about getting some Sony MDR-EX51LP's.

EDIT: And if an iPod isn't good enough for you, what is that can play AACs?

 

[Pr0metheus]

I absolutely hate the ipod. I got one last november for my bday (2003). It was f*cking horrible. Crashed on me 2x in a month took me a whole weekend to set it up. I finally got rid of it by giving it to my mom and got an Iriver H140. Which just last week broke. But I loved it. Getting a 40 gb creative Zen touch in january. Only problem i see with the zen is the lack of accessories. im probably going to mod the case it comes with so i can access the panel.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: Pr0metheus
I absolutely hate the ipod. I got one last november for my bday (2003). It was f*cking horrible. Crashed on me 2x in a month took me a whole weekend to set it up. I finally got rid of it by giving it to my mom and got an Iriver H140. Which just last week broke. But I loved it. Getting a 40 gb creative Zen touch in january. Only problem i see with the zen is the lack of accessories. im probably going to mod the case it comes with so i can access the panel.

Two friends of mine got Creative Zen Xtra's, same problems, cept theirs broke (both of them).
Another friend of mine bought a Zen Touch, he's pretty much happy with it, MUCH better controls than on the older Zens.