It's Official * Creative Zen Touch IS the ipod killa * CONFIRMED

[konakona]

Originally posted by: Gurck
Meh, why does everything have to be compared to iPods? An early-80s Walkman is an iPod killer. They have low sound quality, few features, low battery life (small battery pack is the only reason they're smaller than other players), no support for ogg, flac, or wma, are more expensive than other players, force their owners to use buggy software (iTunes), and can give problems playing/moving legitimately purchased music due to copy protection concerns. It's always amazing to see so many people so angrily defend their inability to see past a well-funded ad campaign

that pretty much sums it up.

and yeah imac or most everything from apple looks retarded imo. preference for looks are completely subjective so you cant use that as a basis for objective comparison. i did some research on DAPs on my own, so far karma (or chroma once it comes out) sounds most promising with some reliability issues aside. ipod is about the worst choice you could make it appears : lowest bang for buck, noticeably worse sound quality compared to all other players, limited featureset and makes you look like an apple dork to boot! :thumbsup:

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: DonVito
This thing looks like a viable competitor, but not exactly a "killa," in that it is bigger, uglier, and appears to be significantly less ergonomic and easy to use. The price difference is meaningless to me. The battery life sounds awesome, and probably the only meaningful improvement over the iPod, but the iPod's is fine as far as I'm concerned, and I have had a first-gen iPod for more than two years. FWIW, I use EphPod - I'm not really an iTunes fan.

Besides battery life (btw, I've tested it in last 2 days, 24 hrs is true!), there are several other improvements over ipod, like I mentioned earlier.

1. WMA support (many people agree WMA is better than MP3 at 128kbps or lower rate, that's what I'm using for ripping CDs)
2. Sound quality
3. Transfer songs using copy and paste under Windows Explorer (or even easier, right click selected songs -> send to -> creative zen touch) , without opening ANY software.
4. Multi-language support.
5. Price

Does this new Zen follow the Universal Mass Storage Standard? ie. Will any OS see it as a USB hard drive without first installing specific software for it?

It requires a driver. Once the driver is installed, it is recognized as a drive called "creative zen touch (owner name)" and files can be sent to it just like you do to a local HD with no software required.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: faenix
Waiting for Gurck to show any moment now....

You're joking right?

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: faenix
Waiting for Gurck to show any moment now....

You're joking right?

A lot of people only read a few posts in & then post I was busy or asleep or whatever while this thread got going, sorry for my late entrance

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: VanillaH

Originally posted by: Gurck
Meh, why does everything have to be compared to iPods? An early-80s Walkman is an iPod killer. They have low sound quality, few features, low battery life (small battery pack is the only reason they're smaller than other players), no support for ogg, flac, or wma, are more expensive than other players, force their owners to use buggy software (iTunes), and can give problems playing/moving legitimately purchased music due to copy protection concerns. It's always amazing to see so many people so angrily defend their inability to see past a well-funded ad campaign

that pretty much sums it up.

and yeah imac or most everything from apple looks retarded imo. preference for looks are completely subjective so you cant use that as a basis for objective comparison. i did some research on DAPs on my own, so far karma (or chroma once it comes out) sounds most promising with some reliability issues aside. ipod is about the worst choice you could make it appears : lowest bang for buck, noticeably worse sound quality compared to all other players, limited featureset and makes you look like an apple dork to boot! :thumbsup:

While I agree the iPod is one of the worst out there taking price into consideration (it's low/middle of the road without price being a concern, imo), I haven't seen one that's been good enough for me to buy. One thing that severely limits my choices is that I refuse to buy one that doesn't follow the Universal Mass Storage Standard. If I'm paying ~$400 for a freakin hard drive with an LCD and mp3 decoder, I better be able to use it as a damn hard drive no ifs ands or buts. The only two that fit that bill, afaik, are the iPods & iRivers (though you can't actually play mp3s that you drag & drop onto the iPod). I've gone over the downsides of the iPod. The Rivers have a decidedly lacking UI and play features (no shuffle? wtf?) and firmware / support issues. Neither has an AM tuner. Laugh if you will but I :heart: AM radio. I couldn't live without AM sports, news, and Coast to Coast AM. They put am tuners in ~$10 walkmans 20 years ago, wtf can't they put them in $400 DAPs today? Until they do I don't think I'll be purchasing a nice one. I am however considering a ~$50 128 or 256mb one for jogging. At that price I couldn't care less about features and such, just that it works.

 

[konakona]

gurck, have you looked into that $65 muvo tx deal? AM audio, now thats an oddity

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: welst10

Besides battery life (btw, I've tested it in last 2 days, 24 hrs is true!), there are several other improvements over ipod, like I mentioned earlier.

1. WMA support (many people agree WMA is better than MP3 at 128kbps or lower rate, that's what I'm using for ripping CDs)
2. Sound quality
3. Transfer songs using copy and paste under Windows Explorer (or even easier, right click selected songs -> send to -> creative zen touch) , without opening ANY software.
4. Multi-language support.
5. Price

1 - Agreed; this is a real benefit.
2 - Questionable whether this is an improvement - I haven't tried the Zen Touch, but the iPod already sounds better than the underlying MP3s, so I'm not sure it would make much difference.
3 - Don't care - Ephpod looks and works pretty much the same way. I agree it would be nice if you were using the player with multiple computers, but I don't.
4 - Don't care at all, but iPod also has multi-language support that is far beyond what I need, including "Jive".
5 - Don't care - not enough cheaper to matter to me. I have a 10 GB iPod and can't imagine ever, under any foreseeable circumstances, needing more than 20 GB.

Another real benefit I forgot to mention is the FM tuner - that is a really nice thing to have (though if it's anything like my old Creative Nomad MG, they can keep it - that thing got essentially no reception, under any circumstances, effectively making it worthless).

None of these is enough to convince me to give up the iPod interface, which has been copied often but never surpassed IMO.

 

[dabuddha]

I got mine and love it! Only problem I'm having is I hate the case. It's too tight. Are there any accessories that are available for it yet?

 

[welst10]

After 7 days of ownership, I have to say the battery life is truly amazing. I fully recharged it on Friday night for my labor day trip. From Sat. to Tuesday, I basically brought it with me everywhere I go. By last night, it's still alive. I tried to drain the battery completely so I can recharge it for today, but by the time I went to bed, it's still not drained. So I am going to drain it tonight and recharge it.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: dabuddha
I got mine and love it! Only problem I'm having is I hate the case. It's too tight. Are there any accessories that are available for it yet?

yea, the case is useless (so is the earbud). I am looking for an aftermarket one too. PM me if you find something. Good thing is that the body doesn't scratch easily. I haven't found any scratch on mine. I even used my finger nail to scratch it just to see how resistant it is. btw, I recommend you get a pair of earbuds if you want quality sound. My Sennheiser MX500 arrives today.

 

[konakona]

EDIT : oops i got confused.. thought it was the rio cabon thread zen is cool tho, i wouldnt mind either

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: dabuddha
I got mine and love it! Only problem I'm having is I hate the case. It's too tight. Are there any accessories that are available for it yet?

yea, the case is useless. I am looking for an aftermarket one too. PM me if you find something. btw, I recommend you get a pair of earbuds if you want quality sound. My Sennheiser MX500 arrives today.

I've been using my mx500s since I got my zen. Never bothered to open the ear buds that came with it

 

[dabuddha]

Another issue I have is I left my zen touch plugged in last night to recharge the battery and when I woke up, the battery had not charged at all. Do I need to turn the player on to recharge it? I had it turned off and the lock switch on.

 

[EtOH]

I just recently moved from a CL Zen Xtra to a Apple iPod 4G and I have to say a few things on this one since I have tried both products.

Sound: Tie
I replaced the headphones with Sony mdr-ex71s and they sound equally as good.

Interface: Apple
I hated the interface and little wierd wheel thing on the Zen. Click Wheel rules.

Software: Apple
The CL software might very well be the worst designed piece of cr@p I have ever used. Thank god for Notmad. iTunes is far superior to CL's software, however I use Red Chairs software for both. Apple wins for shipping better software

Battery Life: Tie
They seem to have about the same battery life

Quality: Apple
The Zen just felt cheap to me. Not sure why, flimsy I guess. I broke it when it fell 6 inches and snapped the leads from the headphone port to the circuit board. The iPod just seems sturdier.

Value: CL
The Zen had more room for the $.

Just my opinion.

EtOH
EtOH

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: EtOH
I just recently moved from a CL Zen Xtra to a Apple iPod 4G and I have to say a few things on this one since I have tried both products.

Sound: Tie
I replaced the headphones with Sony mdr-ex71s and they sound equally as good.

Interface: Apple
I hated the interface and little wierd wheel thing on the Zen. Click Wheel rules.

Software: Apple
The CL software might very well be the worst designed piece of cr@p I have ever used. Thank god for Notmad. iTunes is far superior to CL's software, however I use Red Chairs software for both. Apple wins for shipping better software

Battery Life: Tie
They seem to have about the same battery life

Quality: Apple
The Zen just felt cheap to me. Not sure why, flimsy I guess. I broke it when it fell 6 inches and snapped the leads from the headphone port to the circuit board. The iPod just seems sturdier.

Value: CL
The Zen had more room for the $.

Just my opinion.

EtOH
EtOH

The ipod 4G has a 24 hour battery life?

 

[konakona]

Sound: Tie
I replaced the headphones with Sony mdr-ex71s and they sound equally as good.

upgrade to something along the line of mx500 or the plug (modded) and you will notice difference. ety er6is are getting some good feedback, i am thinkin about getting a pair...

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: dabuddha

Originally posted by: EtOH
I just recently moved from a CL Zen Xtra to a Apple iPod 4G and I have to say a few things on this one since I have tried both products.

Sound: Tie
I replaced the headphones with Sony mdr-ex71s and they sound equally as good.

Interface: Apple
I hated the interface and little wierd wheel thing on the Zen. Click Wheel rules.

Software: Apple
The CL software might very well be the worst designed piece of cr@p I have ever used. Thank god for Notmad. iTunes is far superior to CL's software, however I use Red Chairs software for both. Apple wins for shipping better software

Battery Life: Tie
They seem to have about the same battery life

Quality: Apple
The Zen just felt cheap to me. Not sure why, flimsy I guess. I broke it when it fell 6 inches and snapped the leads from the headphone port to the circuit board. The iPod just seems sturdier.

Value: CL
The Zen had more room for the $.

Just my opinion.

EtOH
EtOH

The ipod 4G has a 24 hour battery life?

but.... but.... da kamershuls r so kewl!!111!1

 

Looks crappy.

 

[Doggiedog]

Multilanguage support?

What is that?

If you don't have it, does it only sing in English?

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: dabuddha
Another issue I have is I left my zen touch plugged in last night to recharge the battery and when I woke up, the battery had not charged at all. Do I need to turn the player on to recharge it? I had it turned off and the lock switch on.

That's strange. I didn't have any problem charging it. I don't think you need to turn on the unit. But leave it unlocked. When it's charging, there are 2 signs: the blue sign on the power switch should flash, also the battery indicator should flash during charging.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Multilanguage support?

What is that?

If you don't have it, does it only sing in English?

it means it can display the song track info (title, album, artist) properly if the track info is one of several other languages. rather than display strange characters.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: dabuddha

Originally posted by: EtOH
I just recently moved from a CL Zen Xtra to a Apple iPod 4G and I have to say a few things on this one since I have tried both products.

Sound: Tie
I replaced the headphones with Sony mdr-ex71s and they sound equally as good.

Interface: Apple
I hated the interface and little wierd wheel thing on the Zen. Click Wheel rules.

Software: Apple
The CL software might very well be the worst designed piece of cr@p I have ever used. Thank god for Notmad. iTunes is far superior to CL's software, however I use Red Chairs software for both. Apple wins for shipping better software

Battery Life: Tie
They seem to have about the same battery life

Quality: Apple
The Zen just felt cheap to me. Not sure why, flimsy I guess. I broke it when it fell 6 inches and snapped the leads from the headphone port to the circuit board. The iPod just seems sturdier.

Value: CL
The Zen had more room for the $.

Just my opinion.

EtOH
EtOH

The ipod 4G has a 24 hour battery life?

he was talking about Zen Xtra, which is older model with 14hr battery life.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: dabuddha

Originally posted by: EtOH
I just recently moved from a CL Zen Xtra to a Apple iPod 4G and I have to say a few things on this one since I have tried both products.

Sound: Tie
I replaced the headphones with Sony mdr-ex71s and they sound equally as good.

Interface: Apple
I hated the interface and little wierd wheel thing on the Zen. Click Wheel rules.

Software: Apple
The CL software might very well be the worst designed piece of cr@p I have ever used. Thank god for Notmad. iTunes is far superior to CL's software, however I use Red Chairs software for both. Apple wins for shipping better software

Battery Life: Tie
They seem to have about the same battery life

Quality: Apple
The Zen just felt cheap to me. Not sure why, flimsy I guess. I broke it when it fell 6 inches and snapped the leads from the headphone port to the circuit board. The iPod just seems sturdier.

Value: CL
The Zen had more room for the $.

Just my opinion.

EtOH
EtOH

The ipod 4G has a 24 hour battery life?

he was talking about Zen Xtra, which is older model with 14hr battery life.

14 houes is still abouy 4 more hours then ive ever seen an ipod get

 

[jonusprime]

The thing i'm concerned about and I didnt' see anyone address this is the long term life of the battery and what kind of batteries are used.

in the past the if the Ipod's battery died, that would be it for your Ipod and you'd have to buy a new one.

What kind of batteries does the zen touch use? is there replacements readily available? I checked the Official Ipod site and couldn't find any info as to what kind of battery they use and didn't find any available fore sale on their site. same thing for zne touch.

i'm gonna hold onto my money until I'm confortable that the dang battery ain't gonna break on me, or there is an aftermarket replacement aviable.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: jonusprime
The thing i'm concerned about and I didnt' see anyone address this is the long term life of the battery and what kind of batteries are used.

in the past the if the Ipod's battery died, that would be it for your Ipod and you'd have to buy a new one.

What kind of batteries does the zen touch use? is there replacements readily available? I checked the Official Ipod site and couldn't find any info as to what kind of battery they use and didn't find any available fore sale on their site. same thing for zne touch.

i'm gonna hold onto my money until I'm confortable that the dang battery ain't gonna break on me, or there is an aftermarket replacement aviable.

i would expect it uses one zimilar to the Zen its a lith ion rechargable one that you can remove