Poll: Which PMP/MP3 player should I get?

[anindrew]

Hi all! For the holiday this year, my bro and sis-in-law gave me a Sana Fuze 8GB PMP (personal media player aka MP3 player). It looks very similar to the last gen. Ipod nano. It's very simple to use and can even work as a drag and drop device. Also, with the latest firmware, it supports FLAC. In fact, I'd say it supports more audio formats than Ipod and Zune. It also has really nice audio quality.

I have a few personal issues with it, though. The screen is rather tiny, so it would not make watching movies/TV shows an enjoyable experience. There is a very slight gap between track playback (.25 sec or less), which annoys me when listening to tracks that lead into each other. It cannot charge while playing, but I've read that few devices can. Also, I have pretty much filled 2/3 of the 8GB by just adding songs I had on my hard drive. I have yet to rip any of my CDs. I know I will go well over 8GB. While I can add microSDHC to it, that doesn't seem all that cost effective. A 16GB card would cost as much as the Fuze 8GB itself!

My brother said he could still return it if I find it isn't going to work out. He'd just give me the money for it. I could combine that with other monetary gifts I received during the holidays and get an Ipod, Zune, etc. I like the screen size on the Zune 120 as it is larger than the entire Sansa Fuze! It can play a decent amount of formats--enough to satisfy me. The Ipod Classic 120 seems really cool, too, but the screen is about the same size as the one on the Sansa Fuze.

So what should I do? Get a microSDHC card and call it day? Replace with a Zune 120? An Ipod Classic 120? Something else? Thanks for reading this ridiculously long post and for any suggestions you have.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I have a 8gb Fuze and pretty happy with it. But I use it mainly for running and love the compact size. I also picked-up a 8gb microSDHC card for $15. 16gb microSDHC cards are not worth the additional premium.

A 120gb Zune or iPod harddrive based mp3 player is a very different type of mp3 player. You need to decide if you need that much capacity and have no problem with the additional girth.

 

[anindrew]

Hi Capt Caveman!

I agree that the 16GB microSDHC cards aren't worth it right now. I would mostly use an MP3 player in my house, in my car (hooked up to my car stereo either by USB or AUX), and/or possibly at work. The extra girth of a hard drive based unit does not bother me. I'm sure I don't need 120GB for my music collection, but it is nice to have the extra space. I could most likely use lossless formats for my favorite albums, perhaps 192kbps for most others, and still have room left over. I could also put some movies and TV shows on there, too, without worrying much about space. Estimating how many CDs I have, I would say about 180 or so.

Even though I love the features on the Ipod Touch, I don't know that I can justify spending that much for it when you get so little capacity compared to hard drive based units.

I'll have to think about this some more.

 

[anindrew]

Does anyone have any other advice. Between the Ipod 120GB and Zune 120GB, I think I like the Zune 120GB better due to its screen size. So now it's between the Zune 120GB and the Ipod Touch 16GB. Perhaps I should simply write out the pros and cons of each and see which has the most pros. Cnet has an interesting Zune 120 vs Ipod Classic 120 Showdown article. The Zune wins, but only by a tenth of a point.

Maybe I'll try posting a poll for the first time ever on this forum!

 

[pm]

I would definitely get a Zune 120GB over an iPod Classic 120GB.

The reasons to look at a Touch vs. a Zune is that the Touch can surf the web, check email, is more fun to watch movies on (bigger screen) and has thousands of applications and games to mess with. So if you want a portable entertainment device that's like a mini keyboardless laptop, then the Touch is a better idea. But if you just want music, get a Zune.

Since it sounds like you want a music player, I put my vote in for the Zune 120GB.

 

[mc866]

I have a zune80 which is just the smaller HDD version of the 120. It's a great little device, holds tons of music and movies, the movies look pretty good for such a small screen. I don't use it but I believe that Zune pass has added a feature where you can download 10 songs that you can keep a month as part of your subscription which is pretty nice. It all depends on what you are looking for in a device, if you want music and movies on a nice screen go zune. If you want a web browser or mobile email get the touch.

 

[anindrew]

I'd like to thank everyone for their help and advice. I'll add a little bit more information here, too. The Sansa Fuze 8GB was given to me by my brother and sister-in-law. They said if it doesn't work out for me, they could return it and just give me the money. Speaking with them today, they had a new proposal. My sister-in-law has a Zune 30GB that she would trade for the Sansa Fuze 8GB. I'm very sure that 30GB would hold my entire CD collection (if I ripped it all, which I obviously would not). I figure I would test out the Zune 30GB and see how I like it. Then I could put the money I got for the holidays towards a new hard drive perhaps.

I'll keep you posted if this is what I do. Thanks!

 

[tdawg]

I've got a Zune 30 and use it for music, podcasts, and television shows at the gym. The guys over at zunescene.net created a free, easy-to-use zune media converter that makes it practically brainless to convert any video to a proper zune format (.wmv version 2 for the zune 30, works great for me). I think the device is nice and simple, but the battery life on the zune 30 is less than stellar--I believe any iPod will beat it on batter life. If you can just swap with your sis and give the zune 30 a try, that's probably a good way to go. The zune software has come a long way from it's initial debut and is easy enough to use--though you won't be able to drag-and-drop anything to the device outside of the software; in fact, you can't use a zune as a portable hard drive, unless you hack it. Oh, and the fact that the Zune has a built in FM tuner is a big plus versus the iPod, to me at least.

All in all, I'm satisfied with the Zune 30 at the moment. I've had a 1st and 2nd gen iPod, I have a Creative Zen Vision:W, for video during trips (stopped using it for music), and have a Sandisk Sansa (e260, I believe) that I used before I picked up my Zune 30 ($90 refurbished, thanks to Woot.com!).

 

[anindrew]

Hi tdawg! After checking out my brother and sister-in-law's Zune 30GB, I decided to do the trade. Nearly quadrupling my PMP storage space for free seemed like a great idea. While this Zune is used, it is in pretty good shape. There are a couple tiny scratches on the screen, but they're only visible when the screen isn't on, so it's not a big deal. I updated the software/firmware on it, including the games. It's a very nice and easy to use player. Plus, the sound quality is quite high. I think I will probably get a different case than the one they were using as it seems to have a brownish/pinkish color trim. And pink just isn't my color. I figure this player will last me at least a year if not more.

I've use the Zune software to rip several of my CDs into 320kbps MP3s. One album I made lossless as it's one of my all time favorites. Everything sounds pretty good to me. While the Zune software does a fine job, I'm curious if another program might create better sounding MP3s at the same bitrate? Is that even something that matters?

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: anindrew
Hi tdawg! After checking out my brother and sister-in-law's Zune 30GB, I decided to do the trade. Nearly quadrupling my PMP storage space for free seemed like a great idea. While this Zune is used, it is in pretty good shape. There are a couple tiny scratches on the screen, but they're only visible when the screen isn't on, so it's not a big deal. I updated the software/firmware on it, including the games. It's a very nice and easy to use player. Plus, the sound quality is quite high. I think I will probably get a different case than the one they were using as it seems to have a brownish/pinkish color trim. And pink just isn't my color. I figure this player will last me at least a year if not more.

I've use the Zune software to rip several of my CDs into 320kbps MP3s. One album I made lossless as it's one of my all time favorites. Everything sounds pretty good to me. While the Zune software does a fine job, I'm curious if another program might create better sounding MP3s at the same bitrate? Is that even something that matters?

Depending on how much music you want, you could just go full WMA lossless. It's a standard codec playable on anything with Windows on it.

 

[anindrew]

I have a couple albums that are my absolute favorites, so I will rip those at WMA Lossless. It seems like Zune's software does a fine job at ripping. Perhaps ripping has become rather commonplace, so it's not that difficult to get high quality rips. I'll just stick with the stock software for the time being. Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[Pliablemoose]

http://store.apple.com/us/brow...deals/ipod?mco=MTE3Njc

Refurb 1st generation Touch with an extended warranty.

 

[Fingolfin269]

If you're looking between the 120 ipod and the 120 zune I would go for the Zune. However, if you're starting to narrow down towards the touch then I would suggest reading up on Cowon's line of players. Much more bang for the buck relative to the touch.

 

[potato28]

If you want something like the Touch look at the Samsung P2. Touch screen, sounds great, great battery, amazing screen and it has bluetooth.