Opinions on MP3 Players

[Sinkhead]

Things I want

• Music organization like an iPod does (automagically organizes into genre, band, album etc)
  A nice large colour screen
  It to looks nice
  Cheap removable memory like SD

Things I don't want

• To be forced to use drivers or software like WMP or iTunes
  A high price tag
  To buy from an unknown company

I really like the Zen, there's a nice review of it here and another one here (with video). And here's the official product page from Creative, complete with tacky music!

Detailed Specs
Capacity: 8GB
Size: 55 x 83 x 11.3mm
Weight: 65g
LCD: 2.5? 16.7 million colour TFT LCD 320 x 240 pixels

Battery Life: Up to 25 hrs audio playtime
Up to 5 hrs video playtime

Battery: Embedded Li-ion battery
FM Radio: 32 preset stations
EQ Settings: 8 presets and 5 band custom EQ
Organiser: Calendar, Contact, Task List
Power Charging: Yes
Album Art: Yes
Voice Recording: Yes
Connectivity: USB 2.0, SDHC
Supported Formats

Video: MJPEG, WMV9, MPED4-SP3, DivX3 4/5 and XviD
Audio: MP3, WMA, AAC4 (.m4A), WAV (ADPCM), Audible 2,3,4
Image: JPEG (BMP/ GIF / PNG / TIFF)

I am, like the review suggests, going to wait for Apple's September 5th press release however I cannot stand iTunes. Or DRM. AT ALL. So I don't hold out much hope for the announcement.

Thanks for anyone's input
- Sam

 

[Neko]

Buy it if you really want all these Feature.
At first I would say you should get an iPod but since you don't want iTunes...

The Zen sure looks nice , altough it probably will get yourself alot of attention in public. ^^

 

[Sinkhead]

I do like iPods, I just don't like the fact that you have to use iTunes...

- Sam

 

[RayorDragonFall]

I would go for the zen. I personally have a Zen Vision W 60GB, and its simply AWESOME for movies and the like. But I don't think that's what your looking for, Vision Ws are a bit of a powerhouse if you just want mp3.

 

[iwakura]

There are programs that you can use in place of itunes for Ipods...The problem is that itunes organizes your music into folders/artists and such AS its being transferred into the ipod. It's not the ipod that's good, it's really itunes that does all the work...

I don't have much advice on what to get though, as I've only used iPods and the tiny little Mp3 players that don't arrange at all...
The Zen sounds nice though.

On the other hand, for 900 bucks you can get a good tablet pc!

 

[Sinkhead]

So the actual iPod doesn't use the ID3 tags or anything? It's iTunes that does the work?

- Sam

 

[shaunj66]

That new Zen looks incredibly smexy. Saw it on Engadget the other day.

 

[Sinkhead]

All the Zens looks pretty good, a few of them are a bit gimmicky though... Like the Neeon ones...

- Sam

 

[miikes]

wow, those zens look pretty good, I might get one and sell off my clunky 80 gb ipod...

fyi, I don't use itunes, I use ml_ipod for winamp and my ipod IS organized by folder/artist/album.

It's the ID3 tags that does the work, not itunes

 

[xflash]

I do like iPods, I just don't like the fact that you have to use iTunes...

- Sam

um actually ipods don't require you to use itunes you could use winamp or windows media player for that matter, but for some reason quite few people seems to be aware of this maybe because most players require a plugin but as far as i know pretty much all mp3 software has one

edited: hmm looks like someone beat me to it

also one more thing i would really recommend an ipod personally i

the things (currently i have a shuffle as my necklace so i always have it on me even when i sleep and i have an 80GB video which i use when i go on vacation or other trips) also you should really buy some quality ear phones screw the included one thoose are always crappy compared to propper ones no matter what brand of mp3 player you have (personally i'd recommend the v-moda vibe)

 

[Sinkhead]

Mmm, I think I prefer the look of the Zen to the iPod, maybe just because pretty much 80% of the people I know own an iPod...

- Sam

 

[miikes]

oh look, if any of you guys actually read the second review, you'd have read about an apple announcement sometime next week. I'd probably wait for that

btw xflash, it seems as though we do the same thing:
I use my ipod at home or for vacations, but day to day (which is probably in school...) I use my sony mp3 walkman strapped on my id strap

 

[gratefulbuddy]

I have a first gen 4 gb nano and a 80gb video ipod. If you prefer a more drag-n-drop approach to your ipod there is a program called anapod which can do this. Check it out. I say ipod; the pros are too many to list and the cons are too small to care about.

 

[Linkiboy]

You should totally check out Meizu players, they are cool

http://www.mp4nation.com/products/index.php?PID=m6b

 

[Sinkhead]

You should totally check out Meizu players, they are cool

http://www.mp4nation.com/products/index.php?PID=m6b

They look nice however do you need special drivers or software? I would also prefer buying from a reputable brand so if it breaks there's good support.

Thanks
- Sam

 

[Darkforce]

Like others have said you don't have to use iTunes to transfer music if you have an ipod. I use Media Monkey myself, it can also auto tag/rename songs automatically among other things. =)

The new Zen looks really good, though I'm perfectly happy with my iPod Nano (2nd gen) for the time being. It'll be interesting to see what Apple has to offer in a few days time. If the rumour of a new fatter Nano is true I can't say it will appeal to me since the size of the Nano is one of the best things it had going for it. Still if Apple can't convince me to buy to buy a new product my wallet isn't complaining!

 

[Linkiboy]

Well I'm actually retracting my bid about Meizu players, since its your birthday you probably want something uber-l33t

 

[Psyfira]

If I was looking for a player now I so would get one of these.

(admittedly I'd wait a few months for the user opinions first). My current Zen has served me well, it looks brillant, and I've never heard of people putting removable media slots on a popular brand MP3 player before. Nice idea.

 

[ShadowXP]

I've had an iPod since Christmas, one of the new Nano's, very very nice. I hate the video iPod's because of their huge size (is it just me who find them absolutely ENORMOUS?!) but the Nano is just right.

The black one comes in 8GB too

 

[Psyfira]

I hate the video iPod's because of their huge size (is it just me who find them absolutely ENORMOUS?!)

Yeah I reckon they're too big for everyday use too. The large screens on those large-capacity video players (not just iPod) look nice but I can barely get my Micro in some of my jean pockets, wouldn't want anything bigger.