Creative Zen:M vs. iPod 30gb

[benuski]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to get a new DAP, and I'm looking for something in the 20-40gb range, and the two I've been able to find are the ipod 30gb and the Creative Zen:M. Which one do you guys like more, and what are you reasons? And also, I read on Wikipedia that Banshee will support Zen filetransfer through gPhoto. Does anyone know if thats true?

Thanks!

[qamelian]

Both are decent players, but after buying an iPod after owning 4 Creative players, I will probably go back to Creative next time. The iPod has a number of features that I just don't find useful on a media player, like syncronizing contact lists and calendars with MS Outlook. I also hate the fact that I can't delete a file unless the iPod is connected to my computer. I tend to load up my player with a lot of podcasts or old time radio shows, and I like to delete them right after I listen to them so I don't absent-mindedly listen to them again. I find it frustrating that I can't do this until the next time I'm at my PC.

Although the iPod has decent sound I find the Creative players sound slightly better, at least to my ears. I've also found a number of MP3s that play fine on my Zen, my PC and my laptop, but for some strange reason the iPod crashes when I try to play the same files on it.

All in all it's really a matter of taste, but you really want to compare any players you are considering very carefully.

[saulgoode]

You might wish to consider one of the Cowon X5 units (http://reviews.cnet.com/Cowon_iAudio_X5_60GB/4852-6490_7-31609819.html?tag=uoavrg).

It has a 35-hour battery. It can play OGG and FLAC files in addition to all of the usual suspects like MP3 and WMA. It can record from its FM tuner, a built-in microphone, or external audio. It can be hooked to your digital camera to download and view photos. It can play movies and comes with 20, 30, or 60 gigabyte HD.

Reviewers have complained that navigating around your songlists is awkward, but if you can tolerate that, the Cowons are definitely worth checking into.

[maniacmusician]

Yeah, Cowon makes excellent hardware. I would recommend the following from them:

Cowon A2: this is probably more extravagant than what you need. It has a wider screen for videos and stuff, and because of its high quality, a 30GB one will set you back $350.

Cowon X5: 30GB model will cost you about $260 and as saulgoode mentioned, the quality is excellent; you get much more than you do with an iPod

There are other Cowon models (M5, M3) that are also good, but they don't have the cosmetic advantages such as video, pictures, etc, or even a color screen. But if all you care about is music, then go for it. I have a creative right now and wished I'd gone for a Cowon iAudio instead.

[sailingboarder]

I have a Zen, and I love it
it can play most audio formats, incluing ogg and flac, fm receiver, voice recorder, better video and sound quality than ipod, doesn't require itunes

check it out on its websites for all its features
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=14331


i would recommend the Zen to everyone

[FuturePilot]

Creative Zen Vision M FTW! I have a Zen MicroPhoto and I love it. The Vision M is amazing! Creative players sound much better than iPods too. I don't like iPods....

[Quillz]

I think the Zen Vision:M is more friendly on a Linux platform. Although I own an iPod, I'd probably go for the Vision:M given the chance.

[pmj]

I would never buy anything from Creative because of the bad things they've done. I just can't support that kind of behavior with my money. Examples includes suing audio company Aureal, one of their few competitors, for no valid reason just to get rid of them (Creative lost, but Aureal couldn't afford the legal costs and had to file for bankruptcy) and patenting Carmack's Reverse, a stencil shadowing technique, and then threatening to sue id Software for using it in Doom 3 unless they added EAX support to the game.

Creative is scum and deserve no money from any of us, no matter how good their mp3 players may be.

[qamelian]

I would never buy anything from Creative because of the bad things they've done. I just can't support that kind of behavior with my money. Examples includes suing audio company Aureal, one of their few competitors, for no valid reason just to get rid of them (Creative lost, but Aureal couldn't afford the legal costs and had to file for bankruptcy) and patenting Carmack's Reverse, a stencil shadowing technique, and then threatening to sue id Software for using it in Doom 3 unless they added EAX support to the game.

Creative is scum and deserve no money from any of us, no matter how good their mp3 players may be.

If you're going to base you purchase on moral grounds, then I can't think of a single company I would buy from in the media player market. The only companies I'm aware that don't seem to have some mark against them are producing products that I consider low-quality junk. It's an unfortunate reality of business that, at the end of the day, it's all about making money any way they can get away with.

You have every right to your opinion of Creative, but the original question had nothing to do with the morality of any company, just opinions on a choice of players.

[pmj]

You have every right to your opinion of Creative, but the original question had nothing to do with the morality of any company, just opinions on a choice of players.

The OP wanted to know which players we favored and for what reasons. I gave him mine for not choosing Creative, and my reasons has everything to do with the (lack of) morality of Creative.

[fictivetoast]

I just picked up a Creative Zen: M yesterday, and it's beautiful. The screen is unbelievable, and I've had no trouble whatsoever getting it up and talking on Ubuntu with Gnomad2 (search the forums for a howto, it's incredibly painless). For the same price, and a few millimeters of extra thickness, the Zen comes with a slew of features lacking on the ipod like fm tuner, voice recorder, far better screen resolution, wider file format support, and customizable wallpaper/menu interface (a small thing, but nice none the less).

[forcesofhabit]

I use a Creative Zen Microphoto. I recommend it.
Easy to use as a player, and easy to use with Ubuntu. =D>

[happy-and-lost]

Zen. I had I micro (I lost it somewhere in Texas) once and it's the best device I've ever owned in terms of ease of use an Linux compatability. (I have a Sony now. Sounds better, looks better, works terribly. Don't touch them)

[tonyr1988]

I've got a 30GB Vision:M and a 30GB Video iPod (long story) and for me, the Vision:M wins hands-down. Of course, a ton of it depends on what you want / need.

Vision:M Advantages over iPod:
-FM Tuner
-Voice Records
-FM Recording (they took it away via firmware, but then brought it back)
-Great Linux support
-Customizable menu colors / background picture
-More video formats (DivX!)
-There are two little buttons to the left / right of the scroll wheel that act as (mainly) forward / backwards. They are slightly raised, unlike the rest of the buttons. It's not a huge difference, but I've come to love it, and can't live without it. I usually have it resting in my hoodie pocket, and can easily reach in to change songs without ever thinking twice. With the iPod, you have to take it out because you've got to use the wheel.
-Shortcut button that can do almost anything you want it to! :)

iPod Advantages over Vision:M:
-Games
-Scroll Wheel
-More accessories (the biggest advantage)

Overall, I've been very happy with it. In several years, if I need to get another one, it will definitely be on the top of my list.

And good job of not even considering the Zune. :P

[marcus2004]

I have an Ipod 30gig and if you do get one and want something fun to play with I would recommend checking out http://www.rockbox.org.
It is an alternate firmware for the Ipod. You can play ogg on it as well as mp3 etc. It has different themes and a load of plug-ins and games.

The only downside is at the moment it lowers the battery life on it and remote controls for the ipod don't work with it.
But you can choose which firmware you boot into so you can always switch back into the apple firmware and that works fine.
Check this out for some themes:
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/WpsIpod5g

[rockrhino27]

I own a creative labs zen micro photo for over a year now. It is the best MP3 play I have ever owned. Like stated above it is extremely easy to use with Ubuntu, so why ask for anything else.

Rock On Linux!!!
:guitar:

[Guitar John]

I have the Creative Zen Vision:M 30Gb. I have no personal experience with the iPod.

I do have a question. Does the Zen play ogg format?

Cheers,
John

[kragen]

Neither the zen nor the ipod plays ogg.

I've used both with linux, and I've gotta say - the zen is the better player hands down, but MTP support seems to be in its infancy. You will be able to get by with gnomad2 just fine (although you will need to compile it yourself - the one in the repositories doesnt work with the zen vision M yet), but most players, rhythmbox, banshee etc... dont support MTP, at least not properly, I could never get it to work anyway - even with amarok (probably the player with the best MTP support) you still need to compile the support in yourself.
On the other hand, most players have iPod support (definitely far more than have MTP support).

My view would be to get the zen as its the superior player (better battery life, better screen etc...). 6 months from now MTP support will be greatly improved, and your zen will just work, however your ipod will still be an ipod and not a zen :P :D

[Guitar John]

Neither the zen nor the ipod plays ogg.



BUMMER!!! :sad:

[Tomosaur]

I have a Creative Zen Vision:M and I couldn't be happier. It's a very, very nice player, the video playback is excellent, and it just seems a whole lot nicer than the iPod. It even has an FM radio built in. The only drawback really is that you can only use creative products with it. A one-size-fits-all adaptor is used for charging the battery, file transfer, and AV-Out, while the headphones house the radio receiver. It's pretty annoying. However, it's reliable, has great sound quality, and the battery lasts quite a bit longer than my friend's iPod.

[finer recliner]

i've tried the creative zen. i didnt like their navigation system, and the scroll "bar" sucked. i went back the iPod afterward.

[Wartooth]

I also have a Zen Microphoto and really, REALLY like it a lot. I haven't yet tried to get it to work with Ubuntu yet, but it's nice to know others have. I think I'll look into that right now. :)

[kragen]

apparantly there is a hard disk mp3 player that does support ogg, I was talking to someone about it earlier, but I've completely forgotten the name.

I'll look into it and post back here once I've found more.

EDIT: Found it - a company called cowon make several hard drive mp3 players, a lot (if not all) of which support not only ogg but linux too. Search for "iAudio" on google or something, I couldnt get the uk site to work and I'm nackered atm, but at a glance they look like nice players - 30 GB hard drive, nice battery life as well as a host of nice features.

EDIT2: OK, looking at it, they are VERY pricey in comparison to the zen and ipod.

[jpkotta]

Write-in vote for iAudio.

I have an M5. Yes, the UI kind of sucks. But it doesn't have any "music database" BS, it looks just like a USB HD. It can record (quite well) and sounds great. And it plays Vorbis, the One True Format.

When I bought mine (about 14 months ago), it was a little bit cheaper than the iPod.

[undertakingyou]

I have a Zen Vision: M. i think it is great, in fact I'm using it now :)

With the Zen there is bigger bang for the buck. Hands Down.

[Geekboy]

I just got a refurbed 30 GB IPod. I like it and I wanted to get something that I could easily get accessories for. Plus my wife has a small Nano with a pair of Logitech speakers (mm50, I think that's the model) that I could plug my IPod into.

I have the IPod syncing up with my work laptop (running XP) and external USB drive. ITunes drives me nuts though, I would rather the IPod work like a standard drive.

I did find it cool that Ubuntu has no problems detecting my IPod and listing the songs in Rythmbox. I can even play the songs from there. :)

[Biochem]

I love my Zen Vision:M. Switching back to an Ipod would be like going back to WinXP. :popcorn:

As for the lack of accesories for Creative player. Well there is no need to beacause they are already included in the price. :lolflag:

[muguwmp67]

What kind of car audio options does the Zen have? I have an ipod integration with my alpine cd player, and can't imagine going back to an fm-transmitter option again. I don't have a tape deck, so thats not an option either.

Other than that, the only thing I really like about the ipod is its interface/scroll wheel.

[blairbeckwith]

As far as default settings/firmware go, I'm going to have to say the Zen rules. Although, once I put Rockbox on my 'pod I was never going back.

[kragen]

The zen is fairly limited as far as in-car integration goes. I have a pioneer cd player so I managed to get a cable to come out of the back that I can plug into the headphones socket (which is currently broke cus its just hanging down in the passenger footwell atm :P)

I dont think there are any full in-car integration kits for the zen, none that I know of certainly. I wish someone would make one :( it really cant be that hard...