PSX5Central
Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Seed_Of_Evil on March 26, 2004, 10:04:20 AM
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Yup, another mp3 player thread, sorry. I\'ve been looking for a good one lately and reading reviews, analysis, comparing prices, etc... The conclusion I\'ve reached is that I like very much the Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 30gb, both for its price (329€) and its quality (great reviews, Read IGN review (http://gear.ign.com/articles/442/442693p1.html?fromint=1))
But I wanna know if any of you has this player, how the battery works, the software... you know, a personal objective commentary. Thx.
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgearmedia.ign.com%2Fgear%2Fimage%2Fzen_extra_60gb_nx_big.jpg&hash=0647be2db3cd32cf125ff8a500298387530bd733)
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I\'m looking to buy one as well (60GB version).
It\'s got so much more value than an iPod. The iPod looks a lot cooler though and the menu system and interaction part is easier, and it\'s smaller than the Zen. But that doesn\'t justify it\'s ludicrous price point and the fact that the battery dies after 18 months and is a bitch to replace. So I\'ve decided to buy a Zen Xtra instead.
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I have an early Nomad Jukebox, and I would reccomend you make sure they have put better hardware in those ones..
With mine, you have to stop playback of 128, 192, or 256 mp3s before you try to navigate the menu, or it lags horribly.
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I havent read anything about that Fatal... serious mistake though, I hope the new ones have solved that bug.
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Originally posted by JP
I\'m looking to buy one as well (60GB version).
It\'s got so much more value than an iPod. The iPod looks a lot cooler though and the menu system and interaction part is easier, and it\'s smaller than the Zen. But that doesn\'t justify it\'s ludicrous price point and the fact that the battery dies after 18 months and is a bitch to replace. So I\'ve decided to buy a Zen Xtra instead.
I beg to differ. Apple\'s replacement plan is absolutely spectacular when it comes to the iPod. If ANYTHING goes wrong with it, they fix\\replace it. I had a battery problem where the unit would overheat and apple didn\'t just replace the battery, they replaced the entire unit without question and sent my friend a replacement remote since his stopped working, no questions asked. Being a "bitch" to replace only makes sense if you yourself are trying to crack the thing open and replace it yourself, but why waste the money on that when, inside of a business week, marring shipping of course, you can have it replaced professionaly and without fault.
As for your other comments, being lighter, a great menu interface, the interaction, the smaller design, the compatibility and ease of use with iTunes and just about any mp3 under the sun and apple\'s own proprietary format when downloaded off the iTunes store, I don\'t see how those things don\'t justify the price as they are the quintisential elements that make a piece of hardware worth the investment. I don\'t want to spend less on something that is sub par and a pain to work with when the quality of the iPod and its ease of use is already established and a bonified fact.
Of course though, that\'s just experience talking. Buy whatever floats your boat, but my money is with the iPod on this one after a year of use. Oh, and that warranty I spoke of goes on for another two years as of this past February and they mail out the packages for the iPod to be placed in when you need a repair all done through Apple\'s website which arrives the next day. Just FYI.
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I\'ve read so many complaints about the iPod\'s battery and it being a bitch when you send it in for service. A lot of batteries die shortly after that magic 18 months (which is very short IMO) and then you\'re screwed unless you take a chance of opening it up yourself.
Also, one of my friends who is a total mac nut tried sending his in for service when his broke down. Took 2 months before he got it back. Now, he might have just been unlucky but I\'ve read about so many people that are frustrated with the service and the whole battery issue.
The Zen Xtra according to most reviews has a good menu system, largest capacity available for an mp3 player, looks more than good enough, easy to replace battery, better sound (it\'s a fact, shouldn\'t be much of a surprise considering Creative is the manufacturer) and the 60GB is a lot cheaper than the iPod 40GB. I don\'t see a problem here if I decide to buy a Zen instead of an iPod.
Unlike some other people on this board, I think about value all the time, getting the most out of my money. And there is no hdd mp3 player out there atm which offers greater value in my personal opinion.
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I\'ve never once had a problem with Apple and their replacement plan or their service. Everytime that I\'ve sent it in, it has come back newer\\better then it was before. People may complain, a lot of people, but think of the PS2 -- lots of people complain about that, but admit the fact that its installed base is huge allowing for more problems just as the iPod has a huge install base. Whatever though.
You call it shopping for value, I call it shopping for quality. You should know, if you\'re shopping for value, that all customer complaints are purely subjective, warranties can be renewed, and things can break all the time for no reason at all and the iPod, Zen jukebox, Honda cars, and water heaters are not exempt from these facts. It is your money to do with as you please, it just sounds like people are doing a lot of convincing for themselves based on the lowliest of experiences when it comes to buying something instead of the iPod and I just don\'t see why that is.
There must be a reason why the iPod sells so well after this long and I don\'t think it\'s because of its rugged good looks -- or maybe it is? ;)
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The difference here is though, I haven\'t heard people complain as much about the Zens as they have about iPods. So Zens most probably are just as good quality. Quality and lower price = value to me. Yes, I\'m not getting a touch sensitive interface but I can live without that.
I\'m not saying that iPod is just good looks but it\'s got some major faults with the battery situation, that\'s the number one thing that makes me not want one and the second most important thing is that I want at least 60GB for all my cds.
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That\'s an awful plain looking mini-Ipod....err..you mean its NOT an Ipod?
Oh...that explains it.
:)
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Be careful LiC, it\'s creative after all. ;)
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If you buy an iPod, you have to also buy a $40.00 docking unit and a $20.00 cable to make it combatible with USB 2.0. :laughing:
I hate Apple so much. They just have this attitude that "Our way is the right way, so f**k you. Firewire is better, so that\'s what it\'s designed for. We\'ll make an add-on device to allow you to use USB 2.0, but it\'s going to cost you extra...." :p What kind of company penalizes their customers for wanting to use the most common PC data transfer standard around? Totally bizarre if you ask me. But it was designed for Mac users right, so screwing the PC users makes them happy.
Shit like this makes me want to go out of my way to avoid buying an Apple product. Fortunately it\'s not out of my way because the competing products offer more bang for the buck. :)
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That\'s if you gun for the 15gb version -- the 20 and 40 include all that you say it lacks.
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I stand corrected. However, you\'re not entirely correct either. None of the iPod models come with the USB cable. That\'s $20.00 extra.
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The mini includes the USB cable you are referring to while the standard does not as far as I can tell, but it\'s possible that it does include it as the packages have changed a bit since I bought mine. I had firewire so the point was moot for me at the time.
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Who cares how it looks anyway? It\'s supposed to be in your pocket most of the time anyway.
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Question for iPod users:
Does the iPod software allow you to store your music files on either the PC, the iPod, or both at the same time?
~OR~
Does it have some kind of system where you have to "check out" the file to the iPod, and then it\'s not available on the PC while it\'s on the iPod?
I seem to remember hearing about such a system on some piece of hardware, and I don\'t remember if it was the iPod or something else.
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The iPod doesn\'t delete the files on the puter, only copies them. However you can\'t copy music back to the pc, without some trickery.
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I don\'t quite understand your answer.
Say you have some mp3 files on your PC. You copy them to the iPod. Can the mp3s be played on the PC while they\'re on the iPod? What if you want to delete the files from the PC to conserve space, and store them only on the iPod? Can they be moved back to the PC later, if you want to use them in a different device?
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Reads thread, bows head and slinks away. Lowly I-River 256megs. But I can encode to mp3 right through unit. :)
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Originally posted by Coredweller
I don\'t quite understand your answer.
Say you have some mp3 files on your PC. You copy them to the iPod. Can the mp3s be played on the PC while they\'re on the iPod? What if you want to delete the files from the PC to conserve space, and store them only on the iPod? Can they be moved back to the PC later, if you want to use them in a different device?
You can play them on your computer while they are on the iPod - however, without some trickery you cannot copy from your iPod to your PC.
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Well that sort of blows. :D
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I don\'t find that to be true either. I handle it right through itunes without any problem. Just drag and drop from ipod to library.
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OK, the Batmans better get their story straight. :p
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I\'m right.
He\'s wrong.
Or ...
He\'s right.
I\'m wrong?
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If you manually update yoru songs through itunes without letting itunes manage the transfer on its own as soon as you plug the ipod into the dock, you can exchange songs between the pc -><- ipod
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well buddies, the purchase is done. They dropped the price a little and I got my little Zen XT for €299. I expect to receive it next week. Tell ya later ;)
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Adan,
Please give us a review of the Zen after you\'ve played with it. I\'m considering one of these, and I\'d like to hear what you thought of it.
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As soon as I get it, i\'ll write a review for you dude ;) I hope to get it on thursday-friday.
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I bought a 10GB Ipod a few months ago and it came with a USB adapter - though I use the Firewire instead. The only gripe I have is the that the battery drains even when off for a few days. Over the weekend I rarely use it and by Monday its dead if I haven\'t charged it (it had half a charge when I left it on Friday).
I am also have a hell of a time finding out how to play this thing in the Mustang. I have the Mach 460 sound system and FM transmitters suck a$$ so I need to find some sort of plug in for the head unit.
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I think there are some new Alpine headunits coming out that are designed to interface with the iPod. That would probably be the easiest solution. :)
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I am trying to keep it stock!!! LOL... I am sure there is something that plugs into the back of it.
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Come on, no one leaves the audio stock! Factory headunits always suck. Click here.
http://www.macnn.com/news/22778
or here
http://www.alpine-usa.com/company_info/press_release/010804_ipad.html
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So you changed yours out? The Ford steroes are always odd shapes though.
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My stock headunit sucks BIG TIME. Probably worse than yours. It\'s extremely underpowered for a car with an open top. I haven\'t replaced it yet, but I think I will later this year.
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That is my problem - the stock head unit in mine isn\'t that bad - its the Mach 460 system (460 watts) 6 CD disc changer - I get really good sound... I wonder if I switch the head unit will the amps from the stock system still work? They are loud enough for me and I don\'t need anything more powerful.
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So that\'s a factory audio upgrade option? Maybe you should have selected the base audio instead. :) You could always sell the Mach 460 equipment to another Mustang owner. There\'s probably a good market for that stuff.
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No its standard on the Mach 1 - the Mach 460 that is. I didn\'t upgrade. So are you saying that a new head unit will not be compatible with the other peices I have now?
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No sorry, I have no idea. I\'m sure other Mustang owners have encountered this question though... ?
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Yeah searching through forums right now... maybe I can find an answer - I hope it will work as I don\'t need to by subs and amps... Just out of curiousity, do you know of an aftermarket head unit that works well with the ipod?
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I think any headunit with an auxiliary input would work, so you could base your choice on other factors, such as the power or features. The upcoming Alpine headunits would be best because they will connect by firewire, and presumably you\'ll be able to view song titles on the headunit display, and navigate your playlist using the headunit or dash controls.
I have heard that you need to take care in how you ground the iPod if you\'re going to run it on the car\'s power system instead of the iPod\'s battery power. I could point you to a couple threads on s2ki.com that discuss that issue if necessary.
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Yes please do... I know nothing about car audio... I just want to be able to get the ipod to play in the mustang without a FM Transmitter. Thanks Core.
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I\'m no expert either, but in the "electronics" forum on s2ki.com there are people who genuinely are experts. Here are a couple threads that might be useful. However, they do have some info that is S2000-specific.
http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=198322&highlight=ipod+and+ground
http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147977&highlight=ipod+and+ground
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Well today I received my brilliant new Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 30gb for 299€. The first impressions cannot be better even though I\'ve touched it little, but enough to write a review.
The player comes very well packed indise a plastic box. Inside the box you\'ll also find a nice leather case, a battery, headphones, charger, manual and cd-rom with drives. I\'ve plugged it into the PC and asked me for the drivers. I installed them in 5 mins and began to check the Nomad experience ;)
I must say that the Nomad Organizer is quite good in my opinion. Some people said that the program sucked very much and was impossible to use. So I have to say that after using it 10 mins, the program is easy, fast as hell and very intuitive. It detects the cd-audio you put into your drives and automatically connects with CBBD to bring you the data of the album (artist, tracklists, style....) You can adjust the quality of the MP3, namings, and lot of such stuff.
The encoding is extra fast... it lasts about 1 min in saving the tracks in wav, converting them to mp3 and writing the songs to the player (+ erasing the rucbbish wavs). I must say that it impressed me because in 15 mins or so i had 12 full albums into my nomad. Great.
What about the features of the player? It\'s made up of plastic or sth similar (= very light). The battery is small and is placed inside a door that can be open in the front of the device. It lasted to fully charge about 3 hours...
The quality of the sound is clear, brilliant, and high if I may say. You can\'t hardly distinguish between 128kbs and 192kbs. Very very nice. The headphones are not marvelous but they do their best actually. Menus are intuitive and the organizing function rocks. They are not very very fast but you wont find problems surfing them while listening to songs. A song placed in a different sector of the HD (another album recorded) lasts about 1,5 secs to be found and started to be played (which is not bad for such a tiny hdd).
You cannot use your Nomad meanwhile it is connected to the PC, I mean using the Nomad Organizer. You have to unplug it and the it becomes ready. I cannot tell you about the life of the battery because it hasn\'t finished yet (jejjej). I guess the first charges will last a little less than the later ones.
The case is very very stylish and has the exact room for the player. It also has a switch for your belt.
I\'m very happy with my purchase. It looks really great. The sound is wonderful and the software and overall quality of the product rocks. Not much more to say. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Mike.
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I\'m curious about the interface on the device. Is it easy to navigate?
For example, do you ordinarily find a song by drilling down through nested menus like ARTIST > ALBUM > SONG as they appear in the ID3 tags? Can you reorganize the songs into folders, or choose to sort by different tag fields like GENRE? Does the device reliably sort the songs into correct sequence using the TRACK field? What about with songs taken from a multi-CD album? Does it correctly put DISK 1, TRACK 6 ahead of DISK 2, TRACK 1? Is the display easy to read?
Sorry about all the questions, but to me the interface is one of the most important aspects of these devices, and it\'s very hard to evaluate it without trying it first hand.
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Ahhh get an Ipod Core - sure its more expensive, but it really can\'t be beat.
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Originally posted by Coredweller
I\'m curious about the interface on the device. Is it easy to navigate?
For example, do you ordinarily find a song by drilling down through nested menus like ARTIST > ALBUM > SONG as they appear in the ID3 tags? Can you reorganize the songs into folders, or choose to sort by different tag fields like GENRE? Does the device reliably sort the songs into correct sequence using the TRACK field? What about with songs taken from a multi-CD album? Does it correctly put DISK 1, TRACK 6 ahead of DISK 2, TRACK 1? Is the display easy to read?
Sorry about all the questions, but to me the interface is one of the most important aspects of these devices, and it\'s very hard to evaluate it without trying it first hand.
In terms of comparison i cannot tell you about what\'s better, if Ipod or Nomad because I never used an Ipod. But I can tell you about mine: the display is very clear, neat as hell, with contrast adjustment and cool blue backlight. You can select your and reorganize the songs according to every tag in the file, I mean, you have a menu for artists, another for styles, albums, favourite songs... etc. If you for example enter in the category of artists, you will see Metallica. If you click on it, you will find the albums you\'ve stored of Metallica.
The Nomad does organize very well the song order even though the album does not offer that info because it contacts CBBD or whatever it\'s called and insert the proper exact info on the tags. I did not check that multialbum option actually.
If you are worried about the interface, the navigation buttons are few, which facilitates enormously the task. You have a central main switch to up - down selection and deep click working as your left-click mouse. Apart from that you\'ve Play/Pause; Forw/Rew; Back, On/off; menu and volume.
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AAAaarrrgggg... must... not... buy.... any Apple product....
I hate the iPod dependence on that damn AAC format. I know it plays MP3s too, but are they governed by the same DRM rules? I want a device where you can copy music files to and from just like it was a drive on your PC; no special software gatekeeper like iTunes in your way. It should also play MP3, MP3 Pro, WMA, WAV, MIDI, and anything else you can dream up. It should have a very easy interface, good battery life, and BE CHEAPER THAN THE IPOD! :p
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You can use other programs other than iTunes with it. I converted a bunch of CD\'s this weekend over to AAC format and to me AAC sounds better than the standard MP3 format.