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Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 08, 2007, 07:02:04 AM

Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 08, 2007, 07:02:04 AM
Just curious - which MP3 players do you all own?

Current owner of a 30 gig Zune. Most likely will upgrade to the 80 gig within the next month or so. I personally love my Zune and the Zune social network , but that\'s just me.  The wife owns an iPod shuffle that I bought her for our anniversary last year (or was it the year before that? I can\'t remember).
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: mm on December 08, 2007, 07:04:05 AM
30GB zen M
1gb sandisk
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Samwise on December 08, 2007, 07:23:44 AM
Creative Zen 5 (or 4?) gb - non functioning
Sony something 1 or 2 gigs

I want an Apple Touch but I\'m too cheap to get one.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 08, 2007, 07:25:39 AM
Not sure the appeal of the Apple Touch - it lacks storage and it\'s beyond expensive.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Samwise on December 08, 2007, 07:38:49 AM
Quote from: Raz The Friggin Grea
Not sure the appeal of the Apple Touch - it lacks storage and it\'s beyond expensive.

Trust me, it has plenty of appeal. Some would even say sex appeal. :D

But yeah, I\'m not buying the the current sizes and prices. Perhaps if it was 64 gb. But we\'ll probably get there soon enough.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Phil on December 08, 2007, 09:41:00 AM
60gb toshiba gigabeat
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Coredweller on December 08, 2007, 07:35:16 PM
40GB iRiver H340.  

An older model, and not as compact as current models, but very functional and it is amazing with Rockbox firmware installed.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Luke on December 08, 2007, 08:17:31 PM
30gig video ipod.


love it.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Titan on December 08, 2007, 08:17:36 PM
5 GB Zen Micro. Gonna wait for the iPod Touch to get better or the iPhones to get better.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Viper_Fujax on December 08, 2007, 08:49:46 PM
just a 4 gig mini ipod that i got on clearance

and a chocolate

I want to get a video ipod but i probably wouldnt make the most of it..plus whenever i think about dropping 300 on something, i think about all the other things i could buy for that amount of money
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Blade on December 09, 2007, 07:33:28 AM
80GB iPod, black. Last-gen, so it\'s thicker. Also my first portable MP3 player.

It\'s a revelation in music technology.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: THX on December 09, 2007, 07:36:26 AM
30gb ipod photo that\'s over 2 years old.

I want to get an mp3 player + mobile phone in one next
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: nO-One on December 09, 2007, 07:45:11 AM
30gb iPod video and an 8gb iPhone
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: THX on December 09, 2007, 07:48:11 AM
Quote from: nO-One
30gb iPod video and an 8gb iPhone

How do you like the iPhone?
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Luke on December 09, 2007, 09:55:59 AM
Ironically enough I just got an 8g iphone as an early xmas present last night.


Been fucking with it all day and I love it to death already.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: nO-One on December 09, 2007, 09:57:36 AM
I like it a lot, excellent mp3 player, a nice phone. Best web browsing experience you can get on a mobile device bar none. And having my mail and calendar from work on me is great, and much better implemented than it is on other phones I\'ve used.

However using it blindly is impossible so you don\'t dial numbers or write text messages without looking at the phone. Also using it with one hand is troublesome at best.

Since I\'m in Iceland and the phone\'s not out here yet I\'ve hacked and cracked mine, the only thing that doesn\'t work is the visual voicemail, but that\'s ok since I don\'t use voicemail at all and won\'t when that service starts around these parts.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Unicron! on December 09, 2007, 02:09:18 PM
iPod nano collecting dust
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Titan on December 09, 2007, 09:50:00 PM
Quote from: Luke
Ironically enough I just got an 8g iphone as an early xmas present last night.


Been fucking with it all day and I love it to death already.


I went into the Apple store in late August and just played around with them. I sat there for like 45 minutes just playing with it. Browsing the web, listening to music. I loved it. Which is good because my phone is going (camera doens\'t work any more and it shuts itself off from time to time when I answer a call) and by the time I have enough money to get a new phone, better versions I\'m sure will be out for the same price. I hope they come out with an 80 gig version (or atleast 40 gig) within the next year or so.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Joker on December 09, 2007, 10:01:13 PM
got a 2gb ipod nano. Would love to own an iphone.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: GmanJoe on December 10, 2007, 06:15:38 AM
I bought my wife the 30 gig iPod 2 Christmas\'s ago. It\'s the slimmer version. I squeezed in 3 seasons of "Friends" into that player with plenty of space left.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: kopking on December 10, 2007, 06:28:50 AM
had a 20 gig ipod, couple of years old now... last weekend, it gave it up, and has decided to die.... so need a new one, prob after xmas... but thinking of getting something other than a ipod....... what do peep reckon of the others?
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: nO-One on December 10, 2007, 11:35:30 AM
Quote from: Titan
I went into the Apple store in late August and just played around with them. I sat there for like 45 minutes just playing with it. Browsing the web, listening to music. I loved it. Which is good because my phone is going (camera doens\'t work any more and it shuts itself off from time to time when I answer a call) and by the time I have enough money to get a new phone, better versions I\'m sure will be out for the same price. I hope they come out with an 80 gig version (or atleast 40 gig) within the next year or so.

Unlikely, for the time being atleast. It uses flash memory and at those size\'s the iPhone would be ridiculously expensive.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Knotter8 on December 10, 2007, 12:02:50 PM
I\'ve got a Samsung YP-Z5F with 2Gb space. While it looks cool and it got rave reviews i\'d say it deserves a 6.9 out of 10.

The software to transfer to player is important imo ; and this is where the Samsung\'s weak point is ; it\'s a pretty linear pos process and afaik very propietary.

Access readtimes on the player could be better as well ; sometimes the songs suffer from a "hickup" ... makes me wonder if the memory is screwed up :( .

The real pro\'s for this MP3 player are it\'s long battery life, great LCD screen and good sound.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: shockwaves on December 10, 2007, 04:12:34 PM
I\'ve got an old, 20 gig, 2nd gen iPod
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Titan on December 10, 2007, 11:16:59 PM
Quote from: nO-One
Unlikely, for the time being atleast. It uses flash memory and at those size\'s the iPhone would be ridiculously expensive.


:( That\'s unfortunate. They need to develop a smaller and slimmer hard drive.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Samwise on December 10, 2007, 11:57:43 PM
Quote from: Titan
:( That\'s unfortunate. They need to develop a smaller and slimmer hard drive.
Harddrives are plenty small and slim. But they require more power than the solid state cards. And are more prone to failing.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: JBean on December 11, 2007, 04:44:24 AM
Me and the Wife both have Zune 30\'s

love it so far... only thing that pissed me off with it was the last firmware update frigged up a lot of my album art, but i\'m slowly getting it back to normal.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: NVIDIA256 on December 12, 2007, 03:22:25 AM
.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: NVIDIA256 on December 12, 2007, 03:22:26 AM
It\'s so increadably sad to see the popularity of Ipods. I admit apple got it right in terms of the portable MP3 player/ Music service intergration but other than that, Ipod hardware mimics that of the MAc pc, flashy on the outside cheap in the inside. Then again most people use the pre packaged ear buds.

Ipods user interface was desgined for the dummy, slow and clunky. My Rio Karma from 2002 puts it to shame. FUCKING HATE IPODS, what bothers me the most it that the average marketed brainwashed yuppie thinks apple is top quality and that it\'s competitors don\'t compare, and many people are not even aware that portable mp3 players go beyond what apple makes.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Samwise on December 12, 2007, 03:30:17 AM
I love Apple\'s Ipods. Not because they\'re popular but because they\'re a great package (looks, function, everything). But some people hate them just because they\'re popular and go an inferior route just because. But whatever makes people happy.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 12, 2007, 03:40:31 AM
I generally love Apple, but the fact they charge so much for an IPod amazes me. You can get a Zen or Zune for half the price and it\'s pretty much equal, if not better than the iPods.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Titan on December 12, 2007, 08:45:18 AM
Quote from: Samwise
I love Apple\'s Ipods. Not because they\'re popular but because they\'re a great package (looks, function, everything). But some people hate them just because they\'re popular and go an inferior route just because. But whatever makes people happy.


Kinda like settling for the fat chick
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: nO-One on December 12, 2007, 12:18:02 PM
Quote from: NVIDIA256
It\'s so increadably sad to see the popularity of Ipods. I admit apple got it right in terms of the portable MP3 player/ Music service intergration but other than that, Ipod hardware mimics that of the MAc pc, flashy on the outside cheap in the inside. Then again most people use the pre packaged ear buds.

Ipods user interface was desgined for the dummy, slow and clunky. My Rio Karma from 2002 puts it to shame. FUCKING HATE IPODS, what bothers me the most it that the average marketed brainwashed yuppie thinks apple is top quality and that it\'s competitors don\'t compare, and many people are not even aware that portable mp3 players go beyond what apple makes.

True that there aren\'t a lot of options in the interface, it\'s designed as an extention of ones music library.
However, slow and clunky is just... so wrong that it\'s not even funny. No player has come close to the click wheel interface. Scrolling through thousands of songs and selecting the right one without having to lift the thumb off the iPod or press a button a thousand times or holding a button down and hoping not to pass the song your looking for.
And yes, iPod\'s were designed for dummies, designed so anyone can pick it up and navigating the ui feels natural and simple, and guess what.... it worked.

Overloading the UI with options and settings that few people actually use is just bad UI designing
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: NVIDIA256 on December 12, 2007, 12:25:02 PM
No-One you need to try the Rio karma UI. Many audiophiles and avid portable users agree that is was the smartest UI ever designed. Twice the speed of ipod and much much much better control. Ipod\'s ui is slow and clunky compared to the KARMA. It\'s to bad Rio decided to close down.

Most people are unaware of this cause they have only ever tried Ipods or say ZEN\'s. Another thing Apple is pretentious in there pricing they demand a premium where there is little justification other than the massive brainwashing/marketing campaign.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: nO-One on December 12, 2007, 03:38:03 PM
I\'ve tried the Karma, I\'m not saying it\'s a bad UI far from it, just saying the iPod UI along with it\'s navigational controls is a better solution that far too often is slammed by folks who only see the shortcomings and see the iPod crap made by Apple. There\'s a reason it sells, and there\'s a reason it sells despite being expensive.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Unicron! on December 12, 2007, 04:27:26 PM
Quote from: NVIDIA256
It\'s so increadably sad to see the popularity of Ipods. I admit apple got it right in terms of the portable MP3 player/ Music service intergration but other than that, Ipod hardware mimics that of the MAc pc, flashy on the outside cheap in the inside. Then again most people use the pre packaged ear buds.

Ipods user interface was desgined for the dummy, slow and clunky. My Rio Karma from 2002 puts it to shame. FUCKING HATE IPODS, what bothers me the most it that the average marketed brainwashed yuppie thinks apple is top quality and that it\'s competitors don\'t compare, and many people are not even aware that portable mp3 players go beyond what apple makes.
I dont fancy iPod much either. They are more expensive and less functionable/user friendly than other mp3 players out there.

Apple did it right by doing the first step though. The first movers are the ones most likely to have the highest market and mind share for many years to come. But indeed there are many better mp3 players out there.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 15, 2007, 08:01:13 AM
Bigger question.


Do you......

1: Rip all your cds and buy more cds and convert them to MP3?

2: Download from Torrents / etc?

3: Download from a music service and keep the DRM.

4: Download from a service and rip the DRM (ala Zune Pass, where you pay a monthly fee for unlimited downloads, but you must keep a subscription active to listen to the songs).
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Titan on December 15, 2007, 12:17:02 PM
I do option 1 and 2. I prefer to buy CDs and rip them personally. Its just the last year I had 0 money because of my own stupidity but now I don\'t have to worry about that anymore. I just like having the hard copy CD. They shound better in my car. But I like to have them as mp3s on my laptop then put them on my mp3 player for when I walk to class or something. I\'ve even bought some CDs that I already had downloaded but just wanted to own them. Now that I\'m making some decent money I can start buying CDs again. First up is the new Modest Mouse CD :)
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: THX on December 15, 2007, 01:28:38 PM
Quote from: NVIDIA256
No-One you need to try the Rio karma UI. Many audiophiles and avid portable users agree that is was the smartest UI ever designed. Twice the speed of ipod and much much much better control. Ipod\'s ui is slow and clunky compared to the KARMA. It\'s to bad Rio decided to close down.

Not sure why getting to a certain song 4 seconds slower makes the ipod the worst mp3 player out there...  Like Sammy said, whatever makes YOU happy.  If you have issues finding songs on the ipod check out the latest ones.  They scroll faster by alphabet.

I\'m definitely not an Apple fan but after working so long with UI engineers I would be hard pressed to mock them for their user interfaces.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 15, 2007, 01:56:23 PM
I\'m giving serious thought to giving my 30 gig Zune to the wife and picking up the new 80gig. Two things are holding me back tho\'.

1: They don\'t have a "Toughskin" case out for the 80 yet.

2: I want a 24 inch monitor.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Samwise on December 15, 2007, 11:43:07 PM
Why would you willing buy a Zune? :)
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 16, 2007, 02:02:34 AM
Why wouldn\'t you?
Honestly, there isn\'t anything really wrong with the Zune, people just bash it because it\'s MS.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Samwise on December 16, 2007, 02:30:30 AM
I just don\'t see any reason at all to get one over an Ipod. Except with the Zune you can\'t use Apple Store, but have to use the MS ditto. No thank you siiiire.

EDIT: I can see there\'s a new generation Zune out now, which does indeed seem better than the first. Bigger screen etc.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: nO-One on December 16, 2007, 06:46:51 AM
Zune\'s are fine players, except for the fact that they\'re USA only. Wireless syncing is a pretty nifty feature, there\'s an iPhone hack that does the same but it\'s pretty flaky from what I\'ve heard.

However, the touchpad IMHO still doesn\'t come close to the touchwheel, but keep in mind I\'ve only watched videos, haven\'t actually tried one yet.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Titan on December 16, 2007, 12:55:04 PM
That new Zune does look pretty nice. I still think the next player I\'m getting is gonna be a new iPod.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 16, 2007, 04:40:05 PM
The old Zune was a good player, but the software was lacking. The newest software (which works with the OLD ZUNES) and new Firmware helps a lot. I\'ve let three people use my Zune and all three ended up buying one after they tried it.

Wireless syncing.
3.2" screen
FM Tuner
Custom Backgrounds
Online Service - which has a $14 a month plan, with unlimited downloads.
XBOX Marketplace Integration

Not to mention with a small reg hack (all of two seconds), you can load DIVX files on it and most other formats. It\'ll do all the converting for you .

My wife owns an iPod and now wants a Zune. A Co-worker has an iPod , which I\'ve used a lot and I just don\'t see the general appeal. Most certainly not for the price they want. I :> my Zune.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Paul2 on December 16, 2007, 06:04:24 PM
Raz,

are you working for microsoft?
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 16, 2007, 06:18:17 PM
That is the dumbest question ever.
Why not ask Sammy if he is working for Apple?

It\'s more like I get annoyed because people automatically assume that if it\'s an MS product it must be "teh suck", when that\'s simply not true.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Paul2 on December 16, 2007, 06:28:01 PM
no, its just that you went into good detail explaining why you like Zune.  So I thought I just ask.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 16, 2007, 06:29:39 PM
Would you prefer this...

"TEH ZUNE RULEZ, APPLE SUX."

Or a logical, explanation on why I prefer the Zune?

\'Bout to try out the 80Gig, a friend his bringing his over.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Raz The Friggin Grea on December 17, 2007, 07:29:31 AM
Yet another reason I prefer the Zune.

Much like MS brought the "gamercard", you have a Zune "card".

http://social.zune.net/member/livinginclip

Which, provided you use the same username, will work with your Xbox live friends list.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: JBean on December 31, 2008, 11:34:03 AM
well... all the Zune 30\'s across the world bricked last night at midnight... something to do with the leap year or something (day 366).  I did the battery trick and got mine working... but you can\'t sync your zune until they update the firmware/software.  Anybody else in here besides me and LIC have a zune?  You have any issues with yours LIC?  I called my wife first thing this morning and had her get her zune out to see if hers was dead and yep... froze on the boot screen.

Pretty crazy that something on this scale could happen... but if there was one company this would happen to it would be Microsoft :)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/12/zune-30-shutdow.html
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Viper_Fujax on December 31, 2008, 11:43:35 AM
iv actually been debating getting a new mp3 player. my brother got a 120GB zune last weekish and made me want to get one since iv been stuck with my broken down 4gb ipod for a few years now.

been leaning towards the 16GB zen, mainly because its a good price and just as good as the zune (minding the smaller gigs, but the zen has the sd card slot). I doubt id use the zune marketplace since i wont do any monthly fee things while i dont have a job..just seems stupid to pay for something repeatedly with no income to replace it

anyway, you gave me a chance to scare the crap out of my brother this morning telling him zunes across the world are bricking :D
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Coredweller on December 31, 2008, 12:51:14 PM
My iRiver H340 failed last year after I dropped it, but I was able to extract the hard drive and recover the data.  I then switched to a 20gig iRiver H10.  I love the fact that I can run Rockbox on the H10 and the user interface is consistent, but I\'m a little frustrated by the smaller capacity.
 
I\'m intrigued by the positive reviews of the Zune, and the 120 gig model would be nice.  I don\'t have an automatic hatred for MS, but I have been burned by them before.  Windows Mobile 6 was extremely buggy on my Samsung phone, but then they finally released a 6.1 patch for that model, and it\'s been working pretty good since then.
 
One question about the Zune:  Does it use a proprietary cable, or can you connect using a simple USB cable?  I love devices that use commonly available cables.  I assume since it\'s Microsoft that you don\'t need any special software installed on a PC running WinXP or Vista, correct?  Can it be connected to a Mac?  (I don\'t have one, but one of my crazy friends does.)
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: JBean on January 01, 2009, 06:26:18 AM
Quote from: Coredweller
I\'m intrigued by the positive reviews of the Zune, and the 120 gig model would be nice.  I don\'t have an automatic hatred for MS, but I have been burned by them before.  Windows Mobile 6 was extremely buggy on my Samsung phone, but then they finally released a 6.1 patch for that model, and it\'s been working pretty good since then.
 
One question about the Zune:  Does it use a proprietary cable, or can you connect using a simple USB cable?  I love devices that use commonly available cables.  I assume since it\'s Microsoft that you don\'t need any special software installed on a PC running WinXP or Vista, correct?  Can it be connected to a Mac?  (I don\'t have one, but one of my crazy friends does.)

I love my Zune... and my 30 gig model is about full... so an 80 or 120 would be nice.  One thing I love about the Zune line is that when they update the firmware and add new features they are across the board... Gen 1 Zunes get all the features Gen 2\'s & 3\'s get.  

And yes the Zune uses a proprietary cable that comes with the player.  And yes, you need the Zune software installed to put stuff on your zune (just like you need itunes to put stuff on an ipod.  Only thing I really don\'t like about my zune is that you can\'t use it as an external hard drive.  Well.. there is a sort of work around to make it work, but i haven\'t bothered.

Otherwise though I love mine.  And i\'ll gladly buy another one when this one bites the dust.
Title: MP3 owner report.
Post by: Living-In-Clip on January 02, 2009, 01:17:47 PM
I hate my Zune.
I love my iPod.
No wait.
I hate my iPod.
I love my Zune.

Ah, shit, I\'m confused again!

Here is what I do know tho\'.

The Zune gets a bad rep for being an MS product and really, it\'s a solid MP3 player. I know quite a few people who bought one after trying mine. I also know that Windows Mobile just plain sucks. Get some other kind of smartphone.