Zune/Zen Advice needed

Liranan

Currently we have two Ipod's, both belonging to the wife, but they drive us mad because of they can only be synchronised to one PC only. From Apple's point of view this is a really good business practice, from a consumer point of view I want to

Apple because I have to constantly transfer music to my wife's PC before they can be put on the device. Eventhough she rips most of the CD's I do the occasional few and then Apple's handicap really shines.

Yesterday I decided enough is enough and I want another device, maybe for myself, that is easier to use and more practical. I started looking into the Zune's and the first thing that struck me was that MS have released a 120GB one. However I then started reading about people having a lot of trouble with the software as it can be really stupid and I have read that the Zune can't be used as an external HD.

I, subsequently, started looking into the Zen's and they look interesting but they're slightly expensive. Personally I don't really need a large device but the wife does because bigger is better, of course... women...

Could owners of Zune's, Zen's and other MP3/4 players please tell me about their experiences and what would you guys recommend? Please don't recommend Apple because, while they're great to work with, they make me want to shoot myself.

The only requirement I have is that the software be easy to use and have the ability to copy music from any PC, not just my own, to the machine. Preferably I'd like the machine to be like a USB device on which I create my own folders and copy/paste whatever and however way I like, but I think I'm pushing my luck there and if there is no such thing then so be it.

Thanks a lot for the help guys.

dshramek · *Last edited by dshramek; 11-28-2008 at 20:21.*

I have one of each(4gig ea.)
I use my Zen almost every day. It has a sd card slot that can be accessed from the menu(unfortunately not fully integrated like the sansa). The image quality is amazing. The video playback is stellar & it comes with its own software for fast & easy converting of video files. It supports avi, but does better with wmv. The music / sound reproction is great too. I use a set of skull candy ear buds & it is wicked. The menu is very easy to navigate. It will sync using just about any media software(creative, wmp, winamp), but I find the softawre suite it came with the easiest to use.
The Zune is also very nice, but a bit more expensive. The video is amazing, it has a nice wide screen. It plays wmv, also. The sound reproduction is really nice. I never used the wifi features so I can't speak on them. I actually think the video quality is better with the Zune, but the Zen is an all around better player. The menu is fairly easy to navigate. It actually looks like the windows media center interface. It syncs using windows media player.

scoutingwraith

Practically the new SanDisk Sansa, Archos, Zune and Creative players are really good with far better sound quality than the Ipod can offer.

TroM · 11-28-2008, 22:30 | posts: 1,334 | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoutingwraith

Practically the new SanDisk Sansa, Archos, Zune and Creative players are really good with far better sound quality than the Ipod can offer.

Agreed, the Sansa is a great player. I bought a e260 for $48 on newegg, a 4 gb model. Even better, they have the Fuze on newegg for $48 now which is a newer model...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16855125056

I've had my e260 for about 2 months, the great thing about it is that it can act like a portable harddrive, and it has expandable memory via micro SD cards (You can have a 20GB player for $60 basically). I know the Zune has more space but are you really going to listen to that 120gb of music all at once? The Sansa is drag and drop, which is really great.

Anyways I won't go into to much details here, just remember that you can use the Rockbox firmware so your Sansa will be able to read Micro SDHC cards, plus it allows you to play games and set themes and etc.

Anyways good luck, if you need more help just ask, cause I really like this little player, best bang for the buck I've ever had out of the 5 mp3 players I've owned so far.

Rifle_Grunt · 11-29-2008, 01:11 | posts: 1,464 | Location: UK, Swindon | User is Offline

I have a zen, it has a fantastic screen, good bundled headphone but sounds brilant with far better expensive pairs and has the SD card thing (with no size limit I belive), if you want audio and video on it i would go for one of the lower capacity ones, put audio on that then buy a large sd card for video and photos. SD card expantion is a less expensive way than using the higher capacity moddles...

Liranan

Quote:

Originally Posted by dshramek

The Zune is also very nice, but a bit more expensive.

Actually the 120GB Zune is incredibly cheap at around $200 but I won't need all that space. My wife doesn't even use up all the space on her 30GB Ipod but it's all about size.

The Sandisk Sansa e280 is extremely attractive with its 8GB (more than enough for music) and very good price but the site is very illusive about what it can be upgraded with. Will any Micro SD do or does it have to be the propriety slotmusic card? I can't get those here and it's unknown when they will become available, could be a month, could be never as nobody has any in stock and has no intentions to sell any either. From what I've read it's just a standard Micro SD slot but I'd like to make sure just in case.

If any Micro will do then I will go for the Sandisk, as the drag and drop is exactly what I have been after. Does this mean that I can create my own folders, drag whatever song I want to the folder and that the device will read it without a problem?

MOFO64 · *Last edited by MOFO64; 11-29-2008 at 03:51.*

pocket pc's make good mp3 players.....with the added benefit of bluetooth/wifi so she can read/write emails or surf the web whilst on the move. They can also be used as movie players and have expandable storage in the form of SD flash.

They also show as a seperate HDD in windows and support drag and drop. I have mine set to syncronise with windows media player.

Just thought I'd mention it

Liranan

That may be true but I don't really feel like spending hundreds of Euro's on a portable PC just to listen to music. Also if I ever bought one I'd only want to play games on it. Unfortunately those things are useless to me.

MOFO64 · 11-29-2008, 05:02 | posts: 791 | Location: near EDINBURGH | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liranan

That may be true but I don't really feel like spending hundreds of Euro's on a portable PC just to listen to music. Also if I ever bought one I'd only want to play games on it. Unfortunately those things are useless to me.

No, but you feel like spending a couple of hundred euros on a music player only?

Cool...best of luck

scoutingwraith

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liranan

Actually the 120GB Zune is incredibly cheap at around $200 but I won't need all that space. My wife doesn't even use up all the space on her 30GB Ipod but it's all about size.

The Sandisk Sansa e280 is extremely attractive with its 8GB (more than enough for music) and very good price but the site is very illusive about what it can be upgraded with. Will any Micro SD do or does it have to be the propriety slotmusic card? I can't get those here and it's unknown when they will become available, could be a month, could be never as nobody has any in stock and has no intentions to sell any either. From what I've read it's just a standard Micro SD slot but I'd like to make sure just in case.

If any Micro will do then I will go for the Sandisk, as the drag and drop is exactly what I have been after. Does this mean that I can create my own folders, drag whatever song I want to the folder and that the device will read it without a problem?

I have the Sansa and i can tell you that any MicroSD will do with any card you buy. I think the firmware supports up to 8GB (check with which version you have). Also the Sansa is practically drag and Drop.... no need for a special program.

Liranan · *Last edited by Liranan; 11-29-2008 at 10:00.*

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOFO64

No, but you feel like spending a couple of hundred euros on a music player only?

Cool...best of luck

As far as I see it there's a difference between spending 200 Euro's on a music player and 300 on a compact PC and another bit on SD's. I have looked into them but they do what I don't need, so I don't see why I should spend more on things I won't need or use. Thank you for wishing me luck though and will ignore the sarcasm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoutingwraith

I have the Sansa and i can tell you that any MicroSD will do with any card you buy. I think the firmware supports up to 8GB (check with which version you have). Also the Sansa is practically drag and Drop.... no need for a special program.

Thanks for the help guys, if anyone can give me any more info please do but as it stands the Sansa seems to be the one I am going to get. MicroSD's are so cheap I have no qualms about buying two or even three to store my films on, so I don't really care if they don't support 16GB ones (2x15 Euro's won't really keep me awake at night).

TheGr81 · 11-29-2008, 10:15 | posts: 939 | Location: Cincinnati, Oh | User is Offline

I have a Sana e270 ( I think that's the number for the 6GB one) and have used it at the gym, taken it in the Sana, dropped it several times, cracked the metal back of it by dropping it on an eliptical machine, etc. and it still works great. It will work with any brand card you want and requires no software to be installed on the PC you are using.

I also have a 160GB Ipod and hate it. I have owned a Zune and liked the player but hated the software. You will have the same issues with a Zune that you have with your Ipods. I also have a Cowon A2 but I don't think that's what you are looking for.

TroM · 11-29-2008, 13:15 | posts: 1,334 | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liranan

Thanks for the help guys, if anyone can give me any more info please do but as it stands the Sansa seems to be the one I am going to get. MicroSD's are so cheap I have no qualms about buying two or even three to store my films on, so I don't really care if they don't support 16GB ones (2x15 Euro's won't really keep me awake at night).

Remember that there is the Rockbox firmware as well, it's free online, which allows you to use Micro SDHC cards with your Sansa as well. It also gives you way more customization over the stock firmware, faster boot times etc.

Liranan

I'm a little shocked, can only use 2GB MicroSD's with the standard Sandisk firmware. Concidering Sandisk are the worlds number one flash manufacturers I'd have thought they'd have upgraded the firmware to support up to 32. Silly or this their way of getting rid of the smaller 2GB ones, no idea which but thanks for pointing the way to Rockbox. Today I'm going to see if I can order one of these sexy things when I go shopping.

Finchwizard

I've got an iPod, and I can sync music onto my iPod between my Work PC and my Home PC.

You just need the computer to be authorized, it's in the menu.

But if you want a new player that's up to you.

ottoyu34 · 12-30-2008, 21:08 | posts: 478 | Location: Ontario, Canada | User is Offline

I just bought a Zune 8GB yesterday. I returned my samsung that I bought on boxing day. The sound quality on it is amazing(much better than the samsung YP-S3). It has bright soundstage when I compare it to a Sony 4GB NWZS636FB. Using the same in-ear headphone the zune offers much more bass and better soundstage. But I have only compared them for a around 15mins.

zune software is great and I found it helpful for organizing my music. But its not multi-langugae.

in-ear for comparsions: Sony MDR-EX71SL
in-ear use on Zune: Audio-Technica ATH-CKM50A In-Ear Headphones