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MP3 players: iPod Classic VS. Zune 80
Uneven scoring
by Mark Gurney - 12/3/07 1:40 PM In reply to: iPod Classic VS. Zune 80 by headbusta27I'd also like to say that I feel the reviewers were pretty uneven in their scoring. The Zune received 2's across the board in compatibility based on the Zune Marketplace and lack of DRM protected WMA support but advantages like the ZunePass and the Zune's supported formats is largely overlooked.
Furthermore, things like in Round 5 where Donald praises the iPod for being wallet friendly is laughable. Apparently he's OK with having to purchase a third party case, FM tuner and screen protector instead of getting them for free on the Zune.
This is definitely not cNet's best work. As a note, I am a 5th Gen iPod owner, with a 3rd Gen before that and oddly enough your review makes me think Zune instead of iPod. Why do I see that and you don't?
Free case & screen protector?
by Josh.Lowensohn
- 12/3/07 3:12 PM
In reply to: Uneven scoring by Mark Gurney
Where is this free case and screen protector you speak of? My Zune came with none of these things 
I also think we touched on the ZunePass and file support, although head to head the iPod's got it beat on file compatibility--especially for videos.
Free case & screen protector
by Mark Gurney - 12/4/07 12:16 PM In reply to: Free case & screen protector? by Josh.Lowensohn
I guess I should be a little more plain...the construction of the Zune makes purchasing a case and screen protection less of a necessity as opposed to the construction on the iPod. One of the first things I did after purchasing my iPods was purchase a case and screen protection - an added expense. After playing with the new Zune I don't feel that would be necessary.
As the ZunePass - again, I think it was glossed over. iPod/iTunes lack of this feature is significant. If the iPod isn't docked for lack of compatibility with services that offer this feature then at least the Zune should be praised for it.
As for compatibility - maybe that needs to be better explained. Both play MP3, AAC, MPEG-4, H.264 and their own lossless right? Zune has the addition of WMA support. Where is this huge gap in compatibility that places the iPod on top? Audible content?
Accessories
by Mark Gurney - 12/4/07 12:27 PM In reply to: Free case & screen protector by Mark GurneyA good point is made below about the Zune's included ear buds. They are a better inclusion by leaps and bounds than those included with the iPod. You guys remember those ear buds right? They are the ones you all recommend to replace the moment they are taken out of the box. Where is the value in that?
Ties suck, indeed
by audiodonald - 12/3/07 1:46 PM
In reply to: iPod Classic VS. Zune 80 by headbusta27
I know nobody likes a tie. You're crazy if you think we rigged this so that people wouldn't be upset. How would people not be upset about a tie? If anything, a tie is a surefire way to **** off everybody. Despite the fact that the fight technically ended in a tie, I think that most people will see this as a win for the Zune. After all, the Zune edged-out the iPod in 4 of the 5 rounds--it just tanked hard in compatibility. Also, the fact that an underdog like Zune even tied the industry-standard iPod is much more embarrassing to Apple than it is to Microsoft. Ultimately, I'm proud to own both players, even though I wish I could just own one that got it right 100%. -Donald
Ties suck, indeed
by Mark Gurney - 12/4/07 12:20 PM In reply to: Ties suck, indeed by audiodonald
So...the expectation is that your readers will interpret your head-to-head as a win for the Zune? You guys just aren't willing to put that to print?
Zune is the smart choice
by spitkronk - 12/3/07 1:49 PM In reply to: iPod Classic VS. Zune 80 by headbusta27The Zune offers a better and bigger screen.Better navigation.The Zune market place.It also comes with a premium head set.Which blocks outside sound and its stylish.Thats $40.00 dollar value for free.It also comes with an FM tuner, the undisputed all time famous ipod doesn't.Trust me the Zune is the way to go.
...
by spartacus51 - 12/3/07 2:01 PM In reply to: iPod Classic VS. Zune 80 by headbusta27How about the practical comparison? I, like the vast majority of people in the market for an mp3 player, have "ripped all of my own CDs" and have nothing but DRM free mp3s. Compatibility is no issue then.
For myself I've spent hundreds on ipod accessories. Clock/dock in the bathroom, one for bedside, a dock/TV out connected to my TV and computer that I can use for syncing, and for my car stereo.
It's in my car that I'm most concerned. For a long time I simply used a regular line in. The reason I got the ipod control was I didn't feel safe navigating the ipod while driving. The text was just too small to read at a glance and with the click wheel I often had a hard time getting exactly what I wanted. That my ipod now charges while driving is a nice feature, but one I can live without. So with no zune compatibility for my head unit can I reliably navigate the zune without crashing my car if I go back to just a line in?
What about the other accessories? I don't mind re-spending all that money, but do they exist and are they of the same quality?
How about syncing, to be honest I don't imagine I'd ever use wireless. Syncing my 60gb library takes long enough over USB, I can't imagine doing it all wirelessly. Is the zune software any better than iTunes? I've never much liked itunes, but I get by easy enough.
The rest of the features seem unnecessary to me. I've never used the ipod equalizer, a pair of good earbuds seem a much better solution. I'll never listen to the radio, in part because where I live I barely get reception in the car or at home so I doubt the built in receiver would do much good, and also because in general the radio is crap anyway.
I guess then it all comes down to navigation. Is the zune's software considerably better than the ipod's? Is it worth me spending another $500 on accessories?
Is it worth it to change?
by audiodonald - 12/3/07 2:36 PM
In reply to: ... by spartacus51
Given your situation, I would say no. There's no outstanding benefit to switching. In fact, many iPod owners who are comfortable with iTunes would probably feel cheated by the Zune's comparatively limited PC-software. The iPod is still a great choice and I think the wealth of high-quality accessories is a big reason to stay with the iPod. That said, for those who aren't already invested in iPod accessories, the Zune is now a real alternative.
Is it worth it in addition?
by spartacus51 - 12/3/07 4:32 PM In reply to: Is it worth it to change? by audiodonald
A lack of features in pc-software may be a plus in my book. iTunes is not my listening software. It is my library management. I like "add music to library" and having it consolidate into my music directory, using %artist%\%album%\## %title%. I think editing file info and adding album covers is nicely implemented in iTunes. Coverflow is nice for building a playlist, simply grabbing the CDs I want and dropping them onto my playlist. If I did get a Zune I may still use iTunes to manage my library, and that's OK. How is the zune software for building playlists? Disappointment there would be a strong con.
Playing music in iTunes has always bugged me. When browsing for the next song it always jumps back to what is playing. I don't like switching between my library and the now playing playlist. Visualizer or coverflow in fullscreen on my extended desktop blacks out my main monitor. Right now I use J River Media Center for music, video and TV. Is the zune software better than that (or at least iTunes) for playback, or will I be using it solely to manage my Zune? (even that isn't really a negative, but outstanding software would be a positive.)
Whether the Zune was easily navigated while driving went unaddressed, and is the biggest sticking point for now. See the situation is that I have a 60gb library, an 8gb nano and a 30gb 5.5g. I want something bigger, and I'm sorta sick of the iPods. I certainly wouldn't be throwing them away, but a whole new gadget does have appeal. I certainly wouldn't spend $250 purely as a novelty though, it has to be at least good enough that 2 months later I wasn't wishing I had got the Classic, or even worse, actually going out and buying another bigger iPod. I hope the next one of those I buy will be a 3G 16gb iPhone. But that still doesn't address that storage need...
I could always continue using my iPods around the house, although if the Zune ended up a clear winner in my opinion I'd like to know I COULD replace those accessories I already have. When I go out though I'd like to carry a larger library. So the question isn't "is it worth it to change?" it's "is it worth it in addition?"
Definitely!
by dlfreak_blackjackal - 8/27/08 8:44 PM In reply to: Is it worth it in addition? by spartacus51I have also been using iTunes above everything else to organize my music, but the Zune software has some really great organizing features and now I'm using it more than anything else. The Zune software automatically uploads music into my library as I'm downloading it, which is a real plus because sometimes I'm downloading so much that I leave one or two songs out when I upload them to iTunes (although rediscovering these songs months later is always a pleasant surprise!). The Zune interface works basically the same as Coverflow, only without all the pretty animation. Under the "artists" view you can drag and drop whole albums onto playlists, which are kept under one individual icon at the bottom of the screen (you can also drag and drop onto the "Now Playing" list the same way). The same drag and drop function is used for syncing with your Zune, which seems to be better than iTunes but I never owned an iPod so I don't know how syncing really works with those.
Also, the best organization feature (I think) of the Zune library is its ability to find information about the songs you have. I have many individual songs by rather unknown artists, and I'm a little OCD about having album information for all of my music, and I was able to match many hundreds of songs to albums (automatically, I actually did nothing) on my Zune software that iTunes could never discover for me. Also, it's easy to look up album information quickly without having to drag through the entire music store with the "find album information" feature.
As for playing songs, the Zune software does NOT automatically jump back whenever the song switches. The "artists" view (the one I use the most, obviously) has three panes--artists on the right, albums by cover in the middle, and songs on the left, and you can easily navigate through all of these and get back to your entire library by clicking the number of artists up at the top of the artists pane. It also has a handy back button to navigate backwards through menus, which is great, especially if you're switching back and forth between your player and your library.
As for navigating while driving, I don't really know a whole lot about that because I usually just stick my player on shuffle and go with it, but the touch pad is easy to use whether you prefer to slide or to click (sliding your finger across the pad and clicking one side perform the same function). Also I know that the Zune's screen is bigger than the iPod Classic's and many of the menus have a larger font as well.
And as for the accessories, this is one huge disadvantage for the Zune. Unlike the iPod, there are very few Zune-compatible products out there like car chargers, docking stations, and AC adapters, and none that are specifically for the Zune (many use USB connections). In other words, you're pretty much stuck with shelling out the name brand price for any accessories you want for your Zune, which was a big hit for me. I would LOVE a car charger, but not at $50-60.
Hope this helps! I was given a choice between an iPod Nano or a Zune for an mp3 player and I am extremely happy with the Zune's interface.
accessories
by mavric04 - 6/15/08 12:09 AM In reply to: ... by spartacus51why dear why dear why did you waste money on ipod compatable boom boxes docs this that and the other.
4.99 1/8th inch stereo to 1/8th inch stereo male to male jack makes it possible to plug any and i mean any mp3 player into a home stereo or car stereo or any other type provided it had a line in or aux or mic jack.
i work at radio shack i sell them all day (i need a cable to make it so i can plug my ipod into my car stero oh you need aformentioned 4.99 product) so you got ripped off buying that crap end of story. to say this was a tie is laughable at best.
Ipod vs zune i own neither i would take a zune over an ipod any day ipods clunky click wheel thats a laugh.
itunes software that blows big chunks i refuse to install it every time they try to force it on me with quick time.
only thing cool ipod has is the iphone but alas poor iphone owners that got screwed on the first one.
meet the samsung instinct
the iphone killer.
heres is something else you mentioned but really brushed it off screen size.
zune big screen ipod classic screen same size as my moto q 9c
ipod insted has this really big truck wheel dead center and less screen if i wanted a small screen i would just use my moto q as an mp3 player heck i rate my sansa clip better then an ipod
sorry ipod owners but your little ipod has been out done it such a short amount of time lookes like old bill gates gets the best of steve jobs again
It's all subjective!
by rustach - 12/3/07 2:15 PM In reply to: iPod Classic VS. Zune 80 by headbusta27Reading through the evaluators comments, it's pretty clear you can't name a winner in such a comparison because everyone has their personal likes and dislikes. You can't compare them objectively so why try? Go to your local gadget store and compare them yourself.
However, I would add that the iPod they used in the comparison has been out for quite some time while the Zune was only just released. If you're looking to compare the latest and greatest, try comparing the iPod Touch with the Zune. There's no comparison!
still apples to oranges.... (Zune80 vs ipod Classic 80)
by ackmondual - 12/3/07 2:44 PM In reply to: It's all subjective! by rustachThe Ipod Touch has wifi, internet browsing, and IIRC email as well which are nice, but now the capacity gets shrunk down from 80GB to 16GB. Zune was laughed at quite so due to its paltry 30GB capacity. I don't believe adding more/better wireless features but hocking all that storate will cut it, especially since that would also increase the price of the Touch to $380, now more than Zune's! MUCH MUCH more given the less favorable $ to GB ratio.
I have to say...
by amosharper - 12/4/07 2:36 AM In reply to: still apples to oranges.... (Zune80 vs ipod Classic 80) by ackmondualHaving played around with an iPod Touch for quite a bit, it's a very fun piece of hardware, but it's not an iPod.
The iPod Touch is an iPhone without the phone. It doesn't look like an iPod, respond like an iPod, have the same usability as an iPod... it might be considered a foster-child in the iPod family.
In addition (and this is completely trivial, and no point getting into an argument about), if an iPhone is Apple's phone and an iMac is Apple's new Mackintosh, and iTunes is Apple's tunes management and purchasing software... what is an iPod? 
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