MP3 players forum: iPod Classic VS. Zune 80

The iPod classic was announced on September 5th and released on September 7th of this year. The 80gb Zune was announced on October 2nd and released on November 12th. Therefore, the 'some time' you refer to is only a couple of months. If you mean that the general concept has been around for a while, so has the Zune (although by no means as long, it has still been around for long enough). By asking for a comparison to the iPod Touch, your are suggesting that we ignore the hard drive capacity (as has already been stated), the price, and the category it's under. The iPod Touch is, without a doubt, a remarkable device that is aimed at an entirely different market and thus a comparison would definitely be an 'apples to oranges' comparison.

yes, the amount of storage and price you want are subjective but the point of the comparison is to help people decide what to buy

example: if i had plenty of money and only needed 16 gb, well obviously i'd choose a touch over a zune hands-down, but as it stands i can't afford a touch and the memory is way too limited for me, so now i have to choose between the best options, those logically being the classic or the zune

I use a 4th gen 20GB ipod. Only played with Zunes and the 5.5th gen ipod vidoes at retail stores.

Even tho they both appear to be fine devices, given the ipods' huge dominance in the mp3 player arena, one would've expected the ipod classic to clean the floor by at least 5 points. Ipod has a LOT MORE to lose in this prizefight, and even tho this 'll hardly get the masses to switch to a Zune with the ipod name still firmly established, it'll turn some heads, which is a good step for M$

I dislike them because they want you to use their own program (like itunes and the zune program) while almost everybody else lets you do wathever you like, even sony now. Right now, I'm not at all into them anymore. I just bought a Samsung P2 for 145$ at bestbuy (4gig), and I like this way better. More functions, bluetoot, but no wifi :'( and not a lot of support (all the sound sytems are made for ipod only! Still, bluetoot system are popping :D). Still, I got a 3" touch screen that sounds great, with a lot of functions, under the price of the nano, wich use a program I hate (itunes). I use wmp11 (winamp before, but wmp11 (the 11) is great) so my ratings and stuff are on it.

Finally, I wonder why everybody talk about ipods and zunes, while they aren't even the best. Ipods are limitted by itunes, and they lack a lot of stuff (FM?). Zunes are ok, but nothing special, they cost a lot, and they are still limited by their soft... On top of that, zunes are not even available in Canda, where I live :S.

My best are: Samsung's P2/T10, sony's S610/A810 and creative's zen/zen v plus. Cnet should make a box round on these ones for a change.

ps: It's just my opinion.

Oh yeah, ipods are sooo sexy with all the scratches that accumulate on their metallic backing. Man I saw my lil' sisters ipod when she came to visit me recently and I was amazed how many scratches that thing had. It was horrible. I've always heard how scratch prone they were, but u dont realize how bad they are until u actually see one. With that being said the new zunes also have a metallic backing, and the best part is you can customize them for free for a limited time. They look freaking sweet with the designs on their backing. Yeah i'd take the zune any day over the i-pod.

In response to the claim that the ipods are sexy, yes they are, but as mentioned above, they get scratched easily. You buy a case. Another expense. On the other hand the zune doesn't scratch easily and has better bang for the buck. I cant believe people pay such a high premium for (what the think is) sexiness (in the store window)

I gotta say, one the the main reasons i'm buying a zune is because of how sexy it is

It's really been bothering me lately that all the ipod users i know see the new classics and say "oh it's so cool looking! it's got metal on the front and a split screen interface!" Seriously you're so hypnotized by ipods that you can't even recognize that apple didn't really do freaking anything to it?

so it's my hope that by getting a zune i can make people realize that the new ipods really arent the only good-looking mp3 player. i mean who can't be jealous of that huge screen with a beautiful, yet still simplistic, interface and a design just as minimalist as the ipod's?

I have had several iPods (iPod 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation, nano) but I recently moved to a Zune 30 GB. The reason I did that was because of the wireless sync feature. I leave my Zune in my car (where I listen to it the most) and do a wireless sync every now and then. I also like the controls and the nice screen of Zune.

The feature I hate about Zune is the Zune desktop software. Come on MSFT, NO AUTO PLAYLIST? No import from iTunes? No import from media player?

The features I would like the most will be line-in recording (high quality, at least 128kbps) and an FM transmitter.

I noticed the same thing to when I was watching a video review of Leopard. When you see all those sponsored by Microsoft banners around the website, how can you not think they're not being biased.

How come no one has mentioned that this review compared Microsoft's flagship product with Apple's "classic", (i.e. old) design? Does any Zune product even get near the iPod touch? I think not. Would the Zune even exist if Apple hadn't invented the iPod? Again, I think not.

Apple's strength is imagination and innovation. Almost everything Microsoft has ever done has been a copy of another company's product

I totally agree with you. The click-wheel interface has been around for years and is going away. The iPod Touch is the next generation. So, they compared generations old technology from Apple with the latest from Microsoft. It's pretty clear that Apple leads in innovation. I'm just waiting to see how long it takes Microsoft to try to copy it.

I just bought a 30 gig. zune because of the price break ($90) over the holidays. I originally didn't buy the zune last year cause of the bad reviews, but the new software update changed my mind. I am surprised that no one mentioned the fact that the zune can be updated. (If you buy a model now, you don't have to buy the next model to get the new features, hence podcast and wireless syncing) My fiance has a 3rd generation ipod and is stuck with the features of that model. I can rest assured knowing that all I have to do is update my zune when the next update is available. I don't know how many other mp3 players let you update your software to better improve the experience.

You mean like how Vista is a copy and improvement on the Mac OS X system? I think not!

I think he meant how pcs are as a whole more powerful that an apple product.

Everyone should read that post if you have a zune