Community poll forum: What MP3 player series is most likely to overtake the iPod?

Obviously the Zen Vision:M dominates all with its 262,xxx colours for beautiful 2.5 inch screen. All you ipod fans don't know what your missing if you haven't tries the Zen Vision:M. Then you say "But everyone has an ipod." Does that mean you must follow and be part of the crowd? or should you as an individual start a new trend. Apple ipod Video has 2 hours of video play while Zen Vision:M has 4! How many of you have an ipod video and have to wait to get the player to be able to play your movies? With the Zen Vision:M waiting is not a problem for it has so many file formats. Bottom line is that if you want something that you won't regret buying, get the CREATIVE ZEN VISION:M

I have the Zen Vision: M and I am loving it!! There are a few things that could have been better, but right now it's the best player out there.

This article explains it clear and loud why the iPod will not only rule 2006 but for the upcoming 10 years also! Nothing will be able to topple THE cool factor!

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/the-ipod-year-in-review-2005-year-of-the-ipod-or-ipod-decade/

Even the Zen Micro has features not found in the I-Pods..... FM tuner, recording from FM capability, voice recording and not just MP3 but Windows Media Player capability. Replaceable battery....lasts longer.

*** LAR ***

You're right, the Zen Micro doesn't support lossless, however it does support WAV. Depending on your needs, that might be good enough.

I bought a zen micro 10 months ago and now I looking at getting the Zen M. Don't get me wrong the zen micro is a great player that you master quickly and beats the ipod hands down. The only thing I can see of a minus for the Zen M is the non-removable bat. but should they change it, The ipod will lose major market share.

Hey buddy, what are you smoking? Just because you don't like FM, it doesn't mean that everybody else doesn't. I like all my music, but listening to something different on the radio once in a while is a nice option to have. I also like listening to some of the talk shows and news that they have on radio.

The iPod's dominance is a long-term thing, meaning that its successor is not on the market and won't be for quite awhile.

Of course, "long term" in the tech industry does not mean a century, fifty, or even twenty years. But, Five to ten years is a plausible timeline.

Phone mp3 players are a bit faddish. While the idea is good, it's going to take more than a mediocre phone that also plays music to catch on and take out the best mp3 player on the planet. It's going to take technological evolution to render a stand-alone mp3 player obsolete.

The successor to the iPod could be a future all-in-one that's kind of like a PDA smartphone, only a lot better at being both, with a built-in hard drive with serious capacity. In short, a miniture full-fledged computer. And, it will have to be affordable enough that kids in high school and college can afford one, since that's a big part of the iPod market.

But, there's no reason in the world why Apple wouldn't be the first company to put one out, making the iPod killer it's own son or daughter, kind of like in a Greek myth.

The Ipod is the Mac of the MP3 player industry, period. They dont' do anything that any other player can't do as well and cheaper. Zealots, and those who cannot think for themselves deserve to pay more for a player that does less.

Ipod is an industry standard though. Most non-techies will call any mp3 player an ipod. It is repeated over and over here.. BUT being a standard doesn't make you the best. It can allow you some degree of marketability, but being "popular" doesn't make you better.

What they have:

Slick design (admittedly so, not the best.. but good)
Itunes (some love it, some hate it.. so no real advantage)
...
well thats it.. And they have all these folks who are delusioned enough to think they are best. Cool, maybe.. best, not hardly. Price factors into that, and there are better, cheaper.. and from the contents of this disucussion.. apparently those players I am unfamiliar with also provide High end solutions that are better than Ipod.

Review:
Not best, at all. Can't dominate low end specs. Can't dominate High end specs.

Sound anything like the dotcom bubble to anyone? Just wait for it to pop, and be another dismal affair in technology.

Hey dude....you know what? The reason why Creative, iRiver, and Sony and many others sell their mp3s at cheaper price than the iPod is that they know they won't attract buyers if they charge the same with the iPod. Sure, they have lots more stuff - FM radios (yeah, we know, FM radios are the what people buy this mp3s to get...when you can buy a $20 FM radio), voice recorders (like, you ever record what your teacher says) and other features. But then, how come they didn't beat the iPod? Because, no one will buy them at the same price as the iPod!! That's why they sell if for like, $30 cheaper than the iPod.

So you think the interface for iPod is not good? Have you ever tried using the iRiver H10 or the Creative Zen (Full size)? Just pop by stores like Best Buy and try the interface. Oh, and by the way, at those electronic stores, they have iPods on the front of the mp3 sections to display to the customers, not Creatives. The other, second-level brands are all at the back, so you might have to look for them. After using both interfaces, make a logical decision and tell all of us which was easier to use, iPod or Zen.
Good luck trying to figure it out, and I'm pretty sure that you will need Einstein's brain to figure it out!

I couldn't agree more. The AV500 is the most impressing gadget, I've ever had.

I'v used the Ipod, Ipod Mini and Ipod Nano. All very nice devices. But they lose in every aspect except usability to the AV500.

However most people will settle for the Ipod because of it's user interface. Personally I prefer AV500's faster file transfer as opposed to Itunes.

And of course Archos AV500 have the most amazing set of features of ANY media player out there.

Anyone who is touting eye-podz as the greatest thing in the world hasn't seen the AV500.

Archos has 60 percent more storage than the biggest eyepod out there, 80 percent more screen area, native 16x9 compatibility, a case, remote control and docking station you don't have to pay extra for, faster file transfers, better sound, playback on any tv, and greater video format compatibility

It also has the ability to schedule and record your own shows. Imagine that, not having to PAY to watch Desperate Housewives on your player (just try that with an i-sore).

Ipuds used to be on the cutting edge, but now they've got a long way to go to catch up.

The problem, I fear, is that Apple's brand recognition will eventually wipe out other competitors.

I've seen it before. ReplayTV was vastly technically superior to Tivo, with features in their second generation units that Tivo is only now matching in their fifth generation. But Tivo has that annoying little tv-guy logo that everyone remembered and Replay, alas, is no more.

Features aren't the secret ... I'm in the marketing field and was slow to buy into the iPod deal- but I did about 6 months ago ... love it and here is why.
It's cool looking,it's easy to use, and it does EXACTLY what you expect it to do- I choose my content from my desk ... I plug my iPod in at my desk- It updates ITSELF- I take it with me and watch or listen to whatever I chose (and paid for).My ipod and I are an item! Conversely ... I have used others - they were feature rich - cool but I didn't use the camera or video (well maybe once) I had to remember how to use the programs that came with them ... find the right usb cable when I wanted to update it- search all over the place for what i wanted to listen to - then figure out how to convert the damn file to mp3 - wav or whatever- frankly it sucked when it came to efficiency. Apple figured all of that out and developed a complete system that works the way "i" work.

It worries me alot that the ipod has such a classic product-stereotypical impact on the market. People often refer all mp3 players as ipods, because they dont know the difference between brands.......... and again it is typical stereotypes who worry about social status more than product use, that buy the ipod. What can i say, i think the ipod is a nice looking device. But i think its all bull. People should buy what they need, and shouldnt have to conform to global stupidity constantly.

You should think that after years of having internet that consumers become wise and research more, explore more, and long for better products. But no, people dont care....... Ipod today is like levis in the 80s (the hype, the use, the status). And all the market really needs to break down totally, is an "H&M" of today branded device.

I think that the VISION:M is the only worthy componant, but as any other company in the current market, they always leave out things to want, so you come back for more. In this case BATTERY (what a boo boo). Good review here though (vision:m vs. ipod video): http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.clubic.com%2farticle-30174-1-le-duel-de-fin-d-annee-ipod-5g-zen-vision-m.html

If IRIVER makes the u10 with 8gb or more. And added a battery service like or changed the battery, it would be the challenger of the century. The design is impecable, and the whole FLASH compatible menu thing is amazing. I easily see in short time, downloads with different menu types..... or even consumers being made possible to customize their own menus with iriver-flash tools. And the u10s clicking corners, are awesome.

PS : Dont buy ipods for music because they are some of the worst sounding players out there. DOnt buy it for video either, cause it really doesnt play video in my opinion. It plays IPOD infomercials.

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Soon they will have cell phones that can access an external hard drive that has all your music on it...Eventually the iPod will lose customers due to lack of change and they will all quickly become bored with iTunes.