iPod vs Zen Micro, iPod mini vs Muvo2

By davieslim
in Hardware Hangout

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Grand Master

OPaul

Posted
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I got a Muvo2 4G for $135 after a 50 dollar rebate (brand new). IMO thats the best deal you can possibly get for an mp3 player.

With the Muvo, its like having an external HD, all i do is plug it in, and drag my MY MUSIC folder in there. done.

its pretty good as long as you dont mind making playlists on your computer, cos navigating is pretty ****ty without them

http://creative.com/iss/images/products/he...8_hdr_1_6_1.jpg

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Was it a manufactures rebate or a store rebate?

Rising Star

neatofx

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# 20GB* HDD plays back over 660 hours of WMA or 330 hours of MP3 music (over 10,000 WMA or 5,000 MP3 songs)**

# USB 2.0 for fast transfers

# Transfer content between multiple PCs

# 15-hour continuous playback with the rechargeable LiIon battery

# 5-Band Parametric Equalizer with pre-sets

# Dynamic Playlist Generation

# Auto-DJ intelligently finds, mixes and creates playlists from tracks on command

# Included docking station supports:

? Dual RCA Line-Outs to connect to most home stereo components

? Ethernet port ? Assign an IP address for networking capability

? Auto-synchronization with host PC

# Plays Ogg Vorbis

Rio karma sounds like the best bet for me.

Karma_main_prod.jpg

Only $242 on Newegg

Contributor

YOHAN

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Just letting you guys know that Creative was in the mp3 player game way before ipod was even considered. I have a Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 (the first one had the SAME menu system) and if anything iPod was the one to copy the menu system.

I love the ignorance in the crowd here. Do you ever stop to think that maybe the product you dont own actually was the one that invented something that was copied, instead of vice versa? I'm not being any sort of fanboy here, do your research. Creative's menu system was made by them, and them only. Apple did not make that style, the only thing they did was make it woosh to the left when you select it.

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You know what, this is so *%$#@ true! I own the very FIRST nomad jukebox and it had the exact same interface as the ipod. And that one came out like years before the ipod. It is the first ever hard drive based mp3 player ever... I think. It's big and clunky... had a gigantic space worth 6gb!!! and costs 500 USD!!! wow! Good ol' days.

My sis has an ipod mini. My gf has an ipod 4th generation. And I'm getting the Zen Micro. It's damn ugly... but it's damn cool! An ugly player, for an ugly owner. It's what's inside the shell that's important... aaaaawww.

PS. Steve Jobs paid all those mp3 reviewers to use the ipod as the benchmark. Creative need not go to such measures because we all know they are the best! Uhm... except for the aesthetic design. They should hire Phillip Stark!!! And blow those apple eating nerds away!

:yes:

Grand Master

Xtreme $niper

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Seriously, not a bad first post. Not bad at all ;)

At least someone here other than me knows about the Jukebox. I have Jukebox 3, that was about 800 bucks CDN. (ouch i know) 20 gigs at least. Lasted me till I got my recent iRiver, still very full (and removable btw) battery life.

Community Regular

davieslim

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Seriously, not a bad first post. Not bad at all wink.gif

At least someone here other than me knows about the Jukebox. I have Jukebox 3, that was about 800 bucks CDN. (ouch i know) 20 gigs at least. Lasted me till I got my recent iRiver, still very full (and removable btw) battery life.

Yeah, I agree Xtreme $niper. Not bad for a first post over here at neowin.

Community Regular

davieslim

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I fondly remembered the days when Creative used to boast about their 1st ever HD player. Yes, it's true that Creative was in the MP3 market before Apple produced iPod... But really, Creative needs some people to design their products.

Explorer

Dexter411

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"And now back to the point. I personally chose an iPod Mini over all of these, because of superior player support (Winamp/iTunes), OTG (Multiple) playlists (not sure if you can do this on the creatives's) th fact that imo it looked much better, and the navigation control is better."

1. Creative now supports Window file integration so your first point applies to both the iPod and the Zen Micro

2. Creative invented the multiple on-the-go playlists (they were in the 1st generation Jukebox's from 5 years ago)

3. Alright, fair enough. But to those claiming that the iPod is smaller, that's not true-- the Zen Micro is much shorter, slightly thicker, and the same width as the iPod mini so when you take it's volume, it's slightly smaller.

4. The Zen Micro fits in your hand unlike the altoid mint iPod mini.

5. The Zen Micro doesn't have restrictive hard-drive ability-- the manual details that you can use all 5GB of the player as a harddrive if you want to; it just has the built in partition maker to keep stability up so that if something happens and corrupts your HD data, you don't lose your music. Sounds pretty smart to me.

Just sharing some observations after reading this whole thread. I did a lot of research on both the Zen Micro and the iPod mini and, in the end, I think the replaceable battery, bigger HD space, better sound quality, and smaller size won the Micro in my mind.

Mentor

Azadre

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Must... try... not... to... flame

:pinch:  :sleep:

:angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:

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Why? They cost more and they sell more. They have the best UI. They have the best format (AAC). And they are attractive. Flame all you want, but the average user doesn't care about OGG support or removable batteries. They want simplicity and Apple's success shows this.

Veteran

Timmah Veteran

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The fact that they sell more does not mean they are better. It means Apple's marketing is better.

The UI any player uses is PERSONAL OPINION. Because you and a few of your mates say they have the "best" UI doesnt make it fact.

I can guarentee you AAC is not the best format, as you so crudely put it. The music you download from iTunes are DRM based, thus restricting them to your iPod.

Once more the physical appearance of the unit is PERSONAL OPINION, and I'd much prefer the micro or H10 over the iPod. I agree the [ignorant] public don't care about features that would improve their listening experience, and that Apple's products are aimed at a... simpler audience ;)

This isn't a flame post.

Veteran

SaLiVa

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I fondly remembered the days when Creative used to boast about their 1st ever HD player. Yes, it's true that Creative was in the MP3 market before Apple produced iPod... But really, Creative needs some people to design their products.

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LoL! Very true. The Jukebox was a joke. 20GB was a very good feature, but it was way too bulky and looked too much like a CD Player. But its a Singaporean company so we cant complain too much. They're very innovative in their own sense, concentrating on Technology more than anything else. That product was way too expensive though. Same goes with the iPod, but style means alot when its as compact as it is. I got an iPod Mini and would've liked it if it had a longer battery life. Other than that, its a very solid product and expensive I might add. Would've liked more "tweakability" though, like how large increments of the volume is, how fast the scrolling is and file management with Windows. But its an Apple product and one of my first ever, so good impression at first.

BTW, in Singapore they seem to have ran out of other colours than Gold, whats wrong with the Gold version?

Also: The iPod mini wasnt my first choice. I was looking for the sleeker looking Rio Carbon or something. But they didnt have it in Singapore. So yeah...

Mentor

Azadre

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I can guarentee you AAC is not the best format, as you so crudely put it. The music you download from iTunes are DRM based, thus restricting them to your iPod.

This isn't a flame post.

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AAC is MP4. It has consistantly beat WMA in independant tests. It also can be wrapped with DRM, but this is only when you buy the music from iTunes. You can directly rip the music to the M4A format. But you're right, aac is restricted to the iPod, but only because Windows has its fingers in many pies.

Grand Master

Xtreme $niper

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iPods are simply better.  That's why they are purchased.

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Thats a well thought out and explanitory argument! :rolleyes: Honestly people if you have nothing to add to the convo other than a dumb statement like that with no backup support, then dont bother posting at all.

Neowinian

swiharta

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yeah, as far as the question in the title, I think its accepted by most people that zen micro > muvo2 > ipod mini.

Now, with ipod vs. zen micro (albeit an apples to oranges comparison), I really think this is where you are going to get into some annoying arguments with people who actually have biases towards or against apple. Both products are actually very good, but I am a PC user. I think that as I have been trying to decide whether to keep my ipod 20gb I got for Christmas, my primary reason for not wanting an ipod is actually that I don't want anything from apple. My bias is warranted, however; apple have designed a product for mac users, not pc users. An ipod gives you much less choice as to what kind of files I can use with it (no wma, ogg, etc, very popular with pc users but not mac users), no choice of software (must use itunes, comes with macs but is an otherwise unnecessary program for pc users who already have wmp10 -> pretty good software from ms), not to mention the decidedly metrosexual white "gay-gear" look of the ipod and its accessories.

Extra features such as removable battery, fm radio aren't as important in my decision as the restrictions owning an ipod imposes on a pc user. Part of my philosophy is that mac users are more or less brainwashed by steve jobs into mindless product loyalty. For them, these restrictions I mentioned above are mostly invisible.

If I was a mac user, I'd be a different person, and I would love the ipod. As a PC user, the ipod has much less appeal if you are aware of currently available alternatives better suited for pc's.

Grand Master

MonkeyClaw Veteran

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well all i nkow is that i am a MS beta tester, a loyal windows user since 3.1, i build all my pc's and i have tons of music and all of which are in mp3 format, non in wma or ogg which i have never seen anyone use before (besides in games), much less it be considered popular. I own an iPod, and i think its great. Its easy to use, its simple, the battery life is not that bad IMO, and the sound quality is great (for me anyhow). Albeit, it has flaws such as iTunes which i hate, but for the average person, iTunes is wonderful. My parents use iTunes and are very happy. The hardcore pc user is a minority and what apple did was make a product for the majority, the people that dont care about certain features but to simply listen to music in a simple fasion. I own one and i love it. There isnt another product out on the market in my mind that is better than this. Sure it lacks some features and it has some flaws, but overall its a quality product that the majority can understand and use with ease, and the average open-minded hardcore pc user can use and have fun with. Theres my 2 cents.

Mentor

Ridgeburner

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They have the best UI.  They have the best format (AAC).

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Umm, did I miss something? Since when is AAC anything good compared to a nice fat 320kbps mp3 file? :laugh:

Regardless, my friend just got a 20 gig Ipod for christmas from his fu*k - buddy girlfriend (hah) after he had been waiting the longest time for one, always trying to get me to go for the freeipods.com crap, he came online, said he got it, I went over to his house and watched him open it up and try it out. 10 minutes later he said (AND I QUOTE) "Dude, why the hell did I want this thing so bad? I can't believe how ****ty it sounds, the navigation is mediocre and for the price she paid it definitely was NOT worth it...what's wrong with me?" to which i replied "You jumped on the bandwagon. Everyone and their grandmother has one, so you felt the need to have one, you got suckered into it, and she fell for it by buying it for you". Two audiophiles like him and myself were NOT pleased with the ipod's sound quality and lackluster features, needless to say, he promptly asked for the return slip and will be returning it this week.

Just my/our 2 cents.

Neowinian

swiharta

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monkey - wma and ogg give much better quality per mb than mp3, wma's are getting more and more prevalent, in fact, they are popular among people who care about sound quality, although most people don't (just trying to qualify my use of the word popular)

I hear you though, I'm sure an ipod would be fine for an mp3 player, I just see some things that really annoy me about it, and I feel trapped, I'd rather get something more flexible, and even if its not more flexible, at least geared more towards wmp10 than itunes since I use a pc. Has MS succeeded in swaying me toward using their products/technologies, I suppose so, but I don't feel bad about it at all, its just as painless as a mac user buying an ipod to use with itunes, aac, etc...

ridgeburner - i have the feeling opening my ipod will leave me with the same feeling you had, I think I will return the ipod and continue using my pocket pc and sd card for a DAP for now, I'm either gonna get a zen micro or something that hasn't been released yet in the future.

Grand Master

SimplySchizo

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Zen Micro without a doubt. There's nothing an Ipod has over this, cept for storage space. Everything else highly favors the Micro, and any of their players if you ask me.

I'm awaiting my Zen Micro order. Should be here anytime this week. :)

Veteran

betasp

Posted
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Since when is AAC anything good compared to a nice fat 320kbps mp3 file?

At the same bit rates, acc is as good if not better than mp3s. As an audiophile you should know that. That goes for 128 or 320kbps.

Then again maybe my Mackie HR824s are not as good as te speakers you are using with your computer,

Grand Master

MonkeyClaw Veteran

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yea i understand i know they are better quality files and stuff, but i have never like wanted to convert to ogg, and i have windows media format of anything, lol. just mpegs for me and avi, hehe. i dunno the ipod is a whole different beast. theres something bout it that is so attractive. i asked for one for xmas cause i had read such good things and i used one and fell in love. its really so easy to use and i just enjoy it. the whole argument bout which is better is just so stupid anyhow. neither party is right, each player has its flaws and to call one the best is just stupid. Its more what u like to use and i dont think its fair to attack others just cause they prefer this over htis. I enjoy the iPod, im a pc person and in no way an apple fanboy, but i like the iPod.

swiharta, thanks for being a sensible person and not an ignorant flammer like some.

Mentor

Azadre

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Definitely the dumbest statement ever. Compared to the day, Backstreet Boys sold more albums than The Beatles but I don't think you're gonna argue which group is better.

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And the iPod is the beatles. Call it the dumbest, but it is the truth. The iPod is the best player on the market.

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