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iPod or Zen? #1057146 09/21/04 08:43 PM
Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 34 Illinois S Skeletor_dup1 OP New CEG\'er
OP Skeletor_dup1 New CEG\'er S Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 34 Illinois	I'm looking to get either an iPod or Creative Zen player. I just want to hears people's opinions on both. With the iPod I want either the 20 or 40gb version and also I can get a 10% discount on them through my school. I like how the iPod's look and all the features they have and I also like iTunes. I don't like that they don't have a replaceable battery and are still expensive. With the Zen I would get either the 40 or maybe the 60gb Zen xtra and also the 20gb Zen Touch. These are much cheaper than the iPods and have a replaceable battery. I don't know anything about the interface for these like how to upload the music. Also how the buttons are setup on the Zen xtra I don't know if I like, but the Zen touch seems alright. Basically I want something that has 20gb or more storage, is easy to use, and is fairly cheap but if the iPod is that much better then I will spring for one. Mark 95 Contour SE ATX Mods: A few mods with a few more to come

Re: iPod or Zen? #1057147 09/21/04 08:55 PM
Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,353 San Francisco, CA P path914 Hard-core CEG'er
path914 Hard-core CEG'er P Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,353 San Francisco, CA	I have a Rio Karma and would recommend that you look at one along with the other two you mentioned. The price is in between the ones you mention. It has a few features that the other two do not. It has an easier interface to use, has cross-fading so there is no pause between songs, comes with a docking station that can connect via USB, ethernet and has RCA line-outs, plus it is smaller than the other two by quite a bit. Another benefit is that you can use Ogg Vorbis and FLAC format compression instead of mp3 if you want. 1999 Blk/Tan CSVT #654 - SOLD 2003 Suzuki SV650s

Re: iPod or Zen? #1057148 09/21/04 09:14 PM
Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 34 Illinois S Skeletor_dup1 OP New CEG\'er
OP Skeletor_dup1 New CEG\'er S Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 34 Illinois	The Rio Karma does look like it would be good. The price is a little bit higher than the comparable 20gb models of the other ones, but not by too much. Does it have a USB port on the player itself because on the picture it doesn't look like it? And I have a question about the FLAC because i've never heard of it before. Can you convert mp3's into FLAC or do you just have to download the songs in FLAC? Also how much of a compression is it? Edit: I just checked Best Buy and the Karma is actually a little less than the other two. Last edited by Skeletor; 09/21/04 09:26 PM. Mark 95 Contour SE ATX Mods: A few mods with a few more to come

Re: iPod or Zen? #1057149 09/21/04 09:18 PM
Joined: Apr 2003 Posts: 1,085 Northern B.C. Canada W WestCoastAjax Hard-core CEG\'er
WestCoastAjax Hard-core CEG\'er W Joined: Apr 2003 Posts: 1,085 Northern B.C. Canada	I have old Jukebox 20G. From what I have read, IF I needed to upgrade - iPod. I am please as punch with my unit, no problems,105 CD's onboard , just great. The only 'thing' was, I bought cheap batteries and charger - d-oh! 2012 Lotus Evora --------- 95 Mystique MTX - GONE 395,000 Kms --------- Both Zetecs '97 Contour Mtx - stock - GONE

Re: iPod or Zen? #1057150 09/21/04 10:12 PM
Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 2,978 Lancaster, PA T The Digital Slacker Hard-core CEG\'er
The Digital Slacker Hard-core CEG\'er T Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 2,978 Lancaster, PA	Originally posted by Skeletor: The Rio Karma does look like it would be good. The price is a little bit higher than the comparable 20gb models of the other ones, but not by too much. Does it have a USB port on the player itself because on the picture it doesn't look like it? And I have a question about the FLAC because i've never heard of it before. Can you convert mp3's into FLAC or do you just have to download the songs in FLAC? Also how much of a compression is it? Edit: I just checked Best Buy and the Karma is actually a little less than the other two. The guy across the hall from me just returned his karma... it had a bad habit of freezing up. He took it back and got a 4th gen ipod. he said the output quality is much higher on the ipod and he likes the interface much better.

Re: iPod or Zen? #1057151 09/21/04 10:28 PM
Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,353 San Francisco, CA P path914 Hard-core CEG'er
path914 Hard-core CEG'er P Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,353 San Francisco, CA	Originally posted by LancasterTour: Originally posted by Skeletor: The Rio Karma does look like it would be good. The price is a little bit higher than the comparable 20gb models of the other ones, but not by too much. Does it have a USB port on the player itself because on the picture it doesn't look like it? And I have a question about the FLAC because i've never heard of it before. Can you convert mp3's into FLAC or do you just have to download the songs in FLAC? Also how much of a compression is it? Edit: I just checked Best Buy and the Karma is actually a little less than the other two. The guy across the hall from me just returned his karma... it had a bad habit of freezing up. He took it back and got a 4th gen ipod. he said the output quality is much higher on the ipod and he likes the interface much better. Ask him if he ever upgraded his firmware. The later firmware upgrades fixed a number of the random problems that early models had. One of my favorite things about it is that there is a good web forum that has a number of people who work for Karma on it to give advice and help. I personally don't like the iTunes interface at all and having to change the format of the music and data storage is something I think is a pita, but that's just my .02, everyone is different. Skeletor - I actually am not as familiar with FLAC and would not be the one to ask, I use Ogg Vogis and mp3. Maybe a quick Google search is in order The player itself has a USB port on the bottom, so you could use that if you did not wish to use the docking station. I just prefer to dock it and use the ethernet connection as a seperate drive on my network, much easier than anything else I have used. 1999 Blk/Tan CSVT #654 - SOLD 2003 Suzuki SV650s

Re: iPod or Zen? #1057152 09/21/04 10:34 PM
Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 7,431 Somerville, MA R rouar Hard-core CEG'er
rouar Hard-core CEG'er R Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 7,431 Somerville, MA	My opinions were stated in this recent topic regarding the iPod. I have one, I like it. EDIT: I'm losing my mind, I think. No opinions in that topic, haha. I like mine due to its size and interface (especially the wheel, ingenious!). My third gen iPod has all touch-sensitive buttons, which are hypersensitive if you're feeling your way across the buttons in the dark, but very nice to just lightly touch when using in the car, so a mixed blessing. Showing off the lack of moving parts on it is pretty fun. I like the design of the newest generation, if not the most aesthetically pleasing nor innovative, it is the most sensible option. The LCD is one of the nicest in the industry, and combining with bold text interface is easy to read at any angle or in any light. Its inability to upload MP3s from multiple computers is frustrating, I have two computers with different music libraries. Thank the RIAA for that. When docked, the computer-to-iPod interface is simple for the Mac and I heard from friends is straightforward for the PC as well using iTunes. All said I do wish it had a few more features exploited such as built-in FM transmitter and WMA compatibility, but the size and functionality cannot be beat. Last edited by 98 SE; 09/21/04 10:45 PM. Matthew 2000 Nissan Maxima SE Sold: 98.5 Contour SE V6 ATX

Re: iPod or Zen? #1057153 09/21/04 10:47 PM
Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 2,100 VA M moxnix_dup1 Hard-core CEG\'er
moxnix_dup1 Hard-core CEG\'er M Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 2,100 VA	Originally posted by Skeletor: And I have a question about the FLAC because i've never heard of it before. Can you convert mp3's into FLAC or do you just have to download the songs in FLAC? Also how much of a compression is it? http://flac.sourceforge.net/ It is a lossless compression format. With mp3's you are losing data (most of it that you would not hear anyway) but with FLAC you will have the complete orginal and if you wanted to you could uncompress it and have a bit for bit copy of the orginal song file. Will you notice a difference ? Yes if you listen closely Will you care ? most likely not if you are looking at mp3 players and dont know what FLAC is. It would be osmething that you would use when ripping your own CD's or if you can find places to download from. It would be a higher quality than mp3's. Beaten - 2003 MazdaSpeed Protege 29K <- broken hearted Daily/Weekend Beater - 1990 miata 138K - AutoX every weekend = Adult driven on weekends

Re: iPod or Zen? #1057154 09/22/04 02:30 AM
Joined: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,037 Midlothian, VA J Jeb Hoge_dup1 Hard-core CEG\'er
Jeb Hoge_dup1 Hard-core CEG\'er J Joined: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,037 Midlothian, VA	IRiver hard-drive players are sweet. "Think of it, if you like, as a librarian with a G-string under the tweed." Clarkson on the Mondeo.

Re: iPod or Zen? #1057155 09/22/04 02:32 AM
Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 101 Howell, Mi S steve-o CEG\'er
steve-o CEG\'er S Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 101 Howell, Mi	Karma man. Great sound quality, not to mention a much better battery than an ipod. Vorbis is great! Rio is soon to release a new DAP, so wait a little if you can Last edited by steve-o; 09/22/04 02:41 AM. 2.5L MTX-75 SE

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