iPod vs Zune

EagerMind · Tue 12/12/2006 04:42:53

Quote from: RickJ on Mon 11/12/2006 17:53:55Don't by either one, or any DRM'd device.

Does such a thing exist? It seems like every portable player out there is either tied to some proprietary DRM'd music service (iTunes, or Microsoft's media store), or requires some piece of crappy software to copy your music onto the player.

Actually, Mobiblu seems to have decent stuff. Although most of their stuff uses flash drives. Don't know if I'm sold on the whole flash drive thing yet.

Janik · Tue 12/12/2006 05:22:17

Quote from: EagerMind on Tue 12/12/2006 04:42:53
Quote from: RickJ on Mon 11/12/2006 17:53:55Don't by either one, or any DRM'd device.

Does such a thing exist? It seems like every portable player out there is either tied to some proprietary DRM'd music service (iTunes, or Microsoft's media store), or requires some piece of crappy software to copy your music onto the player.

The Zen Nano supports DRM'd WMA files but doesn't require it; also it works straight away with no software (the software that does come with it is, indeed, crappy, but quite optional).

DGMacphee · Tue 12/12/2006 05:47:53

Quote from: Zooty on Mon 11/12/2006 17:13:12
What is so special about rockbox? The iPod interface is much better, if less flashy, than the Zune.

First of all, Rockbox has nothing to do with Zune.

Secondly, the standard iPod interface is a piece of shit compared to RockBox. You can get RockBox on certain iPods.

Also, iPod controls are crap compared to iRiver controls.

Third, to see what's so good about RockBox, see these links...
http://www.rockbox.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockbox

We're talking an open source firmware that gets updated everyday. Heaps more features than standard on MP3 player firmware. Plus you can easily revert to previous firmware if you need to for whatever rare reason.

Sam. · Tue 12/12/2006 16:01:32

I have been looking at this RockBox fella, and I dont think im techno minded enough to understand why its better. It seems to be a tree system like the itunes one. What I guess i want to know is what can it do that my built in firmware can't? I'd consider installing new firmware if i knew it was better.

Other than the skinabilty of rockbox, i can see no major improvements.

Mr Flibble · Tue 12/12/2006 16:30:21

I never saw the big deal with iPods and Zunes and jimjams of the sort. I bought an indescript, small-brand mp3 player a few months back. It can hold about 256mb or so, which is roughly 2 hours but I would never be listening to it for that long in a single stretch. So essentially it's perfect for my needs.

Oh and it was less than Â£30.

DGMacphee · Tue 12/12/2006 20:17:31

Quote from: Zooty on Tue 12/12/2006 16:01:32
I have been looking at this RockBox fella, and I dont think I'm techno minded enough to understand why its better. It seems to be a tree system like the itunes one. What I guess i want to know is what can it do that my built in firmware can't? I'd consider installing new firmware if i knew it was better.

Other than the skinabilty of rockbox, i can see no major improvements.

Check the features in the Wikipedia article. There's plenty of things there that iPods can't do. And that's only just some of the advantages. Sound quality is fully customisable, especially with an equaliser that's way better than iPods. Download a RockBox manual and check it out what it can do.

A word of caution though... installing RockBox requires following some very specific technical instructions. If you do it wrong, you can fuck up your iPod. Just a warning.

EagerMind · Tue 12/12/2006 23:33:30

Quote from: Janik on Tue 12/12/2006 05:22:17The Zen Nano supports DRM'd WMA files but doesn't require it; also it works straight away with no software (the software that does come with it is, indeed, crappy, but quite optional).

Hmmm, for some reason I thought the Creative players needed their software to works. However, it doesn't look like they support Ogg Vorbis. Seeing as I back up my CDs as Ogg files, I'd like to get a player that supports the format.

Quote from: DGMacphee on Tue 12/12/2006 20:17:31A word of caution though... installing RockBox requires following some very specific technical instructions. If you do it wrong, you can fuck up your iPod. Just a warning.

I'd imagine it also voids your warranty (although whoever actually exercises their warranty?). Looks like interesting technology though.

voh · Wed 13/12/2006 00:10:25

I have a Sony Ericsson phone (W850i), which I got for free with my mobile phone subscription, which comes with a 1 gig Memory Stick Duo Pro card, which I just take out, put in my cardreader and put MP3's on.

It's heavenly, and I don't have to bring an additional MP3 player. What's even better (compared to my last phone, which also played MP3's), is that it has a normal jack plug, so I can use my regular headphones with it

I never got the iPod deal, really. What's up with everyone having the same player anyway? I don't care what it is that's letting me play music, I just want to listen to music, and want it to be as easy as pie to get it from the device to my hearing centre. Before this I used a 256 meg Packard Hell MP3/flash USB stick