Ipod vs. Zune

[Jaspaller]

So I plan on picking up one of these. But, of course I'm stuck between the choice of which one. Personally I haven't really used either of them. I plan to pick up the X360 as well (when the 'black zephyr' comes out) and most likely vista ultimate in time but I have no idea what the connectivity between the zune and vista/x360 is like.

Money isn't a problem, I mainly want it to play all my pirated music and such and listen to something when I'm driving my car. I'd like to hear some UNBIASED opinions.

[T0m]

You want one of these, but not an "ordinary" MP3 player, so you probably have some clear preferences. Care to be more explicit about them? Because I'd assume that what you want, should be possible with either brand.

[Jaspaller]

Well, yes. I DO want something that's not an ordinary mp3 player. I've seen from other mp3 players that they don't quite have user friendly, clunky controls, and even problems with space. Ipod and Zune are the two main ones I've really known of that were... well, actually GOOD compared to others.

Something hi-quality would be nice and that lasts long with lots of customizable features, Playlists, an equalizer of some sort. Long battery life and lots of space would also be nice. Well, not really much else I can say besides that.

I've seen people using their Ipod's wirelessly for their stereo system but never bothered to ask how it's done. I'm assuming it's one of those thingy's where you connect some adapter and set your system to a radio station... is that possible on the zune? I can't seem to find that in any of the reviews I've googled.

[Ketchup345]

Have you thought about a Creative Zen Vision: M?
The Creative reportedly has longer battery than both the Zune and iPod. I believe they have a 60GB version available. It can create playlists. It has some equalizers and allows you to make your own. FM Tuner and voice recorder are included. For video, it supports a wide range of formats including XviD and DivX.

[Kent]

Zune's got a built-in FM tuner, so just plug in some headphones, and you're good to go (for radio).

As for pirated music, no idea. Easy solution, is to go and actually buy it - that way, you're safe, regardless.

[Jaspaller]

Wow, I completely forgot about the Zen. It sounds pretty sweet, and I like the playlist function. I did see a picture of it but I didn't like the look of it. Maybe it was just the color. Anyone else willing to offer up their opinions would be nice.

[Blitzkommando]

The Zune plays fine with my Vista Ultimate, 64-bit even. Microsoft did a spot on job there. Unlike Apple and their whole "If you disconnect the iPod correctly under Vista it can corrupt the iPod. But if you yank the cable out incorrectly it won't corrupt." (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2104590,00.asp)

Personally, I have both an old iPod (that can't hold but a 2-3 hour charge now at most) that can't play videos. It's nice, but I really don't like iTunes. I wanted something with a bit more storage, could play videos, but could also play WMA format music. Oh, and I wanted FM radio at the very least. So I went with the (brown) Zune. It's like a chocolate bar of music and does the job well and is easy to use, in certain respects easier than the iPod. I like having separate "Play" and "Back" buttons especially for when I'm turning the player on and off. The fact that if my thumb slipped while trying to turn off the iPod meant it would start playing or change tracks or something other than turn off bugged me.

[kevlar_pso]

I have a PSP. It works for me. I have an FM transmitter and a 1G mem card for it. There are some very strong rumors making rounds in the PSP camp, so you may want to hold out for a bit to see what is on Sony's horizon. My wife has a 4G Nano plus her own FM transmitter. It is pretty cool, but no video on her model. I can put my DVD's on my PSP. blah blah blah This is the only thing I own of Sony's. It's not too shabby for multimedia. Next time we meet up on Dav 10 I'll let you know what's up.

[Jaspaller]

I borrowed my friend's PSP a while back. It's nice and all, but it's huge and consumes it's battery power pretty fast. The zune seems to be catching my attention right now.

Norvekh, since you have a zune, do they ever release any firmware updates? Also what's the playlist function like. I've heard you can't save your own playlists.

[Leviathan]

To me the Zune is kinda too bulky &not very attractive...

=/

<<but thats my opinion>>

i have an iPod nano &i simply love it. its lightweight, it hold 500 songs <<its 2 GB>> on iTunes you can make your own playlist &load it to your iPod &save it on your computer

hope that helps.

[Kent]

At the moment, I'm pretty sure that one of the main draws to getting a Zune over an iPod is the whole Windows Live interconnectivity. For those who don't know, Live is basically Microsoft's way of linking everything together, and further working its way toward owning your soul, and connecting to it via wireless.

And then, there's that I've yet to hear about any Zunes bricking. And how many reports of brick'd iPods have I heard of?

Then again, I know exactly one person who has a Zune (and Microsoft currently licenses his soul), so...