My spouse is looking into a Creative MP3 player. linky
I'd love tons of horror stories, personally because I don't want him to buy it.
Posted by Nato (Member # 1448) on :
There are just as many horror stories for the iPod as there are for its less expensive competitors.
(iPod users sometims experience a battery that stops working after many months and is essentially irreplacable.)
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Nato -- no longer true, iPod batteries may now be replaced for a nominal fee if they fail. Plus there's good battery coverage for if they fail early.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Interesting point, Nato. This one does have a removable battery.
Given that this purchase is being stimulated by the breakdown of a 1 year old stereo, we will probably be getting any extra warranty offered. Which is so annoying. People sell crap and we reward the system by buying their crappy warranties. With apologies to any electronics retailers here. We aren't buying from the same store, but it still ticks me off.
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
iPods, being hard-drive based, are very susceptible to shock. I don't mean the kind of shock that will make it skip. I mean the kind of shock that knocks the arm loose from the hard-drive. Apple is continually striving to shrink their technology and at the same time are unintentionally making the products more vulnerable to the world around them (iPod mini). If the player will be used in a harsh environment, I would strongly suggest a Solid State MP3 player simply because there are less moving parts. If you do wind up getting a hard-drive based player, I would strongly suggest armor of some sort.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
Dell makes something...Dell Jukebox, isn't it? I don't know if it's hard-drive based or not, but I hear it's a lot cheaper.
*wants an ipod like nobody's business*
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
Creative Zen Touch is the way to go.
Here's a site where they compare the iPod and the Zen Touch. While the iPod may win over all, you'll notice it carries it's victory mostly on aesthetic value. All the important categories are won by the Zen Touch.
In a period where apple didn't have a single flash based player, aiming purely at the high end hard drive market, apple had 17% of the music player market -- to Creative's 10% (and they sell a lot of low end stuff which apple didn't even start directly competing with until after those numbers came out). Apple has 82% of the hard drive based music player market.
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
I've known about that. I just wouldn't recommend it. There are too many solid state MP3 players that far out-shine the iPod Shuffle (granted their more expensive).
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Outshine? It depends on what you value.
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
The iPod Shuffle has no display and communicates only through a set of LEDs. If this is intended to replace a stereo, I would say that they would like to choose which songs play at any moment as opposed to choosing the 200 or so songs that play randomly (or not so random if you memorize the playlist and can count accurately how many times you hit the 'next' button).
As an aside, I plan on buying a Shuffle next month to take to the gym, so I'm not anti-Apple. But, for the purpose proposed, I'd say the Shuffle wouldn't fit.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
I'd break away from the both and go Rio . But then, I'm biased because I have a Nitrus
The only thing I don't really like about it is its dependance on the included software, which isn't incredibly intelligent (Example, having a good directory structure for your music doesn't help anything, since the software jumbles it all up anyway). You can create custom playlists and choose from multiple playlists using the display on the player, which is really nice, but creating a playlist is something of a pain in the software, and can't be done with just the player.
Aside from the software, it's awesome. It's the size of the remote control for my oscilating fan (And yes, I have picked up my MP3 player and tried to press buttons to turn off my fan while lying down). (About 2.5x1.75x.5")
The one I have is 1.5 gigs. While it is far short of the 20 gigs an IPod mini gives, that's all the space I need, since I don't feel like carrying my whole music collection with me. The Karma (Rio's 20gb player) comes with a docking station that can transfer music directly through USB, or it can work as a Network drive (Allowing you to connect to it with different computers. Also allows RCA connection to any stereo system. Sound quality is intense. I can give myself headaches with the volume the thing is capable of. So yeah, there's my take on it
[ January 26, 2005, 06:23 PM: Message edited by: Boris ]
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
I think the thread is quickly turning into a pseudo-Mac v. PC debate (mostly because of me). So, I appologize for derailing the thread.
I know plenty of people who own Creative players and have never had a problem. If the CEO of Creative stepped forward and said that they plan on taking some of the market back, he's probably planning some product releases. So, I would wait it out a month or two more and see what comes out.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
The reviews are interesting, though this one has double the capacity and half the battery life. It also appears to be sexier, for those who care about that.
Someone please tell me it killed their dog. Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
It killed my dog. Repeatedly, with a blunt object.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
scottneb, I think this must be one of the product releases you referred to.
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
mothertree, was there supposed to be a link? Posted by Heffaji (Member # 3669) on :
I own a version of this mp3 player and there is only one issue I have had with it, altough it is a large one. In the model I received as well as many others at the time, the headphone jack tends to become loose after several months. Consequently, the sound becomes extremely faded. Whenever I use it, I have to move the headphones into an exact position and keep it there without touching it for good sound. The company may have fixed what is a simple issue to resolve by now, but you never know. Otherwise, besides its larger size then the Ipod, you get a lot more for your money.
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
The Zen Touch 40Gig has the same capacity as the Nomad with about twice as much battery. It is, however, more expensive.
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