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Being an A/V geek myself I feel a bit ashamed to only now be looking into these things. I haven't been interested in music at all for a while but have recently returned to my CD collection, putting the entire thing on my external HD. So now I'm looking for a player in the 200.00 range. I've been looking at best buy because I have about 40.00 in gift certificates to use. The two they seem to have are the Ipod mini and Creative Labs Zen player. Any thoughs? I'm not a huge fan of apple and would prefer to stay away from the ipod, but at the same time I'm hearing some less then great reviews about the Creative player. Is there another non-apple player out there worth looking into? I don't mind shopping elsewhere.
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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The Zen Micro is a great little player. How much music are you looking to hold at any one time, and how are you intending to play it? (In other words, do you generally play by album, by premade playlist, shuffle, etc...?)
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I have a Dell DJ20 that I received for Christmas last year. I hear they now have a 30gig version available. However, I don't think you can get one at Best Buy; I think they have to be ordered direct.
Mine cost about 229 plus shipping. It holds 20gig (of which I've filled only 7 to date). Came with MusicMatch Jukebox and Dell DJ Jukebox, both of which let you manage your music. I've been a user of MMJB for years but the most current version is being problematic in my opinion.
I believe the iPod Mini only holds 4 or 5 gig. I may be wrong about that, however.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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umm... I tried to stay away from the ipod but they sucked me in. I intially wanted something that was compatible with Windows Media Player so I went with the Dell DJ 30.
I had Dell for about 5 months and then got rid of it because it was crashing all the time and I couldnt resist the color screen of the Ipod Photo. My friends have had Creatives and Rios and found that the OS was totally unstable.
I LOVE my Ipod now. It NEVER crashes, battery life has stayed consistent, Itunes is miles ahead of most other music services, etc...etc...
I'm not an Apple fanboy, but I wouldnt go with any other MP3 player.
Posts: 64 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I am not an A/V geek, but my boyfriend is, big time. He bought us both ipods and we adore them.
Posts: 870 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Not real sure. Like I said I have purposely stayed away from these things since they hit. Converting all my CD's to MP3 and storing them on my hard drive was a big step. Typically I open three or four albums at a time and play them in shuffle mode on Media Player.
My concern with the Zen Micro is that I've seen a number of reviews that complain about both the headphone jack and the storage drive crashing, giving a "Hardware Error" message. have you had any issues with these?
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I have an iPod mini. It was the first Apple product I bought, and I couldn't be happier with it. I even bought an FM transmitter for it so I can listen while I drive. It's awesome stuff.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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Hmm... yea, everyone seems to rave about their iPod. I'm not sure why I'm so set against buying one. I think it's just my huge bias against all things apple. My dad just bought on and loves it. Should I stop being a dork and buy what everyone is raving about? Is there really that big of a difference?
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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No. It's overpriced for what it does, and isn't half as elegant as the Podlings would have you believe.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Beatnix, I wouldn't buy the iPod mini if I were in your position. US$200 for a 4GB player isn't sufficient for your purposes, I think. On the other hand, I don't know anything about the other options, like the Zen Micro. US$200 for a 5GB player wouldn't be worth it to me either, though; I got my current portable music player, a 30GB iPod Photo, via eBay for US$280.
Maybe give it some time to see if the price/storage ratio on the players you're looking at gets any smaller.
Added: Unless physical size is an issue for you, that is. I don't care that my iPod Photo is bigger than the Zen Micro or iPod Mini because I wear earmuff headphones that are much larger than even the largest portable music player. So if I'm already carrying my earmuffs around, I don't particularly care that I don't have the smallest device available to plug them into.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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It's an opinion, just like mine. I like the ipod, because I've had good experiences with it (as have 3 of my friends and my entire immediate family). You, obviously, have something against it. I don't know what, because you haven't bothered to give any reasons for your dislike.
I do agree that the mini is overpriced, but so are its competitors. That's the nature of portable audio devices.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Yeah, the iPod mini is probably too small for what you're looking for, and I would generally agree that iPods are overpriced for what they do, but I've bought a 20 Gig and a mini and it's hard to put a dollar value on something that I've been very very happy with. Here's a link to some special deals from the Apple store. There's a couple 15-20 gig iPods around the $200 range that you might like. Apple specials linkPosts: 1256 | Registered: May 2005
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You can get a pretty good deal on ebay, too. Whenever you decide what you want, it's worth checking out.
You can still spend your gift certificates on accessories. I recommend a car charger/fm modulator at least.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I have a 20 gig Nomad Zen Jukebox. It's very good. It's a bit heavier and a bit bigger than an iPod, but I actually prefer that. The weight of a slighty bigger mp3 player has never bothered me (I walk and run with it, and can barely even tell it's there). I've had my Nomad for 2 years, and I have yet to experience any problems. A friend of mine has an iRiver, and from what she tells me, it's also very good (and more feature heavy than my Nomad).
Speaking of mp3 players, has anyone seen the MobiBLU DAH-1500i? I noticed it at circuit city, and though it's way too small for my tastes, it's pretty nifty looking. Linkage.Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I've had a 40GB ipod for over a year and for the most part couldn't be happier. in the past week i've had to go to the store to replace it as the hard drive went bad. And then last night it happened to the replacement (which was refurbished.) But this really isn't common, and while frustrating, it isn't discouraging me against my ipod. I've played with other players and found their OS tough to navigate. And itunes really is unmatched (in my opinion), as far as organizing and managing my music library. The store is a nice touch to.
So, long story short, even with the problems i've had the past week, i still stand by the ipod. I too am not an apple lover (i use a G5 at work), but love this little toy.
Posts: 1572 | Registered: Jan 2004
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That little cube thingy is jst rediculous. What good use is there for something that small? I would lose and or break it in the first week. I mean, yea, the technology is neat but seriously, it's just not practicle. It reminds me of the SNL skit with Will Ferrel, when he's the trendy mall guy and has the microscopic cell phone.
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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