iLounge

1

Better looking???  Whatever.  I’ll stick with my Ipod, thanks.

Posted by Z on August 6, 2003 at 10:30 PM (PST)

2

I don’t get it ... what’s the point in even *making* such a considerably useless and nonsensical comment ... did he say anything about ‘user-friendly’-ness, interface, screen, ... ? Oh no, it’s all bigger better cheaper , blahblahblah ...
But then we started caring

Posted by Oenie in Belgium on August 6, 2003 at 10:39 PM (PST)

3

what about the fact that their players are slow as ... My nomad jukebox took about 5-8 seconds between songs, and navigating menus while a song was playing… forget about it.

Posted by Austin on August 6, 2003 at 11:40 PM (PST)

4

To me the greatest difference is size, size very much matters when it comes to portable music players.  My friend has a Zen and that thing is so friggen clunky, add on the case that ships with the zen and the thing looks like a piece of army equipment.  I wouldn’t sacrafice the size and style my iPod has for all the GBs in the world (ok maybe all the GB in the world but you get my point ).

Mike

Posted by vanillamike on August 7, 2003 at 2:09 AM (PST)

5

14 hour replaceable battery would be a nice convenience.  iPod still wins in the design category though. I’m sticking with my 30 GB iPod.

Posted by jeff on August 7, 2003 at 2:36 AM (PST)

6

yeah… ive heard that my gradmother’s toyota is better looking than my bmw too.

Posted by Andrew on August 7, 2003 at 3:05 AM (PST)

7

Better looking than iPod?  My old Sony cassette player looks 10 times better than Normad NX.

I would believe it if he said Normad NX is more versatile.  Better looking?  I don’t think so. 

Posted by lliang on August 7, 2003 at 4:45 AM (PST)

8

I guess they are entitled to their own opinion but honestly, if I saw both the Nomad and the iPod for the first time, I would have to go with the iPod.  If he really believes what he said, he is missing it.  The iPod is just a more original, sleeker, unified look.  As for the Nomad, I don’t really care for the waste of space on the front plate and I hate cheap looking chromed plastic buttons.  Then we could start talking useability.  iPod is still the reigning champ.

Posted by Alien Hand on August 7, 2003 at 4:50 AM (PST)

9

Zen:  4.4 x 3   x 0.86 inches
iPod: 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.73 inches (30gb)

Pretty close there

Zen: 7.9 oz
iPod: 6.2 oz (30gb)

Zen’s almost 2oz heavier

Zen: 14hrs
iPod: 8 hrs

Zens a big winner here

Zen:  8MB SDRAM
iPod:  32mb SDRAM

iPod murders the Zen here, I have lots of mp3s over 8mb, that means increased disk spin-up, and virtually no buffering for next-back buttons.

Zen: USB2.0 or 1.1 (1.0?)
iPod: Firewire or USB2.0 or 1.1 (1.0?)

iPod wins with not only a superior interface (firewire doesn’t bog down the processor like USB), but increased flexibility.

Zen is likely Windows only, while iPod is supported in both Windows and MacOS (and works in *nix’s pretty easily)

And these size/weight etc comparison’s would be much more dramatic with the 10/15gb iPods. Though ipods are so pretty most of us keep them in cases, adding considerably to the bulk.

It appears that Zen may be using the lower profile Toshiba HDs that the iPod uses to get the size down that much, if that is not the case, then Creative has done a lot to reduce the size of its electronics and battery.

Though the interface is probably the clincher. I haven’t used the new Zen, but providing it is like the old one, it will come nowhere near being as easy to use as the iPod.

There are good things about the Zen, and there are bad things, too.  I think the iPod may even have a thing or two to learn from this player, but I’ll keep my iPod for now.

Posted by Unixmonkey on August 7, 2003 at 4:53 AM (PST)

10

they did copy the design but it is sleeker looking, and it has a color screen which makes it look a bit better

Posted by ari polsky on August 7, 2003 at 5:07 AM (PST)

11

btw the back also looks really ugly

Posted by ari polsky on August 7, 2003 at 5:09 AM (PST)

12

i think zen is the only hd mp3 player that can say that they didnt copy iPod

Posted by ti on August 7, 2003 at 5:30 AM (PST)

13

First off I think it’s way ugly in comparison to our iPod. Second, I’d like to get cleared up what appears to be a misconception because their site says it does in fact support firewire:

http://www.nomadworld.com/products/Jukebox_Zen/specs.asp

So does it or doesn’t it?

Posted by nospam on August 7, 2003 at 5:34 AM (PST)

14

^ whoops, that link I just posted was for the Zen and not the Zen NX which does not have firewire, so I guess that settles it:

http://www.nomadworld.com/products/jukebox_zen_nx/specs.asp

Posted by nospam on August 7, 2003 at 5:37 AM (PST)

15

I’m surprised no one mentioned iTunes.  I think iTunes is half of what makes the iPod such a wonderful product.  The intergration between iTunes and the iPod is almost perfect whether you let the two sync automatically or if you manage your iPod seperately from iTunes.  There’s nothing like that in in the Windows world (for any product actually).

Posted by Dave on August 7, 2003 at 6:32 AM (PST)

16

He thinks it looks better then the iPod? Well, everyone is allowed their opinion, even if it is wrong.

Posted by BigIzz on August 7, 2003 at 6:45 AM (PST)

17

Sorry, but that green screen is a little to 80s for me.  Give me the white light any day.

also: Read Dennis Lehane.

Posted by Madonna on August 7, 2003 at 7:27 AM (PST)

18

what about price tag?

Posted by Axel on August 7, 2003 at 7:34 AM (PST)

19

————————————————————————-
i think zen is the only hd mp3 player that can say that they didnt copy iPod
————————————————————————-

French company Archos brought out the first hard disk audio players in 1999/2000. That’s why the Archos audio only models are so large, so ugly, and so damn cheap. The Archos product line has developed into multimedia audio+video recording handhelds which are pretty nice, but bulkier than iPods. Maybe Apple will get around to doing a video iPod one day, but for now they are playing catch up.

Posted by HistoryRepeating on August 7, 2003 at 8:43 AM (PST)

20

Ok my bad I was comparing it in size to the original zen, if they are using the slimmer hard drives then maybe this thing isn’t as off the mark as I said earlier.  I still like my iPod better though.

Mike

Posted by vanillamike on August 7, 2003 at 9:38 AM (PST)