iPod mini or Zen Micro?

X

_xxx_

Banned
I can't decide which one to buy. Anyone tried both, pros/cons? Bundled earphones quality? I'd appreciate some help.

I'm more attracted to Zen at the moment.
 
_xxx_ said:
I can't decide which one to buy. Anyone tried both, pros/cons? Bundled earphones quality? I'd appreciate some help.

I'm more attracted to Zen at the moment.
Click to expand...

I use the Zen Micro and this is what I can tell you about it:

1. The sound quality is very good, even with the included earphones. However, I think most people looking for sound quality will buy third party earphones anyways, so this may not be important. With the included earphones the sound is somewhat rich with some bass, but lacks in volume if you like balsting or have gone slightly deaf listening to Judas Priest (saw your other thread... heh...).

2. It lacks a cradle/docking station and can never have one. This drives me nuts because I like to have things neat and tidy as a base because things sometimes get messy when I am "operating".

3. The human input interface is the biggest flaw in this device. There is no tactile response when pressing 'buttons'. You can have a click sound in software, but that's it. (little bit more about this coupled with the next point)

4. It can take a bit of time for a song to get started playing unless it is queued and, presumably, pre-cached. This, coupled with the input 'buttons' makes it very nasty to skip multiple songs forward or back. You can't see how many times you clicked forward or what song you landed on till it begins playing. This can mean 5 seconds of waiting just to have landed on the wrong track. The included remote makes this a bit better as it has proper buttons that make it easier to count clicks.

5. Battery life is nothing impressive. I am not sure what volume the people claiming 14 hours from an iPod are using, but if you are playing the songs loud and like to skip around a lot then the battery in the Zen Micro is probably not going to last much beyond 6 hours. This is still fine for me because I mainly use it for when I talk walks or am on the beach. The bonus over other players is that the Zen battery is removable so you could carry more than one battery around if you need more play time.

6. If you have not seen one personally and held it in your hand you may not know that the casing is always white. Only the face plates are available in different colors. I chose an all white model for this reason.

It is probably easier if you ask me some direct questions and I will help you out. Unfortunately I have no experience with iPod, but I may pick one up, or the new iRiver, when the 6Gb model becomes available to me.
 
Well what you said is surely enough to decide against Zen. I never saw one as opposed to iPod, which I found very handy and for what I need sufficiant.

I was into Zen for all the extra features like mini-organizer, radio etc. but the flaws you described are too much for my taste...

Thanks for the info! :)

iPod, here I come...
 
The main advantages Zen Micro has over iPod are:

1. User removable/swappable battery.

2. WMA support (but it lacks AAC, so that comes out about even depending on preferences).

3. Radio (voice recorder too)

4. 5GB capacity (but I am not sure if Apple counts capacity inclusive of OS, Zen uses quite a bit for the software and structure. I think you actually get something near 4.7GB in actual fact. The new Mini has 6GB.)

I am not sure what other restrictions Apple imposes like if you must use iTunes. I mainly decided against the Mini because of the fixed battery. It costs ~$100 to replace (although I heard you basically get a new iPod), but my main concern is finding an authorized shop to have this done speedily at. I find this battery situation to be extraordinarily silly and ruins what otherwise seems to be a perfect product.

Have you checked out the iRiver H10? It looks really nice. Haven't seen one up close though. LINK
 
Heh, I was just looking into it. It seems to be very nice, with Sennheiser MX400 phones and all. But it costs €70 more than the mini.

I really don't care about WMA, never bothered using it for its miserable quality/size ratio. Radio would be nice, but not that important.

Does the battery in mini fail often? Why should I want to change it otherwise?
 
_xxx_ said:
Does the battery in mini fail often? Why should I want to change it otherwise?
Click to expand...

The battery has a finite number of charges. I have always had bad luck with batteries in portable machines. My previous MP3 player just took 2 AAA batteries (Nomad IIMG) and this was actually a good arrangement for me because I could either use recharbale ones and have them topped off in the dock or just keep packs of non-rechargeable ones and bring 2 extra on longer walks.

I am probably over analyzing it, but the last thing I need is my iPod battery to unexpectedly die on me and being told by the rep that it will take a month to have it replaced "due to unforseen logistical issues." (as is always the case :p) From what I gather, this is not a matter of going to a shop and waiting 10 minutes.
 
I have the Zen Micro and yes, the interface can be a pain in the rear because you don't have the physical feedback you need (that and the buttons seem overly sensitive even when the sensitivity is set at low).

That said, I am quite pleased by it. The sound is better than the iPod (mini) and has better battery life (go to cnet.com for comparisons). Plus I think the mini looks ...uh... lite in the sneakers.

The Sony unit you linked to below, is quite heavy if it's the same model I was looking at before. Neat and boy does it feel sturdy - just also too heavy for me.

Hell, get me a deal on a car and I'll get you a deal on the Sony!! ;)
 
The weight is irrelevant, since I won't go jogging with it. I need it at work, since radio stations over here all totally suck and I can't stream because of the proxy setup.

The size is about the same as iPod mini, I don't see a problem there. I'll test them both and decide for the better sound.
 
WRT the Zen Micro - I have to add that the wired remote is a god-send for me as I can leave the unit in a case and just use the remote to perform most functions (though you can't browse through playlists - no read out after all).

Also the software for organizing playlists is very through and flexible.

Good luck to you on your search. Be sure to let us know what you end up with.
 
You can't use the EQ on MP3s on the HD3 only on ATRAC.
The HD3 only has 5mW/ch max output.
I've also heard that if you use the HD3 with highly sensitive headphones like the Shure E series, you'll hear a lot of background hiss.
 
I just ordered the Zen. The others had either too weak output or were too big for my taste. iPod was not a choice because of the battery issues.

I didn't know that there's so much crap and just a few good devices out there...
 
_xxx_ said:
I just ordered the Zen. The others had either too weak output or were too big for my taste. iPod was not a choice because of the battery issues.

I didn't know that there's so much crap and just a few good devices out there...
Click to expand...

Tell me about it! It's amazing how bad the whole lot is. Personally, I think only Apple has the vision and understanding of what needs to happen. It really is a shame about the battery. They could also do with more supported formats and a radio. Just to be complete.

Hopefully you won't be disappointed with the Zen Micro. I certainly don't dislike mine. Maybe I came across as overly negative about it, but I just wanted you to know the concerns. However, like you said, there is always a problem with all of them, so it really is about picking the one *not* lacking what you want.

BTW, I just want to point out that the Zen Micro requires drivers and Creative software to function by default. However, you can flash it to a newer firmware and it should function without drivers as a standard removable device (presumably under any OS). This also makes it compatible with WMP10. Unfortunately you cannot have both yet. You must choose to either use Creative stuff or go completely "open" which means nothing Creative will work. Apparently future updates will address this. Furthermore, I think you must install the drivers at least once to flash. What I did was this:

1. Download new firmware.
2. Install drivers for Zen Micro.
3. Flash new firmware (1.02, I believe. Find out more at NomadWorld)
4. Perform a system restore to remove all that Creative junk.
5. Use Zen Micro as a driverless USB device. :D
 
I would get a 20 gig ipod . Reason why is that 4 gigs even 10 gigs fills up rather quickly . I was supprised at how fast i filled up my 20 gig ipod


Saying that , i think the dell jukebox is the best one out , my brother in law has it and its really nice
 
The dell jukebox is the same thing as the creative zen. (Though perhaps the zen micro or touch is newer/better/different)
 
_xxx_ said:
I just ordered the Zen. The others had either too weak output or were too big for my taste. iPod was not a choice because of the battery issues.
Click to expand...
Maybe I missed something, but what issues? I heard the new iPod mini that came out recently has a 18-hour battery life.
 
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