Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Ipod or zen touch?

Aug 15, 2004 2:24AM PDT

I am in the market for a high capacity mp3 player for under $300 and have been looking primarily at two options, the 15 GB ipod or the new creative zen touch. Both are extremely appealing but i cannot decide which is better. The zen is relatively new so i have not been able to find a recent review on it and the ipod i know is always a good choice, but i am concerned about its 8 hour battery life and was wondering if it came with a usb cable if you don't have a firewire port. Has anyone used either of these players and if so can you recommend them?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re: Ipod or zen touch?
Aug 15, 2004 1:40PM PDT

Giving the IPOD view only, as I have not had any contact with the Zen. I have had the 10 gig IPOD for about a year. The 15 gig came with a USB cable at that time, but not the 10 gig. I bought and put in a firewire card, as the USB cable bought separate was about the same cost for me. I have been very happy with the IPOD, especially with the sound quality. The battery costing so much to replace is a drawback, however I got the 4 year warranty with it [at Best Buy] which includes replacing the battery if it fails. I don't find the 8 hour life a problem [more like 5 hours in my experience] as I don't listen for longer than that at one time. Things I do like are the easy to access controls, which I can touch thru my shirt pocket while doing my walks to increase volume or change songs etc.. I like the round touch control to make these changes. It is very light. I kept losing the ear bud covers as they would pop off and get lost somewhere on my walk. Solved that problem with a touch of glue. I would buy one again.

- Collapse -
Re: Ipod or zen touch?
Aug 15, 2004 10:46PM PDT

" I am in the market for a high capacity mp3 player "

The iPod is not a MP3 player. So this is easy. You'll want the Zen.

Bob

- Collapse -
Re: Ipod or zen touch?
Aug 18, 2004 1:58PM PDT

excuse me? last i checked, the ipod plays MP3s just fine. the only thing that sets the zen apart from the ipod is the 24 hour battery life, which is good if you are a traveler and dont have adapters for the outlets of different countries. if your not a frequent flyer, go for the ipod.

- Collapse -
Excuse me?
Aug 19, 2004 12:47AM PDT

The iPod does not play MP3s. The software converts to Apple's format to put it into the player.

Has this changed recently?

Bob

- Collapse -
Re: Excuse me?
Aug 19, 2004 6:40AM PDT

i dont believe it has ever been like that. the iPod plays MP3 and AAC files, it does not convert MP3 to AAC unless you want it to.

- Collapse -
...
Dec 7, 2008 2:39PM PST

Woah woah woah hold up.
All iPods been able to play music since they first arrived on the scene. That's the point (or one of the points) of iPods.

- Collapse -
how do you dig up this really old post?
Dec 7, 2008 2:58PM PST

Long forgotten as are the hard drive-based Creative Zen Touch and the 15GB iPod 3rd generation.

LOL!!!

- Collapse -
Re: Ipod or zen touch?
Aug 19, 2004 5:20PM PDT

why not the iRiver Hp-120?? unless u absolutely LOVE the color white on your mp3 player i don't see any other reason to not get the HP-120. the iRiver has everything the ipod has but more. the only complaint i have heard about the iRiver is that the scrolling to find a song is not as fast as the ipod, but i haven't had any problems. The only con i have is that the manual that the Hp-120 came with wasn't very descriptive cause u had to read each sentence very carefully (that i usually don't do). And it doesn't really tell u how to make playlists on winamp or use the id3 tags, but the forums make up for it, anyone will gladly help u within an hour or so. Plus i just heard that the new ipods, brand new, not the old ones, have had a hardware problem so u might wanna hold off a lil bit if u still want an ipod. the iRiver has upgradable software so u can always fix that. ~~Listening to my hp-120 right now~~

- Collapse -
Re: Ipod or zen touch?
Aug 20, 2004 9:20AM PDT

iriver is nice only if you need the features. if you dont need a voice recorder, or a radio, or the ability to turn tapes and LPs into MP3, then there is no reason to get it. the ipods menu system, design, and itunes software are all far superior to the iriver.