Ipod vs. Zune... Which One Do You Prefer??
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iMav
The Devil's Advocate
anuj wat do u mean by testing it iv seen almost all the videos of zune being tested by almost all the tech reviewers out there i own an ipod so im definitely in a position 2 say which 1 is better
btw other than wi-fi theother big difference between the zune and ipod which hasnt been discussed here is ability to customize thezune by applying images and themes which for some reason mr. steve jobs doesnt know how to add to the pod's firrmware
btw other than wi-fi theother big difference between the zune and ipod which hasnt been discussed here is ability to customize thezune by applying images and themes which for some reason mr. steve jobs doesnt know how to add to the pod's firrmware
@mav3: Apple is concentrating on the fact mp3 player should look simple yet powerful, slim n sexy, has extremely simple navigation.
Microsoft on the other hand has stuffed zune with features but what about the primary aspects? buid, navigation, format and quality?
Look and feel: Steve does not concentrate on themes and other secondary stuff like radio, blah blah blah coz there is no need. Come on, you wouldn't keep staring at the themes while listening to music. ipod is far far mature and better in the most important features : audio quality, navigation and size. Zune on the other hand has good audio quality but have pathetic look and size. it's bulky, it doesn't have good navigation.
Formats:
Zune does not support lossless formats like wav whereas ipod supports them. FYI, mp3/mp4 are near-CD quality formats and can never bring the clarity that lossless format gives.
Radio:
You say zune has FM support, I say ipod has support for podcasts, audiobooks which are much much better to listen than FM (full of ads and very very less music). If your primary concern is FM, go out and buy FM radio for Rs. 50 (and enjoy unpredicted tracks). Put GB's of songs and turn on shuffle and you will not know what comes next.
Did anyone listen to podcasts and audiobooks? podcasting is huuge source of information, entertainment. Just copy few podcasts related to comedy shows, tech shows from itunes music store (they are free) and you will feel that you never need an FM.
Quality of sound:
Nothing can beat the ipod in audio quality. It has the highest decibel rating and with support for lossless formats, it rocks.
Microsoft on the other hand has stuffed zune with features but what about the primary aspects? buid, navigation, format and quality?
Look and feel: Steve does not concentrate on themes and other secondary stuff like radio, blah blah blah coz there is no need. Come on, you wouldn't keep staring at the themes while listening to music. ipod is far far mature and better in the most important features : audio quality, navigation and size. Zune on the other hand has good audio quality but have pathetic look and size. it's bulky, it doesn't have good navigation.
Formats:
Zune does not support lossless formats like wav whereas ipod supports them. FYI, mp3/mp4 are near-CD quality formats and can never bring the clarity that lossless format gives.
Radio:
You say zune has FM support, I say ipod has support for podcasts, audiobooks which are much much better to listen than FM (full of ads and very very less music). If your primary concern is FM, go out and buy FM radio for Rs. 50 (and enjoy unpredicted tracks). Put GB's of songs and turn on shuffle and you will not know what comes next.
Did anyone listen to podcasts and audiobooks? podcasting is huuge source of information, entertainment. Just copy few podcasts related to comedy shows, tech shows from itunes music store (they are free) and you will feel that you never need an FM.
Quality of sound:
Nothing can beat the ipod in audio quality. It has the highest decibel rating and with support for lossless formats, it rocks.
It's now confirmed that iphone's gonna come out in first half of 2007. I am expecting this:
open itunes music store from phone through EDGE/GPRS, buy a song and copy that to the iphone and play the song on-the-fly. Now, this could certainly be the deathblow to zune (marketplace).
open itunes music store from phone through EDGE/GPRS, buy a song and copy that to the iphone and play the song on-the-fly. Now, this could certainly be the deathblow to zune (marketplace).
iMav
The Devil's Advocate
hmmm.... as far as themes are concerned no matter wat u say every1 here prefers things customised so dont justify its absence saying steve doesnt concentrate on secondary things
as far as radio and fm is concerned iv said this b4 and am saying it again a fm rx costs nothing if implemented in a 249$ portable music device ....
as far as podcasts go they are good and useful and i am hopeful tht MS will come up with something similar
PS: i am neither a zune fanboy nor a ipod hater im a customer who looks at products wholesomely so for me primary or secondary having a feature is more important than not having it
plz man next time dont give the crap tht themes are secondary and steve doesnt concentrate on them .... its just tht it didnt cross his mind
size and looks of zune yes i hv maintained tht it is a downer when compared to the metal finish of the pods .... however in usage i do hv my apprehensions abt the size of the scroll wheel in the 30gb pods
as far as radio and fm is concerned iv said this b4 and am saying it again a fm rx costs nothing if implemented in a 249$ portable music device ....
as far as podcasts go they are good and useful and i am hopeful tht MS will come up with something similar
PS: i am neither a zune fanboy nor a ipod hater im a customer who looks at products wholesomely so for me primary or secondary having a feature is more important than not having it
plz man next time dont give the crap tht themes are secondary and steve doesnt concentrate on them .... its just tht it didnt cross his mind
size and looks of zune yes i hv maintained tht it is a downer when compared to the metal finish of the pods .... however in usage i do hv my apprehensions abt the size of the scroll wheel in the 30gb pods
K
krazyfrog
Guest
For me, it is, has always been and will always be the iPod. Zune can never beat iPod. Never! What iPod lacks in a few features, it makes up through its sheer quality of sound.
mAV3 said:
haha. nice joke buddy. it didn't cross his mind. haha. Dude, this is business at the highest level and it's not like taking part in school level competitions.
I have a question. Why didnt' zune have good sales compared to record breaking sales (yes, shuffle sales are higher than prodcution and ipod's, nano's are on their way to break record set by them last year in sales) of ipod though it has themes, FM, wi-fi? Don't say that ipod has brand value. Zune is from Microsoft and any customer who pays $250+ will not buy a product by closing eyes. it's the simplicity and sheer elegance that is bringing the difference between the two. Not just the two, it's the difference between ipod's and non-ipods.
Zune "may" compete with non-apple players but can never ever compete with apple ipod lineup. I saw many people saying that zune is ipod killer. How can a single bulky, ugly player dethrone entire lineup of ipod players that start at $79.
It's the fact.
btw, There is one player that you would prefer the best, a china made player that plays video audio fm supports most of the formats, has FM recording, audio recording and costs less than 5k. Get that player as it has lot of features and enjoy the "tinny" sound and "shobby" videos.
mail2and
Walking, since 2004.
Haha, some of the comments here make me laugh. This is what happens when 16 yr old kids are allowed in Fight Club.
Apple is a $67 billion company. And people make comments like 'Steve didn't get it in his mind'. Seriously, have you ever used OS X? If you would have, you would know why Apple doesn't put the gross stuff on the ipods. I prefer a clean UI rather than a Fischer Price UI.
Did you even think for a second that the CEO of a $67 billion company decides something as insignificant as custom wallpaper support. If you do, you need to get out in the real world and check for yourself.
I'm not sure about this, so am asking; is there a search function in zune's UI?
Apple is a $67 billion company. And people make comments like 'Steve didn't get it in his mind'. Seriously, have you ever used OS X? If you would have, you would know why Apple doesn't put the gross stuff on the ipods. I prefer a clean UI rather than a Fischer Price UI.
Did you even think for a second that the CEO of a $67 billion company decides something as insignificant as custom wallpaper support. If you do, you need to get out in the real world and check for yourself.
I'm not sure about this, so am asking; is there a search function in zune's UI?
Well said mail2and. 
Yes, One should have mac experience to really know what a state-of-the-art product is and who can design such products, be it an mp3 player or a PC or anything.
__________
I have few more questions:
1) can we install any other OS like linux on Zune?
I think no.
For apple yes. I sometimes use rockbox linux on ipod.
hey mav3, this one has the most important feature to have on mp3 player, customizing wallpaper and themes.
Try this OS, pump up the volume of the ipod and you will know why it has the best audio chipset. It pumps out so much decibel that even the best of the best earphones will not be able to punch out that sound without distortion.
This OS support folder play. i.e. copy the music directory/folder to the disc. no itunes needed to copy music.
and there is lots of stuff. this OS when installed on nano played videos also. yes video on ipod nano.
this one hass "Made for ipod" kernel.
2) can we copy data to harddrive?
For zune, no.
Why do we need to copy data to harddrive? I keep a copy of idump, itunes, winamp and ipod plugin for winamp in my ipod so that If I go to any remote place, I can still use any PC to copy music to my ipod. Connect ipod to PC, install itunes and copy music. I can retrieve that music on my home PC using idump.
For Zune users, it's extremely simple. Carry the CD that came with zune everywhere you go. "Welcome to the social"
3)There are 3000+ accessories available for ipod. how many are there for zune?
10? 20? 30?
4) resale value for ipod is very very high. What about Zune?
it doesn't have Sale. how can it have resale value?
5) apple updates it's ipod lineup every 6 months. Can Microsoft do that?
Apple is 5 years ahead of Microsoft.
Yes, One should have mac experience to really know what a state-of-the-art product is and who can design such products, be it an mp3 player or a PC or anything.__________
I have few more questions:
1) can we install any other OS like linux on Zune?
I think no.
For apple yes. I sometimes use rockbox linux on ipod.
hey mav3, this one has the most important feature to have on mp3 player, customizing wallpaper and themes.
Try this OS, pump up the volume of the ipod and you will know why it has the best audio chipset. It pumps out so much decibel that even the best of the best earphones will not be able to punch out that sound without distortion.
This OS support folder play. i.e. copy the music directory/folder to the disc. no itunes needed to copy music.
and there is lots of stuff. this OS when installed on nano played videos also. yes video on ipod nano.
this one hass "Made for ipod" kernel.
2) can we copy data to harddrive?
For zune, no.
Why do we need to copy data to harddrive? I keep a copy of idump, itunes, winamp and ipod plugin for winamp in my ipod so that If I go to any remote place, I can still use any PC to copy music to my ipod. Connect ipod to PC, install itunes and copy music. I can retrieve that music on my home PC using idump.
For Zune users, it's extremely simple. Carry the CD that came with zune everywhere you go. "Welcome to the social"
3)There are 3000+ accessories available for ipod. how many are there for zune?
10? 20? 30?
4) resale value for ipod is very very high. What about Zune?
it doesn't have Sale. how can it have resale value?
5) apple updates it's ipod lineup every 6 months. Can Microsoft do that?
Apple is 5 years ahead of Microsoft.
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tarey_g
Hanging, since 2004..
ambandla said:
I voted for an ipod as i like a ipod more , but some of ur comments are really funny and make no sense.
I'd like to have a theme support in a portable player like in a mobile phones , what's wrong with that.
3. Did ipod have the 3000+ accesories in the first week of release?
4. Resale value of a ipod is high as it has been in the market from a long time and buyer knows the stability of the product and the value for money, u can't compare the resale values of a newly launched product to an established product . what a lame point .
5. Apple updates lineup in six months, its not even 6 weeks the zune has launched and u started making ur judgements. Funny.
iMav
The Devil's Advocate
the search feature of the ipod also sux andy its as good as not having it ..... as far as linux and rockbox im waiting for my warranty period of 1 yr to get over ....
u like a clean ui doesnt mean evry1 likes it and it sure doesnt mean tht every1 shud adhere to it .....
aur bhai bacha paida hote hi bolna chalna nahi seekh ta ....
and u dissapoint me .....i thought u were older but u again again proove otherwise .... zune is competin against the 30gb gen5 ipod not the shuffle .... how can u compare the shuffle with the zune
u like a clean ui doesnt mean evry1 likes it and it sure doesnt mean tht every1 shud adhere to it .....
aur bhai bacha paida hote hi bolna chalna nahi seekh ta ....
and u dissapoint me .....i thought u were older but u again again proove otherwise .... zune is competin against the 30gb gen5 ipod not the shuffle .... how can u compare the shuffle with the zune
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K
krazyfrog
Guest
True Zune is new and needs to settle down to compete with an established player like iPod. But even after Zune gets settled and becomes popular, the iPod's popularity would have also grown proportionately and it would be still ahead. Hence Microsoft's dream of killing the iPod will remain just that, a dream.
tarey_g said:
We are not talking about the market 5 years ago. We are talking about the market at this time. I said this because this is one of (many) major factors that makes ipod far far better than zune.
What you said is something like "I will release a mobile phone similar to the motorola's first mobile phone. Do they have a colour screen when launched? Do they have gr8 voice quality and network reception when launched".
Right. can't compare the resale value at launch time that is why I added the comment "it doesn't have sale. how can it have resale value?"
Yes. Microsoft cannot compete with Apple in updating their line up. The best comparison will be in Operating System sector. Look at how apple is upgrading it's OS X line up and Microsoft has not released any new OS for couple of years.
Apple is a company that takes the initiative and Microsoft follows the initiatives taken by other companies.
__________
mAV3 said:
oh. I thought you would like the Search feature as having something is important for you than to have nothing.
No need to worry about warranty. rockbox is not gonna crash your ipod. You can keep the existing firmware partition and install rockbox on the remaining space and this will not void warranty as it doesn't overwrite ipod's O/S. Moreover, if you have any problem with linux, you can restore ipod to factory default from itunes.
Note: Don't try linux on ipod if you are Pure Windows user and have no idea how to do partitioning using linux on ipod.
75% of folks using mp3 players have adhered to just because they like it and the number is increasing.
aur bhai bacha paida hote hi bolna chalna nahi seekh ta ....
hmm. I thought you were big enough to understand what I said.
Let me do the spoon feeding. You should have read the line "I have heard people saying that zune is ipod killer"
Apple has ipod shuffle ($79), ipod nano ($150-$250) that comes in 6 colors, ipod ($249-$349) 30, 60 and 80GB. This means apple has a product line up for every user from budget savvy to geek.
Microsoft has Zune 30GB ($250) that comes in while, black and brooooown (yaaak).
Come to India, zune will be priced at Rs.16,000. How many can buy an mp3 player for Rs. 16,000. Only a few. Others will go for shuffle and nano.
For Microsoft to take a bite in apple's share it should have a similar or heavier line up of (not zune) a better player that is better than ipod in all aspects.
For example, take Sansa Sandisk e250R. It's better than ipod nano in all aspects (except audio quality). So, it's now the second best selling flash based mp3 player.
Microsoft is much much bigger company than Sansa. Why can't they do the same thing? Even Toshiba Gigabeat S is better than Zune.
Finally, I do hope Microsoft launches an extremely competitive product line up in PMP/mp3 market. Then I would see an ipod that's far far better than the current ipod (better than the best) and would still stick to ipod lineup.
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tarey_g
Hanging, since 2004..
ambandla said:
The accesories are not the core product , so comparing a core product to the one of other company will be more appropriate.
The example u gave of mobile phones is the example of comparing core product not the accecories. Line up of accecories will take time for any product, the comparision is just not fair and is totally lame.
ambandla said:
Then why did u make the point , and ur comment in the end is the display of sarcasm. I never take this type of comments seriously.
ambandla said:
Ok , if u say so . MS can not compete from updating their line up. This is all we can speculate coz we are the market gurus, we dont need to know whats up behind the scenes .Even this is Ms's first product in this catagory and is just out ,we can already see the trend even if it has no history in this market. we don't have the patience to wait and watch the long term stratagies for zune and its future in next few months. Ya we know everything.
I too dont like Zune , but i dont make points like this to show its inferior.
Dont get started on OS's , we have many threads already running for this. Lets keep it to zune and ipod.
ambandla said:
And the next time when ipods come with the theme support and other stuff like radio(which i hope they do), all the apple fans will cheer with joy and praise the greatness of the mighty apple . Until then all this stuff is bullcrap and is for loosers.
come on !!!
mav3 said:
Haha rofllol , sorry man but this quote is silly. lol
G
gxsaurav
Guest
Get your facts right & read various other threads in this forum first
in 5 years, Apple has released OS X updates, different updates to same product, but MS has released, many completely different operating systems
XP Pro
XP Home
XP MCE
XP MCE 2005
XP Tablet PC
XP tablet PC 2005
Windows Mobile 2003
Windows Mobile 2005
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 R2
Windows Server datacenter edition
so better count again, & keep this discussion to iPod vs. zune only
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