The debate still rages, the Zen or the iPod. Last summer, needing an mp3 player for my holiday, and not having a casual lump of money in my pocket for an iPod. I read countless reviews on Zen's & iPod's to see which the best was.
In the end, I parted with £170 for a 30GB Creative Zen rather than a 20GB iPod for around £200+.
It was great I thought, an mp3 player with 10GB more storage and £30 less. You're probably now expecting the 'but', however, there isn't one.
The Zen is an excellent piece of technology. Let's break it down then. Firstly, the body. Yes it is large. Without the protective casing, it is actually quite a sleek and slim looking product. The silver buttons are very attractive and are quite flush with the edge and do
not extrude out of the body of the mp3 player. The buttons are comfortable to touch and have a satisfying 'click' when pressed, the scroll wheel is quite a challenge initially to control, however within 5 minutes, it is easily mastered. The jack plug, USB and power connectors all on the top look very nice and fit in with the design and are versatile and easy to plug in and plug out. On my player they have had a year's heavy use and they are still in great nick.
Now to what's on the inside. 30GB of storage is a huge space to fill. When you have the songs on the quality is excellent. The constant debate about the sound quality of each player is in my mind a pile of bull. The human ear cannot possibly tell the different between such fine sound frequencies, put it this way, it's an mp3 player, it plays music, it's all you need. You just need to splash out on a better set of head phones (I do not know of on mp3 player which comes with a decent set of head phones) and the sound quality is superb.
The software for loading on is average, I guess. It's not stunning, exactly, but it does the job. You can use the basic drag and drop method, which is quicker, yet you cannot create playlists. Or you can use the software which comes with is (similar to Media Player) to create your playlists and take a more leisurely path to copying across your music. The copying time is very quick via USB, it is about 5 to 10 seconds per song depending on the size of the mp3 itself.
The functionality of the player is fairly good, the menu's take a bit of getting used to however after an hour of investigating you will easily know your way around. You can have a text menu or a picture menu, by selecting this in the settings on your actual player; both provide an easy, accessible way around your mp3 player.
Now the down side of the player. It is big with the case on. Without the case it is prone to damage. Apparently they are very easy to damage and are quite brittle. However, with the case on I disagree with this statement. I have been taking mine with me to school every day for the past year and it has been dropped, knocked around, knocked into tables, barged past in corridors, thrown into bags, and there are no signs of wear and tear on it. This however could be down to using the protective case, which in all honestly just makes it bulkier in your pocket. However it is significantly heavier than the iPod, yet I think the looks of the player rival the iPod's any day.
I occasionally have trouble with mine, in that it gets stuck on a song, however after a year of daily usage and battering around this I suppose is to be expected. Also, I have filled around 20GB of my hardrive and not cleared it since I had it. It is common that hardrives need a re-format to keep in top shape, and if I reformatted my Zen, and re-loaded all my songs onto it, I would only expect it to be as good as new after a quick service.
Other than that this is a solid, sturdy, and reliable mp3 player. On the occasional lock up with huge playlists or over use of the buttons (i.e., pressing every button you can due to panic) the reset button can easily be pressed, and normality is resumed and no data is lost. The organisation of the files on the Zen is excellent, done under band names, then albums, then individual songs.
So, which one to buy, iPod or Zen? As I write this review you can now my Zen micros, the new updated Zen I am reviewing and countless iPod's which have been released. However, this Zen is now cheapening up, and for under £140 (may now be lower, that was the price last time I looked a few months ago) you can get a solid, sturdy, reliable mp3 player that will never let you down.
Unlike the iPod, the battery can be replaced manually rather than sending back your whole player. But why would you need to when the battery life is excellent and hardly falters? It is ideal for long journeys, a stroll around town, listening to when your teachers become too boring and many more.
Zen of iPod? Zen. It is cheaper, more reliable, and stronger. Yes it is bigger, but as they say, the bigger the better.
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(+) Av Output to plug to a TV, built-in speakers, easy to use. Come with very good earphones (-) Does not come with power supply (easy to charge from the PC though), av cable is sold separately
A great review and so nice that the battery can be replaced. However you might like to give some indication of the battery life in the review? Sue x
sandemp 25.08.2005 13:57
I've got a 20gig zen touch, and think it's far better value for money than the iPods, especially as it can play WMA files as well, which potenially gives double the number of tracks...
Lynnie27 24.08.2005 16:36
Great review, you've certainly made me think. Lynn
Advantages: Great sound quality, holds plenty of files, removeable battery and useful accessories included Disadvantages: Big and bulky, somewhat basic (no video playback, cant display photos etc.)
Advantages: Small, looks great, really easy to operate, great video and music playback Disadvantages: Doesn't come with mains charger, marks easily, battery life not that good
needle202 18.08.2006 (18.08.2006)
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Review of Apple iPod 30GB
Aug 24th, 2005
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