Zune vs. Ipod Classic

[EWRMETS]

Any thoughts on which one is better? The new Zune that came out today vs. Ipod Classic.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

Any thoughts on which one is better? The new Zune that came out today vs. Ipod Classic.

I think the 30gb Zune is the best over everything, The new zune compared to even the new ipods are pretty lame, who really wants to buy a zune or an ipod with only 4gb or 8gb, just not worth it at all for what there selling them for.

[ipitythafool25]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

I been wanting to know myself...I know tons of people with an ipod but not 1 single person with a zune..i am tempted to get the new 80 gig one..but i know i can get the older 30 for a 100 bucks

[EWRMETS]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

I think the 30gb Zune is the best over everything, The new zune compared to even the new ipods are pretty lame, who really wants to buy a zune or an ipod with only 4gb or 8gb, just not worth it at all for what there selling them for.

I meant the 80 GB new Zune vs. Ipod Classic. I know 30 GB Zune is a great deal, but the new Zune is getting great reviews.

[aholbert32]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

I meant the 80 GB new Zune vs. Ipod Classic. I know 30 GB Zune is a great deal, but the new Zune is getting great reviews.

Ive had both and I prefer the Zune as a device but the Zune Software is horrible. Here are some quick impressions of the device:

- The Zune 80s were damn near impossible to find on launch day. I called and went to 12-15 stores (Best Buys, Circuit City) and only one of them had them in stock.

- I think the Zune screen is perfect for watching video. The Ipod Classic screen is too small and the Iphone/Touch screen stretches the picture too much for me.

- The Classic is slightly louder than the Zune but not by much. The Ipod has equalizer settings and for some dumb reason MS removed this feature from the 80, 8 and 4.

- The Classic's battery appears to last longer than the 80s

- The Zune works perfectly with the 360. I had issues with the classic working with the 360. I was unable to play 3/4 of the songs that I had on the classic which was strange because the songs work with the 5th generation Ipod.

- The 80 works with all Zune accesories and some Ipod accessories. The ipod video cables work with the zune.

- The Zune's TV Out picture is better than the Classic.

- I like the new Zune firmware with the exception of how it organizes videos. I love the full screen album art.

Now the software flat out sucks. Its buggy as hell and its organized horribly.

- Videos arent seperated by kind. Music Videos, TV Shows and Movies are all bunched together. What makes this worse is that you cant even seperate them by artist or show. Its just a long list of titles and its looks bad.

- The software is geared toward casual fans and not the hardcore music fan who would by the 80. You cant edit the metadata and tag information on a song through the software and it oragnizes certain songs in weird ways. For example, I have Young Buck's CD "Buck The World." That CD has 4 songs by Young Buck and one by 50 Cent. Because the album has two different artists on it the Zune software groups the album as Various Artists.

That means if im looking for the 50 Cent song, I cant go to "50 Cent" and find it. I have to got to Various Artists. I was able to change it by using an external tag editor and changing the artist info but i shouldnt have to do that when Itunes allows you to do it.

- The software crashed 4 times yesterday
- No auto/smart playlists and the shuffle function is decent but repeats too often form my taste.
- The Zune software doesnt import CD information so you have to enter the album title, song title and artists for every CD you rip into the software.
- Thankfully my Zune folder and Itunes Folder are the same so I can edit the song info and rip CDs using itunes and the Zune software will import it automatically.


All and all I'm happy with the 80 and think its a great device. I just think the software sucks.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

I think the 30gb Zune is the best over everything, The new zune compared to even the new ipods are pretty lame, who really wants to buy a zune or an ipod with only 4gb or 8gb, just not worth it at all for what there selling them for.

FF, you reading the thread dude.......where did you get 4gb or 8gb? LOL!

What is so lame since you probably haven't even played with the new Zune yet?

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

Ive had both and I prefer the Zune as a device but the Zune Software is horrible. Here are some quick impressions of the device:

- The Zune 80s were damn near impossible to find on launch day. I called and went to 12-15 stores (Best Buys, Circuit City) and only one of them had them in stock.

- I think the Zune screen is perfect for watching video. The Ipod Classic screen is too small and the Iphone/Touch screen stretches the picture too much for me.

- The Classic is slightly louder than the Zune but not by much. The Ipod has equalizer settings and for some dumb reason MS removed this feature from the 80, 8 and 4.

- The Classic's battery appears to last longer than the 80s

- The Zune works perfectly with the 360. I had issues with the classic working with the 360. I was unable to play 3/4 of the songs that I had on the classic which was strange because the songs work with the 5th generation Ipod.

- The 80 works with all Zune accesories and some Ipod accessories. The ipod video cables work with the zune.

- The Zune's TV Out picture is better than the Classic.

- I like the new Zune firmware with the exception of how it organizes videos. I love the full screen album art.

Now the software flat out sucks. Its buggy as hell and its organized horribly.

- Videos arent seperated by kind. Music Videos, TV Shows and Movies are all bunched together. What makes this worse is that you cant even seperate them by artist or show. Its just a long list of titles and its looks bad.

- The software is geared toward casual fans and not the hardcore music fan who would by the 80. You cant edit the metadata and tag information on a song through the software and it oragnizes certain songs in weird ways. For example, I have Young Buck's CD "Buck The World." That CD has 4 songs by Young Buck and one by 50 Cent. Because the album has two different artists on it the Zune software groups the album as Various Artists.

That means if im looking for the 50 Cent song, I cant go to "50 Cent" and find it. I have to got to Various Artists. I was able to change it by using an external tag editor and changing the artist info but i shouldnt have to do that when Itunes allows you to do it.

- The software crashed 4 times yesterday
- No auto/smart playlists and the shuffle function is decent but repeats too often form my taste.
- The Zune software doesnt import CD information so you have to enter the album title, song title and artists for every CD you rip into the software.
- Thankfully my Zune folder and Itunes Folder are the same so I can edit the song info and rip CDs using itunes and the Zune software will import it automatically.


All and all I'm happy with the 80 and think its a great device. I just think the software sucks.

Does the new software fixes many past issues? From your impressions, it appears the software may have taken a backseat yet again.

Those dummies. Anymore impressions on the hardware, pics that you can post? I loved the hardware of 1st gen, the software was a mess.

[aholbert32]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

Does the new software fixes many past issues? From your impressions, it appears the software may have taken a backseat yet again.

Those dummies. Anymore impressions on the hardware, pics that you can post? I loved the hardware of 1st gen, the software was a mess.

I didnt have the Zune 30 so I dont know but from what Ive read they took away alot of the features from the old zune software. What sucks is that you cant even go back to the old software. They force you to use the new softare if you have the new firmware.

What gets me is I love the hardware w/ the exception of not having smart playlists. Its lighter than the classic. The screen is glass and less likely to scratch and easier to repair than the classic. The new zune pad is great. Its a touch pad so you can just slide your finger across the pad to navigate. I wish I could post pics but I dont have a digital camera. Go to Zune thoughts or Zunerama and look at their videos.

MS is screwing the pooch by providing crappy software w/ a great device.

[EWRMETS]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

I'm now also considering Ipod Touch...tough decision deciding which MP3 player to get.

[ipitythafool25]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

got my sune 80 yesterday and it was a brick....would turn on and freeze at a screen that said zune games..spent 2 hours on phone with microsoft last night and they didnt have a clue what was wrong with it...they offered for me to send it in to then i said no thanks and took it back to circuit city and got another one....it works perfect

i agree the software leaves A TON to be desired, but the zune its self is quite sexy

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

I didnt have the Zune 30 so I dont know but from what Ive read they took away alot of the features from the old zune software. What sucks is that you cant even go back to the old software. They force you to use the new softare if you have the new firmware.

What gets me is I love the hardware w/ the exception of not having smart playlists. Its lighter than the classic. The screen is glass and less likely to scratch and easier to repair than the classic. The new zune pad is great. Its a touch pad so you can just slide your finger across the pad to navigate. I wish I could post pics but I dont have a digital camera. Go to Zune thoughts or Zunerama and look at their videos.

MS is screwing the pooch by providing crappy software w/ a great device.

Thanks aholbert, I just went to zunescene and read up a bit on impressions and there are a lot of mad people. Why can't they get the software straightened out which baffles my mind. It was one of the bigger issues with Zune 30 that I had, but I absolutely loved the hardware. The hardware is what attracts me back to the Zune, but hearing the software is messed up really disappoints me. Why would they take out features is even more baffling, their giving the ball to apple to just continue running further and further away. They might be a bit better hopefully with FW and software releases come Zune 2 as opposed to Zune 30 which was horrible on their end.

[pk500]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

Respected Wall Street Journal tech reporter Walt Mossberg says the new Zune is nice, but it has only caught up with the OLD iPod in terms of features:

http://solution.allthingsd.com/20071114/singing-a-new-zune/

When you combine that with the incredible amount of accessories and third-party software available for the iPod, I would think the iPod would be a no-brainer purchase.

Take care,
PK

[aholbert32]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

Respected Wall Street Journal tech reporter Walt Mossberg says the new Zune is nice, but it has only caught up with the OLD iPod in terms of features:

http://solution.allthingsd.com/20071114/singing-a-new-zune/

When you combine that with the incredible amount of accessories and third-party software available for the iPod, I would think the iPod would be a no-brainer purchase.

Take care,
PK

The Zune 80 is equal if not better than the Classic. Its not close enough to the Touch. If the Ipod Touch was bigger than 16 GB I would buy it but it leaves alot to be desired too. Same goes with the Classic. The only reason I considered a Zune was because it works with my 360 (The Classic barely works and the Touch doesnt work at all) and the TV out function doesnt work without spending 40 bucks on a dock. Shoot the Touch requires a dock and a 50 buck cable so thats a 100 bucks on top of the price of the Touch.

I recognize that most people dont care about that stuff so if you are deciding between a Zune and a Classic, its pretty much a tossup.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

The Zune 80 is equal if not better than the Classic. Its not close enough to the Touch. If the Ipod Touch was bigger than 16 GB I would buy it but it leaves alot to be desired too. Same goes with the Classic. The only reason I considered a Zune was because it works with my 360 (The Classic barely works and the Touch doesnt work at all) and the TV out function doesnt work without spending 40 bucks on a dock. Shoot the Touch requires a dock and a 50 buck cable so thats a 100 bucks on top of the price of the Touch.

I recognize that most people dont care about that stuff so if you are deciding between a Zune and a Classic, its pretty much a tossup.

That is good to hear, I think we both are similar with the Zune and iPod. Flip flopping back and forth on both. LOL!

[EWRMETS]

Re: Zune vs. Ipod Classic

Can you upload and download ripped music on the Zune to different computers? So I can rip music from one computer and then another without having to erase the existing songs like with an Ipod?