still no FM or mic

Anyone think the 16GB Touch will show up below $300?

It's an iPod - they've never had those items (without a dock or whatever), and I wouldn't be surprised if they never do. Heh, IPod vs. other players seems to have turned into the MS vs. Opensource of the music playing world....

For the 80GB Classic, this is the best price I've seen since the day after Christmas (when the storewide Amazon sale had them right around that same price plus or minus a couple dollars). Costco has these regularly priced at $236, so, if you're a member, I'd stick with that for the return policy. Otherwise, this is a pretty good deal.

Can anyone that has owned one of these ipods or at least a more recent ipod and a 2nd Gen Zune give an honest, mostly un-biased review comparing the two? I'm in the market for an 80GB MP3 player and I've read up on both the iPod and Zune. Both seem nice but trying to get a decent review comparing the two is nearly impossible, the articles are always biased to one side or the other rather than giving fair pros/cons to both. I understand they both have their strengths and weaknesses, so if you could list them and give an honest opinion as to why you like one over the other (not Apple rulez and Microsoft droolz! kinda crap) then I and many others would probably appreciate it.

#4 - I've got your review right here:


APPLE RULEZ!
MICROSOFT DROOLZ!

Ah yes, a very constructive and informative review indeed. Thank you for making my purchasing decisions much easier. LOL.


But seriously... someone on here has to have a Zune and an iPod to give a decent comparison and why they like one over the other.

Since I already had the majority of my music collection in itunes format, I bought an ipod classic. I just don't have time to convert it all. If it wasn't for that, I would have bought a new zune.

Have you seen this comparison?
http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/4370-11399_7-324-101.html

Bos, I probably can't help much, because I have an old rio cali (THAT REFUSES TO DIE, MIGHT I ADD!!!). Anyway, I just can't justify buying a new mp3 player as long as my current one is in sound working condition although I'd rather have and ipod because of all the accessories they offer.

That being said, I did buy my girl an 8 gig ipod for christmas and because she's not that computer savy I've been the one loading her music. I'm finding that I definitely do not like the itunes interface for loading the ipod vs media player or other sources. Apple has put in alot of measure to prevent unnecessary or illegal file sharing but it bites. For instance forget syncing your ipod to another computer that has itunes unless you don't mind loosing all your current files. I buy music from itunes for my mp3 player and I cannot add these to my girls device. Also you cannot import music from another media source such as media player into itunes then sync it to your ipod. I've had no problems syncing music from cd's but when I transfer files from media player over to itunes the only go to a playlist and not a list that allow music to be synced to an external device. I have no problem getting music from itunes into media player however, which is what would work with a Zune. This may not be a deal breaker for you, and somebody correct me if I'm wrong about the above statements. Maybe I just haven't found the "correct" way to do it.

No I haven't seen this from cnet yet. Thanks for the link, I'm reading it right now. I more or less trust Cnet's reviews, they're fairly accurate and unbiased.


*edit* Interesting read, for the most part they seemed to favor the Zune. I've been learning towards that one myself. I'm just looking for something to hold my 40+GB of music... I don't need a lot of extra gimmicks. I'm very torn, they seem to both be fairly decent players... I guess it's more or less a competition of who will give me a better price. Or, who will come out with another "generation" that is improved/changed enough to give it that extra edge over the other.

Since I already had the majority of my music collection in itunes format, I bought an ipod classic. I just don't have time to convert it all. If it wasn't for that, I would have bought a new zune.

Have you seen this comparison?
http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/4370-11399_7-324-101.html

I find the whole itunes ecosystems very annoying.

Go with a drag and drop player such as Sansa, iRiver, Creative or Cowon and avoid the headache of needing software to add content. Some of these players can even display by file name instead of tags. This is a great feature if you have a large mix of music. Just create folders.

BoS,

I haven't had a chance to play with a new Zune yet (though not for lack of trying - the ones at BB always seem to have a dead battery/broken), But my impressions from what I do know about it (and the iPod Classic):

- I don't know what the specs say, but the iPod feels significantly smaller and sleeker in your hand, especially with the brushed aluminum faceplate. Physically, compared to the Zune, it "feels" higher end.

- The iPod Classic is slow. There, I've said it. It may be easy to use (I have a 4G iPod, so it's still second nature to me), but the new UI graphics (not to mention Cover Flow) lag on the Classic - the simpler interface of the old iPod never has this problem. Don't know about the Zune's interface, but what may be an inconvenience (lack of a scroll wheel) *may* be made up for in terms of UI responsiveness. Though I really appreciate the scroll wheel.

- The Zune's screen is much bigger, and if it's anywhere near the quality of the iPod's, video will probably look better on it. Of course, bigger screen comes on a bigger device.

- I like iTunes, and at least on a Mac, you have the option of telling iTunes not to change your current file structure but simply find your music - I personally don't see the benefit of dragging and dropping (especially with large collections), but if that's your game, I know the iPod doesn't do that.

- If you only care about music over headphones, either one's great. iPod has more accessories for other stuff though (overpriced cases, overpriced speakers, etc)

If I were in the market (and had a PC), I'd still probably pick the iPod given the perceived size difference (e, fits in a pocket better). Wireless syncing/sharing is of little use to me.

Hope this helps

Thanks for your input aliasfox, that was helpful. Like I said, on my computer, I've already got my music very specifically organized, so if I were to be able to drag and drop, it'd be very organized on a player. Now, I do like iTunes layout and organization and it worked fine on my PC as far as keeping my hundreds of albums easy to browse and search through, so if it's a similar layout on the iPod, that's great.

As far as gimmicks like music/movie shopping, wireless connecting, etc. that's all great, but I have no need for it anyway. I really just want a large storage sized MP3 player with a nice interface.

I did play around with the Zune at a Circuit City, it was nice... things were easy to find and browse to, and I've used friends' iPods before, and they're fairly simple. I'm almost thinking that the tie breaker between these two is going to be the battery life. From what I've read, the iPod has a better overall battery life with the new 6th gens...

*sigh* I'm gonna have to stop being so fickle and just go for one and be happy with it.

BoS, have you actually gone into the store and at least compare the items side by side?

NO FM MIC or other useful function.So i don't need it