what is the best portable mp3/video player on the market currently?

Question

I was thinking of purchasing either the creative zen M, Toshiba Gigabeat S, or the sandisk e240...does anybody know any other one that's better?... or give me the ups and downs about these players?...

I had the philips go gear, but the music just deleted and I can't put any music back on.. do you know what I can do to make it work again?

Answer 1

I bought the Creative Zen Vision M and I love it. For me, it was SUPERIOR to the iPod for a number of reasons.

1) Works with subscription music from Yahoo Music Unlimited To Go, Rhapsody To Go, and Napster To Go. This is by far the easiest and least expensive legal way to fill a music player with all the music that will fit .. and more ... for as little as $10 a month with a pre-paid subscription. The 30GB ZVM will hold about 5000 subscription songs at 192kbps quality. That would cost almost $5000 on iTunes. $5000 will get you 41 YEARS of subscription music and a virtually unlimited song selection. The iPod does not support subscription music. The ZVM, the Gigabeat, and the Sandisk all support subscription music. Check to be sure.

Subscription music single handedly lowers the overall total cost of ownership and Apple's lack of support for it is the single biggest reason to avoid the iPod. Why "own" your music when you can rent it?

2) The picture quality on the ZVM is superior to the iPod. 262,000 colors vs 65,000 colors.

3) The video battery life of the ZVM is about 4 hours vs only 2 hours of playback time on the iPod 30GB. That means you may not be able to get through a full length movie on a flight on an iPod but that was no problem for me on the ZVM -- 2 1/2 hours of movie and video and still plenty of battery left.

4) ZVM supports TiVoToGo. So does iPod and Gigabeat. Don't know about the Sandisk.

5) The ZVM sounds amazingly good through my car stereo with the Sony CPA-9C cassette adapter. When Alpine comes out with their PlaysForSure / USB adapter for players, I'm upgrading the stereo so I can hide the player in the glove compartment and still browse the music. But that really isn't all that necessary.

6) My new Vaja leather case for the ZVM makes it look really retro kinda like an old FM transistor radio which is way cool.

Okay, if I had one wish, I wish that ripping and transfering video to any of these players was much easier. As much as the ZVM supports a lot of video formats, there's a few it doesn't support. Same is true of the iPod. Neither supports Real Video. iPod doesn't support WMV. ZVM doesn't support QuickTime.

Pocket DVD Studio works well for DVDs that you own. I believe in Fair Use, not stealing.

I ripped some video from my Comcast DVR to my PC and transfered it to my player. I'm chomping at the bit for the TiVo Series 3 to come out so I can use TiVoToGo.

My first ZVM was defective so that colored my experience. I returned it within 10 days and have had the replacement for over two months and it has been completely trouble free. Read the boards and you'll find out that there is no perfect player. iPod has quite a bit of quality problems too.

Answer 2

I personally think that Zen Vision:M is superior worth for every penny you spent.

It has much clearer screen for video, better battery life than iPod, and it comes with an FM radio. I know you probably won't use it but it is always good to know that it is there when you need it.

On the other hand, it may not looks as good as iPod, and your finger prints would easily ran all over the player.

After all, it depends on you to make the decision, collect as much information and evaluate which is more important to you.

Good luck in your purchase! I wish you got the right one for yourself.

Answer 3

Just because iPod is the most popular, means that it's the best?

Popularity does NOT equal better quality. It just means good marketing. Nothing else. (Remember the VHS vs. beta war?)

And there's no 'hating' going on here. In fact I think Apple has single-handedly changed the way the world interacts with their music. And for that, they have earned my respect. Just not my dollars...

The real joke is that Apple does NOT want you to 'Think Differently'. In fact, they want you to think like everyone else and run out and get yourself an iPod.

YAH! Way to be different!

Answer 4

creative zen vision m oh btw people get heads out of ur asses and do research the ipod is only popular not superior or worth the price. now the zen vision m is super kick *** it acutally is worth every penny and more. it freakin awesome with its 4 hr video life and superb sound quality and 262,000 color screen vs the ipods 62,000 color screen. its awesome. only con of zen vision m is its twice as thick as the ipod but hey all those features will sooner be packed into a smaller player.

Answer 5

ok look iPod is easily superior to any other mp3 player in existence. just think about how many people own iPods.....(yeah its a lot lol). everybody who has those crapshoot creatives (and every other mp3 player) are just haters i had a creative and i thought it was better than every iPod too....then it broke. iPods are way better especially the 30GB and 60 GB ipod videos.(i own a 30GB now) there is now point however in getting a 60 GB video becuz you'll never fill up all that extra space! the reason ipod can charge more than the other companies is becuz THE QUALITY IS WAYYYYYYYYYYY BETTER!

Answer 6

You hav got to check out the RCA LYRA X3000. Look here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1943243,00.asp?kc=PCRSS02129TX1K0000530

Answer 7

The Apple iPod is superior to all MP3 players hand down. They are pricey, but if you do the math- the per GB price is decent. iPods are durable and the support (Firmware Updates and Help) is unmatched. I had a 1st Generation iPod that I handed down and it worked flawlessly after years of faithful service.

Answer 8

Philips GoGear 8gb is my baby. You will love it if you get one.

Answer 9

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-4G-4GB-MP3-MP4-VIDEO-MOVIE-AUDIO-PLAYER-BLACK_W0QQitemZ270018974954QQihZ017QQcategoryZ73839QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It's the best one you can have just check it out!