Zune or I-pod?

Question

I would like to hear some REAL facts from someone who has tried or knows alot about both.....no just "Oh Windows sucks" or"I-pods rule!" That doesn't help in the least. Thanks to everyone who answers!

Answer 1

I would reccomend against both, actually. Zune is really just another mp3 player, nothing special about it. iPod... Oh, the ipod... Where to begin...
First, if you buy an iPod and use iTunes to buy and transfer songs to it, you will NEVER be able to listen to those songs on a non-apple product. So, say 3 years down the line you want to listen to your music on your new non-apple mp3 player, you're going to have to rebuy all your old songs (or hack the files one by one, which is a huge pain). Additionally, the iPod lacks support for WMA and many lossless mp3 codecs.
Second, the hard drives in the iPods are not actually mobile hard drives. They're not designed to be jostled around, which is why my little brother has gone thru four broken iPods (+my sister two, +my mom one). Then they have to go buy new iPods because they can't listen to their songs on any other device.
Third: Whereas most mp3 players' batteries begin to lose maximum charge after 2-3 years, iPods' batteries tend to die after less than 4 months. Sure, you'll get the 12 hours playtime when it comes out of the box, but half a year later, it's going to die halfway thru your 4-hour flight.
Fourth: If you're an audiophile like me, you probably won't like how the ipod sounds. Sure, its got one of the highest volume caps of any mp3 player, but as a tradeoff it has one of the worst signal:noise ratios of any mp3 player. In addition, any songs you buy off of itunes are 128kbps, which is sub-par.
Bottom Line:
Unless you're willing to buy into the whole "i-life" thing and devote yourself to buying apple for the rest of your life, stay away from the iPod.
I'd have to reccomend against the zune as well. There's just not enough features to set it apart from the rest of the crowd. Check out this website for a complete mp3 player buying guide:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7964_7-5134106-1.html
my pick: I just bought a Creative Zen V Pro 4GB flash mp3 player. Works like a charm, but if you're one of those people who likes to have their entire 40 gig music collection with them at all times, you're gonna need a HD mp3 player.

Answer 2

If the choice is between an iPod or Zune I would go with the iPod, the most interesting thing about the Zune is its ability to share content between two Zunes over wifi, however that's also its biggest problem, the way that Microsoft implemented the drm (digital rights management) or copy protection on the Zune, is completely messed up, if you transfer content from one Zune to another you can only play that content 3 times, even if it wasn't copy protected to begin with. So in effect if you make your own content, music, podcast, video or what ever and want to transfer it over the Zunes wifi to your friends Zune, your own content that you exercise copywrite over now has Microsoft drm on it and your friend can only play it 3 times.

Also, anyone who has bought music using Microsoft's Play's for Sure drm format, is out of luck, the Zune won't play it, it has a whole new drm format.

Yes I know iTunes has drm too, but, the drm on the Zune borders on evil, and no I don't hate Microsoft, if it wasn't for the drm on the Zune it would be a great player, equal to or even greater than the iPod.

Answer 3

I have experience with an I-pod and a creative zen mp3 player. Both the I-pod and Zune use proprietary music formats. That means songs on one will not work on the other. I like the flexibility to use the mp3 and super mp3 format. I suggest you read some of the information linked below. Determine if you want to listen to music, watch videos, or store pictures.

Answer 4

Zune has yet to prove itsself. The Ipod has been around for a while. The only Zune feature that is good is the Zune sharing, but if you dont know anyone with a Zune, whats the point?

Answer 5

I prefer iPod. Nobody knows about Zune. But we all are familiar with iPod. They are great digital music players in history. And we have choices. If you want a portable video player, buy iPod Video. Or if you want only as a portable mp3 player, buy shuffle. Or Buy nano. But Zune offers only one type. They both have same sound quality and design. I think Zune has only one thing better than iPod that is wi-fi support. But it can only exchange musics between players not from pc.

Answer 6

iPods definently
There features are cool and you can download anything to it like photos videos tons of music in mp3 or aac format and games any games you like like bejeweled beats zune

Answer 7

zune, you get radio on it, without buying that "thing" for the ipod so you can hear radio

Answer 8

I-pod. I think the sound sounds better.

Answer 9

zune, i dont have one, but i have had SOOO many problems w/ my ipod! im having one now actually.

Answer 10

iPods definitely.
Their features are like unbeatable.
I use mine a lot and love it, but I suppose its all in what you like more and what you're interested in.