I had an iPod. It was very pretty, easy to use, and well designed. It needs iTunes to load music onto it, and once I had formatted it using my PC I would have to reformat it to load any music onto it from my Mac, also I had several incidents where it would refuse to believe it was sync'd to the computer, and I kept having to reload the whole library instead of updating a few tracks. Then I dropped it and the hard drive packed in.
Now I have a 2gig Creative Zen Stone Plus. It is very small, has reasonable battery life once charged, and you load it up as a USB stick, which means I can load it from both computers I have, and use it as a memory stick as well. this cost me £35. I might go back to an iPod or other large player at some point, but right now I like having a smaller, cheaper player that I am less worried about breaking and is easier to load music on to, even if it doesn't hold that much and doesn't have as great an interface as the iPod.
Er, I have both of these - a hard disk iPod and a 2Gb Creative Zen Stone Plus. So I'm going to have to agree with liz.
I use my iPod in the car and other places where it is safe - but I want lots of music, and lots of video. (The hard disk is double thesize of the one in this laptop I am using now)
But I use the creative zen stone when I want something small and lightweight which I can bash around without any worries. Plus at the price I can break it and not be bothered about replacing it.
I would go for the cheap option - and change the music often.
PS The Zen Stone is better for putting things on random rather than , say, listening to e-books.
I just realised, watervole, that you didnt mention video. I sometimes watch old doctor who on my iPod, as well as other tv programmes which dont need a particularly good, big screen to enjoy. I dont know whether vide is important to you. Presumably not.
i dont use the radio so cant comment on reception. Loading songs onto it is the same as any USB Flash memory key. - so you can drag and drop files.
I dont think I understand what you mean about using it with Windows Media player, but it wont work with itunes. (well only in the same way as you could pretend it was a CD, or something like that)
Does the Zen stone plus have a way of attaching it to a cord to hang around your neck? I've just realised that is key for me, as my clothes don't tend to have breast pockets.
Haven't tried the radio, although I can give it a go tomorrow. You can drag and drop files, it appears to sync with WMP although I haven't actually used it, it doesn't sync with iTunes. I find it far easier to just drag and drop anyway.
Other advantages - it has an internal rechargeable battery, and it uses a standard small-USB connector same as my camera so I can use the same leads.
What is the interface like on the creative Zen? I want to be able to find a specific track (or at least directory) on occasion. How easy would that be.
You can navigate to a specific directory pretty easily, although it takes a few clicks. You can't get to specific files through a menu, you just have to go to the directory and work through them - there's no way to get it to list all the tracks.
No bookmark feature, but you can go forwards and backwards inside a track pretty easily, so that's what I do if I want to stop mid-podcast. There's no playlists either.
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Now I have a 2gig Creative Zen Stone Plus. It is very small, has reasonable battery life once charged, and you load it up as a USB stick, which means I can load it from both computers I have, and use it as a memory stick as well. this cost me £35. I might go back to an iPod or other large player at some point, but right now I like having a smaller, cheaper player that I am less worried about breaking and is easier to load music on to, even if it doesn't hold that much and doesn't have as great an interface as the iPod.
wot she said
I use my iPod in the car and other places where it is safe - but I want lots of music, and lots of video. (The hard disk is double thesize of the one in this laptop I am using now)
But I use the creative zen stone when I want something small and lightweight which I can bash around without any worries. Plus at the price I can break it and not be bothered about replacing it.
I would go for the cheap option - and change the music often.
PS The Zen Stone is better for putting things on random rather than , say, listening to e-books.
Re: wot she said
Re: wot she said
What's the radio reception like on the Zen Stone Plus? Does Radio 4 sound okay? How easy is it to load songs onto it?
Can you drag and drop files?
Would it work with Windows Media Player?
Would it work with iTunes?
Re: wot she said
I dont think I understand what you mean about using it with Windows Media player, but it wont work with itunes. (well only in the same way as you could pretend it was a CD, or something like that)
Re: wot she said
Re: wot she said
Re: wot she said
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(Only a handful of people so far)
Re: wot she said
Other advantages - it has an internal rechargeable battery, and it uses a standard small-USB connector same as my camera so I can use the same leads.
Re: wot she said
Is it any good when you're moving, in a car, for example?
Re: wot she said
How good is the radio? Can you get reception when you're on the move in a car?
How good is it for speech files? What's the sound quality like? I've got a load of short audio files that I need to listen to.
no subject
It would also be useful to have a bookmark.
Re: wot she said
No bookmark feature, but you can go forwards and backwards inside a track pretty easily, so that's what I do if I want to stop mid-podcast. There's no playlists either.