Creative Zen Micro, Novatech or Ipod?

noelski_2

Hi People,

I had some money for christmas around £150 worth and am tempted to buy an mp3 player (type of thing)

I'm not great with deciding what to buy and would like peoples views on my choices and your experiences of the items, if you've got them.

I've narrowed it down to

The Creative Zen Micro
http://www.creative.com/zenmicro/

Novatech
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/SpecPage.html?NOV-NPODG

or should I get an Ipod, my price range will mean that I will probably be only able to get a mini Ipod.

Thank you in advance for your help everyone

webhamster

Do you use a camera (dig) too ?

If so consider the xdive camera buddy , its an mp3 player , portable hd and camera backup drive.It has slots on the side for transferring the pics from your cameras removable card ie xd , sd , mm etc.

price 20 gig abut 150 , 40 about 160 delivered inc vat.

PandehHunter

Id say either a Zen Micro, or an actual Zen Touch. I bought one for Christmas because 5gb was a bit too little, and the price was the same. It's about 40% bigger I'd say, and not too much heavier. Much recommended. Better sound quality than an iPod too imo.

cruisemad

I can recommend the creative zen touch! My hubbie bought it for me for xmas and it is fantastic! I have the DAP jukebox which I thought was great but the batteries were a nightmare, they only lasted a couple of hours. The battery in my new player lasts and lasts and lasts!!!!! The only little niggle I have with it is the touchpad, I am told I will get used to it but I still keep racing past the album I want to listen to and have to go back. It is only a very minor negative though and for the price you cannot go wrong, there is no way on this earth that I will ever be able to fill it up. My husband was going to have my old player but after playing with the new one he wants one as well!!
Good luck with your decision.

horsenailbucket

I've got an XClef HD800 from https://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk and it is really cool. Great sound, long battery life, and just drag and drop files across from the pc.

Cheers

Leo_Africanus

iPod mini + iTrip mini = bliss.

(I got mine direct from the apple store with the student discount and the £8 voucher available on this site. It came with free laser engraving and shipping).

skdotcom

I don't currently have a mp3 player, but I would say its important to decide what you are going to use it for. I personally see no need to having a massive hard-drive, as the time required downloading/copying/listening to the number of tracks they can hold would mean you would never get anything else done!
I plan to get an iriver 795 512mb thing. It holds enough tracks to have a decent selection, yet is small and has superb battery life. Perfect for holidays, sitting on the bus etc.

PhiL_P_3

I got an iPod for Xmas and I can say that the user interface is a joy to use, as is the iTunes PC software which you use to sync your music. All I've got to do now is get my 3,875 tunes in order!

What isn't so great is the mirrored stainless steel back panel of the iPod - looks great out of the box, but the first time you pick it up it gets covered in greasy fingerprints which really show up, and mine's already covered in tiny scratches after only having had it since Xmas day!

Overall though I've fallen in love with my iPod - get one but make sure you also get a case/cover to carry it around in!! ;D

PhiL_P_3

I don't currently have a mp3 player, but I would say its important to decide what you are going to use it for. I personally see no need to having a massive hard-drive, as the time required downloading/copying/listening to the number of tracks they can hold would mean you would never get anything else done!
I plan to get an iriver 795 512mb thing. It holds enough tracks to have a decent selection, yet is small and has superb battery life. Perfect for holidays, sitting on the bus etc.

In response to that I would say I just left my iPod downloading my 3,875 MP3s (~18GB) overnight and it was done by the morning, so that was no problem. Of course it charged itself at the same time so that was two jobs done as the same time! ;D

The large hard disk appealed because it meant that wherever I was I would always have my entire music collection to hand, since you never know what you might suddenly fancy listening to! I previously had a CD MP3 player and despite carrying about 4 CDs worth of MP3 albums around (~24 albums!) I would still find myself wanting to listen to something I didn't have on me! ::)

Of course if you don't already have a large selection of MP3 on your computer it's probably not so worthwhile getting a large hard-disk based player..

mike347928

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/39204/art/creative/jukebox-zen-xtra-30-gb.html?srcid=3

CREATIVE Jukebox Zen Xtra 30 GB
£131 + postage

skdotcom

I agree some people will have a need for a large capacity, but I think the majority of people will find having 4000 songs to carry around with them a bit excessive.

Most people don't have that many tracks or wont have the time or patience to rip them from CD or download them.

The capacity of mp3 players is an important factor, but it seems people are being cajouled into thinking they need much more capacity than they will ever use. Battery life and sound quality are of equal relevance when choosing a player, and to be honest the ipod doesnt cut it on the battery front.