I-Pod VS nomad player

jokerboy

I-Pod VS nomad player ?
any thoughts people ?

rymus

forget 'em both and get an Iriver IHP model... that's my only thought on the subject.

Zombrex

It all depends on what you want to use it for.


My dad got the 60GB Nomad Zen NX. And my friends have iPods so I know both. Here are my thoughts -

iPod
Pro

• - Light and Small
• - Stylish
• - Wide range of accessories

Con

• - Cannot change rechargable battery, so limited use life (about 3-4 years)
• - Sound quality is not top of the range (unlike Nomad)
• - Much more expensive per GB than other players

Nomad Zen NX
Pro

• - Much less expensive per GB than iPOD
• - Excellent sound quality
• - Replacable rechargable battery

Con

• - Rather large and bulky
• - Looks like a brick
• - Limited range of accessories

My dad has literally thousands of CDs and loved the idea of putting them all on the Nomad. For him, the style and size aspect were not important, because he would normally use it in the car on long journeys. He thought it would be silly to pay a lot more for an iPod with less capacity. And the fact that the Nomad has better sound reproduction than the iPod sealed the deal.

On the other hand you would struggle to get the Nomand into your pocket, and it doesn't look very good at all. If style and size is more important then the iPod is for you.

Töpher

Originally posted by rymus
forget 'em both and get an Iriver IHP model... that's my only thought on the subject.

I was looking into getting one of these. They worth the money? Whats the sound quality on them like?!

BeatFreak

I think Wicknight summed it up perfectly, I've got a Zen NX and it's been one of the best purchases I've made in years... Okay it may not look as nice and the software is a little dodgy but it sounds soooooo good, which for me is the most important thing after all it's in my bag/pocket all the time so looks are not an issue.

I'd buy the zen over the ipod anyday

Pacifico

Originally posted by Beat Freak
I think Wicknight summed it up perfectly, I've got a Zen NX and it's been one of the best purchases I've made in years... Okay it may not look as nice and the software is a little dodgy but it sounds soooooo good, which for me is the most important thing after all it's in my bag/pocket all the time so looks are not an issue.

I'd buy the zen over the ipod anyday

Not a chance!

Get an iPod. You can change the battery. And the sound Quality is excellent, lacks a little bass but depends on the headphones you use. iTunes is probaly the best/easiest software ive ever used.

Yeah ok the Price is a little high, But it is Beautiful:D

netman

Personally, the difference between 20, 40 or 60 GB for me is non-existent.
I don't have that many CD's to begin with, my whole collection is on the MP3 player and it's only filling up about 3-4 GB.

I opted for the iPod, having looked and researched them both.
Size and weight were an important thing for me and nothing on the market beats the iPod in this regard. It's also by far the best looking player, but let's say that's subjective.

I didn't get too concerned about the battery life. A lot of stories broke out on the net where Apple where charging an arm and a leg to replace the original iPod's battery, something around half the price of a new iPod. The iPod's you can buy today are the third generation, there are already third-party replacement batteries you can get in the $50 range, and quite honestly I expect to sell the iPod before the battery ever becomes an issue.

I'd expect the 1.5" hard drives to become standard in MP3 players in a year or two, it's definitely heading that way with the iPod mini. So I'll probably be able to get a 10-20 GB player that's half the size of my current one, with double the battery life, for half the money in 1-2 years. By all accounts the batteries might become a problem after 3-4 years, so lets not worry about it right now

There's only one word I'd use to describe the sound on the iPod - fantastic!
But I had to replace the original earphones, bought Sony's fontopia ones and the quality is unbelievable. It also deadens the outside noise, which helps a lot if you're commuting.

The only thing I miss on it is an FM radio. I hope they'll build them into the new iPods in a few years. Doesn't sound too complicated to me, but what do I know.

There's plenty of accessories, as iPod's been out for so long it's created quite a following and there's a big market. Personally, the FM transmitter is one of the best inventions ever. No need for cables.. ever.. Play anywhere, play anytime.

rymus

Originally posted by Einstürzende
I was looking into getting one of these. They worth the money? Whats the sound quality on them like?!

I'm in the same situation as you.. don't actually have an mp3 player yet but talking to alot of people that have different models. By all accounts the sound on the iriver is excellent but I'm waiting to find a display model so I can sample it for myself. Reason I'm more drawn to this one than the likes of a Zen or iPod is the built in FM tuner and of course the real-time mp3 encoding as I'd be able to take it to a friends gig's and plug it straight into the sound deck.

I reckon I'm going to get one this side of summer, just have to make some modifications to my bikes audio system first.

TCP/IP

The girlfriend just gave me a 20gig IPOD for my birthday and in general I would have to say it rocks, the only issue I have is that the battery indictor never is full and goes up and down all the time, I think I might have a dodey one. Sound quality is great versatility is great as I store my windows and linux updates on it as well.

It is so easy to use and at the end of the day it looks so cool

toil

I have read reviews all over the net about he ipod, iriver and creative ones,
The iriver comes out on top because - radio, you can drag and drop on it in windows as opposed to using an other software package(ipod limits u 2 one machine for adding music!), optical in and out.....
Now my problem i can not get one of these for less then 459 (shop in swords,) anyway have any ideas?

If cant find one gonna get the creative 60 gig one.

RicardoSmith

Thye iRiver ones seem to be the best. Peats has them on display. But I wouldn't buy from them. Too expensive. I can't seem to find one that has a tuner, and USB2.

hostyle

You can't use the Zen as a portable hard-drive without binging software with you every you go. Don't know about the IPOD.

voxpop

there have been reports of dodgy battries and headphone jacks with the ipods
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3621585.stm

One to check out is the rio karma http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/shop/_templates/item_main_Rio.asp?model=220&cat=53

20gigs and fits in your hand - not too shabby

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by Angry_Penguin
there have been reports of dodgy battries and headphone jacks with the ipods
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3621585.stm

One to check out is the rio karma http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/shop/_templates/item_main_Rio.asp?model=220&cat=53

20gigs and fits in your hand - not too shabby

A guy in work has a rio karma its a great little unit.

Terminator

I did a lot of research into both the Ipod and Nomad Zen Xtra. In the end as a PC user I opted for the Zen Xtra 40GB which was cheaper than the 10GB Ipod.

The main thing that bothered me about the Ipod was the volume cap (blame the french) and I was delighted to find that the sound from the Zen was amazing with no volume cap. The software that comes with the Nomad is not the best but for $20 dollars you can buy Notmad Explorer which is amazing software that enables you to stream playlists through winamp, media player and jukebox.

Its slightly bigger and heavier than the Ipod but the extra memory and longer (replaceable) battery life more than make up for that. In summary its much better value for money.

RicardoSmith

All of these units are crying out for a tuner.

As a matter of interest, I usually listen to the same 1 or 2 albums on my MD for a couple of weeks before I get bored and change to a different album. So the huge capacity of these players isn't a huge selling point to me. My MP3 collection is about 16gbs. Admittedly theres about half of my CD collection and cassette collection I don't have on MP3 yet. But even so I think it would take years to fill a 60gb disk.

toil

Ricardo, the iriver unit has a tuner....

What prices are we talking here?
Where are the cheapest places for these units?

I know the iriver 40gig version goes for 459euro out in swords.(This is quite good as i have been checking prices on ebay in england and america and the saving is not much).
Komplett only have the iRiver MP3-Player iHP-120 MP3, dictaphon, FM-radio and 20 GB' for 458euro!so with delivery thats 470euro!



komplett have the 'Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen NX, Xtra 60GB USB2.0, Retail' for 445euro (That will be plus delivery on top of about 12euro) so 457euro.

And the ipod is over 500euro if bought from overclockers (40gig version.)

Can anyone help me find cheaper places for these 3?
Think in the end i am going to go out to swords and get the iriver......

jokerboy

right ok then,
what about the s/w ? i assume the ipod is compatable with windows ? or is that a stupid question ... can the ipod be used a portable harddrive too ?

Stephen

The ipod works out of the box as a removable drive in Windows 2000 and XP. No need to install software.
You do, however, need to install software to transfer mp3s to it.

rymus

toil, the 20 gig iriver is on Amazon UK for £244.99, around €365
40gig is £299.99, around €447
+ whatever delivery for amazon normally is.

Where in Swords did you find the 40gig? Might take a spin up and pick one up some lazy weekend.

Fabritzo

Yeh, toil, the 20gig is 458 on komplett, are you sure the 40 is in Swords for 459.

If I had to pick Zen or Pod, I'd probably go Pod as I know it can be used as a portable drive and I'm 99% sure the Zen can't, not without some jiggery pokery.
I reckon the Pod is a bit of a girls thing to be honest, very cute indeed.

eclectichoney

yeah i got the 40G iriver in harvey norman swords for 459 last week...its a *beautiful* piece of kit, plus the sales guy was really nice and knocked a tenner off!

no complaints so far....drag & drop, no software needed....sleek black exterior.....the case isn't too attractive that's the only bad thing but people are starting to sell third party ones know. its got a tuner with 20 presets and you can use it as a recorder too....

big thumbs up from me! already have 16G loaded on it

Fabritzo

Where did you see the cases?