This is a thread for the Zen touch.
I'm considering getting one and thought I'd make a thread for the people who have one to tell features + pros and cons about it.
Has anyone tried the full battery life? Is it really 24hrs?

I really think iPods are great.

I read a Comparison in APC a while ago.
The Zen Touch is better than the iPod.

Compared to the iPod, the only cons I can think of compared to the iPod is:
-No Firewire
-A little bigger
-n00bs won't think you're cool for having one (doesn't affect you unless you're a self-concious dick)

Otherwise, the screen, sound quality, etc are superior.

What about the price?

Oh and what capacities does it come in?

Estapol:

Same Price as 20gb iPod.

Comes in 20gb only, with 40gb soon.

Thanks Eyce, might be interested in a 40gb depending on the price. :)


EDIT: HOLY SHIT-ON-STICK!! :nooo:

BELHOLD!!

click>The Zen Xtra!<click


60gigs for $50 less than a 40gb iPod!! :woot:

*puts on xmas list*

Oooooo, a standard anodized aluminium case... I'm sold! :woot:

Edit: It says stylish... thats it... I'm going to bed.

Am I the only one who doesn't see the appeal of the iPod?

I'd love to pick one of these up if I had the money. My 512 CF card MP3 player just isn't enough!

:woot: WOW!
How much is it?

I think you're missing the point, lot's of people see the appeal of it...that's why it's going to be a killer product this Christmas. But the Zen Touch is actually a better product. (Or so I've read)

Meh, no spindle wheel :P

Don't want to get into an iPod argument here, but the thing that appeals to me about the iPod, is that it's a small, portable, easy to use, music player. No more, no less.

Correct. People tell me the iRiver is better. Better sure, but more expensive and does more then I want it.

It's unbelievable really. I get called a yuppie for buying a phone with a camera and video function amongst other things and then people turn around and say why didn't you buy the iRiver it plays music as wll as all this other shit no one needs!!!

I can't see the appeal of the iRiver either. :S

Zen Touch > iPod > iRiver :P

That's not the touch though.
They're hard to scroll through because of that scroller on the side!
Behold the Zen touch!!!

<EDIT> Eyce whens the 40gb coming out? I heard it was'nt announced.

I'm not sure when it comes out, but apparently they were planning it.

I don't get this thread. Why make a thread for an individual MP3 player? Sure you can say why make an iPod thread but the fact of the matter is you could take all MP3 players in the world, all brands, triple their sales and they still wouldn't be in iPod's league. Get around it. Someone rename this thread "Inferior MP3 Players that fanboys think are cool"

Sure, this post has come off negatively and with extreme iPod fanboyism in it, but when are people going to realise it's not enough nowadays to create something and put it out on the market? You have to advertise and market it to your target demographic and Apple did this perfectly, now they have a monopoly almost, on the market and for this I salute them.

Yeah, I don't get the whole "I hate iPod" thing going on either. People are wierd like that. They'll adopt something, embrace it with open arms, then when it becomes dominant in the market, they'll label it with whatever degrading remark they can get their hands on.

Like I said before, iPod = small portable music player = me happy = 'nuff said.

Can you tell me why the Zen Touch is an inferior product?

Sure, it's not getting the sales. But do sales make a better product? No.

Don't make me get the fucking APC magazine from the library, scan it and upload it to prove you wrong.

:rolleyes:

But what really makes a product better? Does it have to be technically superior? It all comes down to preference in the end.

I guess that's true, I can still see the appeal in the iPod (I may be getting one next month), I just think calling the Zen Touch "inferior", when it's still a very good product, a bit harsh. It has lots going for it.

Yeah that's like calling the Gamecube inferior to the PS2 but that's a lie caise PS2's Suck

Don't you dare bring a console war thing into this thread, my boy!

It was an ironic gesture at the people who call iPod inferior ;)

You can be inferior in more than one way.

Anyway, this seems like a nice little product, but I'll be buying an iPod, because it appeals to me more.

Well my friend has a Zen Xtra(which I didn't know about :S) and it's really awesome!! All the controls are on the side, so it's alot easier to navigate when it's in your pocket.
He only had the 30gig model, but he said he still has heaps of room on it.

I think I could fill 60 gig pretty quick though. :cheese:

Yeah you can use it as HDD space.
But, when you have heaps of songs it gets annoying using that side scroller doesn't it?

They really do need to find a way for sarcasm to be portrayed through text...

Um, the HDD space is main draw card dude, MP3 is just added feature in my opinion.

There's a folder system, it sorts songs by artist/album or genre, very much like the iPod and iRiver.

yeah but you can scroll as fast as you can move your finger on those.
On the XTRA it's hard to use that thing quickly.

You just hold it down. :P

Anyways, the Xtra is mainly a large storage device with MP3 capibilites, as oposed to the others, which are generally the other way around. :)

does it take long?
Like how songs will it scroll through every ten seconds?

God I donno, heaps. :P

I didn't play with it for very long, but I know that it scrolls fast...I justs didn't count how many songs. ;)

You're not suggesting that the concept of subjective preference somehow validates buying a product on merit of wiley PR stratagem any less idiotic, are you?

"How SUPERBLY DOOPER are Apple's PR I mean I have to shell out several hundred bucks and forego any responsible product comparison now behold the shinyyy."

The main qualm I have with my iPod is the battery life. But since I already have the accessories for it and plan on getting a couple more, I don't think I'd really switch sides any time soon.

Don't be a tosser man. You're kind of assuming his reasons for purchasing a particular brand. The iPod is different and yes, it is about peference. I chose the iPod because of:

a) It's the most user-friendly and it's made by Apple, I trust those guys big time.

b) Being a Mac user, I get certain bonus features such as iCal. It's 100% compatable with my Mac, while other HD-based music players force me to downgrade a little in interaction.

Believe it or not, h&r, some people like like a specific product for reasons beyond what you can instantly spot. And cause they don't choose the one you like, doesn't make them an idiot.

No, I'm asking people to realise that buying an iPod, Zen or any product on admiration of clever advertising's no more savvy or thoughtful than buying it cuz ur frnds havm lol. Observation, not accusation.

I'm all in favour of subjective preference.

I just got myself a Zen Touch a month ago. It's a very good product with an amazing amount of Battery life (at 128kbps it's supposed to go for 24hours), I left it playing overnight once by accident and it still went through the whole of next day and them some without charging. The sound quality is incredible, I hooked it up to a Stereo and it sounds better than any DVD or CD, thanks to the EQ. Also if you buy it from Dick Smith, for an extra $50 you get a 3 year warranty, which is really handy because a lot of these Neo-Lithium batteries die out in 2-3 years. :D

There are a few cons to it though:

- It needs software for the drive to show up in XP (Although creative are talking about giving the Touch native Windows XP support in the next firmwire upgrade)
- There's no line in, so you can't rip songs off from Digital Foxtel or whatever but that's no big deal.
- Can't play .ogg files...yet

I really think that people shouldn't fall victim to iPod's marketing and the whole iPod trend. There are great MP3 players out there like the iRiver and the other Creative players etc... Just test them all and see which one is the best.

Man I'm glad this thread got bumped a few days ago. I'm going to get an mp3 player when I'm back in Sydney and I really wanted to get some opinions on the non-Ipod ones. I'm not anti-Apple because they're the big guns, it's solely because of the battery issue with Ipods.

Because of the battery issue, I actually think Apple is probably not entirely trust worthy. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of a term that I learned this week from an industrial design graduate, but basically it meant that companies design their goods with a set lifetime, such that you have to buy replacements to keep them in business.

Now at first I assumed that he meant they bought cheaper inputs to save money and as a result products didn't last as long as they could, but the fact is that they buy inputs that will break so that you have to replace them. They literally design products to last X hours. From light bulbs to lawnmowers it happens everywhere. The iPod is a prime example. When the battery dies you have to send it back to Apple to get a replacement. The cost of that replacement is insane!

Anyway I was looking at the Creative products because supposedly they have replaceable batteries. The downsides of this don't outweigh the upsides for me.

Actually, there was a thing going around with the first or second generation iPods that the battery only lasted 18 months, but that doesn't apply to 3rd or 4th generation iPods (I got a 4th). And every company does that anyway. I guess compared to other companies, Apple is the least evil. :P :lol: