Broadway Star Joined: 4/3/04
I'm finally giving in and buying an mp3 player. It's time. I've been debating between an iPod and a Zen Creative. I have a question about the batteries, though, that I haven't been able to find an answer to. With rechargeable batteries (cell phones, etc.), the longer you have the battery, the less it works. For example, with my current cell phone, after about 1 1/2 years, the battery would hardly hold a charge (one phone call would do it in). I wasn't ready for a new phone, so I ended up just getting a new battery. I'm trying to find out if either the iPod or Zen has better battery longevity, or if that's a problem with both of them. Any other reviews or advice would be great, too, but I'm definitely looking for battery info! Thanks!
I've had NO problems with my Creative mp3 player
My ipod has been super awesome fabulous incredible. I can't comment on the Zen, but my ipod's battery has lasted forever.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/19/06
iPods all the way!
Zens suck.
I have a 20G Creative Zen Sleek Photo, and I absolutely LOVE it. The sound quality is fabulous, and it's beautiful. Also very easy to use.
I have had my ipod for almost a year now and so far I have had no problems with the battery or anything else. **knock on wood** LOVE it.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/19/06
I've had my iPod for two years, and although I broke the screen a month after I got it (which was completely my fault, not the iPod's...), it's great. I have a 20GB U2 iPod, Red and Black, with 2/3 of a colour screen (the other bit being black and squishily broken).
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/3/04
I've had both. My Zen sucked -- it froze all the time, and the help for Zens is awful.
iPod 100%.

I liked my Dell pocket DJ until it was stolen.
Neither. Archos, all the way.
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Archos 605 WiFi Downloads Movies Over the Web
Archos has just announced their Generation 5, their new line of multimedia players. We will get a hands-on later today, but the 605 Wi-Fi has been posted on their site. Although it looks very similar to the previous model, it has been improved all around.
First, the 4.3-inch screen is now 800 x 480 pixels. It comes with different hard drives: 30GB, 80GB and 160GB. Archos says the top model stores up to 200 1.5-hour clips with 1,000kbit/s MPEG-4 encoding. The 605 WiFi will also stream videos from your PC and record TV shows using the optional DVR Station, DVR Travel Adapter or Mini Dock. This feature also includes a new TV Program Guide.
The most important thing, according to Archos, is that you can download movies and music using their Archos Content Portal. You are not limited to this, though: It can also surf the Web and download or watch other content as well. Strangely enough, it requires you to download a Flash plug-in to see YouTube or other Flash-based video sites.
One nice touch: it reads PDF files. You know, for books.
– Jesus Diaz
gizmondo: Archos 605 WiFi Downloads Movies Over the Web
I have had my Zen for about 2 years and it stays charged for a loooooong time.
I have a Zen Vision:M and I like it a lot more than an ipod.
The Archos gets YouTube and plays Flash files...
Ooooh! The Archos looks and sounds amazing. I just may treat myself to that!
Broadway Star Joined: 6/22/05
I have a creative zen and I love it!!!!
Creative Zen...love it...never a problem.
Creative's sound is supposed to be superior, which is why I went with it.
isn't the Zen Creative what poor people buy when their parents can't afford to buy them an iPod?
I think an iPod is what people buy when they dont care how their music sounds.
maybe so. but 80% of all Microsoft employees use the iPod. so it's saying something...
My music sounds incredible on the ipod. Never heard a Zen so I can't comment, but if the main issue is the battery I can say that the ipod battery lasts a looooong time. And I recharge mine daily. I've had it for over 2 years and it's still going strong.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/19/06
I have heard Zens, and I think my iPod is just as good if not better.
For the millionth time...ARCHOS. I had an ipod and if it hadn't been a gift, I would have called it a total waste of money. Trendy is not synonymous with quality. After about 18 months, my ipod was toast. Archos is far more user-friendly and versatile. It's basically a better version of the iphone without the phone feature, which is fine with me. I have the Archos 604 Wifi (this is the first I've seen of the 605 and it looks stunning as usual). The great thing about the 600 and 700 series are the external lithium batteries, so you can carry a spare for those long excursions. I'm really hoping people get the word out on Archos and ipod popularity dies out as quickly as its products do.
Of course, if you want something pretty that only makes you cool with your friends at school, by all means, get an ipod or an iphone. Just pray nothing goes wrong once the warranty expires.
Archos Website
"80% of all Microsoft employees use the iPod. so it's saying something... "
IF that's true...then all it confirms is that people are stupid.
"80% of all Microsoft employees use the iPod. so it's saying something... "
Tried using Windows Vista lately?
I had a Zen Sleek for about 2 years and I absolutely loved it. Now I have a Toshiba Gigabeat which I also love. It's actually a bit smaller than an iPod video and it has a bigger screen.
Updated On: 6/18/07 at 02:20 PM
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