Right, after giving my Zen Touch a bit of a wash through the machine, i find myself in a position where i'm needing a new mp3 player so i'm after some advice. I'm looking at pretty much any price at the moment, with an Ipod video the favourite...
What to buy?
What are your priorities?
Capacity?
Size?
Video Playback?
CODEC support?
Flexibility?
Ability to buy certain DRM'd tracks? (iTunes, Napster etc etc)
Battery Life?
Price? (I know you say you're looking at any price, but do you have an upper limit)
Personally, I have a Cowon A2 and it's ****in' fantastic!
It's a wee bit bigger than the latest iPods (but not a huge amount, my mate has a 60gb iPod video) and in terms of functionality, light years ahead of it. User interface isn't quite as nice as an iPod (ie. it doesn't have a clickwheel - must admit, I do like the clickwheel) but for me, thats about the only thing where the iPod comes out on top if I compare the two.
Capacity?
Size?
Video Playback?
CODEC support?
Flexibility?
Ability to buy certain DRM'd tracks? (iTunes, Napster etc etc)
Battery Life?
Price? (I know you say you're looking at any price, but do you have an upper limit)
Personally, I have a Cowon A2 and it's ****in' fantastic!
It's a wee bit bigger than the latest iPods (but not a huge amount, my mate has a 60gb iPod video) and in terms of functionality, light years ahead of it. User interface isn't quite as nice as an iPod (ie. it doesn't have a clickwheel - must admit, I do like the clickwheel) but for me, thats about the only thing where the iPod comes out on top if I compare the two.
Well, what i'm after is about 20gb of space, anything more is pointless. Size doesn't matter, i wear jeans all the time so there's plenty of room. Video playback would be nice (there's just something about watching 24 on the bus) but the battery must be able to stand it. I'd expect reasonable codec support, playing avi's and mpeg's without worry. I don't buy music so DRM's are irrelevant. Battery life must be alright and preferably replacable. And price, i dunno, about £200?
Well, sounds like you want video.
If you go for the iPod, there are now quite a few places that offer iPod compatible video download. If you just download AVI (so thats generally DivX and XVid) off the 'net, you'll need to convert them before they'll work on the iPod. The iPod is a good (if restrictive - in my opinion) MP3 player, with video bolted on as an afterthought. Battery life for video is poor, CODEC support is poor and the screen is pretty small.
If you want something that'll play the majority of video files you get off the net (to about the same level as a half decent MPEG4 compatible standalone DVD player) then you're into PMP territory (ie. Cowon A2, Archos AV/Gmini series, Iubi Blue, Zen Vision etc etc). In this range the battery life is generally better as these units are aimed at video (10 hours on mine) and the screen is bigger (4" TFT on mine) making video a lot more watchable.
You won't get an A2 in the UK for much less than about £250 (the 20gb version, I have the 30gb).
However, you can get some pretty good deals on Archos players. Amazon do a 40gb Gmini500 for £180 which isn't bad.
For me, they're not quite as good as the A2, but for that money, it's a good buy.
If you go for the iPod, there are now quite a few places that offer iPod compatible video download. If you just download AVI (so thats generally DivX and XVid) off the 'net, you'll need to convert them before they'll work on the iPod. The iPod is a good (if restrictive - in my opinion) MP3 player, with video bolted on as an afterthought. Battery life for video is poor, CODEC support is poor and the screen is pretty small.
If you want something that'll play the majority of video files you get off the net (to about the same level as a half decent MPEG4 compatible standalone DVD player) then you're into PMP territory (ie. Cowon A2, Archos AV/Gmini series, Iubi Blue, Zen Vision etc etc). In this range the battery life is generally better as these units are aimed at video (10 hours on mine) and the screen is bigger (4" TFT on mine) making video a lot more watchable.
You won't get an A2 in the UK for much less than about £250 (the 20gb version, I have the 30gb).
However, you can get some pretty good deals on Archos players. Amazon do a 40gb Gmini500 for £180 which isn't bad.
For me, they're not quite as good as the A2, but for that money, it's a good buy.
Well, im off to the states next month so i'll pick one p there. The Cowon 20gb sounds like the dogs to me, i think i have a favourite 
Cheers pal
Cheers pal
If you're going to the states then well worth picking one up there.
I got mine shipped from the states, got lucky and avoided import duty so got the 30gb unit for £260 odd all-in.
Damn fine machine ... make sure you update to the latest firmware once you get it .... hell of a lot of functionality added on top of what was on mine out of the box.
Good support forum and links to all firmware updates can be found here ....
http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/index.php
I got mine shipped from the states, got lucky and avoided import duty so got the 30gb unit for £260 odd all-in.
Damn fine machine ... make sure you update to the latest firmware once you get it .... hell of a lot of functionality added on top of what was on mine out of the box.
Good support forum and links to all firmware updates can be found here ....
http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/index.php
Originally Posted by Newham:
“Well, what i'm after is about 20gb of space, anything more is pointless. Size doesn't matter, i wear jeans all the time so there's plenty of room. Video playback would be nice (there's just something about watching 24 on the bus) but the battery must be able to stand it. I'd expect reasonable codec support, playing avi's and mpeg's without worry. I don't buy music so DRM's are irrelevant. Battery life must be alright and preferably replacable. And price, i dunno, about £200?”
“Well, what i'm after is about 20gb of space, anything more is pointless. Size doesn't matter, i wear jeans all the time so there's plenty of room. Video playback would be nice (there's just something about watching 24 on the bus) but the battery must be able to stand it. I'd expect reasonable codec support, playing avi's and mpeg's without worry. I don't buy music so DRM's are irrelevant. Battery life must be alright and preferably replacable. And price, i dunno, about £200?”
I would have said the Zen Vision:M which seems to fit what you're after...
Originally Posted by njeo:
“I would have said the Zen Vision:M which seems to fit what you're after...”
“I would have said the Zen Vision:M which seems to fit what you're after...”
The Vision:M is a good player, no doubt about it (I was creative all the way until I got the A2).
But, for video, the A2 is better. No question. Longer battery life, supports AC3 sound, CODEC support about the same as the Vision:M, supports subtitles, larger screen, higher resolution screen. Way higher colour range. Also notice, on the amazon customer reviews, a lot of people saying the screen scratches easily? The screen on the A2 is protected and the (built in) cover seems indestructible! I don't use a case, keep it in my pocket daily, and there isn't a mark on it.
On the plus side, the Vision:M is smaller and cheaper than the A2.
For me, it falls somewhere between the iPod video and the A2 ...... for *video* playback. Better than the former, not as good as the latter.
If MP3 is your primary concern and you're not really bothered about video, I'd probably not recommend the A2.
