iPod Nomo
A few days back, Gizmodo showed me this new portable media player from Creative. They call it the Zen V Plus and it seems to bury the iPod Nano. Features:-1.5 inch OLED display (emits light by itself, eliminating the need for a backlight). Can be viewed in any orientation- sideways, upside down- for control preferences.
-Photo and video playback; an FM tuner with 32 autoscannable presets; FM, voice, and line-in recording; an alarm clock and calendar; and even PIM functionality, with the ability to sync tasks and contacts from Outlook.
-Supported formats: MP3, WAV, WMA (including subscription), and Audible audio; MPEG-4, WMV, and DivX, among other video formats; and JPEG photos.
-Gets pretty loud.
-Battery life exceeds the rated 15 hours and actually goes for about 20.
-You can set any of your photos as wallpaper and choose from several color themes for the interface.
-Thicker but shorter than a Nano. Also curvier.
-Dedicated volume rocker and combined power/hold switch.
-Available in black or white; color accents indicate the size capacity of each player: orange for 1GB, green for 2GB, and blue for 4GB (black only).
-1GB model for $129.99, 2GB for $169.99, or 4GB for $229.99
I am so effin sold, this is virtually perfect for me. It's even a little cheaper than a Nano. Not cheap enough for me to run out and replace my perfectly working Nano, but worth noting for when there's a little extra green in the back pocket. Or for when this Nano meets its demise. Which'll be sooner than it expects...
Anyone looking for a low capacity iPod alternative or an MP3/media player in general, check this out instead of immediately flying to what's iPopular.
posted by Rollin at 6:48 PM
13 Comments:
I'm hoping this is a prelude to the new iPod to be coming out soon. I love my nano because it does what I want it to do. Thats about the size of my cell phone that I think is to fat already.
I like that the Nano is flat as hell and all that, but i'll be damned if that battery aint a sonofabitch. You need to keep the backlight off just so it can last half a day. And the skipping between tracks is fucktarded. I like the thing, but i hate it at the same time. Those headphones it comes with suck, too. There's no way Apple is ever gonna make the perfect iPod, don't get your hopes up. I don't see the sense in paying more for less anyway. Just about every non-Apple MP3 player beats it in most areas.
This thing's only drawback is the bulbous shape, which i think i can deal with- it makes up for it by being shorter. The FM radio, OLED display, lack of needing iTunes, extra fluff like photos and movies, and the voice/line-in recording make it great in my eyes.
To each his own. I really don't need all that jaz, in fact I think a shuffle would have worked fine for me. If you owned a Mac in addition to an iPod you would feel difrently about haveing to use iTunes simply because you would use it for everything with iLife.
I'm just happy with its size and functionallity. No one product will ever be perfect. The nano's baterry life is not great, but I have owned some much worst mp3 players. I repeat, I am content.
My point is that i wanna be more than content. That's all. The reason i need to circumvent iTunes is cause it doesn't work on my PC. Like i said, this is good for me. As well as anyone who wants to get more than what the Nano offers for less money, cause even if you don't need that stuff, you'd be paying less for the same device, plus some extras that may or may not come in handy. Think of it as getting a buncha features for free thrown into your iPod.
And no way a Shuffle would have worked for me. Ugh, what a waste of money.
Touché. On a different note, do not install windows media player 11 on you computer. JUST DON'T. Its horrid software and even on my tricked out video machine at work it delays 10 seconds after I hit play to watch a video. Man it SUCKS. Vista isn't looking as good as I thought.Urge however is iTunes that lets you download albums at a discount and (gasp) mp3 format audio.
Here's a metaphor. Windows Media Player is like watching a Mac cover band when you expect to see the real Mac band. It just doesn't sound as good as the real thing and you leave pissed off and reeking of cigarettes and beer. At least the Urge stage dancers are all snobby like the iTunes sluts. They at least will compromise and sick a finger...never mind... You get the point.
--
Charlie Frisby
Really? Damn, CNET was recommending installation of WMP 11. Hm. Good to know.
I upgraded to WMP11 on my work computer (the warehouse of music is on there). It has a bit of a re-learning curve after WMP10, but it seems to do what I want to do better. Basically I use it to randomize the music on my 256MB iRiver. iTunes hates my iRiver (which just seems iStrange). I have really gotten into shuffling music for driving around in the car. I was an album traditionalist for years. I still love it when a band puts out a 40-60 minute album and you can just listen to the whole thing in one swoop without skipping a song. That happens so rarely now so I started to just listen to my whole music collection at work on shuffle. It was like my own radio station based on my tastes (and much better results than what I was getting on pandora.com). That quickly translated to me getting shuffled in the car as well. Now I'm addicted to a good shuffle. It's almost like my evil twin is making me a mix tape a couple times a week.
misterInvisible, you hit it on the head! I do agree with Rollin that a shuffle would not have worked for me but it's very rare that I listen to an album straight through. Artists today are too single orientated!
I have a 4GB iPod mini (1st Gen) and I am glad that I did not get a 20 gig. There are songs on my mini that I have not heard in months!
Outside of that, the battery life is crap. In February, I had the most horrid experience at the "Genius Bar" in White Plains. But I sent it back and Apple pretty much replaced the whole iPod and I was back at 8 hours for 4 months! It is absolutely frustrating that you have to limit your use of features to extend battery life.
Overall, I am happy with the ease of use. When the time comes that I decide to ditch Apple, I hope there is a player out there that satisfies my needs which are no DRM (yeah, right - that is why I keep everything in MP3 format and will continue to purchase CDs), LONG battery life, great interface and good design!
I think the selection of an MP3 player is one of the most personal choices there is. I swear by Creative, and I've owned a Creative Zen Touch for over two years now, and it is the most used piece of electronic equipment I have. I literally use it at least 12 out of 24 hours of the day every day!
The reasons I chose this particular player:
1) Price.- it was about $50.00 less than a comparable iPod;
2) Capacity.- I need 20 Gigs, period. My music taste could be defined as no taste at all, so I need ALL kinds of music in there, and I really use all of the 20 gigs.
3) Battery life.- I also need the player to run for the whole day in one charge, because I play it in my car, at work, in the bathroom, everywhere!
4) Music format compatibility.- By the time I got the player, I already had a vast combination of MP3s and WMAs, so an iPod would not do. And Muffingal is right: I always buy CDs so I can have the tracks as portable as possible.
If you seek to cover any of these four needs with your player, I also recommend one of the Creative players...
I'm mainly a listen-straight-through guy, but it's cause the people i like demand it. There's some concept-heavy stuff on my Nano. On average my guys have 70-minute plus escapades. You've intrigued me about the shuffling, though. I may have to try it.
It depends on who you listen to nowadays. You can't rely on the iTunes top ten or what's on MTV. Good music is hidden from plain view.
Tony, you listen to that Zen Touch alot. Alot.
Man tony reminds me of the first CD player I got. I always had it on. Rechargable batteries saved my life. I was always a straight trough kinda guy. I would get pissed when I would listen to a song on the radio and expect the next to follow. It's real tricky finding good music these days. I'm only 22 and I'm bitching about the good old days. New local bands, unknown stuff at the time that blows up and then somehow they suck 2 albums later.
I'm getting into the shuffling hard core now. To have a nano as your stand alone player you need a plug in at home, work and even in the car if you commute. I still have many cd's in my car to get me to and fro on my 2 minute drive screaming obsinities at old people in such perfect harmony. Man cops should probably dirve around the neighborhoods. I'd be in jail wishing I could get into my property box to jam some more.
Hi Nice Blog .I've made up my mind: I'm gonna buy an MP3 player. I just don't know which one. I like the Ipod batteries, but do I really need something that small?
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