4.08.2007

Gigabeat or Zen Vision?

Now that my phone's been upgraded, and it didn't cost me a dime, I think it's time to get myself one of those hard drive mp3 players. I'm not getting an iPod, of course. It's a good mp3 player, with a sleek and elegant design, but it's not for me. I own a PC and not a MAC, so it can't play files that I have and it supports files that I don't have. Plus, the player is just way too common. So I did some research, to narrow down my options, and now I got Toshiba Gigabeat S and the Creative Zen Vision: M to choose from.

Creative Zen Vision: M and Toshiba Gigabeat S.


Creative Zen Vision: M
Price: $250 (30 GB), $300 (60 GB)
Supports: MP3, WAV, WMV, WMA, DivX, MPG, JPG
Battery: 14 Hours
Height:
4.1 in
Width: 2.4 in
Depth: 0.7 in



The Creative Zen Vision: M has always been my first choice since it was first introduced back in 2005. It supports files like Windows Media (Video/Audio), DivX and MPEG. However, I heard that you have to buy a power adapter separately, which I find odd. Other things like A/V-out cables aren't included as well. So I may have to pay extra for some things that I might need. But what I really don't like about the player is its thickness and design.

Toshiba Gigabeat S
Price: $230 (30 GB), $280 (60 GB)
Supports: MP3, WAV, WMA, WMV, JPG
Battery: 12 Hours
Height: 3.9 in
Width: 2.4 in
Depth: 0.6 in




I fell in love with the design of the Gigabeat S the first time I saw it. It looks better and cooler than iPod, even though it's a little bit thick. Also, from what I read in reviews, it offers the best sound. Plus, It's a bit cheaper. The battery life, however, is only 12 hours, that's 2 hours less than the Zen Vision. It doesn't support DivX and MPEG as well. The player isn't widely available too. So I might not easily find accesories.

As of now, I still don't know what I'm getting. But I'm heavily leaning towards the Gigabeat S because of its cool design. True, it doesn't support a lot of video files but I'm aiming for a music player here. If I was looking for a video player, then I'd be looking at an Archos 404. But the problem with the Gigabeat is that it's not available on Best Buy stores, so I can't use my Best Buy card. If I get it somewhere else, then I'd be force to use my credit card, pay the interests, and no Best Buy Reward Zone points either.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Using zen myself: it is very good player. I had a go with toshiba but getting head around the menus was tough. With zen it is quite easy - there is a "context" button that works quasi like a right click on a PC mouse, very cool. Zen supports podcasts incl. video and this was important as well. Sound quality is good, but I might be getting a headphone amp to drive my AKGs - this would be necessary with any player. I got black zen it looks better then the fatty white one.

Skron said...

I actually got ZEN just awhile ago. But I'm still charging it so I haven't fiddled with the thing yet. But yeah, it dawned on me that I'll only have to pay an extra $20 and I can watch my anime fansubs on my player. I can't do that with the Gigabeat, which only supports WMV. I guess I was too concerned of being different.

I also got the black one.