Don't you dare touch a Zune. Read this and then tell me what you think. http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/147048,CST-FIN-Andy23.article
I think just about all of them allow you to do this ... just be careful what format you're encoding to. Apple will not support WMA and some non-Ipods have close ties with Microsoft/windowsmedia and will not support I-tunes ACC. Encode in Mp3 should be ok for all players. In fact, if the player supports MP3 playback, it's reasonable to assume it will play your ripped mp3's since mp3 format is DRM-free.
you know anything about a zune other than what this guy tells you? you can read an article here that ranks the zune right up there with the ipod.
I've been doing some reading and I am quite convinced that at least 50% of the online reviews are by shills. All of the glowing reviews say the product is head and shoulders above the rest and all the negative reviews say the same products are crap. The reality is they all share a lot of the same internal components and every design was just a modification of of what came before it. Apple just built on top of Portal Player's platform. And they all use someone elses' battery technology and that seems to be the biggest problem area. Again, I don't want to get stuck with one proprietary format, especially a per song price format when subscription formats are so much cheaper. At this point I'm still leaning toward the Creative Zen Vision:M but I'm still looking for arguments. Walmart.com (yes Walmart for your high tech needs!) has them for $199 with free shipping to your local Walmart. I am also convinced you need to buy the warranty.
What it looks like to me is people give the Zune strong ratings with regard to ease of use, screen and build quality but don't like the proprietary software and limitations with regard to formats. People who like it are more influenced by the hardware whereas the people who don't like it are more influenced by the restrictions placed on it. If you fall into the hardware camp it's great; if not it sucks. I can't believe Zune doesn't work with WMP. What's up with that?
Money. The big boys see the real money in the revenue stream of continuing music sales. You'd think they would sell their money machines at a break even price just to hook you into their format. (they may be but why are the stand alone players the same price?) By the way, I seem to recall there are cheap or free format converters available on the internet. I used to have one that would break the code on Itunes songs but I lost it in a hard drive crash and never felt the need to relocate it.
Apple has come out with a revolutionary new MP3 player - the world's smallest, and it comes with loudspeakers. It's made to be inserted into bras, thus ending women's constant complaints that we're always staring at their breasts & not listening to them.
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2006/04/cowon-iaudio-6-review.php plays various other audio formats (including wma, ogg, wav, flac,ect). video, fm radio, voice recording, connects to digital camera's, ect...
man, I just stopped by Best Buy by Memorial Mall and people were hauling out the Ipod stuff like they were going to quit making it. me: I'd like to see the interface of this Zen Player please kid: It dudn't work me: It's wired up, you mean it won't work kid: no, it dudn't work (and they sell it for $50 more than Walmart.com)
Zune. Ipod sucks. Poor battery life, no FM, pricey, sound quality average, iTunes was redesigned by Mariah Carey ( go figure ) and again poor battery life.
iTunes allows you to choose your import format (AAC, mp3, WAV) and bitrate. Only time you are forced to go AAC is through their music store. iTunes will also convert AAC (if not DRM) to mp3. Plus, AAC's mp4 is a much better codec anyway. Higher quality for same file size. Evan
I have one -- the sound is questionable and the atrac conversion transfer is an utter nightmare. Mp3's on my harddrive have been converted and no longer work in anything but the sony player.
another vote for cowon iaudio players. i have the rather unsexy G3, but i wouldnt change it for anything in the world. if you hate having to use a specific software to load songs, then iaudios are for you. just drag n drop like a thumbdrive, and itll recognize the music file. other players will let you transfer files like a thumb drive too, but wont play them even if they're the right file format. and sound quality, cowon > creative > ipod 40+ hrs on AAs, fm, voice and in-line recorder, alarm, lyrics and built solid. even the bundled headphones are good. sony lol.
