So I was going to write something about Quad-Core, Dual-Core, and other CPU stuff but I had a small problem in the beginning of the week, my MP3 player died. RIP Iriver H10 20gb Blue, it served me for ~2.5 years but as of late it was having syncing and charging problems. My priority switched from collecting info on CPU’s to actually shopping for a new mp3 player.

I had enjoyed my H10 but in my new player I wanted to keep some things while making changes. I wanted to add video, so when I am riding the bus/waiting for class to start I could watch stuff. A bigger screen was definitely needed. Size wise I wanted something that could fit in my pocket and was lighter than the H10 which was quite heavy for its size. A new interface also appeared to me since the H10 could often be sluggish and froze up. For music I had been using a Napster to Go subscription, yes I PAY for my music. Subscription works well for me since I listen to lots of different music, bouncing from metal to hip-hop to bizarre Asian relaxation music, being that I play WoW with music on most of the time buying CD’s would be $$$ quite fast. Looking at sizes I found that I would need something in the 16gb plus range for movies and such which meant that I would be looking at ‘larger’ players not any ‘mini’ things. Podcast support seemed nice but I’ve never used them before and only had some RSS experience, so that would also be a plus. My price range was anything inside of what my tax return would be so I was willing to get something that I’d like for awhile.

Taking my parameters of Video, Small and Light, >20gb capacity, good interface, and podcasting I headed to Google looking for options. The first thing I did was ask on TS what people thought, 2 seconds later I got Xav’s opinion “Get an iPod.” After searching around I decided that it would be a faceoff between the iPod Classic 80gb and the Zune 80gb (Gen 2).

First off being that I don’t like Apple products so from the start that didn’t help the iPod. So everyone has iPods…that’s great?...all the people I talked to get new ones every year and say they scratch easily, that turns me off. The Zune on the other hand, the Gen1 was terrible by the reviews, Microsoft had tried to manufacture an iPod killer and failed…to sum it up. However the new generation has a new touchpad, new interface, and is nothing like the first ones.

Obviously they were designed to be the market alternative to each other. Both with MSRP of $249.99, 80 gb of space, video support, and sized pretty much exactly the same (they differ by a few mm each way). So it was going to come down to the little things of who would get my money. The first article I came across from cnet, http://reviews.cnet.com/zune-vs-ipod/4370-11399_7-324-102.html?tag=lnav , a draw? Are you %&$@ kidding me? That really helps the decision making process. So I had to break it down myself.

1) Size: As I said earlier they are essentially the same size and same weight. The catch is that the Zune’s screen is larger by .7” so +Zune

2) Video & Podcast: They both support videos so I would be able to copy all of my DVD’s onto either one, with a nice convert from Nero Recode. They both also support podcasts and can automatically update. +Draw

3) Music: As I said earlier, I wanted to stay with something subscription. Yay iTunes you can buy tracks from $ .99 each but the Zune subscription is $14.99 and I’m pretty sure I listen to more than 15 new tracks a month. I was told “just download it” well guess what…news flash…that’s illegal, plus then I’d have to input all of my own library info and that would suck. Navigating the iTunes store and the Zune Marketplace seemed about the same, they both take Visa. +Zune

4) Interface: For this I had to go to a store and find a Zune, I’d played with the iPod before…who hasn’t. And all I can say is wow it’s nice. The touch pad was nicely responsive and navigating through files was very simple. With iPods I always found myself backing through thousands of menus. +Zune

5) Other: With iTunes you can rent movies; that’s great I can rent them from blockbuster. The Zune includes Wi-Fi, hmmm, syncing without attaching it directly to my PC? That sounds great! So everyone has an iPod why don’t you just be like everyone else? There’s something to be said about being different. +You decide

So in the end, against Xav and my roommate I picked a Zune. I got it on Wednesday and I’m loving it, walking to my bus stop I listened to some “In Flames,” once on the bus I switched to a CNN movie podcast and got the daily news, once outside of my class I switched to a House episode I had taken off of the Season 2 DVD. First impressions are great, and IMO it’s a lot better than my roommate’s iPod. So if you’re in the mp3 player market, maybe the iPod isn’t for you. The Zune gen2 might just be living up to be the ‘iPod killer.”