BBRoundtable

I have two Lexar MP3s. (My dad bought 'em for me recently.)

I do own three MP3-players at the moment - the most expensive was the Muzio JM-200 I bought about three years ago, with 256 MB capacity (sigh...), jog wheel and joystick navigation, OLED and radio (which had even enabled me to scan the local police frequency ). Was a really cool tool but the storage space was too small for me, so I gave it to my g/f who uses it rarely.

Now I'm using either a Medion MP3 player with 2 GB and Mini SD slot for another 2 GB or an Auvisio Streetbeat 1 GB with Micro SD slot (+ 2 GB). Had taken the Auvisio for work (sturdy lil' thingy - it had even survived a fall from hip height followed by me stepping on it with safety boots) but now the built-in accu acts kinda strangely, as it runs empty after only 5 hrs or so. With 346 songs stored currently, I can make it through the shift, but the shift usually takes longer than 5 hours, so...

Oh yes - forgot my cell phone which could also serve as an MP3-player. But listening to music is also draining the accu quite fast, so I rather use it as a cam when not for it's intended purpose.

Lately, I've been getting bored with my Sony. Yesterday, I was in FUTURE SHOP and they had the 8 GB Microsoft Zune (with free arm band) on sale for $99, so naturally I had to get (a blue) one and I must say, it blows the Sony right out of the water. I could have waited for the new Zune HD, but I don't really care about playing games on it. I just want to play mp3s.

A little comparison between the MICROSOFT ZUNE and the SONY WALKMAN ...


MICROSOFT ZUNE:


♦ You can set a picture as your background image
♦ Won't recognize certain JPG images (such as ones saved as JPG from BMP using Windows Paintbrush)
♦ To delete a file, you can view a visual folder of the files on the device listed by artist, song and it's album cover
♦ If you add multiple songs to an album title, they all will have the same album cover (Not a big fan of this, but I will get used to it)
♦ You can click the main button to scroll, but it also has a touch interface
♦ Instant response time when the screen goes into sleep mode, and while in sleep mode, it leaves a faint watermark of the screen (a feature I love)
♦ When you disconnect it from the computer, the player goes to the menu screen instantly.
♦ You need the Zune software to transfer files to the device.
♦ Wireless interface: You can connect to the Zune network and share content with other Zune users
♦ Auto populates album and track information (if album information is available for the song), otherwise you can easily edit it in using the Zune Software
♦ The touch interface feature also lets you control the volume by sliding your finger up and down the main button


SONY WALKMAN:


♦ You can't put a picture as a background image
♦ Accepts all JPG images
♦ To delete a file, you have to scroll through a single list of the files with the actual file names in the order which you added them
♦ You can add multiple songs to the same album title and give them each a different album cover (This feature I liked)
♦ No touch interface. You have to click the main button to scroll
♦ You have to wait about a second for the screen to come back on from sleep mode, and in sleep mode, the screen goes pitch black
♦ When you disconnect the device from the computer, you have to wait about 3-5 seconds for the device to load to the menu screen
♦ You can use Windows Media Player to transfer songs to the device. It does come with a Content Transfer program that makes it easier though
♦ No wireless interface
♦ Does not auto populate album info. Each song has to be edited manually using Windows Media Player (or other type of mp3 tag editor), or the songs and artists will show up as "unknown" when loaded into the device
♦ Volume can only be adjusted via a button on the side of the device

Did you mean the 80GB Zune? I'm looking on CNET and see an 80GB one. I'm confused on how many different ones there are.