iPod Touch vs Zune HD [Resolved]

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Hey everyone.  I want your opinion.  My Zune 120GB basically died, so I'm going to upgrade.  Should I get a Zune HD 64GB or an iPod Touch 64BG?

[Roph]

Considering how cheap memory cards are nowadays, why not just upgrade your phone and get one that supports microSD?

If you want a seperate media player though (battery, I guess) again I'd recommend something that supports cards.

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I don't have a phone; and 64GB is plenty for me.

[Moss.]

When you use a semicolon, the and is no longer necessary.

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Right, my bad.

[Link]

Won't apple announce new ipod touch later this year anyway?

Might be worth waiting as the price of the old ones will drop if they do.

[Jonesy]

I've got an iPod Touch, I'll tell you right now I wouldn't buy another one.

They're good, but they're a bit of a novelty. Not worth the price IMO. This is just me though.

I'd recommend going with what Roph said, get a phone that supports cards.

[Irock]

If he's considering two multi-touch devices that do much more than play music, I'm guessing he doesn't want a plain phone to listen to music on.

Both the iPod Touch and Zune HD are pretty good devices. It really depends on what you need out of a handheld device like this.

Keep in mind I haven't used a Zune HD in a long time, and I use an iPod Touch daily. I did do a lot of research for you though.

If you're going with the iPod Touch, it might not be a bad idea to wait until September when they usually announce and release new iPods.

Advantages of the iPod Touch
The iPod Touch actually has external volume controls, on both the device and the earbuds.

Bluetooth headphone support.

The touch's interface is a bit more consistent, straight forward, easy to understand and functional. It's not going to wow your friends, but it works great.

The iPod has iTunes for purchasing assloads of music, downloading podcasts, and accessing other media.

iPod Touch has the MASSIVE market dominating app store for access to more applications and games than you'll ever need. This blows away the Zune HD's itsy bitsy marketplace that nobody releases applications for.

The iPod Touch actually has an email application.

MUCH faster web browser. (Mobile IE lol)

Renders web pages faster when scrolling and zooming.

Larger display with higher resolution. (iPod: 320 × 480 px 3.5 in - Zune: 272 x 480 px 3.3 in)

You can actually have multiple pages/tabs open in the web browser. Not sure if Microsoft ever added them, but I can't find anything on the Zune HD's browser ever getting them.

Every time you leave the web browser in Zune then come back to it, it has to reload the page you were on. The iPod Touch keeps the web page in memory.

Applications open and close much faster on the iPod Touch.

Wider (in portrait) display, which makes a HUGE difference when browsing the web or using applications. You can notice this most when zooming into parts of web pages, as text is larger and more readable due to the space it has.

Multi-tasking.


Advantages of the Zune

OLED Screen.

I think it has a bit better audio quality.

Faster screen rotation.

HD output for watching movies on your TV.

Apple says their device gets 30 hours of audio and 6 hours of video, while MS says their device gets 33 hours of audio and 8.5 hours of video.

MS offers a deal where you can download (I think) an unlimited amount of songs for $15 a month and keep 10 at the end of the month.

FM Radio.

It's pretty.

[Dwarra?]

I've used both frequently. And for music/videos I'd definitely go for the ZuneHD. The Zune's touch screen is a lot more responsive and the controls allow for easy maneuvering where scrolling through albums on an itouch was always annoying to me. The ZuneHD also allows you to quickpin your favorite songs/artists/albums/playlists to the main menu so you can start playing your music as soon as you turn it on. If you're viewing pictures or movies on the device the iTouch has a bigger screen, but they both have the identical resolutions and ZuneHD has an OLED screen which is brighter and has a higher contrast.
If you're into the apps scene though, don't even bother with Zune. They offer free apps and you can install non-market apps, but there are hardly any at all. I don't even think there are 15 market apps.
For music though, you can't go wrong with the Zune.

[Irock]

Woah what, I can't notice a difference in responsiveness on either device. They're both pretty responsive.

What's your gripe with the album navigation? You can scroll by letter on the right and select albums. ._.



The extra screen real-estate on the iPod Touch makes a huge difference. You don't have to zoom in as much to read text.

Comparison of horizontal screen real estate in portrait:





You're right about the Zune HD probably being a better choice if you're getting it for music, especially considering the quick-pin things and lower price.

[Dwarra?]

Woah what, I can't notice a difference in responsiveness on either device. They're both pretty responsive.
What's your gripe with the album navigation? You can scroll by letter on the right and select albums. ._.
The extra screen real-estate on the iPod Touch makes a huge difference. You don't have to zoom in as much to read text.

It's more of a personal gripe, my fingers are pretty rough and they stick to the screen of both devices. The iTouch's navigation is more slide/swipe oriented whereas I can navigate through the zune with only tapping.
I was talking about that stupid album selection thing in horizontal mode. I'm not sure if you can turn it off or not on the ipod but on both devices the accelerometer bullshit pisses me off to no end. Zune's only does it when using the browser though so I don't really see it as often as on the ipod.
The ipod is definitely a better choice for browsing as you've pointed out. I haven't really seen a comparison yet and that's a pretty big difference.
All of my arguments were personal complaints and pretty weak in the first place. I enjoy the ipod but between my phone (running android for apps, pretty good 3G coverage for mobile browsing anywhere) and my zune (imo better for music) I don't see much use for it.

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Thanks everyone. I'm more for music and movies and don't often play games on devices like that, so I'm getting a Zune HD. Besides, I've already got Zune software set up and organized with all of my stuff from my old Zune.  Thanks again everyone. Especially Irock for doing all that research for me!

[Irock]

Woah what, I can't notice a difference in responsiveness on either device. They're both pretty responsive.
What's your gripe with the album navigation? You can scroll by letter on the right and select albums. ._.
The extra screen real-estate on the iPod Touch makes a huge difference. You don't have to zoom in as much to read text.

It's more of a personal gripe, my fingers are pretty rough and they stick to the screen of both devices. The iTouch's navigation is more slide/swipe oriented whereas I can navigate through the zune with only tapping.
I was talking about that stupid album selection thing in horizontal mode. I'm not sure if you can turn it off or not on the ipod but on both devices the accelerometer bullshit pisses me off to no end. Zune's only does it when using the browser though so I don't really see it as often as on the ipod.

Oh, yeah. The iPhone 4 and iPad both have a screen orientation lock button, so it will probably become available for the next generation iPod Touch. I get pretty pissed off when I'm trying to lay down on my side and use the iPod Touch, only to have the screen rotate.

I think Apple added in cover flow to iOS to be more of a "show this off and impress your friends!" thing, because it's not really functional. I'd rather see something more like the regular portrait view, except wider.