Zune for $150 or wait for new iPod?

So, my 20 gig iPod photo just died, and I'm in a predicament. I just spent a ton of money on my new Inspiron and a couple other things, so I'm trying to cut back on spending. But, woot had to go and offer a 30 gig, white Zune for only $155 shipped, thats $100 off retail. On the other hand, my fiancee offered to buy me a new iPod when they come out for my birthday in December.
So, should I go ahead and buy myself the Zune now for a heckuva steal or wait for a free new iPod?

 

Get the Zune!

But really what makes you think a new iPod is coming out in December for sure? Worse case scenario, you can sell the Zune when the iPod comes out, probably for close to $150 (if not more)

 

December? Apple wouldn't release a new iPod in December...it would be too late for holiday season.

I'd say there's most likely new iPods next month actually. The current iPods are old (last updated last year in October) and Apple will want a new lineup for the holiday season. However, I would say it happens next month because October will be about Leopard, and Apple doesn't want the media coverage divided between Leopard and iPods. So I'd say its very likely there's new iPods next month.

 

You think like a true business man

 

Hey wait. Is the new iPod dumping the tactile clickwheel and going with a touchscreen like the iPhone? Just asking.

 

I know Apple is releasing them soon, my bday is in December.

 

I say go ahead and grab it!

 

Who knows? Only Steve does

Anyways, from rumours it looks like the iPod Nano will not be touchscreen, but gains video viewing capabilities. The large iPod is still unknown at this point.

These are rumours, remember. But usually they're pretty correct.

 

iPods are nice. But I'm more partial to my Creative Zen Vision: M. I feel like the only thing the iPod has over the Zen is its seamless integration with MacOS and its CLICKWHEEL! Going to touchscreen will be dumping the only thing that made me consider an iPod. xD

 

forget the Zune and Ipod, get a refurbished Archos 604 Wifi for $225.

 

Those "media players" tend to be rather large and have poor battery life.

 

Dont think I mentioned anything about that, thanks though.

 

The rumor is new iPods next month:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article..._ahead_of_estimates_new_ipods_on_the_way.html

The video iPod may have wifi capabilities.

You can also expect flash Zunes and an 80 gb Zune for the holiday season.

 

Achos is good, but it comes barebones with basically nothing so you have to buy codecs and stuff for it. And the sound quality is nothing to write home about. The Zune's sound quality is excellent though from what I've heard.

 

Wait for the new iPod to come out and hope the price of the current iPod drop, then get an iPod (not the new one). The iPod now has music, movies, photos, and games, the new ones can't have much more...

 

Nah, going for the new iPod if it's sweet.
Decided against the Zune, I already have iPod accessories and I'm used to it.

 

New rumour if you're interested :

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/08/23/os-x-based-ipods-at-media-event-in-september/

 

hey you could repair it yourself!

I just posted this in another I broke my ipod thread!

 

The Zen Vision: M is definitely a better player than the iPod. The new iPods will just be catching up with other players. Of course Apple could wrap a turd in a iPod box and it would sell. Also with the new ones you're most likely going to have to buy new accessories.

 

When will they make an iPod that has full support for HD audio (24 bit and 96kHz or higher)? I really like HD audio on my desktop and recently, I got a laptop with HD audio. But so far, I could not find anything smaller that fully supports HD audio. (Most MP3 players have "compatibility" support for HD but they just downgrade the audio data to 16 bit and 44.1-48kHz.)

 

Awww man. That post just made me beam. The thing with iPod is that it has such a MacOS bias, so it's really only absolutely perfect if you have a Mac. I hope the new iPods bring Apple out of the rut now. I know they're still selling better than everyone else, but I hope that when the 6G comes out there will be a reason for that.

 

The archos is not barebones! It can play AVIs with the Xvid or DivX codec with Mp3 sound, the only reason to buy the codecs would be for mpg's wmv's and DVD or HD codecs. you can always convert them to Xvid and play them. Mp3 and photos work and the LCD is better than the Zens Zunes or Ipods

 

Yup, i have a zen vision m too and love it. Much better than an ipod imo. i think the only one up ipod has is its slimmer size, but i think the zen feels better in my hands, but zen definitely beats the ipod in every other spectrum, price, video playback, interface (if your use to one you will grow to love it), CLICKABLE buttons, video out, radio, codecs, microphone, and much more. I bought mine for 250 2 years ago, you can find them on sale for under 200 if you look.

 

Wait for the Zen V:M 60GB slim version for about 270, it should come out soon since places like amazon have run out of stock of the older fatter version

 

The fatter version is pretty much gone from America. However, I've opted for a 30GB, since I can't imagine myself using 60GB, despite the size of my music library. xD By the time it grows enough to fill 30GBs, the player will be dead anyway.

That is true, and to the extent, the Archos becomes a great deal. The thing about the Archos, is that most people who fall away from the iPod market do it because of how restricted it feels. Despite the fact that the Archos is less restricted than the iPod, people still see the restrictions that are there and just pretty much barf. xD I love the Archos anyway, but I didn't want a full-fledged PMP anyway because of a PMP's size. If Archos made a DAP with the same storage as the Zen, Zune, or iPod, I would look into it. Really, whether someone gets and Archos or not is really more of a DAP vs. PMP factor, not over which PMP is better. Except for the Zen Vision: W. That is a good competitor, but with a few less features than the Archos.

 

yeah when i was going to buy the ZVM I had an issue with the credit card I was using, basically google checkout took the money out then rejected my order without reason. after contacting them regarding the issue they eventually told me that they had simply forgotten to ask for proof it was my credit card and that the money they took out was a preliminary withdrawal that will go back in a few days. I provided them with the proof but by then the offer I had expired and the money still hadnt been returned. It gave me a chance to look at alternatives, and that's when I came upon the Archos 504. It's so much better than the ZVW, for the same price you get 20GB more and a LCD screen with better viewing angles and 16million colors as opposed to 262k for the ZVW.

The new Archos 605 is an excellent buy, the 160GB version is only $379 at amazon and unlike the ipod, zen or zune, you can use this as storage without having to allocate parts of the drive like in the zen. It also includes wifi so you can surf the net and transfer files wirelessly.

While it is true you may not use the full drive space, if you are into recording TV broadcasts, the archos is perfect for that with its DVR station. Essentially the extras add features to the player but it is fully usable on its own but yes it isn't tiny but you get what ya pay for!

 

Still waiting for Archos to make a DAP...

 

doubt they will, dont think they need to get into that market cuz it is very competitive with the ipod's domination and the zen and zune close by.

 

I'm thinking about repairing it myself, but I will still probably have my fiancee buy me the 6G iPod when it comes out if it is as cool as the rumor sites are making it out to be.