This past March, a terrible, life-altering event happened while I was on my way to a game at John Paul Jones Arena - an event so gruesome and tragic that I can barely muster the strength to write about it now.
My iPod broke.
Sad, isn't it? After dropping it on the sidewalk near the arena, I was forced to find a replacement for it. After all, when you have a music collection as gigantic as mine, you need some way to keep it straight, right?
Originally, I thought I would buy another iPod similar to the 30GB iPod Video that I had. But considering some of the issues I had with it - including the fact that Apple flat out refused to even look at it, much less try to repair it when I brought it into the store - made me consider other options.
That was when I found the Creative Labs Web site and saw an ad for their 32GB Zen MP3 player. The first MP3 player I'd ever owned was a tiny 1GB Zen, so I decided to investigate their latest models. After reading the Web site's sales pitch, I decided to take the gamble and buy it. I must say, I have been quite satisfied with my purchase.
The Zen has many distinct advantages over the iPod that I think make it a better investment. First off, I was immediately struck by the sound quality coming out of the earbuds. Even on lower-quality recordings, I was able to hear and pick out each individual instrument on each song, quite important for a music enthusiast like myself. The songs came through with a sharp clarity that rivaled sophisticated stereo systems. The Zen will play just about every file format, though there may be some difficulties with the protected .mp4 format that previously was used for iTunes purchases. That can easily be evaded, however, by first burning the files to a CD and then adding them to the Zen.
Also, unlike the iPod, the Zen's memory system is entirely Flash-based. Essentially, this means that the Zen does not have a spinning hard drive, which saves wear and tear and leaves it less vulnerable to shock.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the Zen is its expandable memory slot, which allows the user to insert an SD card into the system to create extra space. So if - or in my case, when - a user's music collection exceeds the 32GB capacity of the player, he can continue to add more music. And with some SD cards as big as 32GB now, one could conceivably double the entire capacity of the player. This feature could also serve as a handy back-up system for the player.
The Zen's screen is infinitely superior to the iPod's as well. One of the biggest things I noticed about the iPod was that I immediately had to buy a case for it because the screen was getting scratched just by sitting in my pocket. I've had my Zen for about a month now, and the screen has yet to scratch. It's just as crisp and clear as when I bought it.
There are a few features that I wish the Zen had, though. The biggest gripe I have is that there is no "All Songs" button when the user selects an artist to play. So for a user like me who likes to organize every song by album, but then doesn't always remember which song goes with which album, this can present a difficult challenge.
Also, I prefer the iPod's touchpad wheel to cycle between songs, rather than the button on the Zen. I miss the seamless nature of scrolling down the menu that the iPod offers. The Zen also requires me to buy a whole new set of speakers if I want to hook it up to them, because it has no neat little docking port like the iPod.
Overall, I think the Zen has turned out to be a better investment than the iPod. Most of its features are as good as or better than the iPod, with only a few minor disadvantages. And it checks in at just $179.99, compared to the $299 32GB iPod Touch or the $249 160GB iPod Classic.
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