Clip Zip versus iPod Nano - some observations

SanDisk MP3 players All other MP3 players
21

I’ve had zero database issues with my Zip, and my only microsd card, a class 2 16GB SanDisk model, is read perfectly by the player. The buttons work just fine for me, when I clip it to my shirt pocket as I always have with my various Clips (and Shuffle) and the screen is decent enough, as I’ve always been in the habit of ducking into the shadows or stepping indoors to select what I am going to listen to.

RDS? I never use the radio anyways…which brings up my favorite part, hiding the unused menus. All mine shows is Music and Settings. There was one week where I had the Books section showing when I used the Zip for podcasts, but dealing with the database refresh twice a day, even as quickly as it refreshes for me, was annoying.

I wouldn’t mind seeing that X track is number 5/12 on the album, sure…but I don’t find it to be quite as big a deal as some others seem to.

22

There seems to be a bug with the RDS and the latest firmware here in Europe, but I don’t really use the radio at all so it’s not a concern to me.

The screen is cheap, that’s clear, but you’re not going to get a great colour screen at this price point. The two-colour of the Clip+ is a lot more readable. But I like my album art while browsing the player.

23

 Marvin_Martian wrote:

To think, before I bought my Fuze 3 years ago, which was my first ever mp3 player. . . .

You made a good choice for your first mp3 player, I did not.  I chose a TGE player.  The construction was okay and sound quality was adequate, but trying to navigate through the menus was terrible.  It was nearly impossible to go backward
in the song list and it lumped all the files, including the recorded ones, together.

24

@dreameight wrote:

 

The screen is cheap, that’s clear, but you’re not going to get a great colour screen at this price point. The two-colour of the Clip+ is a lot more readable. But I like my album art while browsing the player.

 

 

For me, considering the price of the player and the small size of the screen, the album art just has to be adequate.

By the way, those are good side-by-side photos.

25

Thanks.

I forgot to add that the Nano can be operated quite well blindly. The sleep/wake button can be programmed to either play/pause or next track. Not quite as good as the Zip in this regard, but better than some other players.

Also, as mentioned in my original post, the first Nano I got a year ago developed a fault after just 3 weeks - the sleep/wake button got completely stuck… The store gave me a replacement, and I gave that Nano to a friend. It’s still working fine after a year’s use.

But I’m kinda nervous that this may happen again - so I took out an extended warranty. Apple products do seem to be top-notch in their build quality, but that was the only time any of my various players actually failed me - the hardware, at least.