Best MP3 Player - Test Results

[UCF w00t]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

I would assume since, the current line up is composed of all the 2nd gens, i.e. 4,8,16,80,and 120gb that they would all behave similarly compared to the first gens, 6,8,30gb.

That's just me making assumptions though.


Since in his test he was able to index the full 8 gigs in second compared to the hour or so it took to index my 30 gb when I test drove one.


but.....

Yea, I dunno. It's not very deterministic and the "indexing" is much shorter on subsequent indexes than the first. Also, it's heavily dependent upon not only the quantity of files in your library but the "quality" (how clean the ID3 tags are, etc) and organization. A bunch of albums you ripped using the Zune software will likely take much less time to sync than the same number of songs of random artists downloaded from KaZaa. Also, the 8gb is flash based whereas the 30,80, and 120gb are all disk based. Flash is MUCH faster (especially for something like indexing that would have to seek all over the disk) than hard disk. That alone would no doubt have a huge impact on the indexing time.

[Bell040]

I usually only have bad things to say about the Iphone...

But when my wifes iPhone played Pandora radio through the steaming bluetooth in my car... I became jealous. I have a Motorola Tundra (rugged phone) and I am not willing to switch...... But that feature alone made me at least give it a second thought.

Which other phones/mp3 players can play Pandora radio though the PDIM bluetooth?

[UCF w00t]

Originally Posted by Bell040

I usually only have bad things to say about the Iphone...

But when my wifes iPhone played Pandora radio through the steaming bluetooth in my car... I became jealous. I have a Motorola Tundra (rugged phone) and I am not willing to switch...... But that feature alone made me at least give it a second thought.

Which other phones/mp3 players can play Pandora radio though the PDIM bluetooth?

Off the top of my head, Palm Pre/Pixi, Windows Mobile phones (although mine seems to be pretty low quality, not sure if it's the app or what), Android phones, and BlackBerry. I haven't used all of them but they should all work fine. http://www.pandora.com/on-the-go/

[CamaroDreams07]

Originally Posted by UCF w00t

Sorry but you can't lay the blame on MS for this. It's a pretty basic architecture decision... let the car decide how it wants to handle it or keep control over everything within the player and honestly MS made the right choice in my opinion. The Camaro/PDIM's indexing system is just crap. There's no excuse for it to behave the way it does. Plenty of aftermarket head units allow you to plug in USB flash drives, etc and they don't have these kinds of idiotic problems.

I wasnt blaming MS. The Zune would be a great product if the iPod didnt exist. The fact is, it does, and Zune will forever be second. I dont see how youre saying the Zune "made the right choice." Why not keep the indexing inside the player that way you dont have to worry about a crappy indexing feature on whatever youre plugging it into? Like I said, I've always had Windows pcs and I would never in a million years buy a Mac. But when it comes to MP3 players, they have the best one out there.

[CamaroDreams07]

Originally Posted by UCF w00t

Off the top of my head, Palm Pre/Pixi, Windows Mobile phones (although mine seems to be pretty low quality, not sure if it's the app or what), Android phones, and BlackBerry. I haven't used all of them but they should all work fine. http://www.pandora.com/on-the-go/

Motorola Droid FTW. Use it all the time with Pandora. And you get a landscape virtual keyboard AND physical keyboard unlike iPhone. And you get to use Verizon, unlike iPhone.

[Chrisrp454]

Funny vin is 34000+, no updates, I have an orignal 30gig Zune and no issues, it works great. I got it the first week they came out.

[BarticusRu]

Originally Posted by dr1ven

Thanks.

Anyone know how well the iphone works with this?

I tried my ipod shuffle, but it wasn't even recognized.

I have a 32 gig iPhone 3GS and it works OK when I first plug it in. If I shut the car off and leave it, then 99% of the time when I start the car again, it gives the aux jack unhooked (or whatever it says) error. Unplugging it and plugging it back in usually takes care of it.

I don't know if the PDIM update will take care of this or not. Just picked up my car on 12/29 but I'm not sure if the PDIM is up to date.

[Camaro_Corvette]

WOW, great work!

[Mindz]

Great test results. Too bad my Sansa e280 isn't among those. I'd like to see how it compares as it has indexing as well. All flash memory so never skips even if you're vigoursly shaking it.

I really dislike apple products as itunes is the most inconvenient thing I've ever owned...

[dr1ven]

How do I know if my PDIM is up to date? And if it isn't, how do I update it?

[Racer606]

To check your PDIM version you can press and hold the Menu button for about 5 seconds and you should see something that looks like this''

HW ID: CC
SW ID: CE

The ID #'s above should be the latest version as I had the dealership update the PDIM software last week.

[Racer606]

As I just had the dealership update my PDIM software to the latest version I wanted to also do some testing to go along with the tests already done. Great testing by the way.

I focused on the Zune's for this round of testing.

PDIM software: HW ID: CC / SW ID: CE

I tested a Zune 4GB, Zune 8GB, two Zune 30GB (original Brown and White models), Zune 80GB and ZuneHD. I have a friend that has a Zune 120GB that I plan to test as well but it should work the same as the Zune 30 and 80 as the firmware is the same on all those units.

All Zune's take between 9-11 seconds from the time they are plugged in to the time the radio connects with the device and starts playing the last song that was being played along with indexing it.

DRM music worked on all devices except for the ZuneHD which only had ripped CD's on it.

Here are some of the results I got.

Zune 8
1283 songs
65 pics
0 videos

59 seconds to complete indexing first time plugged in.
28 seconds to complete indexing after unplugging and plugging back in to simulate car being turned off while leaving the Zune plugged in and then turning the car back on.


Zune 30
2779 songs
0 pics
5 videos

1:48 to complete indexing first time plugged in
43 seconds to complete indexing after unplugging and plugging back in.

* I know there is/was a 2500 song limit from a past test where I plugged in an external USB 400GB hard drive with over 7500 songs on it and got an error but on the Zune with over 2500 songs I get no errors or warnings and from looking through the list all artists and tracks appear to be there.


Zune 80
1893 songs
150 pics
17 videos

1:23 to complete indexing first time plugged in
30 seconds to complete indexing after unplugging and plugging back in.


Note: All of the above Zune devices were detected by the PDIM software simply as a Zune. When the ZuneHD was plugged in it was detected as PFD Zune. I belive the PFD is the GM naming for a play for sure device.

ZuneHD
1313 songs
7 pics
19 videos
All available Zune games and apps

7:18 to complete indexing first time plugged in.
3:28 to complete indexiing after unplugging and plugging back in.

I let all devices play for 30 minutes or more and never had any problems. I typically keep the Zune 30 plugged into the car all the time and have let it play for 2 plus hours on a drive and never had it have any problems since owning the car. It was the first thing added to the car.

A question I will pose, based on my tests it appears that the PDIM software uses different indexing algorithms for different devices. I say this based on the drastic increase in time taken to index the ZuneHD over the older Zune models and that the ZuneHD is seen as a PFD device and not just a Zune. The ZuneHD is a much faster device from a processor standpoint and should be able to respond to requests for data much faster. Can anyone provide me with the details on the metadata that the PDIM software is looking for when indexing? If know the exact metadata the indexer is looking for and in what order it is parsing the metadata I can edit the metadata on the tracks and then sync them to the device and see if that improves the indexing time.

[paulv7260]

Great job on this! I was thinking about upgrading my iPod Classic to an iPod Touch. Thought I would check Camaro5 before I did because I knew there were "issues". Think I'll stick with the Classic for now.

Question. I have heard that some devices won't charge in the Camaro because the player manufacturers have switched to different (lower?) voltages. Did you happen to notice this on any of the players you tested? I know that my daughter's Nano will not charge in my wife's car but my wife's classic will.

Thanks

[Racer606]

All of the Zune devices I tested were able to charge.