Rockbox on Clip+ versus Clip Zip

[jualit]

I'm looking to purchase (and Rockbox) either a Clip+ or a Clip Zip, and am inclined toward the second, but what's holding me back is the port status on the Zip, which is described as "fine for day-to-day audio playback," although the status seems to be a bit outdated. I know the Clip+ is stable, but just how stable is the Clip Zip port (are there any outstanding issues compared to Rockbox on the Clip+). Should I opt for one or the other? Thanks.

[saratoga]

Unless you want a color screen, i'd go with the clip+.

[jualit]

I don't care about color, I'm more interested in how much larger the screen is in the Zip than in the Clip+. But that's relatively minor - my primary interest is just Rockbox support, I suppose, since I'm pretty sure the Clip+ and Clip Zip are equivalent in SQ, FM reception, and so forth hardware-wise. And they're pretty much the same price.

Edit: I have also heard about some people having issues with the headphone jack on the Clip+, which leaves me a little wary.

[heinkel]

the biggest enemy for the sansa clip+ screen is the sun. You can almost see nothing when  sun is smiling to  sansa's screen. But you can live with it, not a big deal.

Happy Sansa Clip+ user.

[Serenity]

I just ordered a Clip Zip for myself--same machine as the Clip+ for my intent, but with the bigger screen (for my failing eyes).  The status of the Rockbox port is still "unstable", but it seems to work as they say for day to day playback.

The nice thing about the Rockbox project is that the firmware is always being improved.  So if you can live with a couple of minor issues in the beginning, it only gets better.  Perusing the forum, I didn't see any issues that were deal breakers for me, so I chose the Zip.

They are still working on a couple of the plugins, but I'm not concerned with that.  Everything else seems to work well.

[bertrik]

The only things keeping the Clip Zip from stable are a couple of plugins (brickmania and sudoku) that are not adapted yet for the 96x96 screen resolution and lack of pictures/screenshots for the user manual.

The Clip Zip doesn't suffer from any additional bugs compared to the Clip+. Personally, I like the Clip Zip better because of the colour screen and radio RDS support with an si4703 tuner chip. Some Clip+'s have a different tuner chip (RDA5802) that seems more sensitive to interference.

[jualit]

Based on the responses, I think I'm leaning toward the Clip Zip (since I feel that the increased screen size is worth it for some minor instability in games/plugins that I don't plan on using). I'll hold off for a little bit on purchasing it, though, in case my mind is changed.

[sockbox]

screen size is inconsequential. One is square and the other rectangle. You sacrifice length or width if you go with either.

128x66 = 8488px
96x96 = 9216px
9216 - 8488 = 728px

The difference sounds like alot but when you work on building a WPS the clip+ screen is too squat, and the zip is too narrow.

[gevaerts]

screen size is inconsequential. One is square and the other rectangle. You sacrifice length or width if you go with either.

128x66 = 8488px
96x96 = 9216px
9216 - 8488 = 728px

The difference sounds like alot but when you work on building a WPS the clip+ screen is too squat, and the zip is too narrow.

That's resolution, not size :)

[sockbox]

youre right. maybe it is larger.

[diabloNL]

I bought the zip for my girlfriend and it's a great device! When I found out that Rockbox runs on it and you can make your own themes I bought another one for myself. Rockbox runs great on the zip and I love having all those settings. And like I said it's so nice to make your own themes!

[jualit]

After some deliberation, I still can't decide which to buy. I don't care for color or album art, which are afaik the Zip's main advantages over the Clip+. The differences in features, price, Rockbox support, and sound quality are virtually nil. I don't know.

[Alexey_B]

Battery of Clip Zip has slightly more capacity.
290 mAh in Clip+ and 300 mAh in Clip Zip.

[TravelRec.]

This 10mAh are easily eaten up by the colour display... Clip+ is a nice device and works very stable, as far as I can tell you after 2 weeks of heavy usage 

[Jethro]

Just to clarify, I can run larger fonts on either the clip+ or clip zip?  With the zip, are there more lines of text if a larger font is selected?  Thanks

Edit: Never mind, I just saw the themes for both.  Going with the zip.