Microsoft?

For those who have a Zune, how do you like it?


I'm thinking about getting one for my birthday.

Microsoft?
I received a Zune for Christmas, and have been very happy with it. It's easy to interface with my computer, the battery life has been good (I take it into work, and play it for 6+ hours). I find that the layout is a lot more comfortable to use than an iPod, and am glad that the "wheel" feature wasn't integrated into the Zune. Pushing the toggle is a lot more intuitive and isn't nearly as sensitive on the iPod. Managing music is pretty easy, though it does require the Zune software to use (this would have been much better as an "upgrade" to the existing Microsoft media already on most PCs). I don't use the radio player much, but it does have decent reception. And it's solid enough construction that I don't feel bad when I jostle it or bump it into things. I think 30gbs is a rediculous amount of space for music and videos. I've loaded nearly my entire CD collection (about 120 CDs) and still have more than have the space left on the Zune to fill. I'll never listen to all my music in one sitting, or even in the space of a week!





I think Clarix's review is spot on with the detriments: it's not the most portable device in the world. I ended up buying an extra cord that had an outlet plug/lighter plug for when I travel. It wasn't very expensive, but it would have been nice to at least have the outlet plug for traveling included with the Zune (I suppose this is just a detriment of the 21st century, where it seems everything has accessories and you can't get a complete package). The display is pretty good, but a bit fuzzy at times, which can be detrimental for when using the Zune to play movies. Plus the large glass face tends to attract dirt and streaks easier, so I'd recommend getting something to protect it.





Otherwise, I think it's a good product to purchase.
Reply:If you dont have time to read my exhaustive review on the zune, i'd reccomend holding





off on the 1st generation zune. I've owned 2 and they were a pain. Wait for the





bigger and better ones to come out!








Since pretty much everybody knows about the ipod, I will focus on my TOTALLY ORIGINAL





review of the zune. For the record, I have owned an ipod, 2 zunes, and a psp. Also, I





do not own a mac and I dont associate with apple geeks, likewise with microsoft





geeks.





Here it is: The Zune...





An Underdeveloped product with tons of potential when it is fixed!





I think we were all surprised when Microsoft announced a new mp3 player, dubbed by





many to be a new "Ipod Killer". I mean, it looked so cool when the new pictures came





out, the fresh advertising campaign, "Welcome to the Social". How could you not like





something like this? And when you see it in person and play with it a little bit, it





was actually really fun to use! You could stick your own picture in the background,





listen to the fm radio, and do quite a few other really cool things that the ipod





cannot do.





For the sake of this argument, though im not an apple fanboy, i'll compare the zune





to an apple ipod. As you all are aware, the ipod stakes the biggest share of the mp3





market and is therefore the zune's biggest competitor.





Here were my first really good impressions








-Packaging: When I first got my zune, I was quite impressed with the packaging.





Everything was in its right place. Unlike the ipod, where you have to download Itunes





from the internet, those without an internet connection will do fine. This is because





a software cd is included, which will get get you up and running in no time at all.





Also, unlike an ipod, when you first power up the zune, you will notice that you have





pre-loaded content. This includes movies, photos, and music. Not bad stuff either!





-Big, bright screen: This was perhaps the most noticebale feature. Many people were





dissatisfied with their ipod video's small screen, so this appeared to be a clincher





for many people. Full Screen album art is available, which makes the listening





experience more pleasant. You could tilt the player's screen horizontally to make the





most out of your videos and photos. A zoom feature for photos is also available.





Battery life is slightly longer on a zune than an ipod, with a claimed four hours.





-FM Radio: Cnet.com, a well-known technophile review site, once conducted a poll with





ipod users on which extra feature they wished had built-in to the ipod. Guess what





topped the list? The designers of the zune one-upped the design with the radio by





imoplementing RDS, which allows the artist and song title of the music played on the





radio to be displayed. This means that you wont have to keep guessing the name of a





good song that is playing. The headphone jack acts as reciever, so a good pair of





headphones will come in handy. Even with the bundled headphones, I had no problems





with radio reception.





-Wireless Sharing: This feature really came out of nowhere and no one expected an mp3





player to wirelessly share songs with another person's zune. I've tried out this





feature on two zune's and this feature works just fine. However, these two zunes were





both in the store and not my own. This feature truly made the zune fulfill the





"welcome to the social" motto





-Overall Design: As a relative newcomer to the media player scene, i'll admit that





the zune didn't have that eye-catching clean design that made the ipod so appealing.





But that wasn't a big priority to me, as I immediatly noticed that the zune is





clothed in rubberized plastic. This proves to be effective because the zune is





practically immune to scratches and scuffs, unlike the ipod video, which we all know





to be a scratch-magnet. In my opinion, this is easily the most durable hard-drive





based player on the market. It didn't have that cheap feel at all! This will save you





money on buying a protective case for sure. While a clickwheel is noticeably absent,





a circular thumb pad is a nice alternative because it allows you to breeze through





song lists without moving your thumb too much. In fact, I believe whizzing by on your





songlists are better than the ipod's clickwheel because, instead of tiring out your





thumb, all you have to do on the zune is hold down the click button. The first





letters of each title pop up as you scroll down, which makes this point very





effective. You can also see tiny thumbnails of album art when you select an artist.





The thumb pad also functions as a volume control/rewind/fast forward/previous





song/next song. In addition to the thumb pad, a back button and play/pause button





complements the the interface well. Microsoft managed to design the zune to make it





fun, fuctional, and very easy to use.





-Zune Marketplace: A proprietary music store that has a very nice selection of music,





though no videos at this time. How could microsoft one-up the domineering Itunes? The





clincher here is the Zune pass for $14.99. This means that, for that price per month,





you can download an unlimited amount of music to your Zune. Of course, if you stop





paying, all of your music that you downloaded from the service is erased.








Accessories: Even at its launch, the zune had plenty of accessories, even for a more





advanced user. Such accessories include a travel kit, home kit, sound dock, and





carrying case. Finding these accessories should not be too much of a problem.








Yes, I was really excited when I got my Zune. I thought, "This has got to be better





than an ipod!". Boy, was I wrong! In fact, I even gave this cool little device a





second chance by exchanging it for a new one, yet I ran into the same problems.





My Problems:





-Screen: If you look closely, the photos, video, and album art are noticeably fuzzy.





Both the zune and the ipod have the very same resolution, 320 by 240 pixel





resolution. However, with the zune's larger screen, this will cause the screen to be





dull. Think of it this way, the pixels in the zune have more of a screen to work





with.





-Size: The Zune is noticeably bigger than many of its counterparts. It is even larger





than the 80 gb ipod! However, the media likes to blow up the zune in pictures much





bigger than it really is. The zune in one's hand really isn't so bulky at all and





feels comfortable. It isn't the greatest pocketable device, but most should be happy.





All of those who enjoy exercising with their zune should be aware that, since the





zune is hard-drive based and contains internal moving parts, rough use may cause the





zune to break easily.





-Battery: For many advanced users, the fact that the zune does not have a removale,





replacebale battery may deter them. This is forgivable, as few mp3 players have this





handy feature. However, the Zune sets itself apart in a negative way from its





competitors through its unreliable battery. As you know, the battery is stated at 14





hours, an unrealistic estimate under normal playing conditions. With a volume level





at 8, dimmest brightness setting, auto dim, no wallpaper, and viewing no pictures or





video, I managed to get between 6-8 hours. For a hard drive player, this is pretty





bad. On a side note, do not depend on the battery meter for accurate charging levels,





as the meter fluctuates frequently.





-Music: Okay, this is what you are REALLY paying for. Isn't this what you are looking





for in an mp3 player? I sure am. I have done a side-by-side comparasin with both the





zune and the ipod and the sound quality is the same, nothing different. I do not





believe the claim that "4 out of 6 listeners perfer the zune's audio qulaity versus





the ipod". In short, both sound fine, although microsoft didn't one-up apple on this





critical point. However, if you have the golden ears of an audiophile (which few of





us do), you may be disappointed. Unlike most modern mp3 players, gapless playback is





missing from the zune.





-Wireless: A fairly common complaint. If you read the advertisement's fine print for





wireless sharing, you will notice that you can only play a recieved song 3 times





within 3 days, whichever comes first. Even if you stop a recieved song in the middle





of play, that still counts as one play. Even your homemade tracks fall under this





rule! This rule only applies to music. Videos cannot be shared, although pictures are





the recipient's to keep. Do not expect to ever use this feature, as i've never found





another zune to share with. Microsoft over-estimates itself by thinking that the zune





will be so popular that everyone will use it, thus the wireless feature.





-Software: This is, personally, my biggest gripe. The first impression I had with the





Zune's software was that it was basically a proprietary copy of microsoft's OWN media





player application! However, the software is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Sure, the





zune software is easy to use like its counterpart. But one might wonder why microsoft





is making the user waste their time with more unecessary software when they have





their own windows-branded media player application. As you know, you MUST use the





zune software in order to put your content onto the zune. No drag-and-drop here. The





problem here is the bugs it has. Even though I have all of my software updated, the





software still managed to crash my computer every single time. This isn't the only





problem, though. Its not uncommon to hear users complain that their music gets erased





during syncing for no apparent reason. I also am having issues with album art, as the





zune cannot retrieve album art as well as itunes. This might not be a problem for a





few people, but beware that you will most likely have to paste album art, which can





be time-consuming





-Zune Marketplace: The selection is great, by the way. I would advise on holding off





on buying anything from the marketplace, as the music has DRM and will therefore ONLY





play on the Zune. But the real problem here is thecurrency used to pay for these





songs: Microsoft Points. One song costs 79 points, which is equivalent to about 99





cents, the same as most online muisc stores. This can be problematic, as one can





mistake the points for cents. Also, the blocks of of points purchased will round off





with a remainder, which means that you wont be using up all of your points. This in





turn translates to more money for microsoft





-Compatibility: Perhaps the device's achille's heel is its compatibility. The ipod





became popular because it was compatible with BOTH a mac and a pc. The zune is only





compatible with a pc. Interestingly, since msn is part of the microsoft network,





users will be unable to transfer purchased songs from such msn-backed digital music





stores as yahoo, napster, and rhapsody. If you wanted to transfer your music from the





device's hard-drive onto another computer, you cannot do that, as the zune cannot be





used as an external hard drive. The zune also has lukewarm support for music, video,





and photo formats





-Hidden Costs: Like the ipod, microsoft decided to cut costs by not including a





sorely-needed a/c adaptor in the package. With terrible battery life, you MUST have





an ac adaptor, so add another $30 or so to the total cost. Since the zune, like the





ipod has mediocore sound quality at best, expect to add more money for decent





earbuds. However, unlike the ipod, the Zune has an unecessary tax. Yes, if you read





up on the zune a bit, you will notice that the universal music label gets a cut of





each zune sold. Universal believes that users will ineviatbly take away their profits





by stealing music. Some of us like obeying the law and download our music legally,





but that doesn't matter because we are all still charged the same tax. Hmmm...makes





you want to go out and steal music, doesn't it?





-Price: As of now, its not uncommon to see prices on the zune be slashed from 20% or





more. Some stores even give away accessories for free just for buying the zune. At





first, this sounds great to the consumer, but there is a deeper meaning. It can't be





a good sign when nearly all retailers slash prices on the zune, even when the device





is a little over 6 months old. This can only show that microsoft is desperate to get





rid of their zune, perhaps maybe because they are working on a better product.Its





possible that when a new zune comes out, you will be saddled with a sub-standard





generation.





My Overall Impressions: This device was obviously created as a direct competitor to





the Ipod. I mean, microsoft and apple are rivals. Its pretty hard not to notice this





fact when both have proprietary digital music stores. However, its blatantly clear





that apple has the lead, as the ipod has been around since 2001 and the Itunes store





since 2003. Thats alot of sales in that time! I dont think that there are any mind-





blowing features on the zune that would make ipod users switch, especially since most





of the music purchased on itunes is proprietary, in addition to the ipod being the #1





legal download site for music.








The Bottom Line: I love the Zune. I really do. I was even shocked by my first zune to





take it back and start fresh with a new one. Thats how much I really tried to like





the zune. But I notice that my forced efforts towards liking the zune are blatantly





obvious. Liking any product shouldn't have to take much effort at all. Thats the





secret to a consumer liking a quality product.





It's pretty clear by now that microsoft is working on a better zune, as sales haven't





been stellar, though not terrible either. Even with the first generation zune, its





clear that this product has enormous potential if improved in the future. Improving





on the wireless can only do good. Like many dissatisfied users, I really felt that





this product was "half-baked", that is, this seemed more like a prototype than a





full-fledged "ipod killer".





My personal advice to each user is to avoid the zune...for now. I'm not saying that


you should get an ipod, im only giving you the straight facts on the zune's ultimate


competition. It's not uncommon to hear a TON of ipod complaints. Then again, just





keepin mind that, with anything popular, especially a really hot product, there will





bepeople having problems. A few really great alternatives include the ipod, creative


zen vision m/v plus, and the sandisk sansa. Technophiles might like to check out


mediaplayers manufactured by archos and cowon.
Reply:Love it!