Zune is cool. But not as cool as iPod 'cause I have an iPod and 'cause I said so. Anyway! One of my friends has a Zune and he loves it! He's always changing the background on it. Good luck with it, I hope yours never freezes up (I've heard both iPods and Zunes tend to freeze up a bit, but mine never has). The wireless on it really is just a waste of space. It makes it bulkier and it's only really good for trading a song so you can hear it about... 3 times, was it? But it looks nice, and the size really is okay.
My friend has a Zune too I believe. He says one of the biggest drawbacks is that if you put a song on a playlist, you can only play it by using the playlist, whereas with an iPod you can just go to the master list of songs to play it from.
Yeah, I've read plenty about the WiFi implementation's current drawbacks. I'm hoping that'll be addressed in firmware updates in the future. For me, the Zune being larger and heavier than the iPod is actually a selling point rather than a deficit, though. Another selling point is the RDS-enabled FM tuner, and supposedly the Zune sports better video playback. Plus, on a purely superficial level, I'd rather take a gamble on countertrends than go with the flow.
I like that you can rotate the screen between landscape and portrait mode, like with Windows Mobile 2003 and later.
Actually, I just realized that my friend doesn't have a Zune. He has a knockoff of a Zune/iPod. So disregard what I second in my second post.
No, it doesn't. I'm confused, though; why would you want it to? I'm sure they'll have an internet tablet out in the future, anyway. What I would like to see on it, though, as far as that goes, is perhaps a Windows Live Today screen that could be refreshed via WiFi, but without a keyboard (and the thing is big enough as it is) information display would be plenty good enough.
A small portable cheap wifi device with a web browser is an attractive option for those that wish to travel light but remain connected. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/umpc/default.mspx
Would you really want to type out web addresses with the equivalent of a four-way directional pad? I mean, filling in my name in Zelda is fun and all, but I don't think I could ever manage to type in www.wordforge.net in that manner.
iPod has pretty good video playback. I'm very happy with it. Then again, I'm not the type to put a ton of videos on it. Do you have your Zune yet?
The video playback and image quality are better than iPod. I've seen both, the iPod got bitchslapped five times before its ass hit the floor.
Why do I need to watch video on an iPod? That would mean I had free time to stare at the thing, which would mean I was at home, which would mean that my computer and TV were there.
Not a Zune, but a Sony PSP with a web-enabled browser and WiFi connectivity, plus it has an mp3 player and a video player amongst other features....
Waiting in line at the DMV. Ever wondered if you could watch The Lord Of The Rings from beginning to end before getting service? Get a Zune and find out.
So I've had the Zune for about a week now. Although I hear of it having technical issues on boards like Zunescene and various other places, I haven't had a single negative experience with it yet. Of course, time is the real test. The Zune Marketplace performs well for me, although I am starting to get a little antsy as to when (or, God forbid, IF) they finally get some hookups for television and film content. The ZunePass all-you-can-eat deal for $15 a month ain't half bad, and I'll be doing that. Looking forward to the next firmware update, which is rumored to have podcast support thrown into the mix. Physically, the machine feels better in my hand than an iPod or even my old Dell D.J., though I did like the D.J.'s brushed metal exterior and wouldn't mind seeing a Zune with similar flesh. Audio playback is very, very good, even on the somewhat uninspired stock earbuds. I suspect that swapping those out for some JBL buds will make it even better. As already mentioned, photo and video handling is yards better than iPod, thanks to the automatic switching to landscape mode. Sadly, it doesn't manage a 16:9 ratio, but 4:3 is acceptable for most stuff I've put on it anyway. (Entire series run of Firefly.)
Okay, so here's the 1 month anniversary review: Still liking the Zune, a lot. Have discovered a third-party app called FeedYourZune which adds a sort of Rube Goldberg version of podcast support; essentially, you set up feed subscriptions which then download content into your Documents --> My Music --> Zune folder, and include both podcasts and vodcasts through the FireAnt and Network2 services, though not all of their video content is .WMV format and requies TMPGEnc transcoding. Purchased two accessories: -Zune Premium Earbuds; pros: Excellent sound quality for the price, about $40. Cons: Shape of the buds is a little impractical for in-ear -- just a shade too thick for virginal ear-holes, even with the smallest of the silicon fits. -Belkin acrylic kickstand case. Pros: More than adequate protection, doesn't detract from the aesthetics of the device, "kickstand" belt-clip works very, very well for hands-free video watching, although this would mean more with wireless earbuds for the device. Cons: The "Play/Pause" and "Back" buttons do take quite a bit more precision and pressure to use through the case, and the nav controls become somewhat trickier. Performance at 1 month: Still good, although a couple issues have cropped up: -Skippage. This is the only major issue, and it isn't all that bad -- more "large annoyance" than "small problem" on the usability spectrum. Usually the worst it gets is a few unwanted pauses in playback, none lasting any longer than a fraction of a second each. This is also supposed to have been dealt with in a firmware update to be released sometime in the middle of this month. -Interface response delays. Every now and then while browsing photos or music, you'll see a brief pause and the Zune version of the "hourglass" -- a cluster of dots arranged in a circle, with a "highlight" dot travelling around the cluster -- while the device accesses the next item you browsed to. This is most likely due to having a massive assload of items in the browsing queue, and not an actual problem with the device. Overall, still very, very happy with the Zune, and looking forward to enjoying it for many, many moons to come.
I have never seen one in real life (Europe obviously isn't an important market - again) but from the photos it looks ugly Seen this? That's a portable video player. And unlike the Zune it has Wi-Fi syncing
Well, I admit, the Zune isn't a fashion accessory. It's a machine. It looks like a machine. As opposed to a certain player, which looks like a goddamned Pop-Tart shat from the bowels of a flamboyantly ghey toaster. And the Archos runs Opera, which is the stink for browsing, frankly. Touch-screen is good, but only 262k colors supported on the 704. And seriously, if I'm browsing the internet, I want a damn keyboard. That means a lappie, not a media player. Also, a six to seven inch media player isn't likely to fit a standard pocket nor be terribly belt-clip-friendly. And as far as WiFi syncing, it's getting to be a standard feature for WiFi-enabled DAPs/PMPs, so it's coming to Zune. And if it doesn't, well god damn, that's what the cable and my fingers are for, now ain't it? If I want something I can shoot from the hip, flip it to the side and catch that episode of NCIS I missed the previous night, or cue up a playlist of my favorite music without having to go back to the computer to create one, well... I've already got it.
Honestly, the thing doesn't photograph well at all. Looks far better in person - hell, the brown even looks good! The thing feels solid too, which is much different than the iPod, at least in my experience. I feel like I'm going to break those things if I look at them wrong. The plastic feels...very silky, oddly enough, and I think it's the plastic texture that causes it to photograph poorly. In my opinion, the user interface is miles ahead of the iPod's - I picked it up in seconds flat, whereas with the iPod, I had to screw around for like ten minutes before getting the hang of that ridiculous touch-sensitive button.
