I want a Zune (1 Viewer)

[David Williams]

Gotta love Andy Ihnatko. I think he nicely covered all of the reasons not to buy a Zune and he trashed their points program far better & wittier than I did:

Oh, and the Zune Marketplace doesn't even take real money, proving that on the Zune Planet there's no operation so simple that it can't be turned into a confusing ordeal. The Marketplace only accepts Zune Points, with an individual track typically costing the equivalent of the iTunes-standard 99 cents.

He sums up the Zune thusly:

"Avoid," is my general message. The Zune is a square wheel, a product that's so absurd and so obviously immune to success that it evokes something akin to a sense of pity.

 

[MarkHastings]

Oh man! "Zune Bucks" / "Zune Points".


Woman:Would you like to buy some Itchy and Scratchy Money?
Homer: What's that?
Woman: Well it's money that's made just for the park. It works just like regular money, but it's, er ... 'fun.'


What's next for the Zune? a height requirement?

 

[NolanJ]

Doesn't appear to be many fans of the Zune here... but I'll chime in with my opinion of my new brown model Zune.

I think the clarity on the screen is very nice. And the larger screen makes viewing pictures and video actually enjoyable. The iPod screens are just too small for me to view comfortably.

I like the absence of the scroll wheel that iPod features. I prefer the manual pushing on the Zune button.

One of the things I like about the Zune is its ability to be updated through firmware upgrades. The wireless functionality will be expanded upon ( I would bet almost anything ), and the Zune Marketplace will improved ( why wouldn't it? ).

I would suggest a Zune player to somebody who doesn't "illegally download" music, who enjoys watching and sharing pictures and video clips on a respectable size screen, or who can appreciated the future potential of the player.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Funny Link

 

[BrianW]

I really wanted to like the Zune. I like the Zune screen and form factor, and I agree that video iPods are pretty useless for video due to their small screen size. The Zune looks like an excellent compromise that maximizes screen size without sacrificing shirt-pocket portability. Plus, it just looks really nice. I really wanted to be a fan.

But I don't like the way the Zune requires its own "planet" to operate. It won't even work with MS PlaysForSure or WMP. So was Microsoft's establishment of these standards for other companies (both device manufacturers and music sellers) to follow just a sucker punch to keep competitors off the Zune planet? Did these business people know that when they adopted Microsoft's own standards they would be precluded from working with Microsoft's products? That really stinks.

Though it doesn't do video (it has a video chipset, though, so video may be only a firmware upgrade away), I love my Samsung Z5. It has a bigger screen than the iPod, and it's UMS compliant.

And I don't need to mess with any Z5 KWAZY! Bucks.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Why? Does it check the licenses of everything you've ever downloaded?

 

[Buzz Foster]

The fist company to give me rechargeable bluetooth earbuds gets my money. I'd put up with Zune Hell for it.

 

[BrianW]

Buzz, how do you envision Bluetooth earbuds working? Would they they be wired together so you still have a wire dangling under your chin (though not to your MP3 player)? Or would they be completely wireless so that they aren't even connected to each other?

Either way, that would be cool. (But not enough for me to live on Planet Zune. )

 

[Buzz Foster]

Yeah, I would prefer the 60GB Zen Vision W, which will let me transfer pictured onto it from different cards over the Zune or any iPod.

I would want COMPLETE wirelessness...like wearing two tiny, but cool-looking hearing aids. They would have to fit as well as the E(#)C series from Shure. I wouldn't want them flying out of my ears going down the interstate on the bike. I have seen some bluetooth earbuds that have a wire between them and a "clip" thingie that is presumably a reciever. I think they are available in Korea. That's a start, but no real solution.

 

[BrianW]

A co-worker recently got one of those. It's very sweet. It fits nicely in the hand, the screen is perfectly watchable, and the sound, of course, since it's a Creative product, is amazing. I love my Samsung Z5, but that Zen Vision is really nice.

I recently read an article that said that someone is porting Linux to the Zune. I could see myself owning one if I could run Linux on it and perhaps develop my own applications.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Wouldn't the problem be that that is in reality TWO Bluetooth devices? Requiring the player to specifically handle two different devices at the same time, transmitting L and R signal respectively to each one?

I suppose in due course some manufacturer will come up with it, but for now, I think I saw a Creative product similar to the one you described, buds or maybe a headset with a short lead and a clip that is the receiver, and another attachment (transmitter) to plug into the player.

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

Not totally useless. I've read (not experienced) that gyms and hotel workout rooms use FM transmitters for their TVs, thus allowing people with portable music players w/FM radios to tune into a station and hear the TVs. Not a landmark feature, but can be usefull.

 

[Mary M S]

I’ll third the iRiver motion.

Purchased this Clix for a son for Christmas, he loves it.

He did not really care about storage size as long as he had at least 2GB (this one).
Preferred no hard drive which creates skip issues for him when he is extremely mobile.
Loves the FM tuner included which he feels is the best he has used.
Really loves the bright screen and the unique click-the-corners menu access.

Unfortunately, when researching this purchase it appears (?) they are clearing out Clix, and that iRiver will not be supporting personal MP3 players in the future. I think they failed to grab enough market share or name exposure to sustain the MP3 product. If I remember correctly they paired with MS for some of their R&D and if they had hoped for a little more support via the giant that must have gone down the drain with MS’s own plans for a Zune.

Too bad, ....very good product. He’s had tons of inquiry about it from friends due to its screen-to-total-size of unit coolness factor, he's hoping he can hang on to this unit a long while!

 

[Henry Gale]

There are NOT 15,000 songs on my ZUNE.


There are 14,965.

 

[DaveF]

Quote:Originally Posted by Henry Gale /forum/thread/243839/i-want-a-zune/30#post_3589289

 

[Henry Gale]

 

[DaveF]