Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player (Red)

See it at Amazon.com for $189.99

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I really wanted to like this!

I got my Zune two days ago and exchanged it for a black 5.5 gen iPod today (I had sold my white 5 gen iPod to buy the Zune).

I was really excited about the Zune, and really wanted to enjoy it. I was looking forward to the large screen, and connecting it up to my 360. But alas, it was not meant to be. The device itself is great, I loved the design, it felt great in my hand (despite being a bit thicker than I would have liked), the screen is beautiful, and the menu system seemed very easy to use. The software loaded fine on my computer, but when I connected my Zune, that's where things went shady.

I disconnected and reconnected my Zune many many times, and got varying results (but never the desired ones). Sometimes niether the Zune nor the software would do anything...sometimes the Zune would start charging, but nothing else...sometimes the the Zune would say "Connected" but nothing would happen on the software side. Once (once!), it actually worked...the Zune said "Connected" and the device showed up in the software and started to update the Zune firmware...then it froze. I even tried removing the software a few times and reinstalling it, to no avail.

I wasted six hours over two evenings trying to get this thing to work, and I had enough. At least I got a new iPod out of the ordeal.

My advice:
- If you own an iPod, keep it! Maybe upgrade to the 6 gen when they come out, as they'll likely feature the few things about the Zune that make it appealing.
- If you're looking for your first media player, consider the iPod or Creative Zen before even thinking about the Zune.

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Good jumping off point for Microsoft

It's impossible to not compare the Zune to the iPod so I'm not even going to try, but let's get one thing out of the way right quick: Anyone who calls the Zune an iPod killer needs to have their head examined. Let's not forget that there are many people who have invested hundreds or thousands of dollars into iTunes music, so they're pretty much iPod customers for life(as Zune customers will be if they choose to use the Zune marketplace, but more on that later). And in case you haven't noticed, the iPod is a pretty darn good device. The Zune doesn't really offer anything that should have iPod+iTunes users jumping ship, but it does offer a compelling option for those looking to purchase a product like this for the first time or iPod users who have chosen to continue to buy CDs instead of digital albums.

The first thing you'll notice after purchasing the Zune is that if they ever gave away some type of award for product packaging, the Zune would probably win it. The brown portion of the Zune box slips off to reveal a compartmentalized box inside that includes the Zune, the docking cable, stock earbuds, the Zune software, the token cheap felt case, and the documentation.

Onto the Zune itself. Even at 30 gigs it's a bit longer and thicker than the 80 gig iPod. It is substantially heavier but not to a fault. Those looking to use an MP3 player for active use will probably want a flash player anyway. Where the Zune holds a big advantage over the iPod however is the rubbery-plastic finish. Whereas the iPod's glossy finish is a magnet for fingerprints, the Zune's rubbery plastic feel attracts virtually no fingerprints, and when it does they simply wipe off. The screen accumulates them quickly, and while a thin plastic film coating is included, it has some large text on it, so you might have to invest in a third-party screen protector. Bummer. The control pad has been often maligned for not being a scroll wheel, but I don't understand why. Is moving your thumb around in circles really THAT intuitive?

Onto the software. It's a bit dissapointing that the Zune doesn't simply intergrate seamlessly with Windows Media Player 11 like most MP3 players now do. Instead you'll have to install the dedicated Zune software, which is essentially Windows Media Player 11 in some new clothing and with the Zune Marketplace built in. There have been many reports of hiccups installing the new software, so beware. It seems I was lucky. Once you do get the software going, syncing your music library to your player is a breeze, with a transfer speed of about two seconds per song.

As I said, the Zune software is essentially WMP11 with the Zune Marketplace included. The first time you enter the marketplace the software will ask you for your Windows Live ID. This is where one very cool perk comes into play if you are an XBox Live user. When you login with your ID, your Zune Marketplace account automatically links up with your XBox Live account, so you can share your Microsoft Points you already have across both services! Very very convienent.

Unfortunately, that may be the highlight of the Zune Marketplace. Graphically, it can't hold a candle to iTunes and is pretty darn ugly. Users can't review albums, and it as of yet doesn't offer anything besides music(this is probably going to change very very soon). I don't even use an iPod and I like browsing the iTunes store to see what's new and read user reviews. I couldn't imagine using the Zune Marketplace for anything except buying an album. But even that wouldn't be advisable, since the music you purchase on the Zune marketplace will work ONLY on the Microsoft Zune and nothing else. So until it starts offering TV Shows and movies, the Zune Marketplace is a major dud.

This is where the real treat comes in, once you get your music onto the Zune and fire it up for the first time, many of your initial doubts will vanish. The screen is large, bright, and the background is fully customizable. The interface is a huge breath of fresh air after using the stale Artist>Album>Song system on iPods and Creative players for so many years. Instead, Artist, Album, and Song are listed horizontally at the top of the screen, and as you move the cursor over each option all of the items spill out down the substantial screen, with thumbnail album art included! When you do choose a song, the album art for that song dominates the screen, and the sound quality is excellent. You can easily adjust the volume by pressing up-and-down on the control pad, and scroll through the song by pushing left and right.

So music playback is a huge "hit", but how about the video? The format support is pretty limited, and while the Zune software will convert just about anything, the playback format of converted videos is pretty poor. It was also a puzzling move for the Zune to have a 16x9 screen but only support 4:3 resolution. The stretching of the picture doesn't really take that much away, but it seems a bit pointless. One handy feature is that the control pad will re-orient the controls for the Zune when you hold the player sideways.

One last thing, you might have noticed I haven't even mentioned the much-hyped wi-fi feature. Why? Because it's practically useless. Songs received via wi-fi transfer can only be played three times within a three day period, and songs by some artists(such as the Rolling Stones) won't even transfer at all! The wi-fi capabilities of the Zune certainly offers exciting possibilities for future firmware updates, but they're certainly not present now.

So that's it. The Zune offers nothing that will have seasoned iPod+iTunes users jumping ship, and it certainly' won't kill the iPod, but the exceptional physical design, vastly superior user interface, and wi-fi possiblities in the future warrant a serious look by shoppers.

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Not as good as I hoped

I'm a serious gadget junkie. I have more mp3 players than I care to admit - iPod, iRiver, even a Rio. You name a player, I probably have it. I was very interested in Zune, and the fact that I now have one here in Switzerland where it officially can't be bought yet shows to what length I was prepared to go to get it.

First the good:
+ Zune's sound quality is good (I did not use the earphones that come with it, though),
+ Browsing your music is simple. The transitions between menus is slick, and the user interface is quite intuitive.
+ It feels solid, and does not pick up scratches or fingerprints as easy as it's direct competitor, the iPod.
+ Purchasing songs is simple, and can be done worldwide.
+ Large color display is bright, colors are vivid. Good playback of videos. So-so display of images.
+ Plays my unencrypted (DRM'd) WMA, MP3, AAC files

The bad:
- Zune's software (the part you install on your PC) was a mess to install, and did not install on the Vista beta (This will hopefully change with the final release of Vista).
- It looks nice, but the marketplace experience does not hold a candle against iTunes Music Store (neither does the selection). Also, you purchase using 'MS points' that can only be purchased in chunks of 5 USD or more, and it's not easy to convert the points to my local currency. There currently is no video selection, nor can you easily subscribe to podcasts
- Zune can't load my previously purchased (DRM'd) WMA files (Plays-for-Sure). Zune, from MS does not conform to 'Plays for sure' by MS. This means you must re-purchase all your songs.
- Zune songs can't be played by other players. In this regard Zune is as bad (a closed system) as the iPod. Wasn't Bill Gates on the record saying that 'People want choice'? Well, not if you own Zune - at least for now.
- Does not play video formats other than WMV (i.e. no m4v, mov)
- You can't use Zune as an external hard drive. I couldn't believe it myself either. Why???
- I must physically connect Zune to my PC to load songs - Zune currently can't sync wirelessly.
- You can't use Windows media player to manager your Zune's content
- For some reason I am unable to listen to Zune while it's charging. This may be a fault of mine, though.
- The scroll wheel is not a scroll wheel. It integrates well with Zune's interface, but is not as efficient as the iPod's wheel it obviously resembles
- The color display's resolution is the same as the iPod's, just bigger. Side-to-side comparison between a video played on the iPod and Zune shows a distinct advantage for the iPod, because the image (even though smaller) looks much sharper. It would have been better if Zune had a higher resolution.

I was unable to try the song sharing feature (for obvious reasons - no-one else has it here).

All in all I am seriously disappointed by Zune. The player itself is nice - the whole package (player, software, experience), however, is riddled with half-baked features, or intentional restrictions that make no sense. Comparing it directly to the other closed-system competitor, the iPod, shows that Zune has a long way to go just to catch up. It fares OK when compared with other mp3-players - until you realize that you'll have to re-purchase your music. If you are prepared to take that step you might as well go with the iPod, which is clearly the better package.

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Review by Actual Zune and IPod owner

I own a 5th generation iPod and bought a Zune last week. Why? Primarily because I am a gadget-freak and I like the idea of a bigger screen and WiFi sharing of songs.
The Zune comes in a very nice package and with clear installation instructions. I didn't run into any problems on Windows XP SP2 so I cannot comment on some of the problems other people have encountered.

After using it for a week this is how the Zune stacks up against the iPod:

iPod has the advantage in:
-Size: Zune is slightly longer and thicker than the iPod but it's not that noticable. Slight advantage for iPod.
-Software: Zune software is nice and works but iPod's software is more straightforward and easier to use. Yes, even my iPod software occasionally crashes but overall I like it better.
-Applications & Games: no games and apps on Zune yet, some nice apps on the iPod but the games on iPod are pathetic. That's what my Nintendo DS is for.
-Many more accessories! It took me a while to find a nice case for the Zune but I assume this will get better over time. Still iPod rules the accessory market.
-External USB Device: I can use my iPod as a giant "memory stick", the Zune has this function disabled - although there is way to enable that (do a Google search).

Zune and iPod are even:
-Battery Life: Zune (WiFi turned off) and iPod are about the same, 13 1/2 to 14 hours with screen off.
-Interface: I liked Zune's menu structure much better than iPod's but I miss the iPod's great click-wheel. Also interface responds quicker on the Zune.
-Sound Quality: listening to music with my Sony headphones I could not hear any difference in sound quality.
-Headphones: the included headphones with the iPod and the Zune are equally crappy. The first accessory you buy should be new headphones.

Zune has the advantage in:
-Screen: ZUNE WINS by a huge margin, screen is bigger and brighter, absolutely stunning!
-Materials: iPod's sensitive chrome shell always bugged me and the screen on my iPod is horribly scratched despite a protective case, Zune's black/blue shell looks very nice and it seems to be impervious to finger prints, Zune's screen seems much more scratch resistent too.
-Video: Forget the iPod! I converted some DVDs to WM9 and watched them on my Zune, it's a delight! The screen, the landscape mode, the brightness - wonderful. On a high quality setting I was able to fit around 60h of video onto the Zune.
-Pictures: again thanks to the screen the Zune beats the iPod. Finally I can show off some baby pictures without people squinting.
-WiFi: yeah, I like it. Granted the 3-day/3-play limitation is annoying but I have received a few cool songs so far. Problem is: there aren't too many Zune owners yet.
-Radio: HUGE advantage for the Zune. I am at the gym, watching TV and tuning in to the sounds on my Zune. Why Apple hasn't included this yet in the iPod is beyond me.
-Song purchase: I love the option of the "all you can eat" for $15/month. Granted most of my music is ripped from CDs but $15 per month for all the music I want is pretty compelling.

OVERALL VERDICT: I love my iPod, I LOVE MY ZUNE EVEN MORE. If Microsoft can write some applications and games and improve the Zune PC software they'll have a perfect consumer device.

To be fair: if you already have an iPod and have no need for radio and better video capabilities then there is no need to upgrade to a Zune. If you want better video, like the idea of radio and WiFi then the Zune is the way to go. If you are in the market for a new MP3 player in the $250 price range the Zune should be on the top of your shopping research list.

Most important: ignore all the fanboy garbage of "Microsoft is evil" and "Apple sucks" and stick with the facts. Reading some of the very loud "reviews" below I can only wonder how many of these writers actually own any of these devices.

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Great Performance, But Lack of Support and other Problems Plague this "iPod Killer"

First off, I do not work for Microsoft, I do not work for Apple. This is a competely unbiased review, and I do actually own the product.

PROS:
-Bright, vivid screen - A 3" Screen makes it the largest screen of a device this size. Can be viewed in portait or landscape, this very clear screen has good viewing angles and rivals very nicely with the iPod.
-Great Sound - This is what REALLY matters right?
-Design - With a durable rubberized surface, no fingerprints or scratches will be obvious, and feels safer to carry around in more rugged locations. Also, all three colors look really great.
-Wi-Fi - Connect to fellow Zunesters to view what their listening to, share music, and all while not drastically reducing battery life.
-Great Interface - The internal software interface of the Zune is great. It is actually built on the Windows Mobile CE OS, and the PC Software is built on the Windows Media Player 11 Software. Great performance and quick menus.
-Plays Movies: H.264 (Quicktime/HD), MPEG-4, and WMV (native)
-Plays Music: MP3, AAC, and WMA (native)
-Views JPEGS

CONS:
-Mediocre Battery - Music ranges from 10-13 hours, and video ranges from 2.5-3.5 hours. Very poor compared to the iPod.
-3 Plays, 3 Days - Absolute bull. When you transfer a song, it only plays 3 times, or you only get 3 days (whatever comes first). That is not near long enough to enjoy a song.
-LACK OF SUPPORT: DivX and Xvid don't play, Lossless music doesn't play, and only JPEGs are viewable. Everything else has to be converted in some form of the other. Previous subscription and protected music won't work on this device, and you are restricted to the Zune Marketplace for music.
-Zune Marketplace - Although a great start, you can't buy movies on it yet, and you have to buy everything in points, which is a pain, because 79 points is $.99.
-Wi-Fi restrictions - No wireless computer synching, transfering, or web browsing.
-5 Click Wheel - Nothing innovative. Quite annoying actually; although responsive, it is nothing like the iPod.
-Propietary USB - USB to USB-A(Mini USB) cords won't fly, you have to use what comes in the box to connect. It does charge relatively quickly though.

BOTTOM LINE: No, iPod killer, but a great step in the right direction. Microsoft's transition from Software to Hardware will continue to improve and this might be a tough competitor for the iPod this holiday season due to its large amount of hype. Unless you are really keen on getting the device, wait until the next generation. As an MP3 player, it is great; at the top of its class in sound, but still pails in comparison to the might iPod.

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