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| Home >> Handheld & PDA Reviews: Zune 8 GB Digital Media Player (Black) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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User Submitted Zune 8 GB Digital Media Player (Black) Reviews (cont...)Date: 2009-01-02 A digital media player for Generation iPod It seems that, since the iPod really caught on, modern media players have gone for style over substance, and the Zune is no exception. I have had no interest in the iPod or Zune, but then I heard about the Zune Marketplace, which is an 'all you can eat' sort of music 'rental' service. I've known about it for awhile, but they just started giving out 10 free tracks a month for a monthly $15 fee. Ok, I kind of like the idea of a service like this, and with the 10 monthly free tracks, I decided to pull the trigger. The only problem is that if I want to take music from the Zune Marketplace on the go, I would need a Zune for that. Now, I knew the Zune was going to suck, but I thought I would at least be able to tolerate it so I could have ZM tunes on the road. I was wrong. So, what exactly is wrong with the Zune? Geez, it's hard to even know where to begin. In many ways, the iAudio players that I own (U2/G3) blow the Zune out of the water, and those are over 4 years old. The Zune lacks many features found in these older players.. tools for audiobooks (such as bookmarking/track skipping disable), voice recording, line in EQ, support for OGG format, etc are nowhere to be found on the Zune. While the iAudios had a very easy to deal with joystick navigation system, the Zune has a touch pad which is just a nightmare to deal with. Many times I ended up skipping to the next/previous track when I meant to adjust the volume. Plus, I would end up selecting the wrong item in a menu because the touch pad is so sensitive. At least they give you the option of disabling it, but you've still only got the one huge button, so selecting items can still be a chore. And then there's the software. It seems that in the past several years, both Microsoft and Apple have been in a race with each other to see who can write and even worse media player than what Real Networks managed to come up with. And I think the Zune software has the edge in this category. While iTunes is certainly horrible, the Zune software brings the suckage to a whole new level. First of all, when you try to install it, it says you have to go to Windows Update and update your machine. WTF? This is software for a MEDIA PLAYER, so why is this even needed? Besides, I'm already running service pack 3. Anyway, there's a download on the MS website where you can get the entire package in one executable, which is over 300MB. In case anybody missed that part, I'll say it again... the entire package is **** OVER 300MB!!!!! **** FOR A MEDIA PLAYER!?!?!?!?! If anybody at Microsoft is reading this, please get in contact with me, because I would like you to FedEx me whatever it is that you guys are smoking in Redmond. Once you get this beast up and running, you will see that it consumes nearly 100MB just to do nothing but play an mp3! I think the worst part of this is, when I want to transfer files to the Zune, why do I need this bloated piece of s*** of an application to do what amounts to a simple drag and drop operation? With the iAudios, when you plug them in, they just show up as a drive letter and you can drag files over to them like a USB thumb drive. Apparently though, this is just too complex for people to handle, so device makers have introduced monstrosities such as iTunes and the Zune software. But for the love of all that is holy... if you need the hand-holding that a program like the Zune software provides, check out a media manager that doesn't suck, such as MediaMonkey. It's a shame that a handful of developers can create a much better piece of software in this category than a billion dollar corporation. It's just too bad that software like this is not OPTIONAL for these modern players, as it should be. And last but not least, the Zune software/hardware forces you to organize your music by artist/album/genre. This is alright for most people, but the newer iAudio players ALSO give you the option to organize your music by FOLDERS, but the Zune software (and all of its ilk, such as the iPod) take this decision out of the hands of the end user. And it sucks too, because when you put a bunch of music you own on the player, and then add a bunch of music from the Zune Marketplace to sample, how are you supposed to seperate them? On your hard drive, it puts all of the ZM music in a folder called 'Subscriptions', which would be really handy to be able to pull up on the player. But nope!!! All in all, the Zune Marketplace service was just not worth enduring the suckage of the Zune hardware. This is just another example of how technology is being dumbed down for a generation of people who are more concerned with how many colors it comes in and how 'sexy' it is than how much control and functionality it's taking away from you. Fortunately I found out that there are serveral programs out there that can decrypt the ZM tunes... my favorite being a program called MuvAudio2. Even if you're not into piracy (I'm not either), it's nice to be able to decrypt these songs and play them on whatever you want. I guess it goes without saying, but I have since returned the Zune. Anyway, I apologize for my long-winded rant. Hopefully the information was useful to some of you out there :) Date: 2009-01-01 Great Slim Sleek Player I took the plunge and bought a Zune and boy is this one fun little device. The display is very crisp. The user interface is so intuitive that I can't believe it's a Microsoft product. The firmware updates bring free additional features, improvements and games. Wifi sync saves me yet another cable lying around. And for someone who just started working out, the slimmer 16GB works much better than the bulky 30, 80 or 120GB Zunes I see guys have strapped awkwardly to their arms. With the built-in FM tuner, I get all the channels in the gym. Jumping to the next song is as easy as a simple tap - no need to pull it out and fiddle with it for most functions. The sync interface (Zune software) on the PC is really crisp and doesn't try to install additional browsers or software like a competing product. I'm getting tons of free audio and video podcasts, my own videos and over 1500 of my own songs and am only using half the space. Minus 1 star for a lack of built-in Equalizer (EQ) or presets - and for the step down in earbud quality from previous models. Even with the lack of an EQ - normally a deal killer for me - the sound was good enough that I really couldn't gripe. After I picked up some JBuds J2 Premium Hi-FI Noise Isolating Earbuds (Black/Chrome Silver), the sound was so good, I didn't even notice the missing EQ. Haven't used the social features (like trading files, friends lists, etc.) so I can't speak to those. But as a slim, sexy, very small MP3 player, this takes the cake. Date: 2008-12-29 Zune 8GB Black I am very happy with my purchase. I haven't had any problems with this Zune and getting it up and running wasn't very hard. I had downloaded the Zune Software before I got my Zune, so loading songs was simple. I don't use the ear buds that came with the Zune so I couldn't tell you how they sound. My only complaint is that when I hook up my Zune to my computer, I can't play the music off the Zune. May have missed something though. All in all a very good buy. Date: 2008-12-29 Zunetastic! Looking to upgrade storage capacity from my 4g nano, I decided to give the Zune a try. I am very glad I did. First, the pros: Excellent sound. Way better than my ipod. But to be fair, it was a 2nd gen. The touch pad is miles better than the click wheel. Better display. Yes even better than the NEW nano. (a friend has one) No useless 'shake it to change the song' feature. Is that really necessary? Now the cons: Itunes is more user friendly and runs much faster than the Zune software. Battery life is shorter. Bottom Line: If good sounding music is your reason for purchasing an mp3 player, go with a Zune. Date: 2008-12-28 zune beats ipod any day i owned an ipod before and since i got my zune i will never turn back
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