Customer Reviews

Zune HD AV Dock

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

So obviously I bought a Zune HD a short time ago, and like you I heard that you could attached the Zune HD to a HD TV and watch 720p output from the Zune HD to the HDTV. I will state up front that I was not only skeptical, I flat out expected this not to be able to keep up without skipping. I am happy to report that this whole system actually works and works perfectly.

Couple things threw me.

This needs a power source. You either power it from the USB power of a PC, or you use the USB to AC adapter which is included. You can't just throw the Zune HD in the doc with nothing for a power source.

If you use it with your PC's USB port for power, it duos as a sync dock. That means, Marketplace will auto start and want to sync with your Zune. And it's up to you to quit that software so that the Zune HD will display it's menu on your LCD or Plasma TV. It help s to read the manual, but who's kidding who here. Manuals? I thought those were just extra box padding, right?

I actually believe it's best to place this right next to your TV and use AC power. Leave the remote right next to the dock by your TV. Then all you ever have to do is place it in the dock when you want to use it with your TV. I'd rather keep using the sync cable that came with the Zune HD as the sync method, and leave this exclusively for the TV.

So enough of that hardware and on to the good stuff.

You won't get all of the menu items on your Zune HD on your LCD TV with this. I was actually hoping you would. I was hoping you'd get to browse the internet on it or something. Wouldn't that be cool. Here is what you do get:

- Music
- Videos
- Pictures
- Radio
- Podcasts

I truly wanted this to watch video podcasts and movies on my 32" LCD TV. Many podcasts will not look too good, but at least I can watch Jim Cramer's Mad Money on CNBC on my TV via the podcast. That's pretty great in my opinion. So on to the movies:

I bought an HD movie on Zune Marketplace called "Battle for Terra". If you do look for this title, cause it's great for kids, you mostly see TERRA in the title. "Battle for" is written smaller. So just look for something like TERRA in big letters. The movie is very good and worth watching. So how did it look?

I am in utter awe of this now. You will be too. Right at the start when the intro starts, you see how crisp and clean the video is on your wide screen HD TV. And just that quickly you see where your money went, and oh boy is it worth it. WOW! I still cannot believe this little tiny Zune HD drove my 32" HD TV without any compromise. It's perfect, five stars wow. You get a remote too, so sit back and enjoy the movie. In fact, I like this so much, I am now trying to figure out who to write a letter to so as to convince them to make a much smaller portable version of this dock for travel. They should make an app for PowerPoint viewing as well. I'd love to have a single small cable that just went from Zune to HDMI so I could walk into a hotel and plug this right into their TV and watch MY Movies, not what the hotel offers. This is the world's smallest video library as far as I can tell.

The Zune HD's Tegra video chip works! It really works. I have small laptops that can't produce video output this well. We are entering into a new age. I can see so much more opportunity for technology like this. But to keep this review on point, I'll just state that the movie, which I watched from start to finish, was crisp, clear and perfect. No skips of any kind. It's in fact better than DVD or Blu-ray for one simple reason... You can't have any disc issues. You're playing the video off NAND memory. No moving parts! And that means stability. I'd rather have this than a DVD or Blu-ray player. Why not just buy or rent our movies and get them right over the internet. You know why that has always sounded like a bad idea? Because never before could you really take that movie with you somewhere. Not truly anyway. Portable means you can go to your friends house and watch the movie you rented there. And with this, you can do just that. Of course they have to have a dock too, or you have to take yours with you. Which is why I state that a portable cord would be the killer app for this. We're so close to making digital purchase and rental truly perfect. I know that's what I want. I want to rent or buy a movie, and I want to be able to watch it on my friend's TV or mine. For now, I am watching on mine and I can watch it on the device itself. Which is by the way so much better than an iPod Touch. Why? One huge reason...

OLED vs LED based LCD

All Zune HDs use OLED, not LCD. And the difference isn't rocket science. I'm sure your friends have an iPod Touch or iPhone. Watch the screen and tilt it in your hands. Because the light source is behind the screen you will notice that the picture gets horrible the more your angle changes. Okay, this is why many devices tell you what the viewing angle is.

OLED doesn't have a light source behind the panels. It's all just one technology. The results are far better image quality and from virtually any angle. See for yourself. The Zune HD's video performance is the best screen you likely own. I know it sounds like I'm a nut, but it's true. See for yourself. The Zune HD has a OLED screen and an nVidia Tegra video processor. This little Zune is state of the art for video. It will rival many laptops for video performance.

Anyway, the Zune AV blew me away. Watch Podcasts on your TV. I love that, though the picture quality of your average podcast is not great. But buy or rent movies on the Zune HD and you will be so very impressed.

Now, the AV dock comes with EVERYTHING you need. I know the first two reviewer said things like, buy the other dock, and buy your own HDMI cable. Neither of them actually state that the $50 dock as an HDMI or not. So I still don't know, but I am guessing that's what they mean. But before you do that, consider this.

In the AV dock for the Zune HD, you get the following:

The dock itself
A USB power adapter
HDMI cable
The regular RCA type cables in case you don't have an HDMI based TV
And a remote

The dock even has TOSLINK which is that fiber type connector.

In other words, you buy this kit and you're covered. Everything you need is here. The Doc has a built in cable that is USB on the other end and that goes into the PC for sync or attaches to a power block with AC prongs for AC power in any standard power strip. There is a built in FM HD antenna as well.

There is one thing I wish it had. I wish it had the Zune Marketplace right on the menu when you are docked into your HD TV. It would be even better if you could dock it, and then go to the marketplace and watch previews and then buy or rent right from your HD TV. Microsoft is perhaps one generation away from the next big leap forward. Perhaps the next generation Zune will finally put the nails in the coffins of DVD and Blu-ray. We're very close to having a system that just replaces both of those silly old technologies.

This thing is $89 but it's so worth it. Call me crazy, but I'm seriously considering buying another one of these docks and giving it my friend for his TV so I can plug my zune in over there when I visit. Maybe one for the HD TV in the office AV room as well. Microsoft should really create the next zune to easily attach to any TV with just a single cable.

Having owned both the 1st and 2nd gen Zune docks prior to purchasing the HD dock, I have to say that this is a major step backwards. With each passing generation, the remote control gets flimsier and flimsier and the weight of the dock itself gets lighter and lighter.

But build-quality is not the deal-breaking issue. Functionality and inconsistency is.

When the HD is in the dock and video-out is "off" (meaning that the device's screen displays the UI), you cannot navigate through the UI with the remote control. The only buttons that work are play/pause, track next/prev, vol up/down, and home buttons. Inserting a previous generation Zune device, like a Zune 80, shows that full navigation is still available to the device. (my conclusion is that it is the HD's firmware that is the culprit not any particular limitation of the dock)

When the HD is in the dock and video-out is "on" (meaning that the attached TV displays the UI), only Music, Video, Pictures, Radio, and Podcasts options are displayed. Internet, Apps, Marketplace, and Settings are not visible nor accessible. Remote control navigation is active however.

But... when using the remote to navigate, if you go to the Video section and browse the description of a video and press the PLAY button (instead of the center button on the upper direction rocker button) then MUSIC plays instead of the video that is currently being displayed.

The navigation rocker button and media control buttons perform separate functions... unlike previous generations where the buttons did double-duty.

Using the HDMI output presents a surprisingly good image on an HDTV. Even .mp4 videos that were originally encoded 320 pixels wide and 700Kbps bitrates look near-DVD quality on a 42" LCD tv. That was a pleasant surprise and meant that I could continue to encode my videos that could play on a variety of devices and still have it display nicely on a large tv.

The now-playing visuals look nice on the tv as well.

It is possible that Microsoft could release a firmware update to correct these navigation issues with the dock. But until then make your buying decision knowing the facts.

I have been using the Zune A/V dock with my Zune HD at least 3 times a week since I got it a month or two ago. Due to the fact that we have a TVs in both the bedroom and the living room, the simplicity of moving the dock between the two rooms has been much appreciated. Its takes all of about 2 minutes to switch TVs, and that includes the time walking from room to room. Up until now I had simply been connecting my laptop to the TV with an S-video and audio output cables, rendering my not quite new laptop useless for the duration of the viewing. Now I have my laptop back and a remote that allows me to start the next episode from the comfort of my sofa. Navigating with the remote is easy and the interface is almost exactly like on the Zune itself. Picture quality is just fine for our liking, but I am no expert in that respect. Also, it works with both standard def. and HD TVs, as long as the SD TV has a RCA inputs. HD uses an HDMI cable of course.

Now for the gripes:

For some reason, you have to completely power off the Zune before you place it in the dock. I realize this is an issue with the Zune, not the dock, but it still seems relevant. I had a couple days of frustration before I found the solution in some Zune forum. I would imagine this will be eventually be fixed in a software update at some point. It is not really a big deal, but it is kind of annoying.

The other issue is the price. It just seems a little high. Don't get me wrong, the dock does what it is supposed to and does it well for the most part. It just seems a bit high to me.

Overall, I am very happy with it and can't honestly say I wouldn't buy it all over again knowing what I know now. In fact, the A/V output capability of the Zune HD has resulted in it being used almost exclusively in the house, as opposed to the car for which it was originally purchased.

Well I just learned something new, in my impulse to get a Zune HD dock, I chose this one, but after reading the review here and researching it, well, I would've saved the $40 by only getting the USB Sync Dock. The USB Sync Dock has the same remote, HD radio antenna, and USB cable - which is basically all that you need.

For the record, I will state the old Zune a/v dock (Zune 30, 4, 8, 80, 120gb) still works with the new Zune HD - just no HD output and NO FM antenna and it won't auto go to TV-Output - this means you'll have to manually set this everytime, if you have an LCD in your car and want to output the awesome Zune UI to your LCD.

I will also state the old Zune remote works with the new Zune HD A/v dock, even though it has 4 less 'buttons' - you can still do everything you need on the Zune HD. Also the NEW Zune HD remote (even though the old model remote works) is phenomenal with it's range. The old remote you had to point directly at the docking station. The NEW Zune HD remote, I can turn the docking station around and put the remote in the opposite direction and it still works. I tried this with the Zune HD dock in my glove compartment and no, it didn't work with it closed (just in case it was RF and not IR). But it did work with the glove box open. I can locate my Zune HD almost anywhere and the powerful new remote still works great.

One major design flaw of the old Zune a/v dock is that it didn't have an FM Antenna if you used the a/v output composite cable. Improved in the Zune HD a/v dock is the inclusion of an FM antenna for picking up HD (and regular) stations. Once you listen to the free HD radio stations, you'll never want to go back! Most stations in my city (Dallas, TX) have at least 2 HD stations (with different music) for the same frequency - HD radio rocks!

But the NUMBER ONE REASON to buy the USB Sync or HD A/V dock is the fact that TV-OUTPUT IS FIXED ! This means if you have an LCD screen in your car that accepts an AUX input (like my Alpine or friends' Pioneer, etc) then whenever you turn the car on, it will auto-display on your LCD. I can't tell you just how slick the UI on your LCD screen is. From the screensaver with the scrolling artist, song, and album art to the HD radio (now I have HD radio in my car), it looks like a high-end professional car system. What is also fixed is that if you terminate the USB power (turning the car off, assuming your cigarette lighter plug does not stay powered) it will auto-pause your Zune HD. If you start your car, it detects USB power, then remembers it was on TV-OUTPUT and auto does TV-OUTPUT after you start the car. You do need to press PLAY on the remote, but it starts exactly where it left off. I'm not sure when but the Zune HD goes to standby mode at some point when it is paused for a long time because I've left the Zune HD in the car for more than the 33 hours of the battery life and it is always fully charged even though my cigarette lighter power turns off.

Again, the NEW remote is amazingly more powerful than the old remote, so now I have a complete and very slick car setup.

The only bad thing is that when docked, well, there's truly no way to get to the clock - the Alpine clock is shown on my Alpine LCD and is the only clock in my car, but when it is displaying the AUX input, you only see the Zune screens and nope, no more clock on any of the screens except on the screen lock.

I downloaded an HD movie from the Marketplace and watched it on my 61" HDTV and wow, it looked just as good as BluRay DVDs.

DO REMEMBER, if you use composite video in your car and HDMI on your TV, you MUST turn the Zune off at least once when switching video-output-type, else it won't automatically go to tv-output mode and you'll have to manually go into Settings. For me, this is few and far between, so I'm not bothered by this - but there's no documentation to tell you to do that. But this does mean, you could permanently leave a Zune HD in a car and always have it output to your LCD screen. Also, with the WIFI, you could always sync with your PC when you park your car in the garage.

Zune HD on standby lasts at least 72 something hours, though I need to test the max. I've only turned it completely off a couple of times while testing.

If this was the USB Sync Dock ($40 cheaper) that I had purchased I would give this 5 big stars, but since I've already purchased this and don't truly need the power adapter and HDMI cable and composite cable, then I have to right this a 4 on overall value --- I should've gotten only the USB sync dock.

My hope for this product was that it would be at least as functional and easy to use as the previous generation Zune AV Dock was. Unfortunately due to an engineering decision made by Microsoft during the design of the Zune HD Docks software, unless you are using a Monitor with your Zune HD, your ability to control the Zune with the remote seems to be limited to Pause/Play, Next Track/Previous Track, and very little else. After checking out the newsgroups it seems many are aware of(and not happy about) this limitation. I am hoping a firmware update at some point will address this bizarre shortcoming.

Zune HD AV Dock

I wish I could have had a chance to actually use the thing. I plugged it in, got audio out of my stereo. Tried to get video, and it was no go. Took the Zune out, checked the tv output selection, and then reseated the Zune into the dock. Now there is no video OR audio out, and the remote doesn't even work anymore. I live overseas, and bought this in the states when visiting family. I am going to try to get the cheaper syncing dock station. After all, I already have the cables, and I already have a USB power connection. Maybe after I get one, I will come update this review.

I got my husband the Zune HD 32 GB for Christmas and soon he was "eyeing" the HD Dock for the "total" HD experience. Briefly this is what it allows it to do:

-Watch supported 720p HD movies, TV shows, and videos in high definition on your HDTV
-Send music to your home audio system
-Charge your Zune HD player while docked
-Control your Zune with the included wireless remote
-Allows syncing of supported HD videos

We were debating between this and the HD Dock (without HDMI cables or A/C Adapter) but for $65, it was a "no-brainer". The regular HD dock was on sale too ($40) but we figured it would cost us $10 for A/C adapter, $5 for HDMI cable PLUS we have to order it from 2-3 different stores and wait for the various components to get here. Therefore, it was worth the $10 premium to have it all delivered together using Prime 2-day delivery ! If you own the Zune HD, I would definitely grab this before the price goes back up ! It normally retails for $89 which is way too much.

UPDATED ON 10/5/2009:
Apparently Amazon has lowered the price of the HD AV Dock to $75.98 from MSRP $89.99. Now that's a reasonable deal for HDMI cable, USB Adaptor, and Composite Cable. Definitely very competitive with the USB Sync dock for $49.99

UPDATED ON 9/26/2009:
XBOX 360 ISSUE: The remote that comes with the Zune HD dock will turn on your xbox 360's media center by pressing the Home button. I really don't know if this is a good thing, but to me it's annoying and Microsoft should fix it in the next firmware update for xbox 360.
By pressing the home button right beside the left arrow key on your Zune HD remote, it turns on your xbox 360 into Media Center; however, using the Xbox 360's remote pressing the Media Center Start button does not control your Zune HD!


First of all, this HD AV and the USB Sync dock can output HD video movies as good as my Xbox 360! That's it! Using 5Watts of USB power to output HD movies to HDTV is very efficient! It does what it suppose to do in an excellent way. I've absolutely no complain about the quality of this product but I'm concerned about the extra $40 versus the USB Sync Dock.

I would say if you already have your HDMI cable and/or USB AC Adaptor, you should consider the USB Sync Dock instead of spending $40 more on the HD AV Dock.

This HD AV Dock just like the Sync USB Dock, supports Zune HD and the previous generations of Zune players. They all include the same infrared remote, HD radio antenna, and output ports which contain 3.5mm AV, HDMI, and Optical of the HD AV dock are exactly the same as the USB Sync Dock.

The HDMI + USB AC Adaptor + Composite Cable may be more than $40 generally. However, think about this. Do you really need the composite AV cable when your HDTV or your families & friends' HDTVs support HDMI? The answer is NO. Using the composite cable just defeats the entire purpose of Zune HD. For those of you who still own the older generation of Zune players may still need the composite cable, but why do you buy the HD dock by paying so much more when you can just get the older generation docks at a lot cheaper price? Just get a 3rd party 3.5mm AV cable, I might be wrong at that.

You can also buy a $3 HDMI cable because I see absolutely no differences compare to $30 to $60 or more Monster cables. The only difference may be the bandwidth which currently not a lot of audio video setup can fully utilize it. The $3 HDMI cable may die after long period of usage under 1080P but that means you can buy another one and the price is still less than $20 total. The Zune HD can only output 480P and 720P image. It is just overkilling to use a v1.3a 1080P or higher version of HDMI cable to do the HD video job.

For the USB AC adaptor, you need to decide base on your home theatre setup. Since the dock requires external power via the USB cable to power up the device. There are many options.
1. Most HDTV nowadays have the USB service port that can also power up your dock.
2. If your HDTV does not have USB port, then if your laptop, netbook or desktop computer does not have an HDMI output, you should connect the dock to the USB of your computer to power up the dock and your Zune HD. Remember you MUST need to close the Zune Software in order to output signals to your HDTV, otherwise you can only see CONNECTED on your HDTV screen.
3. You can also use any USB AC wall adaptor to provide 1A at 5V to your dock.
4. Finally, if you need absolute portability for trip or going to travel to show your collections, get any USB external battery packs such as the Sanyo KBC L2 with 5000 mAh capacity including two USB output at 500mA and 5V each. I've tested and 500 mA at 5V still works perfectly for the dock.

For my case, I have my own USB AC Adaptor from Jawbone and iPhone 3GS. You can also get really cheap USB AC adaptor as low as $3 here at Amazon including shipping.

Save your money and go for the USB Sync Dock for your Zune HD.

I wasn't happy with spending this much money on a simple dock but it ended up being worth it. There isn't much out there for Zune HD docks so you might as well spend the money and get this if you have a TV in the room where you would use it the most. Some buttons of the remote don't seem to work (ever) but the fwd/back and home keys all work great and that's all I really need. It's nice to see the artist/album pictures while the song is playing because you can quickly look up and see all of the information. I haven't watched a video on my TV yet so can't comment on that. I have the dock hooked up through HDMI to my TV at all times and when I get home from work I set my Zune in the dock and it charges for the next day. I have plenty of HDMI cables at home but the included one is decent and has a good length. It also has the zune logo so that was one cable I didn't need to label.

Make sure the Zune is off before putting it into the dock or you are going to have problems with it not working! I also took my dock home to my parent's house and used the composite cables and that worked fine too except I had to go into the menu and change the settings. Spent a couple hours looking up artists/bands that I (and my parents) hadn't heard in a long time and it was a lot of fun.

I bought this to play Zune audio through a receiver, with the TV displaying information, all operated with a remote. This device could not have been easier to set up. I simply ran the optical audio cable (purchased separately, but inexpensively) to the receiver, ran the included HDMI cable to the TV, and plugged it in. The sound and video quality is exceptional for the device (720p is the best for a device like the Zune so far). The remote is a little small, but does everything I need. I can see the navigation on the TV, pull up information on the artists, and do everything I normally could on Zune itself. I can also connect Zune through WiFi to display additional content through the dock.