Well, I'm one of the worst when it comes to decision making and I was torn between the Zune and the iPod. I figured the only thing I could do was to try them both. So, I bought the Zune at my local Wally World because they have a 15 day return policy. I fired it up, loaded my songs, and it worked as advertised. The only issue I had with it was that it didn't seem to charge fully even after leaving it plugged into the USB port overnight. A bit of Googling suggested that some front panel USB ports don't put out enough juice to fully charge. Sure enough, the back port on my PC did the trick. I actually like the Zune software. I don't buy songs through it so I can't comment on that part but for ripping and playing it works well.
After a few days, I saw that the Zune was being sold for $200 at Amazon. I tried to get WM to price match but they wouldn't so I returned it. $50 is $50 right? I was just about ready to order a new one when I hesitated and decided to go for the iPod. The thing that swayed me was the availability of all the iPod accessories - from cases, to docks, to car integration, etc. I worried that I would miss out on those things with the Zune.
The pod is very sleek, no question about it. I loaded up iTunes and began to sync my songs. That's when the fun began. I spent several hours convincing iTunes to get the proper album art for my albums. In many cases, I had to find the album at Amazon and paste the art into iTunes. I guess if the album is not in the iTunes store, iTunes won't find the artwork for it. The Zune software seems to try much harder to find the album and artwork. There's lots of little things I found I didn't like about iTunes. When you click in the search box to find a song or artist, the current selection isn't selected. So, you have to either backspace over the name or select it with a drag - except that it takes about 3 tries to get it to "sense" the drag and highlight the text. It's probably an Apple mannerism but it really bugged me. iTunes seems like a huge resource hog as well. When I was listening to songs through it and doing something else, like surfing in a browser, each time it got to a new song to play, my whole machine would just stop. I couldn't even scroll a page while iTunes was loading up a new song. Scrolling through albums was very choppy as well. My machine isn't a screamer but it's not a dog either.
Next, I tried to load some video onto the pod. Now, for the Zune, I grabbed a PhotoStory .wmv show that I slapped together and loaded it up. It looked OK but when I re-rendered at 320x240, it looked great. iTunes of course, won't even look at a WMV so I used Sony Vegas to render a .mov file. QuickTime played it fine but iTunes kinda choked on it - playing it very choppy. I didn't even bother to sync it to the iPod. I know there are conversion programs out there that will do it and maybe I'm just getting lazy but I just don't want to have to deal with it.
Finally, and this is probably modern design blasphemy, but I really don't like the iPod click wheel. I find it difficult to navigate to an item without going back and forth past it two or three times. Same thing with adjusting the volume with it. I just don't like the way it works. I like buttons that move one increment at a time or scroll by being held down.
So, I'm returning the iPod and getting a Zune. I just like it better. I like being able to customize the background. I like having the radio too. When I go to the gym I mostly listen to my songs but sometimes there is something on TV and my gym has the sound broadcast on FM frequencies. The Zune works great for getting the TV sound and not having to suffer through the Closed Captioning that is 15 seconds behind the picture.
The accessories part doesn't really bother me either. I really don't plan on buying many anyway so I don't think I'll really miss it.
So I'm off to buy the black Zune. Or maybe the white one... Oh crap!
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This Item  Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player (Brown) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $229.99 | -6% $49.99 List: $52.99 | $79.99 | $79.99 | $44.99 | $123.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Monday, Sep 2 | Get it as soon as Friday, Aug 30 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Sep 3 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Sep 3 | Get it as soon as Friday, Aug 30 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | joporras | JIUYUN | Innioasis-US | YMSY | Phinistec | Surfans Audio |
| display size | 3 inches | 1.8 inches | 4 inches | 2 inches | 2.4 inches | 2 inches |
| memory capacity | 30 GB | 128 GB | 80 GB | 64 GB | 96 GB | 32 GB |
| supported standards | AAC | MP3 | AVI | MP3 WMA WAV APE FLAC ACC OGG AIFF DSD64 | APE, FLAC, MP3, OGG, AAC, ACELP, WMA, WAV, M4A. | MP3, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, APE, FLAC, WMA, M4A, WAV, OGG |
| connectivity tech | Wi-Fi | Bluetooth, USB, Aux | Wi-Fi | USB | Bluetooth, 3.5mm Jack, Aux Cable. | Bluetooth |
| media type | SDHC | Audio | Micro SD, Micro SDHC, Micro SDXC, SD Card, SDHC | Micro SD | Memory Card | SD Card |
| model name | — | Y1 | mp3 player with bluetooth | M30 | bluetooth mp3 player,mp3 player with bluetooth | bluetooth mp3 player,mp3 player with bluetooth |
| component type | Memory, Playback Controls | Speakers | Battery, Display, Memory, Playback Controls, Speakers | Battery | Amplifier, Battery, Display, Memory | Memory, Battery, Display |
Reviews with images
Outstanding!
I am a lover of vintage tech & tend to buy a lot of nostalgia. Microsoft Zune was probably one of the best pieces of tech to come out of the early 2000's & is easily hands down the best MP3 player to ever hit the market! It is hit or miss when buying used or refurbished goods. In this case it is definitely a Hit! It arrived sooner than expected & was expertly packaged. It was also in Superb condition & if this wasn't a 15 year old piece of tech? I would almost mistake this for new. This seller clearly knows how to take care of their stuff & showed a lot of love for this charming little gadget. Great Job! :)
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2007
Color: BlackProduct Packaging: Standard PackagingVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2007
Color: BrownProduct Packaging: Standard PackagingVerified Purchase
