Ok here is the deal i bought a Zune last night from Walmart just to try it out buying something from Walmart does not set anything in stone you can return anything there any ways I was all about the Ipod its a great music player and i think that is one of the best things apple has done in a long time I meen go anywhere and see if you can look around a store and not find something for your Ipod but my point is when i went to Walmart and droped the 249.99 down on the Zune I did it only to test it out and see how many real big changes there was between the Zune and Ipod there really was and after using it for a day im real impressed with MS new toy its going to give Apple a run for its money the FM radio is nice to have when bored of hearing my same old music over and over gives me something to play with also the Zune software makes the transfer of pics video and music fast and easy yes Itunes can do the hole music and photo but when it comes to video on the ipod it lacks plus the Zune battery is sick where if i was using my Ipod I could get only part way done with a movie before my battery was ready for a new charge the Zune allows you to not only finish your movie but still have time to do other stuff sense the battery lasts 12 hours for music and 4 and a hafe using video Ill be honest with every one I love Linux and would ues Linux all the time but there are just some stuff you cant do with out MS so I had to check what i thought would be a very sad joke of an mp3 player made by them but after using it im having A real hard time deciding if I still want to take it back of keep it the sound is great could just be the set of headphones that comes with it but it seems so much more crisp and the screen is so much nicer then the Ipod there are things that every one will hate about it and same for Ipod but not every one can use Linux and not evrey one Can install doom on there Ipod ya know so what MS has doen is made a very nice music player with a great battery and and nice screen and made it easy for people to use also the ugly shell every one is talking about is what in the long run will keep the Zune playing longer then the Ipod the plastic shell is nice and will take agood beating so for once im giving MS hats off for this one.

Just buy one from Best Buy and if you don't like it, return it before 30 days. I do it all the time, screw em. I hate that company and I love to cost them money whenever possible.

I would pick on Circuit City but they are already circling the drain. Remember Divx? 140+ million down the crapper. CarMax? Another CC stepchild still hasnt turned a profit.

I hope Sony gets screwed with thier greedy proprietary tactics. I can't wait to see the sales figures after the holidays. I may keep buying Blu-Ray players and returning them just to piss them off.

www.thedvdwars.com

I don't understand what the problem with DRM is anyway. If you hate it that much, you can *always* circumvent it, and the way to do it is so simple:

1. Burn DRM music to audio CD-RW.
2. Rip music (now DRM-free) back into any format you choose.
3. Erase CD-RW.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 as needed.

GCoder
Half your comments are false.
1. I have seen a rep drop a zune player on the floor to show it is well made.
2. I had no problems using the interface the first time I used a demo unit
3. I didn't have an issue with the wheel but thats a personal opinion
4. Cannot comment 1 wayy or another
5. The zune uses its own service and not URGE
6. The screen is much larger, sharper and brighter then the IPod

Also everyone that is complaining about DRM I have to ask why? I believe DRM should not be included in any product you buy but you cannot say the player is bad becuase of this. Every player out there uses some kind of DRM.
But they all also allow you to put music from your CD collection oto the player with no DRM.

I have already tested it for my consulting firm and it really does not in any way measure up to the iPod.

1st) the very flimsy design, it doesnt feel solid.
2nd) the interface is HORRIBLE and cumbersome.
3rd) its click wheel feels cheap and is not responsive enough.
4th) the case scratches way too easily
5th) the URGE music service is the worst music service integration ever.
6th) its screen is not sharp enough and it is not bright enough
The list goes on and on....

Microsoft can't make a flimsy, halfass product and expect it to beat the #1 iPod and all the other competitors.

A very sad dissapointment.

(Microsoft fanboys feel free to grunt and gripe like you always do)

No I am not a fanboy but that is exactly what I have heard from the initial testing that has been done with the initial models. I have heard that the WIFI is severly limited in its capabilities and is spotty at best.
I have also heard that Microsoft heavily pushes you to use the crappy URGE music service so that they can lock you into paying monthly fees for music that you can get many places elsewhere WITHOUT the DRM.

Listen to the consumers Microsoft! They dont want DRM music!

I love haters .. all they do is ensure the success of Microsoft products :D

definitely, lol

No reason to hate on a product, regardless of maker...until you see it, test it and hear feedback. I for one will think it will do very well...and I can't get into these music things people love. :p

I'm picturing a dance-off with the Apple guy mosh-pitting with his iPod, against the Microsoft guy trying to do a Polka dance in a suit with his Zune. :)

You know whats funny, is that microsoft tends to try and limit its brand name recognition on new products. You don't see a huge microsoft logo anywhere in the logo for zune or on that site in general. Only at the bottom where the copyright is. I mean what happened to the were Microsoft lets use our name brand to drive the product? Apple has there logo everywhere and it actually drives people to the product. Perhaps this is microsoft saying were too embrassed by our company name and don't want people to buy or quite frankly not to buy simply for that reason? Due in large part to their reputation?

Who knows right, lets just say its not traditional microsoft branding, both xbox 360 and now zune is like that. Now go to a windows product microsoft's name is even apart of the product name in most cases, microsoft windows, microsoft office, microsoft visual studio etc etc.

I think because for the most part, using the Microsoft name hasn't worked out with hardware. Look at stuff released with the Microsoft name: the WebTV thing, all things MSN and the routers all haven't been that successful. With the Xbox and 360 they started to move away from that and tried to give products their own identity. And it has worked so I'm not surprised at all that the Zune isn't being tied closely to the Microsoft name.

There must be a linked CSS file missing because right now, it looks butt-ugly.

Everything is in sequential order starting a new line on the page, too.

Ew.

EDIT
Here's a screenshot (taken in FF):
http://i14.photobucket.c...ddle/random/zune-ew.png

EDIT AGAIN
And of course... by the time I posted the screenshot, the site is working. I like the way it looks now MUCH better, just in case anyone cares. :)

I really want that brown one I think. Hot!

There's a Zune theme for Windows XP too. All black with a hint of orange. Not bad looking.

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=75078

That's quite nice :)

Some of those photos must have been a riot to pose -- especially those "hip, modern" ones... "look at me, I'm at a rave with my zune." Gag me.

The Page is realy beautiful.