RSSZune HD: The best portable media player you may never buy
By Joe Wilcox | Published September 27, 2009, 5:30 PM
On Friday, I bought a Zune HD 32, so that you wouldn't have to.
On Monday, I may return it.
The Zune HD is perhaps the best portable media player released by any vendor -- even better than iPod touch. Microsoft finally gamed Apple, with better design, better hardware components, more appropriate size and outstanding digital content consumption experience.
But Zune HD also is a platform without a purpose. It's a single device in a multipurpose world. There isn't much you can do with Zune HD other than watch movies or listen to music, and there is currently no ecosystem for extending Zune HD's utility -- nor is one visible in the distance. Zune HD is a real heart breaker, because Microsoft otherwise has delivered something exceptional.
Before proceeding a qualification: Unlike many other product reviewers, I'm decidedly pragmatic. I strip away the hardware speeds and feeds, refuse to benchmark and focus on the down and dirty of usability. I ask at the start: Can you easily use the product and eke some enjoyment from it? Related: How well will the product fit into digital lifestyles? Many other reviewers have glowed over Zune HD. Much as my geek nature likes the device, my pragmatic character finds faults. These faults can only really be fixed by what Microsoft does really well: Partnering. Without partners, Zune HD is little more than prototype for a Microsoft phone, which this device absolutely should have been.
A Thing of Beauty, Flawed
Zune HD is a classy device. The portable media player is finely crafted, is remarkably thin and fits more comfortably in the hand than iPod touch (Zune HD measure 52.7 mm x 102.1 mm x 8.9 mm and weighs 74 grams). If Microsoft combined iPod nano with iPod touch and sprinkled in its design DNA, Zune HD would be the progeny. The device is what the 5th generation Apple's iPod nano should have been: Slightly larger to accommodate a touch screen. For size, shape, weight and feel in the hand, Zune HD is simply the best portable media player I have ever held.
The Zune HD's size, particularly its thinness, would be ideal for a cell phone -- way better suited than iPhone. With a 3G radio, Bluetooth and application store, Zune HD could be a helluva phone. The task-oriented user interface, while very non-phone like, is ideally suited for a multi-functional device, even one with 3G telephony. Task-oriented UIs emphasize simplicity and hide complexity, increasing usability.
The device would be even better for handheld gaming, and there the Zune HD packs the hardware to deliver but not the entertainment applications and games to support it. The iPod touch is rapidly becoming the handheld game console of choice. Nintendo and Sony are on the defensive, as Apple extends a rich hardware and software gaming platform. Betanews' Tim Conneally reported on Sept. 15, 2009, that App Store has more than 21,000 gaming and entertainment apps compared to about 600 for Sony's PSP and about 3,700 for Nintendo DS.
Nearly 70 of the top 100 paid applications at Apple's App Store are games. By comparison, the Zune Marketplace offers nine Zune HD applications, seven of which are games. Nine might as well be zero when App Store offers 65,000+ applications. That said, the right seven could be enough if one of them was like any of the Halo series games for Xbox 360. But there is no killer app or game in the collection.
It's simply unconscionable -- or worse, incompetence -- that Microsoft, the developer of Xbox 360, launched Zune HD without a marketplace of games. What? Microsoft has no arcade games that it could port from Xbox 360 to Zune HD? I understand that Microsoft plans some kind of Xbox Live support for Zune HD, but it's already too little too late. There should have been big games from Day 1. Any later is too late.
Perhaps Microsoft isn't rushed because Zune HD is currently confined to US distribution. That's yet another logistical blunder. Microsoft should have launched Zune HD in at least five countries -- Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States. These are all English-speaking nations. Aside from some-fine tuning for localized English, Zune HD could be distributed fairly easily through Microsoft's existing retail channels. By confining Zune HD to United States, the otherwise internationally-focused Microsoft confines the device to failure. Apple sells iPod touch everywhere Zune HD isn't.
Taking the UI, Features to Task
OK, that's enough strategy analysis. What is Zune HD like to use? The OLED touchscreen is beautiful, and it's responsive. Like iPhone or iPod touch, Zune HD's touchscreen is capacitive, which responds to the fingers' electrical impulses. By comparison, my Nokia N97 cell phone uses a resistive touchscreen, which requires some pressure from the finger.
Zune HD's user interface should be familiar to the few million people who purchased its predecessors, alibiet optimized for touch. Flick of the finger scrolls the Zune HD menu, and there is multitouch manipulation, too. The Zune HD UI inherits some aspects from Zune 4.0 software, such as Quickplay to which users can pin music.
But the UI works well for something else: The visuals, supported by nVidia's Tegra APX 2600 chip, are exceptional. Apple iPod designers should bow in shame. Artist splash graphics, videos, games -- anything visual -- just delights the eyes. There is eye candy and then there is Zune HD. To reiterate: Microsoft engineers just slapped their Apple counterparts across the face. The Apple group should be ashamed for it. Did I mention that Zune HD is fast, too?
Content synchronization is simply excellent. Sync is another kind of user interface, and one Apple perfected with the first couple of iTunes/iPod generations but later ruined. The first iPod was plug in and sync. But as iTunes has grown fat so has sync become complicated with settings and switches -- forklifts to haul the music players' fat ass off the couch. Zune 4.0 software and Zune HD hardware bring back some of that joyous sync simplicity.
For music, I only synced tracks downloaded using Zune pass. The content was DRM-protected Windows Media Audio at 192kbps bitrate. Zune HD delivers great audio fidelity, even from these compressed tracks. There's an excellent graphic equalizer, which raises yet again the question why Zune 4.0 software has none. I find that Microsoft's 192kbps WMA sounds noticably better than Apple's 256kbps AAC. Apple does something in the encoding that boosts the bass, and in my experience AAC clips the highs. As such, AAC tracks sound muddy compared to WMA.
Similarly, Digital radio delivers great audio, too. I listened to San Diego's KGB, that's 101.5 FM, which broadcasts two HD channels. Switching between the two HD channels is easy as tapping the screen. Zune HD shows the playing artist and song title, and there is a cart icon for grabbing the music on the go. Using the media player's WiFi, I easily downloaded two tracks from Marketplace to Zune HD, which automatically synced them to my laptop when plugged in via USB cable. Because I have a Zune Pass subscription, there was no other charge for the music. How slick is that? This feature and others highlighted in my Zune 4.0 software review put music discovery on steroids. If you're looking to find new music, Microsoft will get you the goods better than Apple.
Zune Pass is one of the top reasons to buy the HD over touch. The 16GB Zune HD sells for $219.99 and the 32GB model for $289.99. The 8GB iPod touch sells for $199 and the 32GB model for $299. For about $20 more then touch entry model, portable media player buyers can double their storage capacity with Zune HD 16. But the bigger value difference comes with Zune Pass, which on paper costs $14.95/month for unlimited download access to most of the Zune Marketplace music catalog. But Microsoft gives subscribers 10 MP3 song purchases per month for free, effectively reducing monthly cost to around 5 bucks. That's helluva value compared to iTunes albums, which increasingly cost more than $10 for new music. The hottest singles are $1.29 each. Do the math from the base price: How much would you otherwise spend per month on music for that iPod touch? Torrent freaks, why steal when you can have unlimited downloads for 5 bucks a month?
A Misguided Approach
For my video test, I downloaded HD version of free "An NBC Sneak Peak: Heroes," which looked fabulous, presumably because of the OLED display. But it wasn't exceptionally better than viewing the same video on my Nokia N97 or iPod touch. Those devices deliver a viewing experience that is good enough, even though not better. By the way, better is subjective to the user and relative to screen size and resolution, which is different for all three devices. For Zune HD: 3.3-inches; 480 x 272. iPod touch: 3.5 inches; 480 x 320. N97: 3.5 inches; 640 x 360.
The HD punch comes from outputting the video to a HDTV or HD monitor. Resolution: 720p. But that process requires one of two Zune HD AV kits, priced at either $39.99 or $89.99. That's a whole lot more to pay for the privilege of watching 720p content on the big screen. I didn't have either kit to test this feature, which I view as being misguided.
Yes, it's terribly misguided, and if you don't agree that's what comments are for. Please have your say. The AV output asks too much of most consumers. For starters, they have to buy the extra kit to get the 720p HD benefit. Additionally, it's an unnecessarily cumbersome approach to connect wires in an increasingly wireless world. Sure, a Zune HD user could set up the AV docked and leave it plugged into the TV all the time. That would reduce initial complexity to docking the device and fiddling with separate remotes. But it shouldn't be necessary, especially from a Microsoft that has put media sharing and streaming capabilities into Windows and Xbox 360. More importantly, it's a niche capability most mainstream users wouldn't want.
Since I'm harping on the misguided, there is Zune HD's Web browser to call out. Microsoft would have done better to ship no browser than the lame Internet Explorer piece of doggy doo stinking up Zune HD. It's a disappointment by many measures, starting with usability. It's a decidedly mobile browser (e.g., pages typically render differently in the browser than they would on a desktop version or Apple's WebKit-based mobile Safari; in search, user can choose between some mobile and non-mobile destinations).
Bing is the main user interface, and I don't have much to quibble about the basic approach. For years I've said that search is the new user interface, or should be for PCs and mobile devices. But search UI as a concept doesn't necessarily translate into excellent execution. I found getting around the Web to be somewhat frustrating, which takes points away from the overall good user experience. If people feel good about the product, for godsake don't give them any reasons to feel bad. The search UI is great, but the browsing engine beneath stinks.
Since Zune HD is a portable media player, I made YouTube my first browser destination. The page rendered just fine, but not the content, Microsoft's lame-ass browser doesn't support Flash. That would be OK if Microsoft imitated Apple and offered some other utility for watching those videos. By comparison, I can watch YouTube videos in the browser that shipped with my Nokia N97 cell phone.
Microsoft, what the hell are you doing here? What good is a portable media player that doesn't support one of the major distributors of portable media? That means no Hulu, either. What about Silverlight support? Will it come, perhaps? Dream on, baby. Dream on.
For its few flaws, Zune HD is a great portable media player, even if standing alone in a solitary ecosystem. Apple's mobile ecosystem is closed, too, but plenty more open and inviting to developers. I highly recommend Zune HD -- don't buy the iPod touch, bud. But I may not keep mine because it duplicates nearly all the functions on my Nokia N97 smartphone. Whoa, surprise: Nokia supports Microsoft's DRM technologies, which means Zune Pass content plays on the N97. Nice! I sync using Nokia's Ovi Suite 2.0.
Alas, as this post's title asserts: Zune HD is the best portable media player you may never buy, because:
- Most people will chose iPod touch. Apple's marketing is better and there is a huge stock of mobile applications.
- Zune HD's US-only distribution cuts it off from the world. What good is a device reviewers rave about that most nobody can buy?
- There is no content, particularly games. Portable media players have matured into new entertainment categories Zune HD misses.
- Xbox 360 and Zune HD aren't two peas in a pod, as they say. There's no real integration. They're more like two peas in the same field.
Tomorrow I will decide whether or not to keep my Zune HD 32. I do really like the device, and you would, too -- if Microsoft distributed it in your country. I say that for Betanews' many non-US readers, who deserve better. Doesn't everyone deserve better than iPod touch?
[Photo Credits: Joe Wilcox, using Nokia N97 smartphone.]
This is the best piece of kit MS has ever produced, really quite impressed. crisp screen and unique UI makes people take notice of the Zune HD. It's deeply flawed though, MS missed a trick, very few people want to pay $220 for just a music & video player (gorgeous as it is). This market is dominated by Nanos and Sandisks. The Zune HD shouldn't have been rushed to market it should have been launched with Apps & developers on board, then it could have competed head to head with the ipod Touch. Apple needs some serious competition to keep the innovation coming, but the Zune HD in it's current guise is a very niche product, I'm sure those who buy it will be really impressed (if a little short changed), but I can't see it making the mainstream, it's just too much money for a media player.
Score: -1
|I think because the Zune has been such a joke this was MS last attempt but they did not want to throw the full boat towards it..There has been almost zero advertising for it. As stated in an earlier post I think they are testing the waters here to see if they can make it if so, more apps will be added but they don't want to hurt their winmo line. So my thinking is when winmo 7 comes out if it hasn't happened already zune and winmo will be one.
Just because it doesn't have a gaggle of apps doesn't mean it can't compete with the ipod. Most of those apps still require some network connectivity and unless there is this new wireless that works everywhere - they got a good playing field, not everyone wants a do everything device.
Score: -1
|@terminalx, yeah I can see why they wouldn't want to get their fingers burnt. However, they must have known with the Zune HD that they had a really nice product. If only they'd waited to get the whole ecosystem working perfectly before launch, they could've created a real buzz and who knows what they could have achieved (in response I think "do everything devices" are the future, one simple single device you can take with you anywhere). Having said that maybe testing the water is not such a bad idea especially as I'm sure the Zune is just a precursor for a Zune phone. If they launch that as a polished product (it's a really nice size for a phone), then I'm sure it could be a big hit.
Score: -1
|I wouldn't count them out yet though and not that its an exact measure of success its been in the top 20 on amazon since it came out. Currently the 32 GB is #6 and the 16 GB is #16. Some colors were sold out at Zune.net too so someone is buying these.
Score: 0
|It's now Friday, and -- drum roll, please -- I am keeping the Zune HD. So much for the "on Monday I might return it."
Score: 0
|What was the deciding factor that made you keep it?
Score: 1
|I bought one of these. It's really nice, everyone should get one and try it out. I wrote a small review on it here: http://gizmoelectronics....om/2009/10/zune-hd.html
http://www.stophighcosts.com
Score: -2
|You know some of us only want a media player - My phones does all my e-mails and other services - What I want is music and video for flights and travel. I guess some people want to play games - others want to listen to music.
Score: 0
|I am still amazed at people's need or acceptance of watching credit card sized video. I mean we spent all these years developing technology to NOT have postage stamp sized video and here we are. Okay I guess it's an improvement from postage stamp size but come on!
How you can stare at any of these tiny screens for more than five minutes is stunning. And I agree with the normally insane Wilcox for a change, this is an epic fail. For that exact reason. This is ALL it does. Credit card sized video.
Score: -2
|sure, you can make out some images.
but its more of looking like your busy and a addiction,
plus they hear the music that stimulates them as well.
Score: 0
|i think it should be able to play sd cards.
i can imagine that 8 gb sd or greater can become a methodolgy like cassette tapes and cd's and dvd's.
perhaps, this simple change in design is too complex for the egg heads.
perhaps, players like the zune are capable of greater storage.
however like all business's they like to milk the customers as much as possible by only releasing limited versions year after year.
Score: 1
|How well can you see the screen when outside?
I plan on replacing my current mp3 player just because i use it mostly outdoors and the screen is almost impossible to see when the sun is out.
Score: 1
|I've done the direct sun test. It's mixed. The OLED screen on the Nokia N85 cell phone is a complete washout in direct sunlight. By comparison, the Zune HD is viewable enought to be readable. It's still quite the washout, but the big white letters are clear enough to navigate the device and listen to music. But you can forget watching videos is direct sunlight.
Score: 3
|You can't. That is why Microsoft only shows them in poorly lit rooms and never outside. That is the major issue with OLED. My iPhone 3GS has no issues in direct sunlight
Score: -11
|Too bad you are a liar Joe. Come now, you Microsoft shills don't even make this hard. Take a look at the third picture down in this Engadget review. The screen is black as night in light.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/17/zune-hd-review/
Score: -10
|You can turn up the brightness, they have it on the default setting
Score: 1
|Check your glasses, @fatty. The reflection of the guy taking the photo completely fills the Zune HD screen. Now that's shilling behavior, bud.
Score: 1
|Thank you for the answer Joe as long as i can see what i am doing that's good enough for me.
Can't wait for the new zunes to come to Canada but I might buy one of the new nanos to hold me over till then(the camera will be fun to play with for a short time before i get bored of it)
Score: 0
|Like i said, totally unusable, unlike my iPhone. Nice try. how much is Microsoft paying these days? I could use some extra $$$.
Score: -9
|I really have yet to see you come with some constructive, or useful, or even just interesting input in these forums, fatty.
I'm sorry to be the one telling you this, but why don't you just stop wasting your (and others) time here cuz nobody really cares what you have to say anymore?
Score: 4
|Of course no one cares because this forum is infested with Microsoft employees and Microsoft fanboys. Any post by anyone which calls out Microsoft for the crap software/hardware it makes gets modded down. All the posts except for me and like two other users are blatantly pro-Microsoft.
Microsoft XBox 360 with a 54%+ failure rate - greatest console ever
Microsoft Zune and Zune HD - greatest mp3 players ever
Windows Vista - greatest Microsoft OS until Windows 7 comes out
Windows 7 - greatest OS ever
Bing/Live/MSN/whatever it is called this week = greatest search ever
Windows Mobile - best smartphone ever
OSX - crap
Google Search - crap
Google Docs - crap
iPhone - crap
iPod - crap
Palm Pre - crap
Google Earth - crap
PS3 = crap
Wii = crap
etc...
That is a summary of all the other posters/stories here
Score: -7
|Must be something wrong with you eyes, third picture down (after the video) clearly shows what joe said about being able to read the white letters. And yes, I do have trouble reading my iPhone 3Gs in direct sunlight.
Score: 2
|@fatty, probably about the same @pple is paying you to mock any pro-Microsoft article you can find.
Score: 2
|Pro Microsoft...ok, sure, whatever. I use Windows because it works and is what is used most everywhere I go, though I am trying to get used to running Linux as that is where the money is at. Vista was good, once you got it working right, though I understand why a lot of people preferred to stay with XP. Windows 7 looks great, and I have enjoyed the beta. :-)
Gaming systems, I have a Wii and a PS3. Xbox 360 looks good and would be nice for the easy Media Center extender, but I like the graphics on my PS3 more. Wii is innovative, but I haven't played on it since I bought the PS3. So much for your pro-anything-Microsoft.
Phones. I enjoyed my Motorola Q with Windows Mobile 5, but traded it for an iPhone 3Gs, and I like the iPhone much better, now just waiting for the jailbreak for 3.1 firmware. :-)
I've tried Microsoft Bing...Meh, back to Google. There is a reason why Googling has become a new word for search. Google Docs, good idea, but the office uses Microsoft, and I we have the home user license thing so I get the upgrades for the price processing and handling. Microsoft Web Office is interesting, but due to the nature of the documents I work on, I won't put them on the internet. (One of the main reasons for not using Google Docs. Give me a version I can put on my network without going outside, and I might try it again for serious work.) And Google Maps/Earth over whatever Microsoft is calling it these days. MapQuest is ok, but I haven't used it in years. Downloaded the iPhone app, but just doesn't stack up to the Google Maps that comes with it.
There, so much for all the supposed Apple Haters being Microsoft shills. I would say I am pretty well rounded. :-)
Score: 3
|really?
http://mobilitysite.com/...sunlight/comment-page-1/
Notice how well the iphone does... both are readable but useable, eh that's subjective...
Score: 0
|Why don't you stop trying to be the Fox News of the computing world. The last 2 now very infrequent visits I've made to this site have been so overly clouded with biased, pro-Microsoft bile, I've been completely turned off by this whole site. Save your VIEWPOINTs for your personal blogs and save us the fluff. Between this crap and that ego maniac that posts his picture in all his articles, I'm struggling to find a reason to entertain garnering this site with hits.
Score: -9
|Stop being a troll. I'll bet that if (ironically) if he had been the 'MS'NBC of bloggers and had a tingle up his leg for an Apple product you wouldn't have minded.
Score: 1
|Amen. Tomorrow there will be a story from Joe saying how great the toilet water tastes at Microsoft HQ... it is really pathetic.
Score: -10
|At least he actually tries the device, rather then post the same tired rant you continue to go on and on about but have no clue what you are ever talking about.
Score: 1
|I did try the device at Best Buy. I laughed and went and played with the new Nanos and iPod Touch. I have no idea why someone would buy the Zune HD when you can buy the far superior iPod Touch. Better screen resolution, better battery life, better web browser, better OS, better software (iTunes kills the copycat Zune software), _way_ _way_ _way_ more apps, _way_ _way_ _way_ more games, etc...
It is a no contest, the iPods blow the new Microsoft Zune HD out of the water. I would take a Nano over the Zune any day of the week. A far better device.
Score: -12
|Again, you are full of it but you have zero credibility anyways - so who cares.
Score: 2
|@fatty, Best Buy is no test. I've used iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch and various iPod nanos over long periods of time (as in many months, at least). You can't possibly make a reasonable comparison from handling any device at Best Buy. They're locked down.
Score: 2
|ROFL! So true...
Score: 2
|@terminalx - you obviously care because you respond.
Score: -5
|@joe,
How is Best Buy no test. I used the device. What is a test? I sure as heck am not pissing away my money for a sub par mp3 player when i already have a far superior mp3 player in my iPhone.
Score: -6
|@TCP - yeah i know. they cant handle the truth though
Score: -6
|Yes, @fatty: So everyone who disagrees with you 'can't handle the truth,' but anyone who does agree with you, no matter how inarticulate or idiotic, is suddenly an amazing person? Look at your comments; full of absolutes and ad-hominems, attacking people left and right, contributing nothing to this discussion at all. Yes, Best Buy is no freaking test because look at this: How long are you actually USING the device for, eh? 5, 10 minutes at most? In that way, you're getting a clouded view of what the device is actually like; the 360 had problems that no one could have detected in a Best Buy after playing for 10 minutes. THAT is why trying something for 5 or 10 minutes at Best Buy is no test, dude. Also, you haven't really EXPLAINED why exactly you don't like the Zune HD other than the fact that 'my iPhone is a far superior mp3 player' and that the OLED screen looks washed out.
Score: 1
|I'm not trusting anyone's recommendation that uses a Sony product and plasters screenshots with it. As far as I'm concerned they are the most *evil* company in existence.
Score: -4
|I don't like sony since the rootkit fiasco.. but I still have a ps3 for bluray... but back on topic I think the screenshots were to show similar splash screens between zune 4.0 software and the zune hd.
Score: -1
|The timing of this review couldn't be more ironic:
"Apple Surpasses 2 Billion App Store Downloads"
http://www.macrumors.com...ion-app-store-downloads/
Score: -2
|Who could have guessed? I updated the post with the 85,000 apps figure (had 65,000 before).
Score: -1
|What's the signal to noise ratio for the ZUNE HD?
The one thing Apple has been doing, of all things, is letting its audio capabilities get worse and worse over time.
Creative too. Their few ones, like Vision M, were 97db S/N ratio. Latest Creatives are 84db, much,. much lower.
Score: -1
|Wolfson Microelectronics provides the chip. It's rated at 98db S/N ratio. I detected no noticable hiss using Zune premium earphones or Bose Companion 3 speakers. I would like to test with a good set of Shure noise-cancelling earphones, although that's a bit overkill unless listening to lossless. Bottom line: Fairly clean, pure sound.
Score: -1
|The only bad thing that comes with Microsoft's Zune HD is the price to buy it. The price is way too high to buy something like this. I will not buy something like this for $219.99 or even $289.99 only because the price is just too high, and the Zune HD costs almost more then the XBOX 360. If I had to choose between the Zune HD and XBOX 360 I probably would choose the XBOX 360 because it has more to work with the the Zune HD has right now. You people need to look at this from his point of view, and that is that microsoft should have made this more of a cellphone device than just a music player. He did make a couple of good points. 1. It doesn't lack features, 2. the overall design I think should have been better designed. If I'm gonna design a music player the first thing that I want to stand out is the overall design not just the features. Like how heavy is the device? how big is the screen? Does it flip over or does it push up like the G1 does. I think that the overall design of the Zune HD is way too plain. It's too simple. While this may not be a bad thing most consumers may not like this and in turn may decide to not buy it on this reason. In Conclusion microsoft has a good idea in place but they to improve the device's image as well as the overall design of the device.
Score: 0
|@fredreed Q? iPod touch costs more: $199 for 8GB and $299 for 32GB. Do you think these prices are too high? Also, what price do you think would be reasonable for a Zune phone?
Score: 0
|For what you get, maybe about $59 USD
Score: -7
|A Zune Phone yeah sure perhaps $59 once it is subsidized on a 2 year contract.
Score: -1
|It comes down to this - If you love music and that's what you are looking for then the Zune HD is fantastic
If you need a small PC, then the Ipod touch is for you.
Keep in mind when MS updates the firmware for the device at least they won't charge you to add new features to it...
But as the device stands now, if you want a small pc - go with the ipod touch
If you love music and enjoy discovery the Zune HD has better sound and looks fantastic.
Score: -3
|small pc and iPot HIT, I would rather prefer a netbook with NVIDIA ION rather than pay crapple tax for that crap.
Score: -1
|"Keep in mind when MS updates the firmware for the device at least they won't charge you to add new features to it..."
Yeah they just leave you sitting at an nonfunctioning device.
Score: -4
|Gen 1 which was not created by MS it was the Toshiba Gigabeat, did not affect gen 2 or 3...and you only had a non-functioning unit for 1 day
Score: 0
|Ahhh... More flame-bait. How cute.
Score: -1
|I would never buy a ZuneHD because 32gb is much too small. It needs to be 64gb, or better yet 128gb.
And it does not work with WMP or WMC. It will not accept drm video from WMP.
Score: -1
|I didn't buy a Zune HD because "most people will chose iPod touch". Don't let any of the biased reviews steer you from buying a player because it lacks features you don't want and will never use.
If you do want to play games on your player, is it worth the extra $100 that Apple charges to be locked into iTunes? I bought some music from iTunes a couple of years ago, but when I found out that my identity was stamped into the files along with DRM, I bought another utility to strap all that garbage out of my files, so I could play them anywhere -- even on a Zune.
Speaking of people buying products, despite their lacking even features they want, how about the many people who buy the iPhone, then complain because it uses AT&T, complain about the lack of reception, complain about lack of MMS, etc. Yet, they still buy the phone. They could buy other smart phones that don't lack those features, yet they insist on buying the iPhone. I see a common thread here. People want the cool Apple factor, and they want to play games. This applies to the iPhone, and also to the iPod.
For me it's not worth it. I can't see paying for features that I don't want and don't use, and don't mind paying $100 less to be less "cool".
I bought it because I wanted a good MP3 player. I don't care about playing games. I don't care about impressing other people with a bunch a features that I never use. I do use the HD radio, and I like it. The reception is better than my Sony HD radio. The browser sucks, and I'll probably never use it again, but I don't need it. I t would be nice to listen to streaming radio like Shoutcast, but I can live without it.
I have 140 gig of music on my machine to listen to, and have several other 32 gig mp3 players synchronization has always been a headache, but the Zune HD has the best synch I have used. It caused me to go back and organize my music collection better.
You knew what the Zune HD did and didn't do before you bought it. I don't see why you want to return it, unless it is simply to send a message -- like going to hear a speech you know is going to be bad, and then walking out on it, just to make a show of protest.
Score: 3
|Let's see...lower resolution display, shorter battery life, no apps, horrible browser, horrible OS, horrible inteface (smacks the Microsoft developers in the face for another failed attempt at cloning OSX), horrible software, not cross platform, no games? Wow. yeah. who in their right mind would buy one of these? The Microsoft Zune HD is a failure just like the Microsoft Zune before it.
"find that Microsoft's 192kbps WMA sounds noticably better than Apple's 256kbps AAC". Wow. Go get a hearing aid.
How much does Microsoft pay you to write all these Microsoft advertisements?
Score: -19
|fatty, just so you know, nobody takes you seriously here anymore. Go troll somewhere else.
Score: 6
|I can't even see that idiot's comment, that's cool
Score: 0
|I'll try and tackle this.
"lower resolution display, shorter battery life, no apps, horrible browser, horrible OS, horrible inteface (smacks the Microsoft developers in the face for another failed attempt at cloning OSX), horrible software, not cross platform, no games? Wow. yeah. who in their right mind would buy one of these? The Microsoft Zune HD is a failure just like the Microsoft Zune before it."
Lower res: True, but Zune HD also displays in a 16:9 ratio.
Shorter Battery Life: I'm going to have to call BS on this one. Multiple review sites have already confirmed that the HD does indeed have a longer battery life than the iPod Touch.
No apps: Just came out, what do you expect from a device a week after it came out?
Horrible Browser: That's all subjective. And it really depends on your connection.
"Horrible OS, horrible inteface" : Again, completely subjective aspects of a PMP. But, in which way did Microsoft copy the mobile version of OSX that Apple sticks on their mobile devices? No icon based UI, no shiny, clinical, chrome colors. All black and white on the Zune.
Horrible software: Again, this is a subjective aspect, but most reviewers would disagree with you. iTunes has and always will be the 900-pound gorilla of media software.
Not cross platform: Apart from the horrid grammar, Microsoft is planning to integrate the xbox marketplace with the Zune Marketplace, and they're planning to patch in Flash support.
No games: Again, BS. You realize that there are already games out for the HD? And that Microsoft has already released an XNA game developer's package for the HD?
Also, I think you'd be interested to know that Apple literally ripped their Aqua interface/special effects off of the Linux Beryl project. Good day.
Score: -1
|How many games did the iTouch have when it was released, Joe?
Give it some time and dont judge too quickly, even if it IS a Microsoft product and we all know the summary of your review without reading it...
On another note.... this just makes you look really bad:
"I find that Microsoft's 192kbps WMA sounds noticably better than Apple's 256kbps AAC. Apple does something in the encoding that boosts the bass, and in my experience AAC clips the highs. As such, AAC tracks sound muddy compared to WMA."
"does something in the encoding that boosts the bass"? I mean seriously? This is supposed to be professional journalism Joe!
Apart from that, I do agree with many of your points, and thanks for at least trying to write a comprehensive article.
Score: 1
|@BelgianWaffle When Apple released iPod touch, there was no portable media player competition for playing games. The circumstance is different for Zune HD,which butts up against iPod touch competition. Then there is Microsoft, the successful game console hardware/software/services company with big gaming ecosystem. That's the context for my calling Zune HD a platform without a purpose.
Score: -4
|So.... did you keep it or not? I mean, thats really whats on the lips of the nation right now ;)
Seriously though, I understand what you mean, however, I think its a bit premature to state that "I bought a Zune so you dont have to" in the second week after launch. You can't expect the same ecosystem as iPod/touch after such short amount of time. And that leads me to my next point below:
Lets hope that Microsoft gets that last bit, as I see no other hope for competition with Apple from any other vendor.
But most importantly, nobody is going to develop any apps for the Zune HD if people like you keep trying scare people from buying it.
Score: -2
|The Apps and Game Marketplace for the Zune is not even fully released and the reviewer hates it because he can download more games for the iPhone or iPod Touch?
By this logic, the Razr V3m had about 300 games available for it from Verizon, so it must be better than the iPhone, right? Especially since the iPhone had only a couple when it was released, right?
The entire Gaming development kits that include the Zune are not even finalized, and the only games that are available are the older device games from the previous XNA development kits.
The Zune Game/XBox 360 integration hasn't even been rolled out yet.
So, you complain about the XBox 360 Zune and lack of Games and Applications, yet:
1) ZuneHD Games from the XNA kit or developers are not even out yet.
2) The XBox 360 doesn't have the Zune marketplace turned on yet.
How could you have missed these facts that are 'essential' to your review?
Because a product doesn't have all the application/games at lauch it fails? Really?
Because a product doesn't mimic Apple's business model if fails, even if the product offers a better business model? Really?
Maybe do some research on this next time, ok?
Score: -1
|@AnthonySPT I know the games and Xbox integration are coming. XNA was just announced; of course, I know this. These announcements are meaningless now. It's already too late, because Microsoft is such a late starter and has Xbox assets it easily could have leveraged. But didn't.
Microsoft should have been preparing developers for at least a year so that the games released through Xbox Live would run on Zune HD. Additionally, Microsoft should have used marketing incentives to entice some developers to offer derivative games that Zune HD buyers could play on Day 1. At the least, Microsoft games should have been ready to do this. What an announcement: "We've been hiding something from you. That Halo game you bought last month has a locked mini-version that you can access with Zune HD."
The future of PMPs is games. The primary entertainment function is moving from music and videos to games, where music and videos are part of the playing. Microsoft has a hugely successful game enterprise on PCs and game consoles. There is simply no excuse for Zune HD lacking real gaming support NOW, while Apple uses games to sell more iPod touches. Microsoft and not Apple should own the handheld game market. Sadly, the device is great. The ecosystem isn't.
Score: -2
|So Microsoft should have had technology in developer's hands a year before it was even in production?
It isn't like the CPU/GPU technology in the Zune was available, especially in any numbers and there is little effective emulation environments that developers could have used.
I think you don't understand this aspect of the industry.
With the XBox 360 MS even had to slap two G5 Macs together and a lower end video solution so that they could developers working on titles, as the XBox hardware didn't exist, especially the tri-core CPU and GPU until about six months before the XBox 360 launched.
This is also why 'lauch' day titles of XBox 360 games were less 'pretty' than later titles, as the hardware of the XBox 360 when put together was more powerful than the two G5s and the older GPUs that the developers were building from.
So in a way, Microsoft kind of screwed up the XBox 360 launch, because they could have waited another year and got the actual hardware in developers hands and then let them make the more visually stunning games that are considered the 'second generation' of XBox 360 games.
There was no way for Microsoft to get the ZuneHD hardware into the hands of developers and 'know' exactly what performance range it was going to hit a year before it was released.
Additionally, many of the developers using XNA and the Marketplace are small independant developers that couldn't have afforded a custom 'preliminary' emulation/device to develop for it.
This is much like before the iPhone was released, developers HAD NO ACCESS to create software for it, and the iTunes 'application' store wasn't integrated or offered until 1 year after the iPhone was released, when the iPod Touch was released based on the iPhone technology that was a year old.
So should Microsoft have waited another year because they wanted the better GPU/CPU technology in the ZuneHD?
You like many users seem to miss the fact that the ZuneHD GPU/CPU technology is NEW, and also a generation ahead of what Apple is offering.
Technically the ZuneHD is on par with the Original XBox in terms of GPU/CPU performance, yet has incredible battery life and the best media and audio integration and support features.
If you want an iPod with the Apps that are out now for it, buy a feaking iPod, if you want the next generation of devie, buy a Zune, the software will come.
And with the Zune it will actually be able to do 'gaming' instead of what the iPhone/iPod offers that is about on level with games on a portable device as TurboGraphix16 from 1991, or heck even a DS from 2001.
Just because people have ported a lot of games to the iPhone doesn't make it a gaming 'system'. Not any more than my 5 year old Moto Razr is a gaming system, and ironically has many of the same 'games' that are available on the iStore.
If you want a 'real' portable gaming system, pick up a small Netbook, UMPC, or even small TabletPC. Throw Mame on it and have 50,000 games instantly, as well as about 50,000 Windows game titles that run on these devices. Heck you can even play WoW or CoX on a freaking low end Netbook, UMPC or TabletPC.
These are the 'true' portable gaming and convergence devices, not a phone or media player-iPod, that can't even freaking multi-task.
And yes, there are far more Netbooks and UMPCs and Tablets running around than iPhones and iPods combined. (And many with 3G, wow, how about that, running the full Safari, Chrome, Firefox, or IE browser on Windows7 on these devices.)
I know you will keep arguing this, but the ZuneHD is a media convergence device that has some great video and prospective gaming abilities.
You are following the Times article that tries to proclaim the iPod Touch and the iPhone as gaming devices, and they are not, at least not any more than any other Cell Phone where people have been buying and downloading games for over 10 years now.
So you start with a false premise that for the ZuneHD to be good, it has to have the 'games' and 'apps' available, at a time when it has been only released for less than a month.
Pick a hyberbolic assertion of fact and then base your review on this false reality. This is what makes your review crap...
Score: -2
|Zune HD is way better than iPot crap. It's software is much better than bloated iTones.
"Zune HD is Microsoft's sexiest product ever"
I don't agree with that statement. I have seen some snapshots of Microsoft Courier, it's the sexiest device by Microsoft...
Score: -2
|You know, I did the Micro$oft crap of changing the names back when I was 12 and thought it was cool, (ok, so I was in my mid-20's and changed the Win 95 boot screen to say Micro$oft) but the changing of names, such as iPot for iPod just makes you look like the fatty fanboy of Microsoft. If I am going to vote fatty down for it, I have to do it to everyone equally. Give it up and grow up.
As for the Zune, I haven't tried it yet, but probably will when it matures. I enjoy my iPod and iPhone, just with they worked better with Window Media Center, as iTunes is still full of bloat. Other than that, I will stick with my Windows Machines in the workplace and my Hybrid Windows/Linux boxes at home.
Score: -1
|This entire article is pretty ridiculous, especially the part about Nintendo and Sony being on the defensive. Nintendo *raised* the price of their handheld with the DSi, and Sony is about to do the same thing next week with the PSP Go! There are 21k fart and pull my finger apps out there, but no Zeldas, no Gran Turismos, no Mario Bros/Kart/Party, no God of War, no Tekkens or Street Fighters. There are lots of halfassed Loco Roco and Tetris clones though. Why would developers make good games (that cost good money to develop) when crappy free and 99¢ apps are dominant on that platform? Quality games are made for the DS and PSP because they attract people who are willing to pay for them... In fact, didn't Apple themselves reveal that only 1/3 of the combined 50 million iPod Touch/iPhone userbase has even downloaded a game/entertainment software (including free apps) from the App Store? That's 2/3 that don't even play games on the device, so their actual marketshare for gaming is 17 million, which is much less than the DS or PSP... Good games just wouldn't be profitable on the iPlatform, so they don't get made.
What does any of this have to do with the Zune? Simple, The Zune isn't even 1/10th of the iPod Touch/iPhone, so it's not even worth looking at whenever (and we all know it's coming) Microsoft decides to allow normal people to make Zune Apps, and even if someone were to look at making something for both, it's still only a very minor increase in userbase, as we can safely assume that 2/3 of Zune users will also ignore it as a gaming platform, just as they have done with the iPod Touch/iPhone.
It's also pretty hilarious that MS keeps making the Zunes and keeps sending them to die.. USA only? really? why are they wasting their time and money?
Score: 2
|My brother is an iphone developer, and says it is a complete PITA to dev for, and very very little money given effort. He estimates less than 1% of the apps make money, if break even. Combine that with Apple's highly restrictive, inconsistent developer environment, and you have real pain for developers trying to make money on the iphone/touch ecosystem
Score: 0
|@mjm01010101 What could Microsoft do better? Different than Apple?
Score: -4
|there's nothing that MS can do better than Apple, it's just a simple fact that as long as prices are set by indy devs, there will be a cutthroat environment where the price on most apps will strive towards zero, and many will achieve it. the #1 reason the DS and PSP will excel in quality is because that's where the money is due to the gentleman's agreement (price fixing) to keep game prices between $20 and $40 new.
Hell, if MS wants to compete with the iPhone/iPod Touch, then they have to release the device worldwide for one.
Score: -2
|Reading your post increases my desire to purchase a Zune HD. The only thing that has kept me from doing so is capacity. Though I do agree that the biggest miss for the Zune is applications, especially games. The Zune always has been superior for music which is why an older Zune is my primary portable music player. If I upgrade, it will probably be to the Zune 120.
For the record, I own Apple products and those running Microsoft, so I have no horse in that race.
Score: 0
|Here's my honest take on a comparison between the 2.
If you're into gimmicky things...apps, games, etc. then the ipod touch is for you.
If you're into music, then you'd be an absolute idiot to not pick the zune HD.
If I wanted a media player, ie: something that played mp3s and video, I'd pick the Zune HD. I don't steal music, I pay for all the songs I have on my PC and Laptop, etc. I stopped buying CDs long ago. I prefer to buy and rent my music. I also look for new ways to discover music. Pandora has been a godsend, and I use other things like last.fm and such too....in the end, you're getting games, pandora mobile and such and to browse the net on the ipod, but you have to either buy or steal all of your music.
15 dollars for unlimited music monthly, and getting to keep 10 of them a month is killer for any honest, real music lover.
Now, if Itunes had some kind of subscription service, then the Ipod touch would be THE mp3 player to buy. But as that isn't the case, I think the Zune HD def. has a market, and is a damned great portable media player as is.
Score: -3
|@Joe Wilcox: Where'd you get the wallpapers?
Score: -1
|They're not wallpapers. but the Zune 4.0 software splash screens that load when the music plays.
Score: -1
|Fullscreen minus the taskbar, that's kinda cool.
Score: -2
|"I find that Microsoft's 192kbps WMA sounds noticably better than Apple's 256kbps AAC. Apple does something in the encoding that boosts the bass, and in my experience AAC clips the highs. As such, AAC tracks sound muddy compared to WMA." HOW DO I UNDERSTOOD AUDIO COMPRESSION ALGORITHMS!? Well if you're Joe Wilcox, you don't.
Score: -2
|Oh and one more little blip: did it occur to you that *maybe* just maybe, the Zune HD is so thin *because* it doesn't have a 3G receiver or Bluetooth 2.0 EDR radio? AMAZING! -- Just a humble man who actually went to university and received his degress in EET. ;-)
Score: 0
|The guy who wrote this article is a complete and utter idiot. I hate people who aren't a part of the industry, but constantly like to spout off their meaningless and misinformed opinions. Soooo sick of Microsoft and Apple fanboys blogging and making news posts. Hey retard, why do you keep comparing the Zune to the iPod Nano? You do realise the two are in completely different classes as far as devices go, right? And your point about the cost of subscription based music is completely idiotic. Here's a new acro. for you that you might not understand: DRM. Most people won't subscribe to the awful services being offered or buy music from s*** outlets like iTunes because they want to be able to use their music on more than 1 or 2 s***ty little devices. Oh and your complaint about the Zune HD lacking flash support. Please, allow me to explain something to you that I'm assuming you won't be able to understand since you aren't a computer scientist or an electrical engineer. ARM architecture is not supported by Flash. AMAZING! So what does that mean? That every ARM-based product will be lacking support for Flash. Gee, I remember years ago when even x86-64 lacked Flash support. You're the kind of moron who would have tried to push that as a reason to avoid X2's and Core Duo's as well, right? Your point about having to use wires for HD was brilliant as well. Leave it to an enduser to be unable to understand throughput and latency limitations. Let me give you some advice: download a 720p or greater file with the video track encoded using H264 (AVC level High@5.1) with an average bitrate of 10 mbps (megabits per second) and an AAC audio track with an average bitrate of 240 kbps (kilobits per second). Now, setup a UPnP server (if you can figure out how) and try streaming that file (which is mutiple gigs in size) over to a UPnP control point. Works fine, right? Now try skipping ahead in the file or rewinding. Not so fine, right? Well I hate to inform you of this, but this type of lag is present on WIRED RJ-45 connections, idiot. So now please explain to me why you expect performance to be better on wireless devices with a maximum throughput of
Score: -10
|@anonymous
Er the Tegra supports flash..
Itunes is almost all DRM free now with music - it can be used on all devices including Zune.
- Your response is a bit winded but I'll agree with you on some of it
I am going to go with Joe is the average consumer as he is clearly clueless with the device he has and knows nothing about technology or paid attention to any of what MS has announced.
Games are coming for the Zune - titles announced so far
Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition, Vans Sk8: Pool Service and Audiosurf Tilt.
The Zune uses the same tools that the xbox360 uses the XNA Toolkit and can be used today to create games and apps - though it doesn't give full access yet to the tegra but its only been out for less then 2 weeks, give them time. I believe MS wanted to see how this sold before sinking money into the titantic
There was an article that showed how a ipod app could be ported to the Zune with little trouble. It was a basic app but again it shows the tools are there.
Xbox360 and Zune Integration is coming, they both use the point system - your xbox id is your zune id and your friends from xbox will show up in the zune software as well.
You will be able to watch movies from the 360 and watch it later on the Zune if you need to leave
You will also be able to stream movies as well from the 360 to the Zune
If it does well here (which it seems it is as even the Zune Store is selling out of them and are backlogged because of the demand) MS will open it to other markets, I believe they want to make sure there is no bugs or anything that could become a big issue before releasing it to other countries ie the RROD
Score: -1
|Here's a suggestion: Read the post. The comparison is Zune HD to iPod touch, which are similar class products. You say small size is because of no 3G and Bluetooth? It doesn't take an engineering degree to see how small are some Sony Ericsson phones, for example. ARM-based processors don't support Flash? Are you sure about that assertion? The Nokia N97 mentioned in the post as running Flash uses a 434MHz ARM11 processor. By the way, in June, nvidia announced Flash support for its processors, including Tegra class: http://www.nvidia.com/object/io_1243923085294.html. I don't mind you calling me an idiot. I do mind your spreading misinformation to other Betanews readers.
Score: 3
|Right, the games are coming. XNA was just announced, but there are no games. I know all of this and mention most of it in the post. These things should have been in place before Zune HD launched. Microsoft's execution must be flawless, to even hope to gain ground in the PMP market.
The device is great, the ecosystem isn't. The Zune HD launch is unusual for what's missing: Partnerships. Look at the typical Microsoft product launch. The company lines up its partners and customers, touts who is supporting this or that. It's longstanding Microsoft practice. But not for Zune HD. It's one of the major reasons I call it a device without purpose or platform. Apple is building out a dynamic mobile platform. Microsoft has richer platform experience than Apple and should be able to do much better.
Zune and Xbox 360 integration isn't coming. It has been there for some time. Microsoft Points is but one area. But deeper integration is late. The two marketplaces should be integrated, with Xbox games available for Zune.
Microsoft should have been preparing developers at least a year ago so that the games released through Xbox Live would run on Zune HD. Additionally, Microsoft should have used marketing incentives to entice some developers to offer derivative games that Zune HD buyers could play on Day 1. What an announcement: "We've been hiding something from you. That Halo game you bought last month has a locked mini-version that you can access with Zune HD."
Movies watchable on Xbox 360 and Zune isn't the future for PMPs. The future is games. Microsoft has hugely successful game enterprise on PCd and game consoles. There is simply no excuse for Zune HD lacking real gaming support NOW, while Apple uses games to sell more iPod touches. Microsoft and not Apple should own the handheld game market.
Score: 0
|I thiknk the reasoning is MS doesn't want to destroy their Winmo platform, I believe if and when mobile 7 comes out if it hasn't happened already that the two marketplaces will be merged. Yes, they are late but so was the xbox and even with its flaws its doing pretty well.
Score: -2
|@terminal
You're definitely spot on about the Tegra having support for Flash. This is a fact that I was truly oblivious to, but am impressed by upon hearing it! Thanks for setting that straight. And as for iTunes I'm fully aware that they offer a non-DRM option now (that also includes higher bitrate files), but they tend to extend the price of a CD to well beyond the normal limit most people will pay for digital content distributed via the net. Anyway, I still don't see people addressing the fact that playing serious games without tactile feedback and physical buttons is not exactly pleasant. The only product I've seen to remedy this issue was a device for the iPhone which allowed you to plug the unit into it whilst in landscape mode. This device would effectively give you a directional pad, proper buttons, and an analogue stick. Keep in mind I never once said anything about the API's needed for games or the hardware required to power them (outside of HID devices). Which is exactly what I'm getting at with that point: a touchscreen is no substitute for a gamepad and never will be for serious gaming. It's fine if all you want to play are touch-based games that use accelerometers and whatnot for directional input, but what about trying to play a proper FPS? A game that requires extraordinarily fast timing and high precision aiming. Personally, I believe that the DS exemplifies the role of touchscreen interfaces in gaming (something Apple and Microsoft should both be mindful of). That is, it doesn't rely solely upon touch-based input for *every* game, but uses it as a supplementary feature. Anyway: sorry for such long posts, but thanks for your reply. :-D
Score: 0
|Hmm...perhaps your degree in EET, ARM and UPnP will tell us why the iPod has maintained a 60%+ market share over the Zune's 10%? While the Zune may offer superior a better content experience and hardware, it still lacks the readily available content and applications available to iPod owners. How many of the 220,000,000 people that bought an iPod were concerned with which ARM processor they were getting or which compression algorithms it used and how they differed? Portables are no longer uni-taskers...like it or not, Microsoft needed to not only perfect its media player but also offer far more content and flexability than the competition out of the gates.
Score: 1
|Good points, but, damn, Microsoft can't releasee Windows Mobile 7 soon enough. If Zune HD were a phone -- even just a little thicker casing -- I'd buy it.
Score: -2
|@joewilcox
I concede that I was not aware of the extent to which manufacturers have gone to support Flash on ARM-based devices. But still, perhaps it's you and not I who should read your posts more carefully. "The device is what the 5th generation Apple's iPod nano should have been: Slightly larger to accommodate a touchscreen. For size, shape, weight and feel in the hand, Zune HD is simply the best portable media player I have ever held." To me that is a direct comparison between the Nano and the Zune HD (mixed in with your iTouch comparisons). You still haven't explained exactly how the Zune HD is superior graphically either. Unless of course you meant in terms of actual GPU power, but that's redundant and even more idiotic a point than your previous statements. And as for the rebuttal concerning 3G and BT radios, allow me to direct you to this website containing photos detailing the disassembly of a Zune HD. http://www.anythingbutip...zune-hd-disassembly.php these photos are of particular interest: http://www.anythingbutip...zune-hd-teardown-17.jpg & http://www.anythingbutip...zune-hd-teardown-11.jpg Now of course I have to ask: where within the unit would you like Microsoft to place a BT radio, 3G radio, antennae, and a microphone/speaker without increasing the overall size/thickness of the device? And please address my point concerning the inability of a touchscreen to act as a proper substitute for a gaming pad.
Score: 0
|@nightfall
Please don't mistake my comments for an attempt to downplay the role of software on any given platform.
Score: -2
|@anonymousman, I want to commend your gracious follow-up responses to everyone.
Now to your questions: @nightfailvt adequately answered the touchscreen gaming question. I'll add this: The accelerometer makes up for the gamepad. The device's motion to the left, right, up or down replaces the gamepad function.
My apologies for any confusion about the iPod nano reference. That wasn't meant as a comparison to Zune HD but as dig at Apple for failing to create aomething as clever as Zune HD sized between the nano and touch.
As for that teardown, I agree space is tight. Let me ask you as the engineer: How much thicker would you estimate that Zune HD needs to be to fit 3G and Bluetooth radios and antennas?
Score: 0
|Because Apple has pure genius marketing.. and always has.. in the beginning it was the "different" mp3 player which as soon as they got the pricepoint down somewhat they started pushing like no other.
After that volume allowed them to do what no other "store" could do re online music sales.. and dictate terms to the idiots in charge of music industry.. once they had all 3 pieces of the pie together.. it really didnt /doesnt matter how good or bad their product actually is.. as its the one that everyone goes to due to mindshare.. IE 220,000,000 people can't be wrong mentality..
oddly enough Apple out microsofted microsoft ..
Score: 2
|@anonymousan I have to admin, with your first couple of posts I was just going to dismiss you as another crackpot, but a little further down, you had some better well thought out posts. I enjoyed reading the conversation between you and Joe with a few other posters thrown in. This is why I enjoy reading BetaNews. (idiot fanboys not withstanding. Hey, without them, who would we laugh at?)
As far as I can tell, the Zune is starting to get to where it seems good. It also took the iPhone a little while to come into it's own. Personally, I didn't by mine until the 3Gs came out. (Bought a 3G a month before it came out and traded up for free) When it was mature. My first iPod was a 3rd gen video and I won it in a contest, or probably still wouldn't have one.
I will keep watching the Zune, and eventually, it should mature and come into it's own. One of my biggest problems with the iPhone is no HD radio, or for that matter, no FM radio at all. That and wireless N would be nice, along with a much bigger hard drive. The idea of some sort of sleave that plugs into the iPhone/iPod Touch that adds analog/digital joysticks for gaming sounds intreaging, to say the least.
And as long as we are asking about space in the Zune HD for a 3G/Bluetooth radio, don't forget the GPS and compass and the Wireless N to go along with the accelerometers.
And as long as we are dreaming, add Wireless USB, Wireless HDMI and a wireless version of Apple/Intel's new Light Peak USB/Firewire replacement to both systems. :-)
Score: -3
|Marketshare: Apple advertised first. Ever seen an mp3 television Ad for anything except an iPod? I know I haven't. And Apple added all those things (games store, apps, etc) long into the iPod lifetime.
From what I have read here, and elsewhere the Zune is pretty much a kick-ass music player. It's not a phone so why compare it to one? Many people don't want a "single device to do everything" - I know I certainly don't. Of course I would never buy an iPhone or another iPod ever again.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but what I want from a music player is for it to play music and for the sound quality to be good. Given that criteria, my Sony NWZ S638F fits that bill.
Score: -2
|@Balderstrom I so totally agree. Advertising works. Period.
Score: -2
|That is funny, i was in Best Buy last night and they had tons of Zune HD. I asked the clerk and he said no one is buying them. They sold a few on the first day, but have sold next to none since.
Score: -7
|What's the zip code where you checked?
Score: 0
|terminalx, seriously...stop responding to the imbecile. Just ignore it. Mod it down and move on. He only continues this because people like us bite. If I can stop responding to his stupidity, anyone can. Try it for a week. What's the worst that can happen? He'll continue being a moron, or he'll go elsewhere to find people who will respond to it.
Score: -2
|Try amazon. try anywhere. Microsoft did a limited release just like when the first Zune shipped to make the appearance of a sellout.
Score: -5
|I haven't bought the Zune HD yet, but am heavily researching the possibilities. With either Ipod or Zune you have to buy peripherals, Joe, in order to enjoy the full functionality of each. For my money (and interests) the Zune looks much better. It has 4 things going for it, I see, some of which you already mentioned:
1) It's a superior mp3 (sounding) player and with a cassette hookup I'll be able to hook it directly to my CAR!
2) It has HD Radio which again I can play at home, work, or in my CAR!
3) For $40 more I can play HD quality movies or TV on my HD TV without having to burn numerous CD's which I'm prone to losing anyway or having to watch on my PC. Good riddance! Or I can use the shiny little discs as coasters.
4) It may be a perfectly usable E-READER so I won't have to by a Kindle ($300). Since it reads JPG files, by using a simple PDF to JPG program I can but hundreds if not thousands converted books onto the Zune. My laptop's a pain to use as a book in bed and this might fit the bill. Batteries might be a problem but I usually fall asleep after a few pages anyway.
So my point is the Zune isn't limited at all. Oh, "games," you say? Who in their right mind plays video games on a teeny little screen, unless their an annoying kid waiting in the lobby at the local pizza restaurant? I like video games where they belong- on the PC with full Quad sound, so I don't care that there's limited games.
To summarize, with the Zune you get a music and HD video player adaptable to HD TV and Automobile, an E-Reader, and HD Radio, which as you mentioned can readily integrate with the market feature. Thank you for your article, though, which reinforced the reasons I'm leaning toward the Zune.
Score: -2
|@joe: If Microsoft released a Zune Phone instead of the HD, it would be in the same situation; no environment, and no apps.
And for a phone, especially in the age of the iPhone, that's a big no-no.
For a PMP, there are still many people out there who just don't care about the Apps or the Extras as much as they care about the core music experience.
The whole point of the HD, I think, is to build this developing environment for the eventual release of a phone.
Score: -1
|i'm a person and i'm not buying an ipod touch ;P
Score: -3
|