guy922's Full Review: Microsoft Zune 8 Green MP3 Player
The last decade has seen many fun and inventive new gadgets being introduced in the electronics market. One of the biggest success stories hands-down, was Apple's introduction of the IPod. Here was a small, lightweight, handheld device that could amazingly hold one's entire CD collection at the touch of a button. By mid-decade Apple could barely even keep up with demand. Id figure about roughly 5 out of 10 people you meet have one of these things, in a color that best suits them, however the problem with wanting something everyone else has, is that everyone's got it and I sort of like my individuality. Im surrounded by sheep who all have the IPod and I was simply looking for a high quality alternative to "buying apple" (a decision I would later come to regret.)
One day my sister came to my house with her brand new 80GB Zune. It was black matte finish with a striking, crystalline screen, made of glass. My sister loved it and I liked what I had seen too. I mean it was tempting. This beautiful looking device all neatly arranged in its box with its contents was a brainchild of the Microsoft family. For me this only sweetened the deal, since......Im A PC.
I finally decided to purchase one, but a small one. Only because if I didn't like it at least I was only out $144.00, as opposed to my sister who spent around $300.00 for her 80GB (this included her warranty). So after much comparison shopping and scouring review after review, I purchased a green Zune 8GB, and it was mailed to me Via Best Buy about 3 days later. After about one year, and our many ups and many downs, I am mildly disappointed with this product.
The Zune is a good looking player. The controls are large and easy to navigate after about 30 seconds, I like the quality of the screen and the outer casings. Every thing has a good "hefty" feeling. It comes neatly arranged in a box with its USB cable, a set of headphones with three set of earbud muffs in varied colors, and its user's guide. This 8GB model holds about 2,400 songs or 24 Hours of video, and is Flash based. It has some other fairly common but useful features, such as an in screen clock, Wireless capability, and holds varied pictures. Again, common but useful. One thing I love though, is that, unlike IPods, that have a shiny metal back panel (that usually sustains many scratches) the back panel is also of a matte finish, which will help keep your zune looking good over time. However, some other common functions are conspicuously absent on the this eye catching device, such as a sound equalizer function or the ability to set the device to play one single track repeatedly. Zune somewhat makes up for the former by offering pretty decent bass output.
Some features are virtually useless. The wireless feature, or "Social" is supposed to allow you to see other Zune users in the network and swap files with them. The signal is fairly poor and I would usually just leave this feature off. Also another note is that if you do use the "Social" feature, any music sent to another Zune will "expire" after three days on the recipient Zune. This is due to DRM rights and all that jazz. The FM tuner is also pretty poor. I didn't enjoy the reception I would get and it never seemed to improve. I don't use it much either.
I do, however, find the display aesthetics very visually appealing. When in the music section, all the albums and their artwork are all displayed in a neat column, which the user scrolls up and down. Videos also look great on the crystalline screen, but obtaining videos for the device is an undertaking all its own. Movies that you own have to be converted through a third party software of your choice, or you can buy the Zune pass and download music videos and varied clips of shows. Needless to say I don’t bother with the videos, but I have seen how they look on a friend’s Zune and they look great, sound quality isn’t bad either. However battery life is pretty mediocre for an 8GB device, even worse on Zune 80GB, but that can be attributed to the awesome screen.
The Zune software is fairly user friendly. It is simple to access your music library and organize it to your heart's desire, playlists are also fairly easy to compile. The background of the software window can also be customized to suit you. However, I was annoyed with the fact that if you link your device to one computer and then simply plug it into another computer whilst using the Zune software, it automatically deletes all content from your device and may or may not leave you frustrated.
The software also seems to take longer than other programs to rip CD's into the music library. In some cases (not all) I’ve waited in excess of 25 minutes for this software to wake up and rip....but it just takes its time. I have even checked in on my computer itself and the only conclusion I could come to was that it was faulty software to begin with.
With the Zune software you also have the choice (or burden depending on who you are) of letting your computer just throw all media content into the player or manually adding and removing each album from the player. I chose the latter alternative just because I have so many albums and cd singles that some of my songs are "repeats" and it dosen't make any sense to have three files for the same version of 'Cornflake Girl' added to the zune when you only need one copy of the song. Somehow Microsoft stumbled and bumbled to create this mediocre software. No better than Itunes, no worse, and every bit as awful.
….However, once you are done toiling with the software, you can actually use the Zune.
Durability has been the one main concern of mine since I’ve owned this Zune, and watched my sister experience hers. I have babied this thing. I haven’t dropped it once, It is enclosed in a leather case and there isn’t a scratch on the screen. My sister cared for hers in a similar fashion but had dropped it twice. Based on what I know from the short time frames of Purchase to actual failure I would have to say I am very disappointed.
The Zune pad seems to lose its function capability after about six to eight months of use on every Zune I’ve seen (total count is five). The plastic pad seems to separate from its backings and become loose and flimsy. I set my Zune pad to ‘click’ instead of “touch scrolling” after I noticed a slight glitch, but it only seemed to buy me time. My sister had a worse issue where her scrolling would just continue on its own even after you stop touching the navigation pad. We both purchased ours at Best Buy with warranties and Best Buy pretty much told us that it’s a very common problem that they can’t really fix, so we pretty much just watched as our navigation got more erratic with each day.
The ‘Hold’ button also becomes dislodged inside of its track located in the top left-hand portion of the outer casing. It just seems to be another wear and tear issue, but the IPod seems to have more durable materials on hand that last longer. The hold button certainly doesn’t just get jammed like this, at least as often. Other buttons like the play/pause button or the ‘back’ arrow seem to hold up well for the most part, but I suspect its only a matter of time before they too, loosen with use. The Zune charging cords also bunch up easily so that the inner wires are exposed and wear down. Usually warrants a cord replacement.
I think that the most pathetic thing of all, however, would have to be that when I witnessed my sister drop her player for the first time, the front and back housings became slightly separated, and you could see the flimsy plastic clips holding the device together. Just another testament to poor quality control and design. Mp3 players should be substantially durable for long term ownership in order to achieve a long term market success. They are not cheap to purchase, but if you make a good product, when your customer needs a new one they will come right back to you for it, and voila you have your loyal base of customers…. I will not be Purchasing another Zune, nor will my sister.
My sister’s began to reboot repeatedly in short time frames about a year and a half after she purchased it, mine began to do the same thing in the same time frame. I had managed to turn all my settings to the most basic just to help it run better, and again bought little more time. After a while, my sister’s would not come back on at all. We took both of them to Best Buy who wanted to charge my sister for battery Replacement and Me for Firmware replacement. We decided to cut our losses and just get some darn IPods again. So much for being different.
Final thoughts About the Zune…?
As with any electronic device there is always that chance it could fail, die, kapoot, finito, etc. They are human produced entities, its very possible. But Something about the Zune is so great and strangely so Sub par that it almost hurts. This baby definitely has the looks and features to compete in the modern-day electronics games, but This thing is definitely no IPod killer. The IPod, while being one of those things that everyoneelse has, it’s also got the goods everyone else wants.
The Zune would surely be a good buy if you got lucky on one of those bullet proof models built on a Wednesday in the middle of the week when everyone at Microsoft can only think about work. I probably got the Friday model, when everyone rushed to get out of the place. But all that aside, Zune provides some pretty decent value for the price, and it is cheaper than the IPod, so you won’t be out too much. An added plus to remember; your music collection will look great in it.
Don't get me wrong. I wanted to love this device, I stood up for it when other people said it sucked. I didnt want to buy into that, but there was something ironic about this device; there is no pride in the craftsmanship of this device...but there is. The screen and display are great, but the device body shows its true colors over time, and begins to either fall apart or develop a mind of its own. I’m also not convinced that Microsoft is so concerned about reconciling their quality control issues with this line of MP3 players. Just getting help with simple software errors was very difficult with Microsoft, and Best Buy basically ignored the warranty. At least with the IPod I can got to an Apple store and get some type of help from a live person who is concerned about my issue, even if only for that moment.
The Zune has room for improvement, and definitely has potential to be an “IPod Killer” but its creators need to get a clue. A shelf life of 1-2 years is pretty sorry for an MP3 player of any kind, and does nothing to enhance the Zune's reputation as a good purchase and after a year and half I can see it's all "wood and glue" at Microsoft. My Verdict: Buy one if you can’t afford an IPod, sell it off once you can.
This slim 8GB Zune device is good to go with plenty of room for your favorite music, pictures and video. It comes complete with an FM tuner and buy fr...More at Buy.com
8 GB digital media player stores up to 2,000 songs, 25,000 pictures or 25 hours of video Features wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing so you can swap tracks...More at Amazon Marketplace
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