1. Zune is incompatible with Windows Media Player (WMP).

Are you kidding me? Microsoft (MS) has spent the last 10 years coaxing consumers to use WMP, and now they sell an MP3 player that is incompatible with it? ASSININE.

Instead, you have to use Zune software, reestablish your library and playlists. Yes, there are hacks/workarounds that will let you use WMP instead, but be ready to invest some time in them.

2. Zune will not play songs protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM).

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The 883 songs I BOUGHT AND PAID FOR from Microsoft’s own MSN Music, Wal-Mart, and Puretracks cannot be played on Zune? But if I got songs through a file-sharing service, those play fine? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The worst choice I ever made was buying songs from MSN and Wal-Mart.

3. Zune does not allow you to view all songs by an artist. Instead, you have to view all albums and drill down from there. Unfortunatly, unless every song on an album has exactly the same information (date, genre, style, etc.), the songs will be split and shown on two different (but identically-titled) albums. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? But hey, you can get some more hackware and spend hours of your life changing the tags in all your files. That sounds like fun.

4. Zune does not allow you to make playlists on the unit. You can only make them through the Zune software.

5. Zune does not allow you to see any ‘details’ (such as the year) related to a song.

The only positives of the Zune compared to my Zen Sleek Photo is that the Zune has a large screen and very nice interface, lets you either touch or click the touchpad, and has 80 GB. But, if you have to spend countless hours of your life setting up your library all over again, and tracking down another copy of the 883 songs you legally bought (or burning them to CDs and ripping back to Zune), it’s just not worth it. Mine is being returned.

First off, I would have given this Zune a near perfect score, a 3 1/2 out of 4 if possible. But for our specific purposes it was useless! We used it with the official exercise arm band, made sure it was secure, and even attempted to minimize the arms movement. Walking, riding a bike to work on the pavement and weight lifting went fine. Light to moderate jogging or off road mountain biking was a completely different tale. Consistently at about the 20 minute mark it started to skip like a disc man from the 90s. Next thing you know it would freeze and never again be usable. It would stay on that screen until the battery drained.

So if you are looking to exercise with an mp3 player, I’d stick with any flash based player. If you ever foresee working out with this, stay away.

(full disclosure: we went through 4 of these and not from the same store so we would ensure that it wasn’t simply a problem with a shipment.)

The huge problem with this device is the software and Microsoft’s limiting it’s compatibility by deactivating it as a drive. The only way to place files on it is by using the Zune Software which is dreadful. Wireless sync is a fantastic feature since all of my USB ports are constantly in use. Many complain about the video file format limitations, but there is a ton of software out there where you can rip your own DVD’s to the proper resolution and format. Depending on the software used there could be some de-interlacing problems in playback but with such excellent video quality on the Zune I’d say it’s a excellent value all around.

The only thing you have to be careful about the Zune is its delicate exterior. It’s VERY simple to get scratches on it – especially the LCD screen. So if you are prone to keep your mp3 player in your pocket with some change and keys, I suggest you get a screen protector/silicon case protector to shield it from harm. I haven’t gotten any major scratches from experience yet, but I’ve gotten a few very light hints of scratches on the engraving I got on the back of my Zune. And the LCD screen is very very sensitive to fingerprints. Another downside is that it’s not a excellent thought to use your Zune while it is sunny outside, because you can barely see anything because of the LCD screen. So it might be a bit troublesome if you want to switch to another song but you are walking under some sun. But don’t let these things bring you away from buying the Zune, I still highly recommend it!

But i will say there is only one thing i dont like about this and i might have just not figured out how yet. When you are playing a song i dont reckon you can go back to a particular moment during the song or quick forward though a part. Other then that this has so many more features then ipod including my favorites, accepting nearly all video file types, finding the album artwork if your files are missing it, wireless syncing through your computer router or zune to zune, customizable background.

Yesterday… Now… Forever…

Zune is a combination of pure genius and shear elegance…

Things I don’t like:

*The Zune program: the only way to sync, the program is slow; and it is not that user friendly. There are many bugs in synchronization too

*THE DREADFUL SERVICE- it is nearly impossible to find a phone number, you have to go through website hell for help

*My battery is defective and trickles, it never lasts more than 5 hours when playing, and when turned off, it lasts about 8, which is weird. It needs to be replaced, but the terrible microsoft service is sending me the package to send it in and get fixed; 6-8 weeks. Sucks. I should have bought it new rather than used in “mint condition”. It was in mint condition save the defect battery

*another weird thing is some of the album art is showed in extremely low, blurry quality, and it crops the album art from a square to a rectangle because of the screen shape.

If you like the ipod and itunes you probably better of with one of those because of the excellent service and everything. But this is a pretty cool gadget.