Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player Red

Great so far
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m new at using an MP3 player, but getting it set up and going was easy. The sound is good, and learning all the uses seems intuitive. I liked the size and capacity for the price compared to an iPod. With 80 gigabytes of space, I probably will never fill it up, but I won’t feel limited or have to make choices of what not to put in it. There are no technical problems; however, it’s not a 24/7 or even a 12/7 or 4/5 gadget. Even us old grandpa types can navigate stuff 12 to 25-year olds can–old dogs, new tricks aren’t that much of a problem. I may not know how to program a TIVO (don’t have one), or figure out all the glitches in my laptop, but the ZUNE only has 3 buttons, so how much does one have to know to enjoy it?

Great Player
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Update: DO NOT use the lock switch as a glorified OFF switch like with an iPod. Apparently the lock switch has issues when the Zune is not in use. You can use it with no problem to keep from switching songs, adjusting volume, etc. while listening to the Zune, but if you use it when the Zune isn’t playing and is charging, it can crash it. Instead of the lock switch, click and hold the BACK button and the DOWN click on the wheel at the same time until the Zune turns off. It won’t turn back on until you press and hold the play button, so this will preserve your Zune battery charge during extended periods of non-use. Using the lock switch to keep the Zune turned off is a BAD iPod habit.

Original: After my 2nd generation (15gb) iPod died after 4 years of use, I found myself in need of a new player. Having success with my prior player, as well as all the power cords, etc., I first looked at the new iPods.

That’s when I realized that none of my cords will work with the new iPods and I’d have to buy everything all over again. So, I compared costs to the Zune.

For less than the 60gb iPod alone, I was able to buy the 80gb Zune, 2 docking stations (v1), 2 remote controls, 2 power blocks, 1 car charger, 2 A/V cords, and 4 sinc cords.

As all my music is from CDs (rather than bought via iTunes), converting to the Zune software was as easy as downloading the software. It automatically pulls everything from the My Music, My Videos and My Pictures folders on the computer.

While the playlists didn’t automatically add to the Zune software, the playlist titles and song names did, so it was just a matter of using the list of song names to re-create the playlists. Much easier than trying to re-create them from memory alone.

The software is easy to use and has a pleasant look and feel to it. Very easy to move around in, and syncing to the Zune was as simple as right clicking (I turned off the auto-sync, so I can pull only specific stuff into the Zune as desired).

The Zune itself is very stylish and easy to use. The sound is great. The buttons are easily worked. After having an iPod, it took a few minutes to get used to the scroll – I kept scrolling in a circular pattern. Once I got used to a “paper turning” movement with my thumb, I find it easier on my hand to scroll on the Zune.

While I didn’t think I cared, I rather like the “social” ability. It’s easy to send a song to a friend’s Zune, and fun to see Zunes come in and out of range. I’m almost positive my Zune was sending “crash” waves to a friend’s iPod today also.

Love it!!!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Item as promissed. Fast e-mail & shipping. Well Packed. Honest seller. Will recommend. A+ Thanks!

Love my Zune
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is my 2nd Zune. I have upgraded from a 30 g to an 80g. I must say after ALL the mp3 players I have had. I love the Zunes! They are well made and easy to use! Although they don’t come with an equalizer they do sound pretty good. Of course you need to upgrade your earphones as the earphones that come with it are not that great. However, there are always upgrades!

All I can say if you don’t want to be part of the IPOD pack… Buy a Zune! You won’t be dissapointed!

I received this product broken
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This Zune never worked! I’m very desapointed with Microsoft and Amazon.

I’m still trying to receive my money back in cash instead of gift card!!!

Shame On You Microsoft!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
the zune comes without an ac adapter to charge it, and witout a software cd to use it. i had to spend an extra $30 dollars for an ac adapter that hasn’t arrived yet. the zune’s battery is completely flat so i don’t know for sure if it works at all. even if it was i cant use it because there is no software cd. if you go to the zune site,and download the 41mb setup file[i have dial up so it took me 4 hours]. its only a setup file to download the whole software package from microsoft. that software package is A WHOPPING 188mbs! i cant download that with dialup! it would take me 26 hours if IE6 didnt crash every two minutes. what am i supposed to do now! its like i threw away $259 dollars. im taking this matter to consumer complaints and maybe my attorney. its not right! what about the ppl like me who only have dialup, how are we supposed to download 188mb’s

By far the best media player on the market right now
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have made many mistakes when it has came to MP3 players in the past. My first MP3 player was a samsung device that I picked up from Best Buy. I took it back, because I couldn’t get it to work. The second device that I recived was an ipod Mini. I really liked the device, but I was pressed for money at the time, and I sold it. The next thing I bought was an ipod nano, and I actually used that for two years until it died on me. I decided to then go with just purchasing a new MP3 player all together, and I decided to go with the Zune30. From the very beginning, I loved everything about my Zune30. I thought the “original software” was excellent, and I didn’t want any other device. The next thing that happened was, Microsoft updated their software, and I got so confused! I hated everything about the new software, and didn’t want anything to do with the zune. It sat on my desk collecting dust for months, until I sold it.

I then decided to go with an ipod classic. While I knew the Zune was a better device in general; I just couldn’t stand using the software, and I knew that I wouldn’t have much problem with the new ipod. I was completely wrong! The ipod classic was good for about the first 3 days from purchase, after that I had nothing but problems. The device froze up on me 3 times. The click wheel never responded on first touch, I had to rotatate my thumb around the click wheel about 5 times before the thing would even recognize it. Also the device was rediculous slow, and lagged alot! After only having the device for 10 days, I decided to send it back to Amazon and get a refund. Thank god for 30 day policies!

A few days pass, and I was just furious! I didn’t want another Zune, because the software was terrible. I lost faith in ipod’s in general. I was just not a happy camper. While I was on my computer, I tried to play with the Zune software one more time before I gave up. When I opened it, their was a prompt to update it again (2.5). I said, “Oh Great! Another update to make it worse than it already is.” After the update, I played around with it some more, and after a little organization, the software became one of the easiest things to use! I don’t know what Microsoft did, but a huge overhaul took place!

After getting used to the software, I decided to go out and purchase a Zune80, after getting my refund from my ipod. I am ever so happy that I did! This device is excellent, and blows all of it’s competition out of the water. The device itself is just a masterpiece. The looks, the feel, the overall design of the Zune80 is just phenominal.

The Pros:

+Zune Pad: What an excellent feature. So much better than the click wheel, and it responds every single time!

+Radio: Alot of people think this feature is not worth the purchase, but I actually listen to my radio alot! I don’t have one in my house so this will do just fine!

+Large Font: I think the large font on both the device, and in the software is a great feature for people with bad eyes like me.

+Screen: The screen is huge! 3.2 inches doesn’t sound like alot, but compared to the ipods 2.5 it’s pretty big! By far the biggest bang for your buck (screen wise)

+ Aluminum Back: I am so happy that the back of the zune is not polished! It doesn’t attract fingerprints and so far no major scratches spotted.

+ Pretty Much Scratch Resistent: This Zune seems like it can’t scratch easy. The materials that it is made out of pretty much seems durable, and very hard to cause any major damage.

+ Glass Screen: the screen itself looks so much better than the old plastic screen on the Zune30. Everything looks nice and crisp.

+ Premium Earbuds: The earbuds that they include with the Zune are amazing! The sound quality is excellent, and they are extremely comfotable and sit securly in your ears.

+ Wi-fi: Currently the wireless on the Zune is pretty limited. With only song transfering to other zunes, and wireless sync, there is a great chance that you won’t use it as much. I am pretty sure in the future Microsoft will have a better use for the wifi such as Web browsing. But Nevertheless it’s still a great feature to have regardless.

Cons:

-No Clock: Yes, it is that important. Personally I would like to know what time it is, as I am listening to my music. I like to walk outside alot, and I have to have my Cell phone with me to know what time it is. This feature is more useful than you think. A firmware upgrade could easily fix this problem.

-Can’t add seperate album art for singles: It’s not a huge deal, but most singles released from albums have seperate album art. With my ipod you could actually add album art to each song, which I really liked. It’s not a huge issue, but it would be nice to do this.

-No Equalizer: Some songs do sound louder than others. And it would be nice to have an equalizer on the device to fix that.

- Hold Switch: The hold switch on the top of the device is a bit flimsy, and it seems that it could break off easy. I use the hold alot because it saves the battery, and it keeps me from accidently changing the content I am listening to.

-Battery Life: The Zune’s battery life is not as good as many of it’s competitors. The plus side is that it charges pretty quickly though.

-Wifi Sync is extremely slow: While wifi sync is a very good idea, it goes extremely slow! I transferred one ablum (about 12 tracks) wirelessly, and it took about 7 minutes. I thought that was pretty bad, considering the fact the regular sync is so fast. It’s quite dissapointing actually.

While any device has it’s pros and cons I can totally say that the Zune is on it’s way to major success. No one can really take the MP3 market away from apple yet, being that the ipod has basically become the standard in alot of households. It is going to take some work ethic and major time to make the zune as successful as an ipod, but if microsoft continues in this direction they will have a huge stand in the MP3 market very soon. Great Device!

5/5 Stars

RIPOFF
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The seller “sellonsellon” is a SCAM artist. I ordered and paid for the product on September 1st and as of October 2nd have not received it. Numerous emails to the seller have gone unanswered. I have asked Amazon to refund my money.

Zune 80
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
A good quality product with lots of storage. A little buggy at first. The desktop software is the worst part.

AMAZINGLY GREAT !!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It’s an amazing device that keeps you organized in the music, videos, games, pictures, and any other documental information you want to input it.

ZUNE 80 GB is great
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player, Red (2nd Generation)

The Zune 80gb is awesome. I’ve had the device for a month now and I love it. It’s well worth the price, although I paid less than the advertised price.

Joggers, Runners, Active People Beware!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I’ll make this simple, if you are exercising in a way that involves a moderate amount of moving, this will break in 20-30minutes.

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 story. Consistently at about the 20 minute mark it began 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.)

well worth it
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The product got to me faster than expected and works great. I was a little worried when I got it, because the packaging looked a little bootleg, but I am completely satisfied with it. It works great and stores a lot. Definitely sign up for the marketplace, too. I definitely recommend this to anyone that wants a lot of storage in an MP3 player.

It’s okay I guess
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
well… i was choosing between zune and itouch and at the end i chose zune because of the price plus i actually had an ipod until it died on me i guess i wanted to try something other than ipod or i mean apple products. as i have seen great reviews about zune (except their software) so i decided to go w/ zune.

I have to agree with everybody that the software that came w/ zune is VERY difficult to use… up to now I havent load a single picture because for some reason it wont show up in the software and it’s only a simple jpg file. So far I have no problem loading the songs and the movies in zune, but still the software is so unproductive and hard to use. period. I have to say ITUNE is 100% better and easier to work with.

Other than that…I think the music the video quality… i think it’s about the same as itouch. (my Aunt has an itouch) So…I guess I wish could have bought the itouch instead of the zune… but overall it’s not a bad product…just…after using it… I think I still ipod/itouch better.

Great item
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My husband loves this. He can store so much music on it. It is perfect for what we need.

Don’t hesitate
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am very happy with my Zune 80. Feature for feature, it is equal to or better than the iPod for a whole lot less money. I have 309 CDs loaded and it isn’t 1/4 full. I loaded them in WMV 128k and honestly find the quality every bit as good as 256 mp3, but with 80GB you can load them in lossless.

4 stars is only because MS took out the equalizer to make room for other features.

Finally off of iTunes
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Ok, my purpose to getting a Zune was to get off the iTunes train. On Windows iTunes is a beast — at least for me it was. The Zune software is much better, although I would much have preferred that Microsoft just use Windows Media Player… Or give me the choice to do so. Integration is a good thing, and sometimes they just don’t get it.

The software syncs perfectly, and it grabs videos from my Media Center, as well. The Zune’s screen is just AWESOME. The interface is so much better than my old Video iPod 30GB. Syncing is so much easier, too… No need to eject your Zune, you just unplug it. Get off the iTunes train and join the Zune Revolution!

OH! I almost forgot, the wireless features are just awesome. I love being able to sync wirelessly and also share my music with my wife and friends.

NO BASS! NO EQUALIZER! Audiophiles, beware!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This device has clear, crisp sound, but no bass whatsoever. Microsoft did not put in an equalizer feature, so you are dead in the water if you want thunder from your music, even with the highest of high-end headphones (I tried them all, and they all sound no better than the ones that come with it). Sorry, bass-lovers… This is not your MP3 player

Best Mp3 player so far.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Buying this makes me feel sad for anyone who purchased an ipod thinking they were a superior product.

The innovation never stops
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
When I received this item as a gift, I was excited. Over the next year, with multiple updates and cool stuff being added all the time, the Zune rocks. Wireless purchasing with no computer required, games, buy-from-FM, and 30 second song clips… so cool!

Are u serious?!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
How is this possibly $549… is that a typo or somthing? Two weeks ago it was less than $280 brand new.

Need CD
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Getting the zune was great but you did not send the cd that should have come with it.. Can u please send.

p.o. box 61

Ludinigtion, Mich 49431

Brilllhart

Better than An Ipod
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Loved it, Huge Color screen, full support for any Music format. (you will have to convert any videos to wmp though) Excelent choice for a portable hard drive too. AND YOU DON”T NEED ITunes!!!! Greatest part of it.

5 stars BUY IT.

Do you want the best MP3 Player? Then buy a Zune!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned 4 different Mp3 players and so far Zune is the best and simpler to use. I love the fact that you don’t have to convert music (like iPods) and that all your files are automatially transfered to your Zune. The quality and the clarity of the screen is amazing, your pictures/videos/movies will look like if you’re watching TV.

I’m very happy with this product and I’d ‘never’ go back to iPods or Sansa after having a Zune!

Don’t buy unless you can’t wait.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
IPOD or Zune…IPOD or Zune…. If you want a hard drive model, that is all you are left with. Due to Creative’s exit out of the market with their Zen models, you are left with two products where you are chosing the lesser of two evils.

I wanted a hard drive model to hold my extensive library.

I read the reviews for the Ipod. The new classic 80gb seems to be losing loyal users and I have heard personally from friends about the IPODs shotty manufacturing-with players stopping from working after a year or so for no apparent reason.

Zune, I bought this model about 4 months ago.

Pros: nice good-sized screen, metal case, good battery life. I only use it for playing mp3’s. No video, no pictures, no podcasts.

Cons: name of song playing is MUCH too small. Impossible to read title of song playing during a bright day. Searching for anything (song, artist, playlist, genre, etc) is frustrating. My old Creative would index the alphabet if you pressed the right arrow button. Then you could skip to the letter you wanted. The Zune makes you go through EVERY ARTIST/SONG/GENRE before you can get to (for example) Maroon 5. And how often do you think you can you hit the item you are searching for on the first try…you can’t. So you go up and down three + times before you get what you want…or you end up wrapping yourself around a tree if driving.

LACK of buttons. Sure a circle is great…but wouldn’t it be nice to have shortcut buttons. Go direct to PLAYLISTS or SETTINGS or EQUALIZER-oh, that is right…doesn’t have one.

You spend more time cursing at the screen rather than enjoying the pretty picture because all you do is spend time TRYING to get somewhere. Up, down, push, left, right, push, back, back, back, give up.

Lack of supported speakers, adapters, etc.

BIG CON: SOFTWARE!!! Thanks loads, microsoft, for updating WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER through 11 incarnations and making SURE TO PLAY for mp3 devices then making YOUR DAMN PRODUCT UNABLE TO SYNC WITH IT!!! What was I doing by making playlists, ranking my songs, making subgenre’s, and adding moods only to have you make the Zune INCOMPATABLE with Media Player! Do you like a song. Well the zune software gives you heart or don’t heart or blank. Gee, thanks. What about 2 star or 4 stars? And what becomes of 3 Stars??? Have Autoplaylists in media player? Tough luck. Want to make autoplaylists through the zune software? Don’t bother. The filters are severly lacking (see above under heart and don’t heart).

Zune’s also do not display asian characters…if you care.

Please wait for a Creative model or, if you must, a better Zune or Apple model. Apple is obviously riding the wave of popularity and not putting money into creating a good product. Microsoft is out-to-lunch.

DONT GET THE ZUNE PASS. UNLIMITED MUSIC THAT THEY CLAIM IS A JOKE
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
IF YOU HAVE A ZUNE, DO NOT GET THE ZUNE PASS. ITS A BUNCH OF BALONY AND A HUGE JOKE. I MADE THE MISTAKE OF PURCHASING THE PASS AND WHEN I TRIED TO DOWNLOAD ANY SONG THAT I WANTED, ZUNE REQUIRED THAT YOU “BUY” THAT SONG. THE “UNLIMITED DOWNLOADING” THAT THEY CLAIM IS A BIG JOKE BECAUSE YOU WON’T FIND ANY MUSIC THAT YOU LIKE AT ALL. IF YOU DO, YOU’LL HAVE TO URCHASE THE SONG. WHEN I CALLED ZUNE SUPPORT TO FIND OUT WHY THIS IS HAPPENING, HE TRIED TO TELL ME THAT THERE ARE SONGS ON THERE THAT I CAN DOWNLOAD THROUGH MY ZUNE PASS; HOWEVER, WHEN HE WAS TRYING TO FIND AN EXAMPLE SONG TO DOWNLOAD, HE SPENT OVER 10 MINUTES ON THE PHONE WITH ME AND HE WAS NOT ABLE TO FIND NOT ONE SONG THAT WAS DOWNLOADABLE TRHOUGH THE ZUNE PASS. HE SAID THAT I HAD TO PURCHASE “MIRCOSOFT POINTS” IN ADDITION TO MY ZUNE PASS IN ORDER TO PURCHASE THESE SONGS. MIGHT AS WELL GO TO THE STORE AND BUY THE CDS MYSELF. THIS ZUNE PASS IS A HUGE JOKE. IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME, TRY BROWSING THROUGH THEIR MUSIC COLLECTION YOURSELF AND GOOD LUCK IN FINDING ANY SONG THAT YOU LIKE ON THERE COLLECTION.

Dont Fight The Wave – Get an Ipod
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have owned this product almost two years and the quality of the player is excellent. The accessories, such as ear pods are great. In fact, my wife asked me to buy an extra set of the ear pods for her because they were so much better than anything she had!

So the quality is good – what’s wrong with it? Software.

You can only use the Zune proprietary software with the Zune device. That software is inferior to ITunes and Media Player. In fact, I purchased the Zune over Ipod primarily because I assumed that anything Microsoft made should interface with Media Player, the tool I use to manage my 20,000 tunes. Wrong.

If I switched over from Media Player to Zune software (manually – there are no conversion tools)I would lose many of the data fields I rely on to build auto playlists. Even my personal ratings would be lost in part because Zune has a two-grade format (”like it” vs. “don’t like it”)compared to Media Player’s five stars.

One workaround with Media Player is to build your auto playlists there, save them as an .m3u file and import the .m3u files into Zune. You better like that playlist, though, because you will have to repeat the process anytime you want a refresh.

So what you have here is a high quality device with a workable, but remarkably basic, interface. Ipod (I have one of those also) matches quality but provides a greatly enhanced interface through ITunes. Plus, ITunes will import my library from WMP. That said, none are great at handling larger libraries – say, 8,000 tunes and up. However, Media Player is best at it and ITunes comes closer than Zune software.

Bottom line – don’t wait for Microsoft to catch up since they haven’t yet and likely won’t (they have had years to do so and have not). If you are a low volumr user and really want a Zune, you don’t need one this big – save a few bucks and go with lower capacity. However If you are a volume user/music nerd like me, go Apple and you will be happier.

One last note – Creative has much better functionality but comes with a whole new set of issues that affect reliability (I have two of those also). Stick with Apple.

No complaints
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
It’s been almost a year and the 80GB zune has run fine for me the entire time. Interface is simple enough, software is a little bulky, but easy to get used to. Overall a good experience.

bittersweet??
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
well… i got my zune in august and i freaked out, wasnt able to work around it or anything but after some time i got it and started loving my zune… loved the big and beautiful screen and the space and the interface…. much more than the ipods i had owned or the zen creative mp3 player… afterwards i had to update the software and wasn’t able to do it either, freaked out also and was very mad…. but then again i was able to work around it with several tricks… now……. my zune collapsed, i reset it, eliminated everything and all and now i cannot put it back in, a bunch of people have the same problem around the internet and good news for us, the ones that live outside the us or canada, no support for us so now… i’m stuck with a zune that doesnt work that if i want to fix i have to send to the us to fix… i’m considering something new… but i loved my zune, i don’t want to go back to ipod…. but i don’t want to lose $250 for a zune that’s going to last 8 months………

Not Good to Run With
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I went through three of the 80-gig Zunes in a two-week period. Every time I tried to go running, the songs would start skipping and the screen would freeze. I couldn’t even turn it off! It works fine if you’re not moving it at all, but definitely do not use this for exercise!

A Fun Player With Some Baggage
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Early this year, I sold my Creative Zen Vision:M 60 GB player to my brother for some quick cash. After a few months, I was ready to jump back into the MP3 player market. I needed:

1. Anything but Ipod. Itunes won’t run on my PC for some reason and I’m not a big fan to begin with.

2. A Hard-Drive based player which had the capacity to hold my 40 GB+ collection.

3. Good Sound. I’m not a hardcore Audiophile, but I expect good sound quality to come from my player, effected only by the quality of my headphones.

So with those 3 criteria in hand, I began to search the market, and sadly the market is fairly slim for what I need. Creative looks like it’s getting out of the market, and other attractive options are older, hard to find and/or prohibitively expensive.

All of this brought me to the Zune 2nd Generation. A sleek, sexy 80 GB hard-drive based player for under 250 dollars? What’s the catch?

A couple of catches, as it turns out. To be as succinct as possible:

1. SYNC OR “FAIL”

The Zune syncs itself with a designated music folder on your PC hard drive. For Ipod veterans, this is nothing new. For a former Creative user, this was a bit tough to swallow. I was used to dragging and dropping files, and treating my MP3 player as an extra hard drive. With the Zune, I can’t get into the player’s hard drive and tinker around without going through my PC software first. I have over 40 GB of music on an 80 gb PC hard drive. Keeping the 800-pound gorilla of my collection on my hard drive eating up space wasn’t what I had signed up for in getting the Zune. I wanted to transfer the music onto the Zune and delete it off my PC. I tried this a few times, but got tired of connecting the Zune and having the software begin to arbitrarily delete albums from the player to sync it. Microsoft employees on the Zune.net forums say you can get around this by clicking the “forget this device” button in the Zune program, but I tried this a couple of times only to have it work for a couple of sessions, then start to yank albums off once again. It felt like a stopgap measure and not a true solution because the Zune was designed to sync with your hard drive. Period. I had to cave in and buy an external hard drive just to hold my music collection and appease the Zune software. No more random deletions! Yay?

2. “WE SUPPORT LOSSLESS!” UHH, NO, YOU DON’T…

If by “support”, you mean the Zune software can rip a CD to WMA lossless format, then yes you “support” it. But supporting a format doesn’t mean you convert a WMA Lossless file down to a dinky 192 kbps (or below, I’m not sure how low it goes) file before putting it onto the Zune player AND NOT TELLING THE USER WHAT YOU ARE DOING. I was thrilled to spend an evening and rip all of my Elvis Presley CDs to lossless format and put them on my Zune. It was several days later while listening to some of this music that I realized it just didn’t sound right. A little flat. Sure enough, checking the file size of the original Lossless file and comparing it with the file on the Zune…”significant shrinkage!”, as George Costanza would say. The best you are going to with the Zune compression-wise is WMA variable bit rate, or MP3 320 Kbps. Yep, it’s all “lossy”. Not the end of the world, but it felt a bit deceitful to go back and read FAQs with the Zune people saying “yes, we support WMA Lossless audio!” I also got a chuckle out of reviews here raving about how great the Lossless stuff sounds on their Zunes, but I digress…

3. NO EQ

Nothing clever about that title. I didn’t try the first generation Zune, but this one does not have an equalization option on the player. With my Creative Zen players, I always tinkered around and brought the bass up a bit and lowered the middle ranges to keep the sound from washing out. With the Zune, what you hear is what you get. It sounds ok, but there tends to be a sharpness in the middle to upper ranges of most songs that has nothing to do with my headphones. The bass is present, though a little on the weak side for my tastes. I’m not a guy who wants the bass blasting down my neighbor’s wall, but I like it nice and “in the pocket” as some musicians say. With a lot of my music, the bass is there, it just needs to be tweaked just a notch or two up, and the sharper high ranges (think a rock lead guitar) need to be softened up a notch or two. Again, nothing earth-shattering, but when you can’t really fix it, it can bug you.

That’s the bad stuff for me.

What’s good about the Zune? I love the wide screen and the sleek design of the thing. You wouldn’t think an 80 GB drive would be so compact. I had the small pleasure of showing my new red Zune to a friend who had just purchased an 80 GB Ipod classic and seeing a bit of envy in his face. He “liked the red” as he put it. The central touchpad feels good and it’s easy to zip through your CD collection. Sound quality is overall decent, even with the aforementioned caveats. I would just recommend ripping at the highest possible quality to avoid some of the more avoidable sound issues. Get a decent pair of headphones. The in-ear buds that come with the player are rock solid as freebies, but I only use in-ear stuff when I’m on the go, as I generally find them all to be somewhat lacking compared to the over-ear stuff.

The software does an admirable job of automatically finding the Meta data (cover art) for most of my CDs, even some fairly obscure work. Out of 550 CDs, only a half dozen or so are without covers. It’s a simple pleasure to scroll through the entire library on my player and see all the covers there.

Battery life seems to be decent. I haven’t used the Zune for a ton of videos yet, but strictly as a music player, I get at least 6 hours of battery life. It holds a charge very well 2 months into owning it. The Zune doesn’t come with a power adapter so you have to charge it through the PC USB cable. That may or may not be a problem for some.

So overall, I have some significant quibbles with the player as a whole, but I do admit to being somewhat finicky about some things other people may write off as small potatoes. I’m an archivist, I want my body of music together on one machine, and I want it to sound good. With some trial and error, I have all but achieved that with the Zune. That’s a good thing. I think the Zune is still a work in progress, and it’s decent, but I’d like to see Microsoft not get away from the basic nut and bolt stuff that people want: Equalization, customization, sound quality. These things are important to music fans.

7/10 3.5 Stars

Disappointing
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
The Zune is pretty easy to use and navigate through. The major disappointing thing i had was that the battery life was TERRIBLE! I would turn my Zune off and a few days later turn it back on and the device had low battery. I would have to charge the Zune extremely often. Before i purchased this, i checked the battery life comparisons with the Ipod however now that i have an ipod i can say that the Zunes battery life is awful and would die without even being used. The up side is that the Zune features are pretty good and easy to handle. I gave the zune 2 stars because of the battery life and every once in a while the Zune would freeze up, so i would have to wait to get home and recharge the device to reset it. Honestly i would not recommend the Zune, get an Ipod instead.

Gave it a shot but returned for Nano
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Long story short. The Zune 80 GB (Red) is feature rich but after purchasing and using one for two days I returned it and purchased 16 GB Nano (4th Gen) instead.

This is only my second MP3 player purchase. I am replacing a 4 GB iPod Mini that is still working reasonably well (but no color screen). I rip my own CDs so actually do not care if I use Zune Music management Software or iTunes. I find them both unintuitive.

It is possible the touchpad on my Zune was defective or I was just not using it right but I could not get the “clicking” down right. I would scroll to Music or Video and then “click” in the center but half the time I would end up scrolling up or down instead. Within the Music section I had trouble getting the left to right scrolling working all the time as well (playlist, songs, etc). One time after I held it down for about 10 seconds, its started scrolling like crazy and I had to turn off the Zune.

The radio and scanning the channels did not seem that user friendly. One of the reasons I chose the Zune was to get a radio (although not to identify music to purchase as Microsoft intends).

Video was nice but really I don’t see much difference between 2″ and 3.2″ screens (same resolution). Guess video on the Touch would be more impressive than the Zune or Classic but after playing with some videos on the Zune and watching a James Bond flick my interest in thinking I’d watch lots of movies on the Zune dissipated a lot! Not because of the quality which was fine, just the screen size. I’ll still watch some videos on the Nano.

I did quite a bit of research prior to picking the 80 GB Zune and my 3 top picks were the Zune, iPod Classic and new Touch (I looked at Archos, Cowon, Creative, Sansa, Sony, etc.). The Touch is not really a competitor to the first two, but of course its very different and cool. I think of its as a PDA though and many of its features are things I just don’t care about/will probably end up with on my next cell phone anyway. My coworker just got a 8 GB Touch and is having trouble with the battery life (lots of posts on the support sites about this).

One of the reasons I chose the Zune 80 GB over the 120 GB was because the former comes with the “Premium” headphones, but I was not impressed. Bass was to low for me. Once I plugged in my foldable Sennheiser PX100 headphones, the bass picked right up though (or I probably would have returned the Zune just for that reason alone).

Anyway, I decided to get the 4th Generation Nano after thinking that I should stick to a Flash based unit this time around. I did hear the hard drive clicking a few times on the Zune which I never hear on my Mini. I run with my Mini but just on the treadmill where it sits in the cupholder. I only went with the 4th Gen Nano today because Apple put out a release to take care of the Cover Flow issue (because of the accelerometer). Otherwise I probably would have looked for a previous generation Nano.

Huge improvement from 1st Gen.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
1st let me say that I’ve never owned an mp3 player before buying my first Zune, a 1st Gen 30Gb Halo Edition. I have sampled other mp3 like ipods from friends and family, but at heart I’ve always been a die-hard Microsoft fan. I was really happy with the choice I made when going with Zune vs. Ipod. Of course, I’ve read and heard every complaint about both but I was really satisfied with the Zune. It is easy to naivgate, plays music just like its suppose to, and love the video and picture features. My only complaint was how big the 1st Gen Zunes were (30gb and 80gb respectively). To top it off, my 1st Gen Zune was misplaced and never seen again. When I upgraded to the 2nd Gen 80Gb, I was very impressed with the upgrades.

1. Navigation is easier with the touchpad and I’m told by others that its not as touchy as the ipods are.

2. However you want to look at it, its smaller than 1st gen. Props to Ms.

3. Cosmetically, huge improvement to outward appearance.

Not surprisingly, the wireless feature sucks the battery life like a 1st Gen, and the video quality is somewhat of an improvement but not that much(seriously though, If I wanted to want msnbc, I’ll watch it on tv). I’ve never had a problem changing music files to play on my Zune. Hope this helps.

Man o man
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
HATE IT! The only thing it was good for was storing music. Other than that it was useless. It took me about 5 hours to download the software from the site. Then once connected I didn’t know that if I deleted the music off of the computer it will also delete the music I uploaded on the player (sync feature). Also since I have a huge collection it is hard to use this because I have to scroll to whatever song, album, or artist I wanted, and this would take a long time. Another big peeve was that the touch pad didn’t work correctly. I would click on a song to play and it would take me somewhere I didn’t want to be or I would try to change a song and it would display the menu where you can go to the artist or view song list. The good things about the player was its headphones (I loved them because the sound is really crisp), the radio being able to display the song title and artist (sometimes it didn’t work), and that it came in red.

Zune es lo mejor!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
No hay mas que decir aparte que el Zune 80 es el mejor mp3 player! Comprate uno ahora!

Microsoft Zune 80 > Ipod Classic 80
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Pros: Everything about this Zune is good, worth every dollar of the $240. Plays music, videos, radio and your background can be anything! I would never get a IPOD CLASSIC over this Zune, End of story.

Cons: None really other then it being bulky but Im a 6′1 man so what do I need a skinny little ipod for?

Overall Opinion: Long as you have an authentic Windows XP or Vista, this is an easy buy. If you are looking to upgrade from either a Ipod Classic 80gb($250) or Ipod Touch 30gb($400) this to me is a upgrade. Im never using an Ipod again unless someone gives me a free Ipod Touch 80gb, Ha-Ha.

Awesome Media Player
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
couldn’t be happier with the red zune 80 after i washed my poor zune 4 in the laundry. the software interface is only going to get better since today (hopefully) the zune software 3.0 update comes out, adding to the functionality of the zune hardware itself.

Zune 80 GB MP3 Player
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The player worked great for 2 days then completly locked up and will not function at all. Extremely disapointed with the working of this player. I bought it to replace a I River, looks like it was a bad decision.

Zune Opinion – 6 months in
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve had my Zune for about 6 months now, and it has fast become a valuable and entertaining part of my tech. I was previously attracted to the alternative the Zune gave to the iPod, as the items were previously pretty similar.

However, now that the Zune 3.0 software has been released, it’s versatility has increased dramatically. Things such as the Channels, which provide you with a list of songs each week that conform to a theme of your choosing. The Pics section, which provides suggestions for you based on your current listening habits, is a great way to explore new music. I’m not using the buy from FM (a feature which tells you what song and arist you are listening to on the radio, and gives you the option to buy it) or the Zune Marketplace (which allows you to buy songs over a wifi connection and instantly download them), but I can see how they would be useful to others.

But the killer app that compliments all these features is the Zune Pass, which for a monthly fee allows you to download as many songs as you like. This makes finding and trying new music interesting, fun and legal.

I find it amazing how much this device has changed since I bought it, both on the Zune hardware side, and the software side. If they continue to expand this versatility I think I will be owning my Zune for a long time to come.

I’d heartily recommend the Zune to anyone wanting to expand their music collection and expose themselves to new artists and styles. If that’s you, then the Zune is your device.

Premium device, not so premium headphones
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Ok so i bought this the other day, not wanting to buy an ipod (i hate apple ). It arrives… super. Here’s where the fun starts.

Device: The device itself is really really nice. Solid build (prefer the glass cover and metal case to the plastic crap on the 120) – and quite slim. The contrast and resolution of the screen are great, really nice crisp images with beautiful colour. The touchpad works great, and it is very easy to navigate anywhere through the interface.

Software: I don’t know what a lot of people have been complaining about. The software really isn’t that bad. Admittedly there was a slight hiccup between the zune software and WMP (ironically) where it made albums with “various artists” split up into seperate albums for each artists’ song. Took a little while to get it all back to normal but that was fine. The sync function is a little slow, but does the job and doesn’t hog resources too badly so you can let it run in the background.

I’m not a big fan of the fact that the unit doesn’t even support AVI files – i really hope that is rectified at some point because that is one of the most universal video file types out there.

Headphones: Ok so let’s get something straight. The headphones… well they aren’t CRAP but they certainly aren’t awesome – especially for someone who likes bass. I’m a pretty big music lover and i listen to everything – death metal, techno, jazz, rap, classical – all that stuff. So it’s all on there. But there is a distinct lack of bass being produced by these headphones. Honestly i was expecting much better quality (from the other reviews i’d read). So that’s been the one major downfall – i think i’ll have to buy a new set that handles some bass.

I usually don’t overly like in-ear headphones, but these fit quite nicely and do a superb job of blocking outside sound. That was a surprise.

Features: So down to the last bit. I literally only got this item today, so i’ve spent a large amount of time syncing all sorts of stuff onto it – so i haven’t had a massive amount of time to play with all the features. The games seem ok – decent time wasters. I’m in Australia so the social network thing doesn’t operate down here (hopefully that will change when the NZ place is built).

Summary:

Over all this is a very solid mp3 player. The lack of EQ does nothing to diminish sound quality, and all the implemented features on the interface work really well. Apart from the slight disappointment with the headphones, this is a really great product!

Hope this helps any potential buyers

Throw those boring iPods away…Zune is here
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Its so unfair that the apple lobby has put out so much bad feedback about this that I was hesitant to invest $250 on this. But after 3 months of pure music, I have to say that this product is one of the best I have ever owned. Zune software is a revelation. Integration to marketplace where you can buy music is awesome. I have not subscribed to the monthly pass and find songs a tad more expensive than amazon. I usually buy songs from amazon and then sync to my zune.

More than anything else, it has bee Microsoft track record on this which is impressive. They have not left even the Zune 1Gen owners out in the cold. All new firmware updates are for everyone, unlike the penny pinching Apple which charged 9.99 for the latest upgrade.

As far as sound quality goes, I can say with conviction that this sounds worlds apart from an IPOD. For a player without an Equalizer this was a revelation. I have compared the same songs on both an Ipod and Zune and Zune does better hands down. But you compare Zune with an Sony Walkman and Sony sounds better. But that is not to say Zune is average, Sound quality wise, Zune is well above being better. Only thing that works agains the Sony is the sizes ( 8g / 4g ) 16g is way more expensive at $249.

And believe when they say Zune 80 comes with premium ear phones. It beat out my Sennheisers in sound quality.

Would I buy a Second or a third Zune if I need it ? In a heartbeat.

No second guessing here.

Zune is definitely worth it
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I bought the Zune 80GB primarily for listening to MP3 while on the move. Also bought it secondarily for some of the well known features like bigger screen, A/V out capability, zune – zune and also wireless sync.

Zune is great in coming thru on the primarily functions MP3 playback is good. Its a great way to store family pictures and displaying them.

Getting the Zune device setup to your personal liking/taste is a major task. Some problems are primarily due to our personal preferences, but some are genuine software defects. Zune software has major problems installing on XP professional, XP home is simple and works well.

I probably spent over 6-8 days, spending 4-5 hours each day, getting my mid sized collection(6-7GB) organized and loaded and synced up. Sometimes redoing tasks due to learning curve and preferences and software defects.

People are well advised to get acquainted with the Zune software.

I am yet to find suitably priced and quality accessories for Zune device.

Though I was already aware of this, but it definitely a major issue.

Mostly retailers have tons of iPod accessories, but Zune is few and far between. Mostly you may want to invest in a good Case, quality FM transmitter and also some accessories for charging (USB charging gets tough pretty quickly). The earbuds may take a while to get used to begin with, but its not that bad. magnets help keep the two pieces together.

Zune may not be perfect but is definitely a great product.

Zune
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Outstanding technology. I fully recommend it.

The only glitch with it is unit’s battery life. The charging time is high and the use time low considering the price. While it wouldn’t prevent me from buying another (I have purchased two – one for a gift and one for myself – at different times) I wish Microsoft would pay more attention to the battery.

Battery life or defective product?
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I initially purchased the 80gb Zune through Amazon.com as a *new* product about 6 weeks ago, and at the time it offered the lowest price out there at $199 w/no tax or shipping. After about 2 weeks of waiting, I received this supposedly new product, only to find the top of the item where the lock switch is located was totally scratched up! I immediately mailed it back to Amazon for a full refund, as I did not want to wait another 2+ weeks for yet another possible “used”, “new” item.

At about that time I returned the Zune, Microsoft released the 120gb, thereby reducing the price on all their Zunes by about 25%. So, off to Wal-Mart I went, where I purchased the 80gb for $198, plus tax. I’ve now had the Zune for about 2 weeks, and I had the battery die after only using it about a total of 1 hour. Granted, it sat in my bag for about 10 days without the lock on it, so it’s possible that the battery just drained from nonusage. After charging it, (and it took a LONG time before the battery charge light would actually appear on the screen), I then downloaded some songs for a few hours and went to listen to it afterward. After about 20 minutes of listening, the Zune froze mid-song, shut off, and would not turn back on no matter what I did. There was no warning that the battery was running low. Zip. It wasn’t until I plugged it in to charge that I discovered the battery was low. I’m thinking that I got a defective Zune and will return it to Wal-Mart this morning and get a new one to re-load my 150 or so songs. I have to say, I purchased this Zune as a replacement to my Dell DJ (20gb), and I never had these problems with my Dell in the 4 years I owned it. Here’s hoping for a non-defective Zune when I exchange it today. Sheesh!

Buy something else!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I purchased an 80Gig Zune in September 2008. I paid 239.00 here at Amazon, so I don’t know where they are getting the 500.00 price tag. Anyway, I owned it for two months, and was generally happy with it. The interface software is difficult to work with. You would think Microsft, the makers of Office, could come up with something more friendly than their Zuneware.

The hard drive froze up and failed completely after 2 months. It takes about 6 weeks to get it to the factory, get it fixed, and returned. This is lost warranty time.

I replaced it with a 120Gig Zune. The hard drive on this one failed within four hours of turning it on. I sent it back.

I’m done with Zune. Microsoft cannot make a reliable product or decent software for it.

Very Good Player – Excellent Software
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Disclaimer – This is my first MP3 player, but I have seen other ones as well.

The player is very nice – no problems with playback at all. It doesn’t even have gaps in between songs. The Menu is very readable, and I like actually being able to see the cover art, unlike some of the non-ipod touch/phones, when I’m listening to music. The case is sturdy, no problems scratching at all. The cover has gotten dirty easy, but I think that would happen with any type of MP3 player I would use.

The strength of the Zune is in the software. By far, the ZunePass is a killer app. Renting music (and getting to keep some free forever each month) lets me expand my music tastes and learn about bands without having to pay for each track. The “social” portion of the software has a god-awful name, but it is neat in functionality: it keeps track of what i play, similar songs, mixviews, and links me with other people who share my music tastes. Best of all, Microsoft actually makes this software work with ALL of the older Zunes.

The downside of this is, yes, you have to run Windows. There is a complex workaround for Mac owners (basically running Windows in Parallels), but I would advise against that. The other downside is Microsoft’s awful, awful, terrible marketing campaign involving the Zune. that being said, give it a whirl. Download the software at Zune.net for free and try it out before buying the player. I think the Zune pass currently has a two week free trial. See if it’s the right player for you. I’m glad I did!

zune 80gb 2nd gen
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
great product!!!! surpasses all ipods with its user friendly and cool design. not to mention its breakthrough features–such as sharing music wirelessly with any other zune. got it all. get it.

software nightmare
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Recently bought a Zune. Software looks slick but is a nightmare on PC’s. (Mac’s are better I think.) Just Google “importing a song on Zune” to see the frustration for yourself. I can’t figure out how to import one and I’m pretty computer literate. Stick with ipods. You’ve been warned.

Zune Help Desk is weakest link.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Let me start off with I enjoy music but am not a tech geek and my tech skills start and end with me being able to turn on a computer. I found adding music to the Zen to be pretty straight forward once the program was installed to my computer. Much more straight forward than my old Creative Zen. I ended up filling up all 80gb with no problems(and let me tell you that is alot of songs). I have figured out how to create a play list on my computer but unable to transfer it to the Zune and can not find out to do this. I have also heard that do to the sync process I can not delete the music off of my computer for fear of erasing from my zune not sure if this is true but now I have 80gb of music on my computer. Navagating on the Zune is really easy and the thumb wheel is not overly sensitive. I can find a song or an artist with ease unlike my creative zen that took several tries to pinpoint the song. The graphics are also far superior on the zen. I really like the Zen but the few times I have looked for help from Microsoft I am directed to forums and never seem to find what I am looking for.

Zune Review
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This product is not what was expected. I thought this would be more user friendly. Maybe I should have purchased an Apple IPod. The Zune website is not as comprehensive as Napster or Rhapsody.

Great media player, terrible software
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is my first MP3 player not counting my old MP3 CD walkman and I love it. It’s sleek and shiny and sounds great. The interface is easy to navigate, but the center button can be touchy while pushing the center to select a song and it goes back or to a different album, but it’s a very minor issue.

The big problem with this device is the software and Microsoft’s limiting it’s compatibility by deactivating it as a drive. The only way to put files on it is by using the Zune Software which is awful. Wireless sync is a great 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 good video quality on the Zune I’d say it’s a good value all around.

Broken screen not covered under warranty
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
My son purchased an 80 GB Zune a little over 2 months ago. He treats the thing like it is a baby, but the screen cracked for no apparent reason.It was never dropped and never hit. Only the internal screen is cracked. There is no damage to the outer screen or to anything on the outside of the Zune. Microsoft adamently does not cover the screen for ANY reason. We even filed a complaint with the BBB with no good response from Microsoft.

Price is TOO high!!!!!!!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
What is up with the prices of the MP3 players! You’ve got to be kidding me, right?!!!! Over $200 for these things that are no bigger than a credit card! Come on people! What are you thinking? Granted the Zune can hold up to 80 GB but YOU have to put 80 GB worth of data on it. Maybe if it came with 80 GB worth of info on it already, it might be worth $200!!! Stop and think people….if we stop paying this much for stuff, the prices would go down to more reasonable prices.

Pretty good
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
By no means and ipod the killer, the Zune is still pretty good. The space and bigger screen for the price are the main reasons I bought one. Although personally, my zune screen has cracked a little, one of my friends has never had any problem with it. The zune software itself is terrible, but its the only thing you can use. The zune is great for playing videos, and can usually just use the same video settings as an ipod. Just download a decent video converter and you’ll be set. I’ve only gotten close to filling the 80 gigs of space on here once, so unless you are an audiophile with years worth of music, 80 gigs will be great.

Great MP3 Player
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Zune’s 80GB is enough storage for tons of music or videos. The device’s interface is great and the touch sensitive pad makes scrolling through albums a simple task. The screen can display movies in a wide format making 16:9 aspect videos look crisp and large. The Zune software is only compatible with PCs (as of now) and is decent. I recommend this product to anyone looking for a high capacity MP3 player

Hackproof + no lossless support = junk
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
An 80 gig unit without any form of lossless music support, even Microsoft’s own wma lossless?! Give me a break.

Great product!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am not a newbie, however I am not an iPod user either. I’ve owned several different MP3 players, from a cheap 1GB generic player to a Creative Labs Zen Vision M (30GB). The Zen now belongs to my 11-year old and she loves it. This Zune is by far the best device I’ve had. Yes, it has its minor drawbacks – an EQ would’ve been nice, lack of compatibility with WMP11 (which I know for a fact was a political decision because of EU), however the pros far outweigh the odds, IMHO. The nice size screen, the intuitive interface, the zune pad with the touch buttons (that alone is worth the upgrade from Zen’s impossibly sensitive scroll pad!), the ability to see which songs are going to be played next in Shuffle mode. The list goes on and on. The home dock, the travel pack and the armband holder are just a nice plus to get at the same time. All come in very handy and are very well made.

I am not proclaiming that the Zune will magically make the iPod disappear… not do I think it should. I think there’s room for both. Zoom Market Place or iTunes? Who cares? If it serves the purpose of the device owner, then everyone should be happy with their choice and let the other consumers enjoy what they like.

Ehh Run?
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Ive had mine for a month, it was grreat at first, now it deleted all of my 3000 songs i had on it, it will only add 400 back and it says error every time i try to sync it. ive had a 8gb before and the play and back button would freeze all the time. it may be my luck, or maybe zunes just suck. i never had this many problems with my ipod although i had some on occation, non to this extent

Overall a solid player but could be more compatible
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I purchased my 2nd generation Zune a few weeks ago and the experience has been a roller coaster. When I’m running and doing nothing but listening to songs I’ve bought online and were properly tagged it performs flawlessly. But throw in a bunch of songs that weren’t properly tagged (that is to say, if your music collection isn’t 100 percent from sources that properly classify the meta data) it has become a nightmare. The Zune software does not do a good job of recognizing and inserting meta data based on the song name. There are other applications that do this for you, and after a few hours of searching and experimenting I came across a program called MusicBrainz Picard that did a pretty good job. After “Picarding” my music collection I had a much easier time actually finding the song I wanted to listen to. Before that I had an enormous amount of music that just fell under the “Unknown Artist” selection even though it showed the actual artist’s name! So the early loading of the zune was extremely frustrating to say the least. I highly recommend you use the above program if your collection has not been properly sorted and tagged.

Next thing I decided to do was load all my pictures on the unit. I have about 9 gigs of pictures and I store them on both my external hard drive and my local hard drive. So I directed the Zune software to automatically sync the pics on my local hard drive and started the load process. 24 hours later I was at around 47 percent complete and extremely puzzled. So after erasing and reloading my zune a few times with both the pictures and the music I was still getting the extremely slow load times. It turns out that the zune resamples and reformats the pictures for the zune, so it was doing that for every single picture I owned. There was also a conflict with the external hard drive because when I later turned it off and manually synced the picture folder the sync went much smoother. To this day I’m still not sure what the problem was.

After that I tried to load videos on the zune. Well I knew the zune was extremely selective about what it did and didn’t play but had no idea it would be so picky with it’s own wmv format. I tried several video conversion tools (cucusoft first and some others I can’t remember) and the zune simply did not like the outputted wmv format they produced. Finally I discovered Allok video converter and instead converted the files to mp4. When converting to the 4 to 3 aspect ratio the movie still doesn’t take up the whole screen and the top and bottom has the black letterbox type bars which is annoying on a small screen.

So I’ve finally sorted out all my issues with the media. I’m not happy that the zune doesn’t support various formats (xvid would have been really nice and it still does not support .aa files from audible.com) but I knew that when I bought the player so I can’t really hold that against the zune’s rating. The zune marketplace is absolutely atrocious. For some inexplicable reason they went with their own currency in the form of Microsoft points and you have to actually purchase these points instead of just spending cash each time you buy a song. I dont want to perform another conversion in my head to figure out how much different songs cost! I also dont want to spend gobs of money up front to spend the points over time. I do not use the marketplace at all and instead buy all my mp3’s from amazon.

Other quick notes: The accessories for the zune are plentiful and adequate. The earbuds are top notch for the player. I haven’t used the wireless feature so cannot comment on that. Out of the box the unit cannot be used as an external hard drive but some creative people have figured out work arounds for this.

That’s all I have to say. Overall I’m happy with the zune but the initial setup was a nightmare.

My best friend
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I absolutely love my zune. Once I figured out how to manage the various programs, I put everything I could on it. I carry it everywhere and proudly use it to show off my pictures. Best of all, are the playlists. I can listen to hours of my favorite music based on how I categorized them.

Good, but could be better
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I’ve had my 80gb zune for a few months now. It is a very good mp3 player/ media device. There are a lot of great features on the zune like fm radio, wireless syncing, and a really good looking screen. Sound quality on zune is great, battery life is decent (when wifi turned off). My chief complaints about the zune would have to be the zune software and zune firmware. The zune software is horrible, doesn’t hold a candle to iTunes. The zune firmware isn’t really that user friendly (for lack of a better word), I still can’t figure out how to play only one song on repeat (if there is even that function) other then creating a playlist with one song. There are lot of things the zune could improve on, like little options/fuctions on the ipod we take forgranted. Overall, it is a really great device.

Can MS be arrested for false advertising?
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Gawd, what a POS!

The first one was DOA.Took it back-the volume controls(?) made static noise on the new one-The next one worked for 2 weeks then just died-MS you have billions how can you create such cheap cr*p? Are they assembled by chimps in China?

I was annoyed by my iPods ergonomics, but that is heaven compared to this junk

Also kind of embarrassing when people one after another remark “You have a WHAT?-Whats a Zoon?-Never heard of ‘em”

Love my Zune
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
had my zune for over a year now, love it, never had any problems with it, a hell of a lot better then an ipod in MY mind.

Great product!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned my Zune for a little over a month now and I’m in love with it! It’s sturdy, sleek, and has a large screen. The screen is also glass, which prevents it from getting scratched easily (a plus for me, since I’m so clumsy). Overall, I’m extremely satisfied!

Beats IPOD hands down!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Better, cheaper, more user friendly, more compatible, and you can share your music with others faster and more easily! What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, did I say cheaper than IPOD? None of the “hype” like Apple, but far better product.

zune vs ipod
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
my first player was a 30GB ipod. i’ve had the zune 80GB for a couple months now,

key contrasts between the two, for me anyway…

1. screen size – check out the specs on websites and user forums (there are TONS out there). you’ll find that while the zune is larger, the resolution is the same as ipod. -but it’s still a bonus for me.

2. FM radio – not ipod. i’ve played around with it a bit on the zune…i’ve found decent reception on about 3 stations. -i don’t really need a radio…

3. easy-to-use interface – very basic, very user-friendly; menu options are minimal. to add, something i’m still getting used to is the zune is very “no frills” in comparison to the ipod. -i made full-use of the calendar, address book, games and alarm clock with the ipod. note the zune is strictly music…it is an mp3 player after all, right?

4. formats – while i haven’t had a chance to test them all out, the zune accepts wma, mp3, mp4, avi, and more. ipod is rather limited in this area.

5. software – i became familiar with itunes with ease, but i find zune’s to be a bit easier to navigate.

6. wireless syncing – NEAT i can sync my stuff with my laptop, but it’s slower…still a nice feature though. i have not yet been able to test out the music/ photo swapping, since i don’t know anyone with a zune…

overall, i’m happy with my purchase and would recommend this product.

Atleast its not an ipod…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The good: Plays music, sounds great, looks great, not an iPod.

The bad: Zune software too simplified, no control over your music organization other than manually editing the tags. The touch pad is annoying; since it does not have a separate select button, you can end up skipping, rewinding or moving in menus instead of just selecting what you want.

Leaving this review up until 10,000 amazon raters/people say it helped them NOT to buy a Zune
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I had a review on this product (80G Zune) that was filled with descriptions about how much dissapointment I ended up experiencing in service, support, warranty coverage, cost of repair. Not to mention the sheer expenses required to get the Zune repaired and placed back under a warranty.

The review didn’t seem to ‘help’ anyone, so I am changing it to this:

If you buy this product from this manufacturer, you need to buy the the 2 year warranty and avoid ‘required’ firmware updates after that warranty expires…

If you get a repair from this outfit and have to pay for the repair, be sure to get that product warrantied for 2 years as well….

or

You should try to spend far less on something else with ample space.

After all, these devices all work the same. The same podcasts are available to all mp4/mp3 players, so is the music.

not worth one cent!!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought the 80GB Zune after much research in Feb. 2008. It was nice and worked well for about four months, that was when the “premium” earbuds shorted out. I was so careful not to abuse the wires, but to no avail. Then in March 2009, I updated the Zune per the software’s request when I connected it to my computer. That evening when I disconnected it, I attempted to listen to some tunes and when I turned my Zune on it loaded as usual and then proceeded to erase all 2,000 songs I had. Then it showed an error screen. I got online to troubleshoot it and found nothing helpful. So, I called the number that I found and a foreign speaking person told me that because my Zune was one month past its warranty and even though I did NOTHING to provoke this abnormal event there was nothing they would do. Well, of course without me paying for it to be fixed. I explained that it was working fine before I installed their “update” and something caused it to crash. It didn’t matter. I have never written a product review before, but I feel totally passionate about this. PLEASE DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID!!! I implore you not to buy ANY Zune product. I know I won’t!

problems right away
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I will need to request a replacement. The ZUNE will not play the music, it reds “Hook up to a computer”. The ZUNE was a gift for my son who is in the military, he doesn’t have access to a computer.? Not sure why is it now saying this after working for about 2 weeks. It is not convienant for him as he is in training right now. What to do???

Great Player and All the Music You Can Eat
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Zune is great player – terrific sound, a lovely screen and excellent build quality – I’m rough on my electronics, and the Zune has probably lasted longer for me than any other audio player to date.

I find the navigation on this device dead-simple. Microsoft’s Twist interface is brilliant, and it allows you to find and manage your music very quickly – a useful quality in a player with 80GB of storage.

I’m also a big fan of the Zune Marketplace’s Zune pass – essentially, all the music you can download for $15/month. That’s fantastic for a number of reasons. For less than the price of 2 CDs, you can get all the music you want, whenever you want it. I love pop music, but I find it disposable. While I’m enjoying Madonna’s newest album this month, I doubt I’ll want to hear it half a year from now. The Zune pass let’s me play everything I want to play without investing in it.

I’m also a big podcast fan, and the Zune’s podcast catcher is second only to iTunes.

I do have a few problems with the Zune. It’s a Microsoft device, but it doesn’t play along with a number of Microsoft’s own services. For example, you have to use the Zune software to synch and manage your device, even if you prefer and already have playlists in Microsoft’s Windows Media Player.

Likewise, Microsoft has a Plays for Sure initiative that guarantees that download services will be compatible with your music player – but not with their own Zune! As a result, you can’t use the Zune with Napster’s or Rhapsody’s subscription services, which are arguably superior to the Zune Marketplace.

Another thing the Zune isn’t compatible with is the Mac OS, although iTunes works on both Windows and Mac. As a long-time Window’s user, I didn’t really mind that, until my second Vista machine in ten months irrevocably crashed. That was enough to make me switch to Mac, which means I can no longer use my Zune. That’s tragic. I may get around to installing Windows on my Mac, but it’s still a bummer that I’d have to do that for the Zune.

The problem for the Zune is that once Apple has a subscription music deal, it’s going to be hard to recommend one over an iPod. But till then, there’s a lot to like about the Zune. I understand why companies like to lock their devices down (and the iPod is certainly restrictive, too) but Microsoft needs to open up the Zune to other subscription services and to the Mac if they want to be competitive.

UNBIASED
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Let me just start by saying i’ve had a 30gb ipod and recently decided to get an 80 gb zune. Honestly i like both, and i think depending on how you use it is how you should decide which one you want.

The NUMBER 1 reason i love my zune is because for 15.00 a month i can download all of the music i want. Of course some of the stuff isn’t free but for me those particular songs are few and far between. The downfall of the songs you actually have to buy is that you also have to buy points and the points start out at $5.00 for 400 points and the song is 79 points. So you’re paying a little over a buck for a song. Which makes itunes cheaper. But i only have to buy songs every now and then so this doesn’t bother me. you can also purchase music from Amazon, and put on your zune. For those who use limewire and other software were your music is “free”, the zune works for that to, and as soon as you hook your zune up and sync it, the zune will take your music from all of your folders. It also does it with your pictures to.

Number 2- I love that the screen is SOO big, So when i watch my podcasts or videos i can actually see everything. I actually take this to the store when my husband goes shopping with me because he gets bored, and i just let him watch what he wants while i shop, he doesn’t get on my nerves, nor does he recgonize how long we’ve been in the store.

Number 3- I love that you can change the background to any picture you want.

Number 4- I like the radio, although i’ve never used it because i’m still trying to catch up on all the music i’ve been downloading.

DISLIKES- you can’t burn cds unless you actually bought the music-this doesn’t bother me because i don’t use cd players.

There aren’t a lot of docking stations for the zune. Only like 3 and there pricey, 80-260. They are coming out with a zune alarm clock in july though.

At first i didn’t like the zune, i thought it was way to big and bulky and i loved the ipod so much i couldn’t imagine anything being better.

There are alot of people saying, don’t get the zune, or don’t get the ipod. honestly it just depends on what you personally like. Yes, the ipod is nice, and EVERYONE knows about it, but lately when i take my zune to work people are always asking me what it is. And because my music is only 15.oo a month, i have downloaded music like the backstreet boys and NSYNC, just because i can, and it doesn’t cost anything extra.

Very nice but not perfect
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I purchased the Black Zune 80 v2 several weeks ago and use it daily. It was easy to set up and sync my media. I did have an initial problem connecting wirelessly to my home network but found the correction to my home wireless router (access point). I needed to disable the Quality of Service feature.

The connection to the pc was easy but a standard USB cable would be nice instead of a Zune specific cable.

Video screen is very nice I downloaded a couple of movie trailers to the zune and watched them and they looked great.

Initially I was skepticle of the software mainly because I don’t like having my hands tied to one specific method to add to my device. I have grown used to it now and it is easy to use. I would still have liked to be able to use the default windows media player or just explorer as an option of managing my media. I have just started setting up a few of the free podcasts and find that I enjoy that more than I thought I would. Very cool feature to have some new content every day.

The Zune navigation was fairly intuitive and I can move around easily.

The sound is very nice with the premium ear buds but when I swapped them for other pairs I own I noticed a big difference in the sound. I think it would be nice to have a built in equalizer to tweak the sound with.

I did have one bad experiance when riding my harley I had it connected to the auxillary input and within a few miles it became useless, to much vibration I guess. When I eventually stopped it was locked up tight. Luckily a search found the reset sequence (Hold the back button while pressing the “up” possition on the D-pad).

Overall I like it very much it is easy to use and has more than enough storage for me. I think if you looking for nice device to store large amounts of media this is a very fine player, but don’t buy it if you need to use it when it is being bounced around alot.

Average at best
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Long time owner of the Creative Zen M 30Gb. I really want to like this Zune, and gave it every benefit of the doubt. Beside its big screen and 80Gb. Not much else impresses me. 1. Its sound is mediocre; I am being kind here. Have you ever listened to the sound from a Zen? 2. Can’t remove a song from Play List unless you attach it to a PC 3. It doesn’t remember the music track you listened to after turning if off. It’s a huge inconvenience when listening to books, and have to manually find the chapter again. No bookmark capability. Who were the geniuses that designed this thing? Going back to the Zen.

AWESOME~
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Good – An Amazing mp3 player in every way, shuffle song list at top of list so you don’t have to go through a bunch of menus, no time between songs, good picture and video quality, Very nice and durable

Bad (Only a Minor Problem)- Cannot be used as a storage device like many mp3 devices and you must have the software downloaded to your computer to insert/remove music, won’t pop up under ‘My Computer’.

Sexier than the Ipod Classic, but desktop software is bad
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
In this space (large capacity, hard drive MP3 players), you basically now have two options: The iPod Classic or the Zune 80.

It was a pretty easy decision for me:

- Style: The Zune, in my estimation, looks better. The glass window is attractive, most of the face is the display, and it has very little clutter. The iPod has a “worn bar of soap” look–too much silver area, the click wheel dominates the face of it (not the screen) . . it’s all just too familiar. I think the iPod design peaked with the first Nano, and has gone downhill since. The Zune 80 looks more like the “iPod Touch” than ANY of the other Ipods.

- Features: wireless synch, FM radio, plug and play with my XBOX 360–all not standard with the iPod

- Sound: I didn’t evaluate the sound of each. It sounds OK, for an MP3 player. About like the Creative Zen I had before.

- Larger Screen–it takes up most the face of the unit. It looks fabulous.

I guess that’s about it. The software is atrocious. I’d rather use Windows Media Player.

Can Delete
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have owned this product for 6 months and have had no issues….I just wnted to point out that you can delete ong off the zune effectly by using the ’stupid’ rating system. When you rate a song with a broken heart on the zune, the next time you sync your zune the song will be removed.

1 BIG PROBLEM
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
My 1 big problem with the Zune is you must keep your media files on your computer in order for the files to remain on the Zune device. I wanted an mp3 player so that I could keep my music on an external device, so that I would not have to clog up my computer with all my music and videos. The Zune is useless to me for this reason. I don’t really see why anyone would want this product if it only stores your media if the media is already on your computer. Useless.

80 gb zune
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
There isn’t anything that I DON’T like about this zune. Completely satisfied with my purchase

Not as advertised!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This is an ode to fine print.

When I purchased my Zune, here was my impression. Great! A device that I can pay a mere 15 dollars a month for and get unlimited songs all the live long day. Once I am satisfied with my songs, presto! I finish my 15 dollar a month service, and if I feel the urge to get myself a new song, I purchase it.

WRONG-O.

Once I buy the damn mechanism and download the software, it warns me, once the subscription is cancelled all your music will be erased.

Basically, I sold my financial soul to microsoft. I will for all of eternity be purchasing a $15 per month subscription if I wish to keep my tunes. Somewhere, a Microsoft CEO is laughing.

To put the cherry on top, at my Thankgiving party I was ready to play music from my zune when I got the black screen of death.

Needless to say, I am one unhappy camper.

Great Buy
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m really happy with this product, I’ve had it a couple of days and already I love it. The touch pad is very responsive and sensitive. The screen is bright and clear. I’ve had no problems with the software or getting any of my music onto it. I love the fact that the touchpad can also be used as a normal button. It has a very sleek design, nice packaging and the headphones are amazing. Immediately after putting in the headphones, even without music on, outside noise diminishes. I would recommend this product to anyone who has a lot of music or videos and wants a nice looking mp3 player with awesome work-ability.

Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player Black (2nd Generation)
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is everything I wanted and more. It was easy to download songs on the the Zune as well as Video (software not included for video downloading). It is so handy to take everywhere I go. I am almost never without it now. The use of the menu is great too. You can either locate an ablum, song, artist, genre, or playlist. It alphabetizes them for you and makes it easier to know if you have duplicate songs on your Zune. I now have all of my music that I own download and it awesome to scoll through and look for a piece of music that you want to hear and push a button. Life is so much easier now.

Exceptionally Happy with Zune Device
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Zune 80GB (red)–purchased over iTouch and over Samsung YP-2P Widescreen, and very happy I did. For those who like FM radio, Zune is preferable to iPod. User interface is straightfoward (though learning how to turn unit off entirely to save battery life is important and not obvious). I’ve downloaded extensive music collection onto the unit, and more than a dozen full length movies from dvd. Spent some time on the internet to figure out best way to rip/decode dvds, shrink them, and then encode the files to a format that synced well with Zune device. After a week or so of experimenting, I found that well known and safe freeware programs could transcode movies in both full screen (320×240) and widescreen formats (320 x 180) compatible with Zune. Full length feature movies use about half a gig, so there’s room for quite an audio and video library on the Zune. This capacity for only slightly higher price made Zune preferable to Samsung unit above.

Unit is solidly built. I bought a hard (metal) case for protection and none too soon-wife dropped it first time she held it. No damage, period. I use it on a daily bike commute and when doing yardwork. So, far, excellent overall performance. I liked it so much, I decided to buy my younger daughter a 8GB (pink) Zune rather than an iPod nano because I was able to get twice the drive space for less than the price of the nano, and got the radio. (Older daughter has 30GB iPod Video so we’re familiar with both products.) Same software combination allows storing movies on 8GB unit (though the small screen makes me wonder whether watching movies on it makes sense–10 year old daughter says it is, but I couldn’t do it!). Anyway, 8GB unit has 3 Harry Potter films on it and music, and just barely half filled. Also, the sync feature between the 80GB and the 8GB unit worked flawlessly, though of limited use since synced items are playable only 3 times. Wireless syncing with library also functions well, but makes sense only for minor updates. Turning off wireless option helps to save battery, so it’s a trade off.

Only caveat at this point is that video encoding produces a file that is rendered a bit dark, too dark for viewing in a well lit room or outside during daylight. Does not really affect B&W video files (even film noire pics like Big Sleep for instance).

Strongly recommended.

Old 30 gig better than the new…
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I have had a 30 gig unit for a while and love it!. bought the new 80 gig expexting better features and of course the extra hd space as a huge bonus! But the biggest gripe about the new ones is that there is NO EQ adjustment, so your music sound quality is limitd. So I instantly noticed this whe I stated to listen to music, and then did a side by side comparison with the old and new models ….with the same songs and the old ear buds (becasue the new buds suck butt) and I am convinced that the old 30 gig wins the “sound off”! ….and the screen resolution on the new 80 g model is not as good either. so I returned the new one. If you want better sound, stick with the old style 30 unit.

Great video, but useless without video playlists
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I loved the playback on the Zune and happily started adding video clips to it. Sadly, even though I updated from well-organized playlists, they were all just loaded onto the zune in random order.

I didn’t think it was a big deal. I went to put them in a playlist, only to find that you can’t create a playlist for video. Only for songs….

So I have a thousand videos on the zune, and they play great, but there is no way to organize them so that I can actually view what I want easily. Plus, there is no autoplay of the videos. You have to select each one and play it, go back, select the next, play it.

This really makes the Zune useless to me. When I searched the net for info, people were saying to only put what you want to watch on the zune, not libraries. So why get an 80 gig player if you’re gonna use it like an Ipod shuffle…

I love everything else about the player, but it’s useless if you want to watch video clips easily… Very disappointed.

If you buy a Zune, I promise you will be Disappointed.
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I had wanted a mp3 player for a while before buying my Zune. It seemed like everyone I knew had an iPod and I was kinda hoping to do something different, plus I really didn’t care for itunes either. So,I bought a Zune. I have never gone jogging with my zune ( or without it for that matter), I dont use the Zune in the car (the FM transmitter Zune makes, which used to cost like 70 dollars is also a piece of junk, all I get is a lot of static), and in fact I don’t hardly use it at all except around the house. I have never dropped it, never exposed it to water, its been in a Zune case the entire time I have had it. Somehow, I’m still looking at a useless piece of metal, plastic, and screen today.

About 2 months after purchasing my Zune the software on the zune went haywire,and I had to send it in to the company. The warranty did cover my repair, and about 2 months later I got a Zune back. Not the same Zune I sent in, but a refurbished one. I am certain that it was a refurbished Zune because it had an earlier serial number than the one I sent in, there was a small indentation in the metal close to where the earphones plug in (as if the previous owner had dropped it), and because the touchpad never worked quite right either. I was a bit disappointed, but at least I had it back and it worked. I kept it, and used it occasionally. I cannot stress enough the fact that this Zune has NEVER been dropped, never even been used anywhere other than my house or at friends houses, and there’s literally not a single scratch or dent anywhere on it (aside from the one it came with). I ran through the full battery about 15 times, always charged it back up all the way, and running the battery back down all the way. One day I take it and plug it into the computer to charge it up and… Nothing happens. All it does is show me a dead battery symbol when I try to start it. When I plug it in to any charging source it shows the dead battery with a charge symbol in it as if it were beginning to charge up, but will not start up and will not connect with Zune software.

So…Lets get some technical support. All of the attempts at re-booting and re-calibrating the battery that tech support online suggested did not change anything. I find the phone number for tech support and get the usual automated crap for about 15 minutes until I can finally speak the word “Agent” into my cell phone. I’m quickly connected to someone who works at an outsourced Microsoft customer service place, and I am told that for 159 dollars I can send my already refurbished Zune in to be worked on and returned to me. Which, coincidentally, I believe is the going rate for a new 80 Gig Zune anyways. When I politely push the issue that I have already spent nearly 400 dollars on Zune products between the device, FM transmitter, (which if you recall I don’t use anyways because it works horribly) and the Official leather Zune case (which is actually kind of nice), I am turned over to the gentlemans supervisor. The Supervisor then explains to me that electronic products like these just sometimes stop working, and there’s no way to know when they might stop working, and seemed to suggest that maybe I just happened to get a bad Device. I was offered one last chance to buy another one, or to upgrade to the 120 Gig Zune. I let her know that I intended to bash the Zune every chance I got, and she let me know that Microsoft appreciated my feedback.

So, here I am 360 some dollars in the hole, and nothing to show for it. I hardly got to use the thing, and the majority of the time I did it worked poorly. Please do not waste money on the Zune. Right now I am using my girlfriends old 8 gig off-brand Gigaware MP3 player, and it seems to be working fine some 3 years down the road. And she takes it to the gym, runs with it etc. If you buy a Zune, I promise you that you will be disappointed.

LOVE IT!!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was slightly skeptically about the Zune before I received it. I am ecstatic about this purchase now that I have it. I love the Zune software, & especially the social. It’s nice to have that kind of support from other users available. Would definitely recommend to anyone.

DON’T THROW AWAY YOUR MONEY
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Everything about Zune sucks – so please don’t waste your money! The device is flawed, the software sucks, and the social is a joke! Save yourself a lot of frustration and steer clear of Zune.

Great product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
A lot of people said they had trouble with the syncing, with everything automatically syncing up. These people are stupid as one of the first options you are presented with is to untick the box that says sync everything, instead it is very simple just to select what you want on the player and then let it just sync those items.

The user interface is great, the touchpad is so easy to use. The big screen shows videos very clearly.

The one issue i have had is with the software, an error occured so the player just erased everything, although time consuming, once i plugged the player back in it put all the items i had wanted synced straight back on there.

On another note i live in Sydney, where the Zune is not available so i had to import it. Microsoft won’t let you download the zune program so you will have to do some searching to get it from another site, not hard to do, just a word of warning

Highly recommended

Great buy
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
We love the Zune. I have bought iPods before and none have lasted longer than 6 months with my teenager. This is our second Zune, both are still working after a year. Now I actually have one for myself. The price I paid for the 80G was only 50 dollars more than I spent for a 4G. iPod.

Much Improvement Needed to match iPod
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I replaced my iPod back in January with the new 80g Zune in the hope that I would be getting a device that not only matched the performance and reliability of the iPod but was better. After all if Microsoft hoped to compete with the mighty Apple in the arena of MP3 players, they’d better have a product that was just as good or better. After seven months of using the Zune I can state unequivocally that Microsoft has a long, long way to go and many improvements in both hardware and software to make before they hope to match the convenience, reliability, flexibility and performance of the iPod device and iTunes software. My first complaint with Zune is with the limits of the Zune software which is woefully and pitifully inadequate when compared to iTunes. Where iTunes allows the user full and total control over all aspects of his/her music library such as sorting, categorizing and listing songs, albums, playlists in any way, shape or form the user desires, Zune’s software is severly limited and not as user-friendly as iTunes. A small example of this would be the fact that if you rip a particular artist’s song, let’s say “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis, off of a multi-artist compilation disc, you won’t be able to locate that song in your library by going to Elvis Presley because the Zune software lumps all songs from various artist compilations into the “Various Artists” category and you would have to go there and search for the album the song is on. Another huge example of a Zune software limitation is that, unlike iTunes, it does not have a “Smart Playlist” feature where you can have songs automatically go into a playlist based on criteria that you choose when you set up the playlist. You also can’t combine two tracks into one track on Zune like you can on iTunes. Those are just a sample of many areas that the Zune software is lacking compared to iTunes. I could list many more. Now let me move on to my criticisms of the Zune device itself. The hardware. Prior to buying the Zune, I had my old 30g iPod for three years and used it daily for hours on end with no problems other than having to reset it once in a blue moon. No such luck with the Zune. In the seven months I’ve been using the Zune it has crashed on me three times and I’ve had to reload all of the 10,000 songs in my library onto it three times. It takes about 3 hours to reload all of the content onto the device which isn’t that bad considering the size of my collection but it’s the instability and unreliability of the hardware that bothers me. I can now never tell when it’s going to crash on me. The first time it crashed was at the beginning of a very long plane flight which left me sitting and twiddling my thumbs for the several hour flight without my music. This never happened with my iPod.

Needless to say, I’m planning on dumping the Zune and returning to the old reliable iPod. I’m shocked that Microsoft has ventured into this part of the market with such an inferior product and it has made me think twice about any Microsoft product I purchase in the future.

Pure Garbage. Google ZUNE Album Art for proof
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
First one i kept hanging and finally froze. Received a replacement XMAS eve day and during syncing I had to keep reconnecting due to Zune stopped responding. Finally after I loaded my 214 albums on it the album art never displayed.

Did a search on the net to find many users having the same problem. Some blamed the upgrade, others claimed it was a DRM (digital rights issue)which sounded nuts to me being the MP3 albums loaded, just no album art.

Called the help sevice, what a disaster, the idiot didn’t have a clue and its use of the English language was pathetic.

The idiot kept saying it was something I was doing wrong and I kept telling this fool all my album art appeared on my first zune. All I did was tell the software which was already populated due to my first zune was to sync to my new zune.

I can’t deal with these idiots any longer, I now want my money back. Can’t stand Apple but it looks like I don’t have any choice as I need large storage to back up my extensive collection.

Not compatible with Windows Media Player!!!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Got this 80 GB Zune for my birthday and was really excited because I really wanted one because I don’t feel like taking my enormous CD collection with me everywhere. I had already backed up thousands of CDs I own into Windows Media Player. Come to find out that the Zune is not recognized by Windows Media Player and that I have to go back and individually back up every thing I have again on the Zune software. I don’t have a decade available to do this again. The Zune support number I called confirmed that is not compatible with Windows Media Player.

What’s even more ridiculous is that the few CDs I backed up into iTunes were automatically synced into my Zune. Why is an Apple product compatible with a Microsoft product, but not compatible with another Microsoft product? I wish that I had just used iTunes originally for backing up my CDs. Needless to say, I returned the Zune the day after my birthday for a refund. Complete let-down.

Update 6/30/08

As I stated before, I called the Zune information number and spoke with someone who stated that Windows Media Player is NOT recognized by the Zune. I was told directly from Zune tech support that I CANNOT obtain files from Windows Media Player. I literally have thousands of CDs backed up on my computer and I could not get a single one off of Windows Media Player to be recognized. I am stating this again because of the comments left for this review. Please feel free to leave as many negative responses as you wish to this review, but I was completely dissatisfied with the product for the price and the tech support. I give the product a one star because of these reasons.

True audiophile quality
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The functions on the Zune80 work just fine. What is important, is how it sounds! Very flat frequency response, bass that extends down further than other players, and the highs are accurate and clear. You shouldn’t use an equalizer when you have this much quality by default! Playing WMA lossless, the sound quality is almost unbelievable. I run mine from it’s dock to my hi-end tube headphone amplifier and it is a great source! You will not find this level of sound quality coming out of an iPod, not even close!

Beautiful screen. But the magic ends there. Just AWFUL!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I’ve never owned an ipod so when it came time to buy a cool video/music player I was seduced by the big screen coupled with the large hard drive. (Apple offers one or the other, but not both in a single device). I spent a long, miserable day trying to make this thing work for me. By 10PM I had listed it on Ebay and ordered an ipod. Expensive lesson.

For starters the software and hardware synch is classic Microsoft. Clunky, counterintuitive, never quite does what you want it to. I’m a technical guy and when I found myself frustrated I started imagining how a regular consumer must feel. It’s that bad.

The worst part was the online store. The video selections are pathetically few. NO MOVIES!! I even tried downloading something from Amazon Unboxed, but the amazon software wouldn’t recognize the zune and I was never able to pull any content onto the device. So…what you have is a beautiful screen on a run-of-the-mill (at best) mp3 player.

My new ipod arrived yesterday. The screen is a little smaller (but the hard drive is actually bigger–120Gb). It was wonderfully simple to set up. The itunes store has an unbelievable array of content. I hated the idea of being a Apple lemming, but they got it right. And Microsoft got it the way Microsoft always does…complicated and disappointing.

Advantage Apple.

Zune 80 rocks
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Zune 80 works great and purchase was fast and easy. Tracking was right on and was delivered quickly.

great device
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
this product has no cons it is a great device for only $250 or so and even if you have an ipod (and dont like the zune which you wont) the zune marektplace has a subcription service and you can find an online converter for protected music and put your zune music in itunes. i highly recommend getting this zune its great

fantastic hardware, horrid software
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Over 400 reviews already written here so I will try to keep my brief. I am a web developer so I am fairly good with computers, software and gadgets… just keep that in mind. Here is my take on the Zune:

PROS:

1. beautiful – very slim and sexy piece of equipment and the red is a nice touch.

2. good headphones – these are ear in semi noise-cancelling headphones. They do their job quite well. The sound is clear, deep base and they look very nice and modern.

3. georgous screen – the huge screen definitely sets this apart from the ipod. When you fly a lot then having this monitor is a huge benefit. Solid display at a good size

4. quality sound – the sound is very good in all accoustic ranges.

5. FM Radio – I still listen to it. Hello NPR!

CONS:

SOFTWARE – This is the puzzling point. Here we have a company that rewrote the book on usability with windows software, office software, internet software and so forth. Yet they give you an application that, although its intuitive in many ways, it acts at times like it has a mind of its own. Drag and drop is not a simple feature. At times you need second party software to prepare the mp3s to be recognized as belonging to the same album/folder/artist.

Let me reiterate, software is Very frustrating and it is the biggest stepping stone to getting this piece of equipment. I personally would recommend purchasing your Zune from a place that you can return it within a couple of weeks and giving the software a serious test drive. Try its audio syncing, podcast feature, video transfer and so forth. Even for someone like me who is comfortable with applications, I am stunned at how severly limited the application is.

Zune also isn’t recognized as an external drive. Forget about using it to carry data from place to place. Hello, its 2008! Worst of all, you can’t use windows explorer to drag and drop and manage stuff on your zune hd. This is perhaps my BIGGEST complain. You have to go through their semi-archaic software to manage your music and at times when it syncs, it will screw things up on your zunes HD; files will not belong to the correct artist, some will get deleted cause they no longer are on your PCs HD.

No Equalizer – To this day I havent found anything on how to adjust the sound…

BOTTOM LINE:

Purchase this if you wanna give it a try. Its good but only buy it from a place that you can test drive it and return it. Spend LOTS of time initially learning the software. This is going to be the big challenge. Try every aspect of the application and see if you can live with it… C+ product. God I could have sworn that Microsoft had something to do with making good software?.. If Apple had FM and a big screen on their IPOD, they would have easily won my dollar.

IPOD Watch Out
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love my Zune better than my IPOD. It is lightweight and the touchpad is not difficult to handle. The sound quality of the earphones is good. I just like the device. The software takes some getting use but not too difficult. I like the fact that it has a radio. I am just surprise at the price, it is more than what other stores like Circuit City, Best Buy, Buy.com charge. I would definately would go to the other stores before paying this price.

Zune haters are just plain craaaaazy!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My Zune 80 works perfectly. I’ve had it for weeks using it all day long and I have had no problems at all. Someone please tell me what everyone hates about the software?? It works as good if not better than itunes. It has its qwerks but what software doesn’t? All I know is, I love my Zune and I would recommend them to everyone. It’s funny, my itunes friends laughed at me at first, now they want one!!! That says it all people!! Oh and by the way ipod lovers…. I have a radio! HA!

80GB Zune, 5+ in my opinion!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had my 80GB Zune for about 3 months now, and haven’t had any problems. The menus are easy to use, the software is easy to use, and nothing has broken or been erased. I prefer this over the iPod Nano I had… thankfully I spilled coffee on it and needed to replace. Geek that I am, I do wish it had AM radio as well as FM, but thank goodness for any radio at all on my “MP3 Player”. Now Zune offers a red as well as black, snazzy!

Luv my Zune!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have had my Zune 80GB for several months. I love it and recommend it. Got the Belkin armband.

Pros – lots of space; sound; light; podcasts; Free from iTunes; wireless transfers

Cons: – Radio only picks up big stations; still having problems import video; Digital Rights Management(DRM) songs won’t play; still lacks in accessories, must use Zune 2 accessories

I have a lot of CDs ripped to mp3 and by rights free from Amazon. However I have lost a bunch of DRM songs due to inability to transfer rights from MSN and Walmart. I love the Zune!

Awsome
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Its Nice I love the space and that they update the software for free unlike the ipod and i like the games as well as the podcasts and the wireless syncing and the 3.2 inch screen. its awsome

Zune Rocks!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just buy this mp3 player as a replacement for my Toshiba mp3 player. I love it, I think my favorite feature on this little bad boy is the wireless sync, I mean is amazing that I don’t need to have the Zune plug in to my computer to sync my music library. The big display is a plus, I can watch my videos perfectly fine. I also bought the AV pack from amazon, so I can connect my Zune to the tv, the quality is not bad at all, I got some movies on it and it looks great and sounds great. I will recommend this mp3 player to all of us that don’t want to get into the world of iPod, this product works the same or even better than the iPod, software is easy to use, I don’t know what else can be said, I guess just buy it, you’ll love it

Good Hardware, Terrible Software
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Whoever designed the zune software should switch professions. It took days to get my zune properly synced. However, once the music was transfered and organized, the player worked great.

Best High Capacity MP3 Player on the market
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Sleek design makes it much more attractive than the iPod Classic. Although the battery life is only rated at 30 hours, the Zune beats the iPod hands down.

The navigation on this is so much easier than the scroll wheel. Fidelity is way better than the iPod, audiophiles such as myself can tell the difference, whereas most users won’t.

Podcast support on this is amazing. Zune marketplace offers an all you can download subscription for just $14.99/month. Great deal, iTunes does not offer this.

The Zune does not freeze up like the iPod does. Boot time is under 2 seconds, the aluminum back and glass front are scratch resistant, but I still highly recommend getting a case for this.

The screen is absolutely gorgeous, easy on the eyes, and huge font. The resolution is average, 320×240, same as the iPod classic. You will notice the sharpness difference, but I still prefer the larger screen.

Wi-Fi enables wireless syncing and, the FM radio works flawlessly- displaying the station name and song information (if station supports it).

However, if you want le creme de la creme, get the iPod Touch. Double the price with less than half the storage. I chose the 80GB Zune because I needed the space for all my videos and music.

5/5 stars from me.

Almost Excellent
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This product would get 5 stars except, after having bought the product for the 80gb hard drive for video content, I found that I can’t play the Zune 80gb through a PAL TV set. Considering that the Zune 30gb model can do this, it seems that this is a step down in technicality.

I would have thought new versions meant advancement not detractions. Hopefully this can be addressed in firmware updates

Also, does Microsoft want to be any greedier?! how could an AC adaptor not be provided?

Other than these 2 issues the product is great. Good sound, very clean displays and a fairly good screen for video.

LOVED the Features and Interface; HATED how it broke after 2 weeks
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I bought the MS Zune 80GB because I wanted an alternative to the unexciting iPod. I loved the look and feel of the Zune – from the sleek black casing to the edgy graphics and backgrounds. I loved everything about this product – except the fact that it broke right away.

I bought my Zune in June 2008. I loved the “squircle” and how easy it was to scroll through menus and lists of artists. I loved the larger screen and the way that videos played with the Zune turned sideways. I loved the nifty little headphones. I loved the packaging. I loved that this really seemed like an alternative to the iPod. (I am a Mac person, but I found the iPod to be boring.) I loved the price.

I loved everything about the Zune, until everything started to break. First, the battery would only hold a charge for 3-4 hours of music play time (with the wifi turned off). Then the unit started to hang when I moved through the menus. Then, to top it all off, the “squircle” stopped working. Without it, I could no longer scroll through lists or menus, reset the unit or make song selections. Internet research tells me that I am not the only with this problem, and there is no easy fix.

I loved the Zune so much I was willing to overlook the slow, clunky Zune computer interface. It took me a total of about 10 hours over 2 days to load up my 50 GB music library, and the software needed a lot of coaxing, restarting and troubleshooting. This was easily forgotten, once my 50GB of music were happily playing through my awesome little Zune headphones. But when the music stopped for good, I remembered how much I HATED the Zune software. It reminded me of Windows ME, the ill-fated OS that was absolute hell to use a few years back. Yes, it was THAT bad.

I hate to admit it, but my new iPod WORKS. It loaded my now 60 GB music library in 2 hours, and the iTunes software is a dream in comparison to the Zune. The iPod has not broken so far, and I honestly don’t think it will. And if it does, I will not worry because my AppleCare experience has been very positive.

If only MS could give us all the great features of the Zune without the wonky “squircle” problems and glitchy software, we would have a real winner. Maybe in a few years, I will give the Zune another go.

awesome
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned 4 other mp3 players, and this mp3 player is the best out of them all. The controls are easy to use, the sound quality is really good, and the screen is amazing for viewing pictures&videos. It’s a good alternative if you don’t want an ipod, but its pretty much the same as an ipod classic besides a few small things. However, i’ve found that the wireless feature is basically useless. I keep mine off all the time. I’ve never run into anyone that has a Zune, so I’ve never used the wireless sharing feature. (I live basically in the middle of nowhere though, so this might be different if you live in a city or somewhere more populated.)

Good, but not perfect.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
So, my dell Jukebox finally gave up after almost five years of excellent service.

This time I have decided to go with Microsoft’s Zune 80GB.

I have read some pretty good things about this player.

First, what I don’t like:

To be honest, I’m disappointed with sound quality.

I knew they gave up equalizer, but even my old dell with equalizer Off sounded much better. The sound is so flat, no depth at all. High tones don’t exist, bass sucks. I can’t believe there is no way to fix this. Even with expensive earphones you can’t compare Zune’s sound quality to five year old Dell. (?!)

Shame on you Microsoft. Why don’t you update firmware and give us a nice four band equalizer.

There is not much in the box.

Everything must be purchased extra, including protecting or caring case and travel charger.

Battery Indicator is very inaccurate-after calibration seems to work fine though-but why do I have to recalibrate a brand new unit?

Now, what I like about Zune 80GB.

Nice crisp screen, good quality video (if you need it), easy to operate pad and FM radio option (how about AM Radio in next Zune?), 80GB storage for nice price.

Would I recommend this player?

For $250-Yes, but if you expect high quality sound-you’ll be disappointed like me!

Solid player with just a few too many quirks. Nothing groundbreaking.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RKZOJFIAQ7319 I have to first say that I got a great deal on this player and did not include this in my final rating. For $138+tax new it was too good to pass up.

I give a quick rundown of the player.

I like many aspects but too many things I hate for this to score any higher.

Superior
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
So far, I’ve only had one problem with my Zune. Out of the box, it took several tries to get the syncing right, but as soon as I did, everything was perfect. The sound quality out of the Premium Earphones is awesome, you don’t lose the deep sounds as is the case with most earbuds. There is one problem with the sound, however. The Zune team left out an equalizer in favor of a cheaper player, so if this is an important feature for you, watch out for the Zune. The screen is glass and looks great despite the relatively low resolution. Videos and pictures on the screen are crisp and clear. Games are supported and some are pretty fun. The podcast support is simple, and so is the wireless stuff. Wireless sync is a really cool feature, though I don’t use it much. I also was skeptical about the Zune Pad, as I don’t like touch pads, but it is a really responsive and cool tool. Overall, it is a great player, far better than any iPod. I love mine.

80G Zune
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I had a 40G zune before I purchased this 80G. It works as well as the first MP3 player I purchased. I wouldn’t have expected anything different. The main reason I purchased this player was because I had filled my 40G with tunes. An upgraded was definetly necessary. I have tranfered all the tunes I had in my previous player plus 100 more. I like the convenence of having tunes during my commute to and from work. Nothing like cruising down the road with a helmet full of tunes. Life doesn’t get much sweeter than that!

video quality good; setup/format frustrating w/ glitches
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I got this media player primarily because I wanted to play videos. The video quality is great, but there are a number of glitches and formatting stuff that I find frustrating:

1. For mp3s – The songs are not listed all at once, but are organized (whether you want it or not) into random folders. This makes it frustrating to play music. I wish the Zune software would allow it so that we could arrange the songs however we wanted, and not have to deal with pictures of the album covers showing up on screen. Like I said, I bought my Zune mainly for the video capability, so this isn’t as big a deal for me — I already have another mp3 player.

2. The video names sometimes get messed up whenever I connect to the Zune syncing software. For example, I will upload a TV show with the correct name, but the next time I connect to the Zune software, the name will somehow get mixed up and be tagged with the name of another tv show. So I end up having two tv shows with the same name, which gets confusing. And then I have to go back into the software and rename it. This is the most frustrating thing about the Zune, and something that the company REALLY needs to fix whenever they upgrade the software!

Just some other random things…you cannot upload AVI files to the Zune, you have to first convert it to WMV. That’s a bit annoying, because most of my files are AVI. But I hear most video players are like this.

Also, just as a general note — it’s irritating how we cannot directly download video files into the Zune, but have to sync them from different folders. This takes too much space because the video files remain on our computers. And if you delete them from the folder, it goes away on your Zune. Once again, I hear that most video players are like this, though. But I hope that manufacturers develop a way to directly download the video files.

Once again, the video quality is great, but there are a lot of little things that I find frustrating about the Zune. I think a lot of video players supposedly have the same issues, though, so the Zune is still a good buy.

Will not honor warranty
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Zune will not warranty the player if the screen is cracked no matter what. My screen was cracked because of a malfunction in the battery and Zune reps said we would have to pay $79.99 for a replacement. They had my player for two months and never mentioned it not being covered by warranty. Then they sent back the player I sent in. The player has never been dropped, so that is not the problem. The cracked screen is only a symptom. The player will not power on nor will it charge. Still Zune will not honor the warranty. I was told they test to see what makes the screen crack and that is why a cracked screen is not covered. Basically saying the player has to be mishandled for the screen to crack. Well, my Zune is here to prove them wrong. Now I am out $250 and I have to by a new mp3 player. I think I’ll buy an ipod.

Performance + Screen Size = Good Buy
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I wavered between the IPod 80g and this Zune. After going to a retail store to check them out (which I reccomend) I decided on the Zune.

Pros:

1. The screen is much larger.

2. The unit is better looking.

3. The pad is more versatile and fresh compared to the thumb-pad on the Ipod.

4. Performance has been stellar and I have trouble filling it up.

Cons:

1. Not as many accessories.

2. Not as much available on the Podcast and video download within the software (yet).

3. Some people don’t like the pad’s touchiness in terms of trying to go down and getting sent left instead.

4. Having to put up with IPod owners.

Love my Zune
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this for my boyfriend for his birthday! He loves it and uses it everyday!

great device
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
better than the iPod, for sure. now that i’m a zune pass subscriber, i won’t go back!

zunes much better than ipod
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
love my zune i had a 30gb got it stolen out off my car so i went out and got a 80gb love it a freind has ipod a zune is much better than the ipod and the car adapter is better than enything ipod sells its worth the money i take it every were i go cell phone and my zune dont leave home with out it

great player.. bad software!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I Love the player but I hate the software

I think I would rather have i-tunes for software

I just wish the player had alternative software…

it is too bad.. the player is fantastic

I guess you can’t win them all

my previous player was a gigabeat…

it was a good player with buggy software..

guess who made it.. Toshiba… who also make the Zune

Great sound, useable features
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I use third party earbuds with both the Zune and an iPod Touch, and even without the equalizer, the sound is so much better on the Zune. Even the songs that Zune software found from my iTunes collection sound better on my Zune! The only advantage I notice in the iPod is more resolution for pics/videos, however I use the device more for songs than video files. I find myself using my Zune more than my iPod Touch…even with the touchscreen, the iPod now just seems overpriced.

There are reviews that claim the Zune has abysmal battery life…it does if you do not shut it off completely (pressing the play/pause button puts the device in “sleep mode” using some power when not in use). Hold the back button and down on the touch pad for a few seconds to shut off all power and preserve battery life. Even after a cold start up, the Zune powers up faster than my iPod touch.

Zune 80 frustrations
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Although the interface is excellent, it continually locks up, freezes, restarts…. all in all, frustrating and in reality less useful than my old 512 Sandisk model. If you’re spending this kind of money, get an iPod!

NOSHELTR
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have owned my Zune 80 for over a year now and use it every day. It has been a complete joy to have. Here are the best features of the product:

1. Solid construction feels great to hold.

2. “Squircle” interface is intuitive and easy to use. You have a fantastic ability to scroll through huge songlists very quickly.

3. FM radio allows me to tune in to local stations, but also TV audio in fitness centers that broadcast audio over FM. Essential for anyone that works out.

4. Wireless Syncing with my PC. I have a wireless network at home, and an iHome Zune alarm clock/radio in my bedroom, and can sync up my music, pictures, videos and podcasts while Zune is charging on my alarm clock, rather than carrying my Zune to my PC and syncing it with a cable.

5. Zune software for PC works fantastic, and I can view my music in ways my wife that uses an iPod truly envies. The Mixview is extremely interesting and has introduced me to music I would not have heard otherwise.

6. The Microsoft points you purchase for downloading music also work for XBOX Live Marketplace purchases, as long as you have joined your Microsoft passport to both your Zune account and XBOX Live login. I love the ability to use the points as I see fit, and have them accessible for other online purchases.

Things that could be improved:

1. Sometimes I have a hard time pressing The “Squircle” button squarely enough, and instead it advances to the next song, scrolls through a menu option, or increases/decreases the volume instead of doing what I wanted. A minor annoyance, but a tactile indicator communicating the Squircle center would have been nice.

2. Wireless marketplace features are useless in WiFi areas that require you to be directed to a start page that ensures you accept the terms of service for use of their wireless network. Since there is no browser, there is no opportunity to accept those terms, and therefore, browsing opportunities are impossible.

i love the zune
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
easy to use great picture, great product. I love the zune. i used to have an ipod but i’m so happy with my zune i really enjoy using it. in the time i have had it i have had less problems then with my ipod. It is a great product

Excellent Product
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just upgraded from a Nano Ipod. Yes it is an excellent choice atleast for me. You can’t beat the features for the price of $237 via Bestbuy or Amazon(no tax and free shipping).

Love it.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Much better than the 1st generation that I had. More hard disk space, look and feel are better, at pretty much the same price. However, there are two anodynes I need from Microsoft for my pain points.

1st pain point: Foreign language pack still not available. There is a hack out there, but I was hesitant to try because this hack requires admin priv of my machine and there is nothing that’d guarantee me that the language hack was the only hacking code packaged in the provided .exe. And also thanks to MS, after upgrading to Vista Premium, my Virtual PC stopped working so I cannot attempt this hack on my Virtual PC slice.

2nd pain point: Not being able to create custom favorite/play lists for my videos. And the video fast forward is not user friendly.

Best Music Player Out There
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Let’s just cut to the chase. You want to know how the Zune 80GB fares against the iPod. Such as comparison is best summarized in this sentence: “Microsoft’s Zune beats the Apple iPod in almost every single way!”

I have run into quite a few people who took a look at the 1st generation Zunes in 2006 and never thought about it since. The old 30GB Zunes were not exactly the slickest devices on the market, but the NEW 2nd generation Zunes were built from scratch. So forget everything you heard about the old Zune.

The new 80GB Zune features a 320×240 glass screen which is much larger than the iPod Classic’s plastic screen. The menus and interface are gorgeous. The background image is customizeable. ‘Now Playing’ displays album art in fullscreen.

The zunepad (aka ’squircle’) is incredibly intuitive. Swiping your finger across the pad causes the menu to scroll in that direction. Swiping faster scrolls faster. The zunepad also acts as a 5-directional click-pad: up, down, left, right, and center-click. All of this is remarkably easy to use.

What makes the Zune most unique is the Wi-Fi capability. This allows you to detect other nearby Zunes and share songs. But the greatest use of the Zune’s Wi-Fi is wireless sync. The Zune can be sync’d manually whenever you are at home or automatically whenever you plug the Zune into a dock (This means that you can leave your Zune in your iHome and it will automatically update itself without ever plugging into your computer!).

Other advantages over the iPod include the built-in FM tuner and the somewhat scratch resistant front surface (matte finish and glass are a lot tougher than shiny plastic).

Microsoft makes really classy Italian leather cases for Zune found here: Zune Leather Case 80 GB.

I’ve been following press coverage of the Zune from the beginning and bought myself one a few months ago. So far I have no complaints. I hated my old video iPod and I found iTunes to be really inconvenient. Zune software has all the major features of iTunes, but with your choice of some very stylish skins and more options for sorting and viewing your music collection. Zune software also lets you categorize your videos, unlike iTunes. However, this software does not work on Mac yet.

I cannot recommend any other hard-drive music player on the market. If you do not need more than a few gigabytes you might want to look at smaller players (the new Creative Zen is a good choice that comes in 4gb – 32gb sizes. Take a look here: Creative Zen 16 GB Portable Media Player (Black)). But if you have a big collection or want to watch a lot of movies in a compact player the Zune is your best choice.

I think I’m in love!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I absolutely love the Zune. I ordered a ZuneOriginal from the official Zune website here: http://www.zuneoriginals.com. It was pricey, but totally worth every penny. I got the black, 80 GB, and after at least a month of using it, I still haven’t gotten bored of it. And I love the customized engraving. I used to have an ipod nano; and while the size was very nice, it didn’t keep me interested too long. It was too simple for me. If you like things simple, or you want something lightweight for working out or jogging, I highly suggest the ipod nano. The Zune is quite big in size so it might not be a good idea if you are using it for working out. Although, you could always get an arm belt for it. But if you are into more entertainment and interactivity, the Zune is the way to go. It has many great features – changing backgrounds, music, videos, radio, and the best thing of all – podcasts. There’s even ways to put games on there! The high-quality sound and large LCD screen makes things even more alluring. This is a highly suggested mp3 player.

The only thing you have to be careful about the Zune is its delicate exterior. It’s VERY easy 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 good idea 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!

Its the Ipod eater : )
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Awesome! Beats the breaks off of any Ipod hands down. A great toy for any tech geek. Buy it now!

I’ve had mine for a few months and am ready to give it away
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought it because I dropped my Zen W hard, really hard and broke it and the prices on Zens at that time had doubled. I wanted a player that was compatible with Napster because I love Napster, but there were none in the comparable price range with Zune. When I found out that Zune has it’s own subscription service which in theory was just like Napster, I bit.

But it’s so unintuitive, slow, regulated, allows me so little choice about how I sort my music, I just bought another Zen. Even though I’ll have to redo all my playlists for the second time in just a few months, it’s WELL worth it to be rid of the Zune. In the long run, it will save me time and frustration.

The sad truth about this product is that it is typical of the lazy, let’s put the least effort into that we can and they’ll buy it anyway mentality that Microsoft has had for years. When Word and Excel first came out, they were revolutionary, but aside from some minor cosmetic stuff, despite many expensive upgrades, they are essentially the same products.

This is why I beg you not to buy this product, please give Bill Gates et all a shock and let them know that America won’t eat their crappy moldy pie offerings.

My major problem with Zune is the software. You cannot create a smart list. You can create something they call an autoplaylist, but because Zune, unlike WMP, won’t let you change the genre or whatever on your rented music, the only filter by what they’ve tagged it as. There’s no extra field in the properties by which you can add your own criteria at all. This means you can sort by artist, year, genre, which if you have a huge collection is useless. I would have settled if they’d even given more than 3 stars to rate with because at least then I could have used the stars as my own code to sort by, but they didn’t.

Another huge problem is that on the scroll, you can’t jump from one letter of the artists name (or album name) so if you have a huge collection and you want to play something that starts with p, you will scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll, every time you want to get to it.

Windows Media Player, ironically, is the program of choice. It’s one of the few programs MS has out that is worth using. However, they apparently have some deal with someone that keeps them from using it with Zune. So what does MS do? Instead of seizing the opportunity to put their vast army of workers on creating something entirely new, or even just the same but better, they give you this crap fest software.

In conclusion, if you care about what you will pay for in the future, please don’t indulge them now by buying this thing. and keep your eyes open for all the great up and coming open sourceware word processors and spreadsheets. We don’t need MS kaka! let them earn any money we give them!

Great product if you’re willing to figure out all the quirks
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this product mainly because I loved the screen which is about twice as big as the ipod and better quality for movies. However figuring out the software that you have to install to use the zune is frustrating. First of all it took me over three hours to download the software and install it because the first 8 attempts wouldn’t install onto my computer. Then once i had finally gotten the software i added all of my music but then discovered that you can’t delete you’re music off of your computer without deleting it off of the zune as well. so unless you have a 80G computer memory space it’s pointless to have an 80G Zune. However I’ve sort of worked around this by not linking my zune to my computer and instead connecting as a guest. Anyways after that, my zune refused to download any videos even though they were the right format. So I had to contact the Zune company and they told me to reformat my zune which meant that i had to delete everything off of my zune including the media that came with the zune. Now its working ok and i do like it alot but be warned that you’ll hate it before you love it.

Probably should have stuck with the iPod
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I’ve had my Zune for about a month now. It looks great, I love the big screen, and I like the control system, or interface. I was very excited when I first got it, but I was ready to throw it through the window that night when I couldn’t figure out how to get the software to work. I had to download some patches or fixes or something before it would even be recognized by my computer. Very frustrating, and it doesn’t come with a disc just to load the software yourself.

I’ve also noticed that the software sometimes has glitches while ripping discs. It’s not a Zune hardware problem — in other words the zune isn’t skipping, but it improperly rips a song and transfers it to the zune with skips in it. Even if it’s only one song from a disc, you still have to go back and re-rip that disc to fix that tune that didn’t transfer right. Other than that, the sound quality is very good.

During playback the screen goes completely black after a few minutes. It’s sometimes nice to glance at the screen just to see what the title of a song may be or how much longer a song has to play, but you’d have to touch the interface to wake it up to see anything. I’m not talking about the bright backlight, but on an iPod you can still see the screen even after the backlight has gone off. Not so on the zune. Theoretically this should lead to longer battery life, but I don’t think it lasts any longer than my old iPod.

And that also brings me to my next qualm. The battery level indicator is not accurate. On the iPod, I saw the level indicator decrease at a constant rate and give me the red warning at the end, and I knew within an hour of when it give up. With the Zune, it still seems like I have half power according to the indicator, but the next thing I know the battery is dead.

My last complaint is that for this price it should come with a wall charger. That is a separate accessory so you have to charge it on your computer. On the plus side, the headphones, or earbuds, are really nice.

I tried the zune because I was sick of the short life spans of iPods. My family has gone through four now and none has lasted more than two years. Time will tell if the zune is more durable, but as long as both machines are performing at their peak, I like the iPod more.

Beware, Zune auto deletes your files.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I wanted to love my Zune. I hated that you supposedly had to have an ipod to have all the newest features in the portable music realm. The Zune was supposed to change all that.

Sadly, the software that you must use, infuriatingly “auto-syncs” with you computer to add new music, but it also deletes any music that you have removed from your computer. So unless you plan on keeping 80gb of music on you PC, then don’t but this. If you like having your software do things with out your permission, then go ahead. But when you’ve loaded 50 cds on your Zune and then decide to make room on you PC’s hard drive for more, don’t be surprised when you plug in you Zune that it immediately(without your permission) deletes it all.

There are a few “workarounds” (that are actually shunned by the people over at the Zune community suprisingly), but you shouldn’t have to fix a brand new device, right? If Microsoft planned on fixing this, I’d say get one and be happy, but it appears as if they are sticking to their broken guns here.

Final Note:

If you plan on getting a Zune, know that it will “auto-delete” any music you delete off your hard drive. Most people don’t know this until they get one, so I though I’d warn a few and save the heartache.

Excellent gadget
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Zune 80 has a beautiful design, great screen and sound quality. Definitely better that the iPod Classic. Also Zune Software had a great upgrade and fixed a lot of bugs. Recommended 100%. The only problem is to deal with iPod users who think there is nothing else in the world besides cheap white earphones.

The software ruins it
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The device itself is pretty good but the Zune software is horrible. What did I expect from Microsoft?

My Wife Loves It!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Bought the Zune for my wife for her birthday back in August. She burnned all of her CD’s and now keeps them on her Zune. She loves having her music all in one place.

My only complaint is that there should he a setting to turn the headphone jack into a line level out. This would significantly improve the clarity of playback when using the headphone jack to provide input to a hoime stereo system.

Absolutely Horrible
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I REALLY wanted to like this Zune. My excellent 20 GB Zen Sleek Photo is out of space, and no one seems to be making 30 GB + units anymore other than Zune. After dedicating the better part of two full days of my life to getting this thing running, I have finally thrown in the towel and instead will get a second (used) Zen Sleek Photo. Here are the problems:

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 decision 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. However, 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.

Zune is a Great Product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Unbelievable capacity. I loaded all of my CD’s and photos and am still less than 50% full. Sounds great. Learn the trick of turning it totally off by pressing left button and bottom of disc at the same time for several seconds. I wish it had more documentation available. I couldn’t find much online. I also wish more accessories were made for it. Everything is Ipod. One interesting thing I noticed is that it will continually search online and add information on your albums. For example, I had some of the 60’s and 70’s collections from Time Life and others and when I initially ripped them to my PC and sync’ed to the Zune, it found the Album Cover on line but the artist was “Various Artists”. Somehow, it eventually found all of the artists names.

Great equipment, less than stellar software
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Zune hardware is so superior to iPod classic. I’ve had an iPod for the last 4 years, but this thing is way better. Wireless syncing, great interface and much more. Unfortunately, Microsoft hasn’t done very well with the Zune software. If you don’t sync much, it’s the perfect product.

Thinking about a Zune? Think twice, or even three times…
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I purchased a Zune 80GB for my wife for Christmas 2007. Looked neat I said to myself, and most people had good things to say about them. I also liked the idea that I didn’t have to convert everything to a different music format (like the Ipod). About 7 months after we got it, it started locking up. After receiving some error messages, I visited Microsoft’s Zune website, and followed their instructions on how to reset the device. Nothging worked. Had to call Zune support, and they couldn’t help. They gave me an RA number, and I sent it in. A short while later, I received a replacement. What made me worry when I received the replacement, was an offer from Microsoft to purchase an extended warranty. I didn’t, figuring the first one I purchased was maybe just suffering from “growing pains.” The replacement worked okay until recently, when my wife told me the her Zune was acting “funny.” I didn’t really give it much though until today, when I tried to add some songs to her Zune. The third song I tried to sync took a lot longer than normal. After about 3 minutes, I got an error message from the Zune software on my computer that there was a problem with the sync, to try it again. Looking on the Zune, however, the music file was there, and everything seemed okay. When my wife got home from work, she went to work out, and told me that she was having problems getting her Zune to work. She kept getting an error message “The item is missing or can’t be played.” When she would hit the play button, the songs would quickly flash past on the screen, until it would land on the same song every time. Then it would refuse to play. I again visited Microsoft’s website, and first followed the instructions on the support page for the error message we were getting, trying to get it to work. None of the first 6 ideas worked, so I started the last method, “Restore the device and synch the content again.” When I tried to restore the software, the Zune hung up on the screen “Clearing Contents – Please wait.” When I called Zune customer service back, I was told, after “Paula” could not get the Zune to reset, that I could send the device back with a payment of $129, and they would fix it.

To have two devices go bad under similar circumstances in less than 15 months, and Microsoft’s refusal to assist in any way with the second defective unit, leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. I won’t be buying a Zune again, to say the least. It was funny though, when I got the replacement after the first one went bad, there was a letter in it saying that I could buy an extended warranty for a discount. I wonder if Microsoft knew something I didn’t?

Far Better Than I Had Imagined!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had an iPod ever since they came onto the scene. But I only had the 30GB and I needed more space for my music collection and I did not want to go out and buy the 160GB iPod Classic and the iPod Touch 32GB is just to expensive for my tastes and does not offer any more storage. So I was set on getting the iPod 80GB but I had heard about the Zune 80GB by Microsoft so I thought I owed it to myself to check it out.

Both were evenly matched in terms of price, although if I had wanted to get a refurbished iPod 80GB I could have for $200 on the Apple website, that is a whole $40 cheaper than what Amazon is charging for the Zune. But alas I am writing a review for the Zune since I did end up choosing it. If one is in a similar situation. I would just say this. If you are someone who is buying an iPod just to be trendy, do not buy anything at all until you can think for yourself. But if you are looking for tons of addons maybe you should by the iPod. But the Zune is slowly creeping new addons all the time. Plus all the features the Zune 80 has compared to the iPod 80 is just a win hands down. I enjoy Microsoft being the underdogs, they give you a superior product.

Zune 80 GB
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have enjoyed using my Zune the software is quite easy to use, and the FM radio feature was useful while camping to get storm information.

Serious PROBLEMS MUST READ Do not Buy Zune
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I brought my Zune on 1/25/08 from Circuit City and had issues right away. You have to update the firmware and mine locked up. Took it back and got a new one, this one worked fine, life was good. Two months later I was playing it in my car and it stopped working, looked at the face plate and found a fine hair line crack on the screen. So I looked up on Google “Zune Cracked” and found 90,000 entries, I was shocked. Apparently there is a serious issue with their battery being to close to the screen. Lithium batteries expand and contract and MS did not allow enough tolerance (that’s what a lot of web sites are saying)

I called Microsoft and just like everyone is complaining they are saying this voids the warrantee. There is talk about a class action lawsuit people are trying to pull together.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT check google first and see.

I finally got an IPOD, a least they stand behind there product.

Could have been really great
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The main reason people are going to choose the Zune over anything else is the size of the hard drive and with the new 120gb model out its simply an enormous amount of storage but Microsoft have made a dogs dinner out of some of the features.

1. Software. Extremely annoying-doesn’t delete when it says it does, synching is a right pain with a silly folder method, drag and drop doesnt work all of the time.

2. Extras. Unless youre a computer geek then any videos you want to put on this have to be converted to WMV files or MP4 files and this involves buying a converter. It takes an absolute age to both convert and then synch these onto the Zune. It doesnt come with a case of any kind unlike the Iriver H10,see below.

3. Audio. Iriver owners will appreciate what I’m saying here. I had a H10 for years and the amount of presets it had including an equalizer AND SRS wow made the H10 a superb player accoustically. The Zune has absolutely nothing!!! I mean come on! Not even bog standard treble and bass like your old Sony 1990 walkman used to have.

4. Radio. Yes its great to have a radio but why not have presets?

Ok thats the negatives. The positives are that the screen is beautiful and clear and its easy to use and is a monster of a thing at 80gb and 120gb respectively.

I got mine as a present-if I had bought it I probably wouldnt have been amused-the lack of any equalizer on the sound really is incredible though.

Great sound, but a few drawbacks
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great sound. HUGE capacity. Easy to use. Only con I have found so far is…I have my pictures files on my Zune. I have selected (under settings) to choose which pictures to add/delete. I have deleted the ones I don’t want to take up space. EVERY TIME I recharge the battery or put on new music, it also downloads all the pictures I have laboriously deleted off my Zune. 100’s of them. VERY FRUSTRATING! Does any one have any suggestions? Thank you!

Zunetastic Adventures!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
There are many advantages to owning a Zune. I got it as a birthday gift for my wife, who commutes back and forth to work. She loves it, but has yet to see the reason behind the high price, then again, she is not an informed consumer. We use a tape adapter for the car stereo. The screen is big and the glass display cover looks great for the vibrant colors from videos/pictures. Though, the equalizer has been removed from the 2nd gen, it still produces great sound and the ear bud headphones are deliver fantastic audio. The storage space is great for numerous videos and audio files.

The only disadvantage in owning this product is finding accessories, which fit and are well made.

Would recommend it to anyone in the market for a high capacity premium portable mini video/audio/picture player/storage/display.

Excellent Sound and Picture Quality
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased the 80 GB 2nd Generation Zune model, and use it mostly for listening to MP3’s while laying out on the deck or kicking back in the lazy boy after a long day at work. The sound is excellent, which must explain part of the reason Microsoft elected NOT to incorporate a graphic equalizer. (That’s right…no graphic equalizer to pump up the bass, but the sound is VERY clear w/o an equalizer.) Picture quality is also excellent on a screen measuring 1-7/8 inches x 2-1/2 inches. The glass screen makes it more scratch resistant, but I would suggest purchasing a leather case anyway because the screen is not scratch-proof. Viewing pictures is quick and easy and they look great. I have heard that the Zune is also excellent for loading and viewing movies…after updating the movie to 320 X 240 resolution, which shrinks the file size down from 4GB to under 1GB. But since copying movies is a violation of copy protection laws, I can only suggest copying home movies to your Zune. The software required to add files to your Zune can be downloaded from the Microsoft web site. The 80GB drive is 100% quiet, and cannot be heard at all. Nor is there any vibration when the Zune is running. Installing MP3’s from your computer is also quick and easy. The menus are easy to navigate through, and include Music, Videos, Pictures, Social, Radio, Podcasts, and Settings. Creating various folders for your MP3’s is simple (either by artist, year, type of music, etc.), and you can quickly add 2 or 3 (or more) folders to the ‘quick play’ folder and set to shuttle mode if, say, you want to listen to only Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles, and Journey while at the beach, on a plane, or just ‘zoning’ out. The supplies ear buds put out excellent sound (although just a little light on the bass), and are small and comfortable, even allowing you to ‘plug in’ while going to sleep. Battery life is not great but is acceptable. Approximately 20 hrs listening to music, and 3 hrs watch movies. My only complaint is recharging the batteries. You have to either use your computer (USB port), or purchase an accessory you can hook up your Zune to which consists of 4 AA batteries. That said, recharge time is quick, taking approximately 35 minutes to recharge from 1/3 to full capacity. The Zune itself measures 2-5/16 inches wide x 4-1/16 inches long x 1/2 inch thick. Radio reception is above average as I am able to pick up all local stations, and they sound awesome. Even the artist’s name appears on the screen while listening to music on local stations. And finally, the ability to view the associated Album Covers while listening to MP3’s is a plus. (The Zune software automatically looks for each song’s Album art.) I chose the Zune over the IPod because during research I read a number of reviews saying the IPod classic sound quality was only average at best. I wanted an 80+ GB model with a radio and larger than average screen size, and the Zune fulfilled all those qualifications perfectly.

Spectacular product
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Let me just say that the Zune is a wonderful product for clumsy oafs. About a month ago I dropped my Zune 80 on the bathroom floor while it was booting up, and it locked up permanently. Nothing I did would get it to work again. I figured that was it, I was out 250 bucks. It was still under the manufacturer’s warranty, but that warranty specifically states that accidents are not covered, and dropping the device on the bathroom floor sure seemed like an accident to me. But, I finally decided to request a repair anyway, figuring I had nothing to lose. Within a few days I had a replacement Zune, completely free of charge. Boom, simple as that. Now THAT’S customer service. Somehow, I have a feeling that Apple wouldn’t be so likely to replace an iPod that was similarly damaged.

lots of space and good looking
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
its a quality mp3 player with awesome headphones. you’ll have more than enough space for thousands of songs a bunch of converted videos.there are only a few complaints. the touch button is easy to accidently push while in pocket. you can turn off the touch feature but that detracts from the players coolness and ease to use. also as a warning, do not take snowboarding or i guess any physical activity. if you pay this much make sure to be careful with it. Mine broke and i had to go to a psychiatric ward. jk its a sweet mp3 player buy it if you hate apple and dont want a creative.

Zune – What Should Have Been
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Dear Bill Gates,

I should never have been writing this review. Despite all the backlash about MS and Windows in the press, I’ve always regarded this as a predictable reaction to a very successful company. I’ve been a loyal customer – I’ve owned PC’s and used Windows for 20 years now. My career started as a Windows computer programmer, and I watched how PCs essentially changed the world. I’ve also watched Apple, and how they have competed and positioned themselves in relation to MS.

To me, Apple was, and mostly still is, a lot of hipster hype. Appealing to the streak of non-conformity for the sake of non-conformity in some people, they have found a niche as THE ALTERNATIVE. The thing is, for all that cool hype, the Apple has always been the more restrictive system. It is the PC that is open architecture, and adaptable to change. And so it was until the Ipod came along.

Here, the simplicity of Apple, while restrictive at a PC level, worked beautifully as an MP3 player. Standardization and reliability was all anyone could really ask for in this space, and the Ipod delivered. For a premium price, of course. Like everything else Apple sells.

When I heard about the Zune, I was excited. I saw this as the OPPORTUNITY for MS to once again demonstrate what was possible with technology, and take the MP3 market to the next level. I was ready to watch Apple slink into the MP3 background, forced to manufacture pricy “boutique” Ipods for their remaining market niche. It would have been sweet to see.

But that isnt what happened, at least not yet.

The Zune is an unmitigated disaster. And remember, this is coming from a dedicated MS fan.

Why? It offers nothing that I’m used to seeing from MS in terms of openness. Why not offer multiple resolution screens? Battery options? Things that USERS could do on their own, like how they buy graphics cards for their PC. No, we basically get Ipod lite, with some hardly/never used features replacing core functions. Wifi and Social networking instead of an EQ? Are you serious? Very short battery life, buggy firmware and software, poor sound levels when plugging into external sound systems like my car radio… its just disappointment after disappointment.

The PC software is a mess. It is buggy, with poor usability and lack of advanced features. Another UI standard, thats what we needed – not! It is so time-consuming and frustrating to get music on the darn player using this junk.

I am very sad to tell you that I find myself forced to cross over to the dark side and buy an ipod. I just dont want to fight with this stuff anymore – I’m worn out from it. I just want to listen to music and not solve system problems.

It didnt have to be this way. You should have done better. Maybe you ultimately will, but you will have to work to pull me back because I’ve been burned now and wont quickly forget. Shame on you for blowing it so badly, and taking a good chunk of change from me in the process.

Great mp3 player – Don’t be an i-sheep
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Simply, the Zune 80 gig is a great product and Amazon a great supplier. The first unit I received was damaged during shipping. I received the replacement in 3 days.

The Zune software is easy to use. Buy your mp3’s through Amazon – none of the tagging itunes uses to control what you’ve paid for. Put the files on your computer, if you break your mp3 player 10 times you can copy the file onto the new ones 10 times.

The large screen makes it easy to see album art and navigate. The 80 gig is big enough to hold all your favorite music, but not too big. You’ll use up the space fast if you rip at a high bit rate, so don’t buy a small player that you’ll regret buying later.

zune is garbage
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
i loved my zune when i first got it. it was great till not even 2 months later it just stopped working. nothing happened to it, didnt fall or anything. i picked it up to listen to it and in was making this weird clicking nosie like the hard drive was messed up then the contact customer support screen came up and thats all it will do now. im switching to ipod. don’t buy a zune there garbage.

Happy Customer
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought the Zune for my daughter. She loves it. I got a great product at a great price.

Thank you!

If Only It Worked…
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Piece of crap. I’ve had my 80G Zune for almost a year. The best thing I can say about it is after it died (TWICE!), microsoft was pretty quick about sending another piece of crap to replace it. The most current issue I am having is that it will not sync any media from my computer. Pretty much making this thing useless. Not even close to being worth what I paid. It might make a good ice scraper, not sure.

80GB Zune is great
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had 2 ipods in the last year. My first was a 2GB and the 2nd was a 4GB and I realized it still wasn’t enough room for my music, podcasts, and a few audiobooks. I kept having to remove music in order to load the other stuff. The battery on the 2GB is shot and I now have to always leave it connected to power in order to use it. I use the 4GB for walking.

So, I took the big leap and ordered a refurbished Zune. There were no earbuds with the refurbished unit nor CD for software. I called Microsoft Zune help and they unbelievably sent me the earplugs within 10 days at no charge! That impressed me!

I found that downloading the software from the Zune website was a little tricky and took a while but it worked fine. I still haven’t figured out the best way to turn the unit off. It seems like it is the same way as the Ipod where you depress the bottom of the round clicker until it shuts down but seems sticky. I have to admit, it is also sticky on the ipods.

When I downloaded the software, it automatically imported the songs that I had ripped from my CD’s into iTunes into the Zune which was great! However, it does not import those songs that I had purchased through iTunes. When I talked to the help person at Zune, she gave me a link that over rides this so I can also bring that music in but I haven’t tried that yet.

I love the fact that it has a FM radio option AND that you can very easily select a song that is playing that wirelessly syncs up with your computer and loads the song into your cart. I have really not used the wireless option yet as I just leave the USB cord in the back of the computer and connect to the ZUNE when recharging so I don’t really have a need at this point for wireless.

I do think it is a little easier to use as it has it’s own BACK button. The videos from podcasts play very well on the larger screen. I can even dock the Zune to my Altec using the adapter they provide and hear the exercise podcast and watch it while doing my exercises. Seems easier than connecting to the TV set.

All in all, I love it and will not be returning to ipods. I am getting much more bang for my buck and am not tied to the proprietary stuff from Apple where I don’t really own the music I buy.

Zune
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This was a big disappointment. I did not get to use it at all and returned it. The software are atrocious, my computer did not recognized the Zune. I had to change computers just to make it do something, than it synched junk I did not need and could not get rid of it in the Zune. I felt like in the dark ages of DOS, nothing works full of problems and you have to read a ton of stuff to figure out how it works. I bought an iPod instead.

A Worthy Ipod Competitor
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought my Zune about a year ago so i figure it’s about time to review it. Overall i have been very happy with it. I still have not filled it to capacity, and i have a pretty vast music collection, + some videos. The screen is big and looks very sharp, great for videos. Navigation is simple. Microsoft is always upgrading the software and firmware, which is good. When the software first came out it was terrible, couldn’t even really edit anything, but now i like it and you can do much more with it. Some people complained of no equalizer. I don’t find it a problem. 95% of the time im using it in my car, which has an eq.

My complaints – Battery life is not quite as good as i would hope. I forget what was advertised, but its probably usually like 10 hours for me (just playing music) which is ok but not great. The zune pad is cool, but sometimes works TOO good. Like ill go to click on something and it’ll slide up or over. i almost kind of wish they kept the button like the original had, but it works fine. I’d like an option for something other than shuffle all. a shuffle all by artist or something like that would be cool. hopefully they’ll add something liek that with an update eventually. Also, doesn’t support a lot of my video files, only some of em. Despite these, i still love it and woudl not trade it for an ipod. definitely worth my $240

Love
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I loved my Zune, all the way. I’ve never had an iPod, I’m sure they’re great but I’ve always wanted something with radio built in that could hold all of my songs. The only mp3 I’ve had before this was a Sony 256 MB Walkman. Ha! Only held 100 songs. I had my Zune for 2 months before I lost it (probably stolen) and it made me so mad. That thing was awesome!

Thinking about buying the 80GB Zune, need help
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Hey all, I’ve read a lot of the reviews on the Zune and most are positive. However I have a few questions. First, I’ve owned the 40GB Creative Zen for 2 and 1/2 years and it’s worked great. Just recently the earphone connection is acting up and unless you hold the jack in tight, it only plays in one ear. All I really care about is the capacity for more music and that it sounds good, which is basically all the zen is for. Even though the Zune has no equalizer, I’ve read a lot of comments about it still sounding good.

So, I have some questions on the Zune.

Can you rewind and fast forward during a song?

Can I skip a song or start it over, similar to hitting the previous/next track button on a cd player?

How long does the battery usually last for only music?

I don’t want it to automatically sync up and pull music, I’d rather drag and drop. For example, I may not want a full album. Can I do drag and drop and turn off the auto syncing?

Most of my music is just stored in folders by album, how much formatting will I have to do once I pull it over to the Zune? Currently I have close to 5000 songs within 8 genres.

I’ve read it sounds good with the earbuds, but I’m not a big fan of earbuds and use regular headphones. Is the sound the same no matter the headphones? I don’t mean the cheapy cheaps from the dollar store either as I have good Sony headphones.

Zen has a nice find feature where you can scroll by letter, going directly to the “M’s”, without scrolling through every title to get to the “M’s”. This feature works for artist, album, and track. What kind of search does the Zune have?

I read one review about it skipping while jobbing or riding a bike. I do jog and if it skips, I don’t want it. Does it skip when bumped or shaken like when jogging or riding a bike?

Bottom line, I want something comparable to the Zen with a lot more storage. Again, all I care about is music although I may put photos on it and use the radio function. I’d rather not buy an Ipod. If I end up buying a Zune I will post my thoughts so to help others.

Thank YOU for your help!!

BC

Great Product
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned my 80GB Zune for over 6 months now and I love it. I owned an old Yepp (now my youngest sons player) and my 10-year-old has an off-brand player. The Zune surpasses these.

Pros:

- easy to use

- great sound

- decent picture

- overall size

- amount of space

Cons:

- I have had no problems with my Zune.

I choose the Zune because I didn’t want to be limited to only using a specific music service. I had no problem ripping my CD’s. The software recognized the artist and song immediately. The only thing I did have to do was tag music I had recorded because it didn’t have tags. I have added most of my DVD collection and other videos with no problem. And I love the Zune market place.

The ease of use issue was recently brougt home to me. My husband, who can’t even turn on my laptop, picked up my Zune and started using it. Now he wants one of his own.

In general, if you are lookig for an MP3 player with alot of space for a decent price go with the Zune.

love it
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Love it—-so easy to use. I got a ZKick to dock it on and it has fantastic sound. The Zune goes where I go.

Brilliant
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
ipods reign of terror is over.

Pros: This thing is the definition of user friendly and the way it remembers where you where looking at your lists last is incredibly convenient.

Cons: Some people say the Zune software is a hassle. I say, “Those who are resistant to change are destined to parish.”

Its different, but hey, change is good. Get over it.

Other thoughts:

I had D/L’d my operating system (XP) from a torrent and it worked fine for about a year. Then I got my Zune and it wouldn’t let me install the Zune software. I almost cried. It’s like Microsoft beat me once again. So I bought the software and upgraded to vista. Everything works great now and I don’t have to worry about Microsoft shutting me down for using a “shared” OS.

In conclusion, this is a BAMF device and I would suggest it for anyone.

Love and peace.

Wish this was an I-Pod
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
April 25th I bought an 80gb zune. That day and since I’ve added a leather case, hard protective case, car pack, home media pack, and the book “how to do everything with your zune.” I can’t do everything. I can’t get rid of the horrible music videos microsoft dumped on it before I bought it. Videos freeze up. A player this expensive should come with a program to format DVDs to zune. I looked on line to get help from the zune site. They say to go to the forums. Couldn’t get in. It even said I hadn’t bought the points needed. Next time I tried to sign in my password wasn’t accepted. I asked for a new one. didn’t receive an e-mail. Happened again. Called Zune. The recording went through the (SO CALLED) legitimate problems they would help you with. They told me to go to their web site. Which sends me to forums, which won’t let me……etc. …….etc. around and around!!!!!

The bigger screen is nice. The accessories are great…but, not if you can’t get the thing working.

Wish we’d bought our MAC before I bought the zune….

I want to get an I-Pod. There are trade offs, (smaller screen) but, if I can actually use it and buy things on I tunes that I don’t have to reformat to use I will be thrilled.

Zune is microsofts answer to the I-Pod. It’s a whisper with nothing backing it up but a lot of hot air!!!!

“APPLE” anyone?

Better than a Creative Zen, but Microsoft could have done better!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I’m not an Apple follower, so I’m comparing my recent Zune purchase with my previous player, a 40-gig Creative Zen Touch.

THE BAD: Have had my Zune for about a month, and already have a sticking button. In addition, the first time I tried to use the lock button, it snapped off. Went right back on, but the physical quality of the player seems pretty poor. I’d heard that Zune worked with Windows Media Player – it doesn’t. What was Microsoft thinking?? The software isn’t particularly great but it is fairly simple. Doesn’t always work as intended, though – you can create an entire playlist and mysteriously lose it. You can’t just turn it on and have music play immediately, like the Zen. You have to select “music”, then a playlist (sometimes – other times it just goes to the “quick list” – haven’t figured out why yet, but wish I could get it to do that all the time), then pick a song or “shuffle all”. It takes a few seconds longer to find a particular song than the Zen, and the more music you put on it, the longer it takes. There is no real instruction manual – you go online to set it up and get any/all information. It also doesn’t come with a wall charger – only a USB cable for charging.

THE GOOD: For 80 gigs, it seems like a decent value, even with the aforementioned problems. The color screen is very clear. The lack of many buttons makes it easy to use without having to look at it. It weighs less than the Zen, with twice as many gigs. I haven’t used it for anything but music yet, but with 80 gigs there’s a ton of space for movies, pictures, etc. Can’t imagine trying to watch a movie on that little screen, but at least it’s an option. Also haven’t tried sending music to other Zune users in the area, although it does tell you when another Zune is near enough to send files. Unlike the Zen, I haven’t had any problems with the Zune locking up when I run or otherwise jiggle it around.

Overall, since I didn’t want an ipod, I’ll be perfectly content with the Zune once I get that sticking button fixed.

It’s just like the iPod
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Not going with the flow of the hype, I decided to purchase the Zune instead of the iPod. Sound quality is great, but use a Seinheisser earbuds for greater quality. But from browsing songs to the Zune software, and even on how you turn off the device, the Zune seems to copy these functionalities from the iPod. I am happy with the purchase though but I just don’t like the synching method it uses. The Creative Zen players are better.

Zune
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I think the zune is best media player and best the ipod by 3 to 1. I know that the Iphone came out and everyone wants one but they cost money around $599.oo with no deal with deal $299.00 from at&t. Zune 3 is on the way out in 2009. The zune makes its easy to buy songs not $0.99 you pay $14.99 monthy or $44.99 every 3 months and with that you get all the music and podcast you want. The videos cost around $1.50, but if you are Driving who needs videos. I got the 30gb model and planning to by the zune 3. Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player Black (2nd Generation)

Needs improvements
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Things that are great: audio, size, price, ease of use of hardware, picture, good randomized playlist feature, music store online, excellent battery life.

Things that are not so great: Screen cracks easily without provocation, software a pain to use, wireless sync still problematic

Things that are awful: No .avi or divx/xvid playability. This can supposedly be worked around through a registry hack, but I haven’t gotten it to work. 80% of my videos are unwatchable on this.

Love this player
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this after my Creative Zen Vision M was stolen. I’ve had it about 4 months now and I can’t say enough good things about it. It was easy to set up, easy to transfer music to and has great sound and video quality. Syncing up music downloads and videos is also very easy. The capacity is great. I have tons of music and lots of episodes of “House” on it. I had to stop playing the episodes of House in the car though — the sound is so good we keep looking for the source of the sirens that are often in background of the show!

iPod Killer
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
There are very few MP3 players that can truly be labeled as iPod Killers. Before this I had a Creative Zen player that, while good at the time, definitely did not rival iPods (I will not buy an iPod as I really don’t like iTunes; it re-encodes my music as AAC, essentially doubling the size of my collection). I have been nothing but astounded by the 2nd Gen. My brother has the 1st gen 30 gig, and while it is a good player, it doesn’t hold a candle to the 2nd gen. The touch pad truly exceeds the usefulness of the iPods wheel. The iPod Touch may be nicer, but the pricing difference more than makes up for that. I do miss the equalizer, but the quality headphones that come with the Zune make up for the lack of one. I have switched over to a pair of Sennheiser CX300-B, and the sound quality is top-notch. The Zune software also is excellent, as it is easy to configure, supports a multitude of file types, and is speedy.

Overall I highly recommend this product, as it is both visually, and aurally pleasing, with exceptional navigation options and easy to use software.

Piece of junk!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
80G Zune

I am very disappointed in the quality of my Zune. After only having it for a month, it froze up on me for a week. In the 4 months that I have owned it, it has froezen 4 times and I hope to return it because I’ve had enough. I subscribed to the Zune network where I can download music onto it. I didn’t know that every month the zune must be synced with the Zune network in order to play the music, if you don’t keep the $15 a month subscription, the license does not allow you to play the music. So if you do purchase this, be prepared to pay $15 a month for the rest of the time that you own it, which can be very expensive. I feel like I sold myself to the devil. The headphones are good quality, but the keypad is too sensitive and hard to control(seems to have a mind of its own sometimes). The battery life is very short!!! I do not recommend this product, or the life-long contract with Microsoft!

Great Product, few drawbacks
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this for my husband for his birthday. He likes it, it is more updated than the one I got last year. It has a touch-sensitive button option, which makes scrolling easier. This version is slimmer and has a slightly bigger screen-which is a color screen. The biggest drawback is the specific Zune program used to add songs. It was complicated to figure out how to use the one program for two Zunes. We had to rename the “composer” with our names so we could seperate my songs from his. Once we got over the big initial hurdle, it hasn’t been too bad. And the 80GB will last a while.

Zune is pretty good.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I like the sound quality of my Zune. It is easy to operate and get started using- that is after you spend an eternity charging it for the first time. It took me 4 1/2 hours to charge it and you can’t do a thing with it until it is finished. That is my only complaint with my Zune that its’ charge runs down very quickly-even when you are not using it-and it takes a long time to charge it from the USB port on your PC. However, for my first venture into the MP3 world, I will say it was relatively easy.

Zune 80 Rocks
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I consider myself an average audiophile. I have always disliked the Ipods and the proprietary control they have over the universe. I also thought the navigation tools on the device were not as intuitive as I would have liked.

Much to my surprise and delight the Zune 80 not only delivers the music, in a clear and intuitive manner, it delivers the video in a screen size that is comfortably viewable and clear. Saving WMV video is simple with my Roxio Creator 10

I have built my Zune libraries on my computer and with my bedroom Altec, have automatic wireless updating. I also have no problem with drag and drop.

The Zune software has worked flawlessly for me and to say I am enjoying this product would be an understatement.

I recommend the silicone cover for falling asleep to music as it sticks perfectly to wherever it is set down. For travel I have a protected Incipio pedestal cover for airplane movie viewing, etc.

Brand name (Ipod) is tough to overcome, and sometimes you might wish Bill Gates to not always come out on top, but this is a killer product.

I am not passionate, but would still like to see a clock, EQ and sleep timer…….hopefully they are on the software drawing board.

Get this product, you won’t be disappointed. And I am picky

And Podcasts………simple and great.

Awesome… except…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Absolutely awesome device… ONLY STUPID THING is that when you randomize your playlist it literally RANDOMIZES your playlist… so instead of just playing it in a random order you have to search through all your songs in random order which is ridiculous… it should keep them alphabetical and play them randomly… just another Microsoft “derrrr” moment. Lets get a patch for that rich people!!!

Birthday gift for daughter.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Ordered this for my daughter, she had wanted an ipod. The Zune has a radio and alot of other features. So far we are really pleased. The radio sounds great. I got the 80gb with the premium ear phones, they sound great. I’ve struggled downloading the software onto my system, but I believe the trouble is me and my computer, not Zune. We’ve only had it a couple of days. So far can’t complain!

A few problems
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I just bought the Zune 80 and now I’m kind of frustrated and shooting in the dark. There’s absolutely no instruction book that I can find of any kind. It would be nice to know how to turn it on, create playlists, and do other functions. Also, what do you do when you’re through playing it through your stereo? Do you take it out of the charging dock and turn it off? I’m not sure, because there’s no guidance. But, after a couple of days of trial and error, I’m starting to figure it out. After finally creating playlists and listening to the music outside, I realized that different audio tracks play at different volume levels. This is totally unacceptable. Who wants to go inside and be continually adjust the volume? Microsoft wouldn’t forget a volumne normalization feature, would they? That’s my biggest complaint. Also, another reviewer didn’t like the fact that you could not drop and drag from windows to the zune software. I agree. I think I’m going to take it back and get an IPOD Classic. It’s my understand that the IPOD has volume normalization through a feature called Sound Check. I don’t think the Zune is the right way to go for people who want it specifically for music.

Waste of money and I only paid $199!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought a Zune for myself a year ago for my birthday. I was hoping it would be a product I could grow into over the next few years, but it in fact only looks nice and is really very poorly made and glitchy. I have had my Zune for less than a year and it has crashed several times. One crash required clearing the memory, reinstalling the software and then reloading 7GB of media to the player–one album at a time. Then it crashed again a month and a half later and has been completely unresponsive ever since. It is a worthless piece of…rotten chicken. I have had to call customer support several times, they are average at best. Once the length of you call exceeds their time limit/quota they get very rude and start cutting you off when you ask for clarification. I was told if I wanted my device repaired it would cost me $159 since my year warentee was up as of the end of May (supposedly 1 week before calling in, very convenient). The operator repeatedly asked me if I had my receipt and when I bought the device, when I told him I thought I had it and that I bought it around August not May, he told me I’d need to scan the receipt & email it to prove it, and fill out the repair request order on line. No, problem…except that I cannot get into the Repair Order Request on the website. I simply get directed into a never ending circle of being told to login and register (which I did MONTHS ago#, and once I login and try to register or go to the repair order request form, I am given the same screen telling me to login and register. After all the problems I have had #in less than a year of use!!!!#, I’m starting to think that Microsoft knows what a lame product the Zune is and that they are hoping to discourage me from sending it in under warentee #no way I’d pay $159 to fix this pile of doggie-doo). And I must confess I have had thoughts of crushing this POS in many little pieces with a hammer many times since May. Had I known about all the problems associated with Zunes, I never would have wasted my hard earned money on on such a poor product. DONT BUY A ZUNE!!!

Zune 80 Gig
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My wife bought me the 80gig Zune for Fathers Day. I had told her I wanted one after playing with the Zune software, which can be downloaded at Microsoft’s website for free, for a couple of months and after reading reviews on Amazon. The only other player I have owned up to this point was a 3rd Generation 30 gig Ipod. In my opinion, the Zune blows the Ipod out of the water.

I found the Zune software to be intuitive and simplistic. When the software was originally loaded and run the first time it synced with my Itunes collection, automatically bringing in all music not protected by DRM. It also had no problem recognizing my photo files and bringing them into the software as well. Since I own an Xbox 360, I was able to log onto the Zune Social and Marketplace right away using my 360 account. It also imported all of my Xbox Live friends into my Zune social homepage. Although none of them use the Zune software, I still thought that was a cool feature and really shows how Microsoft is trying to bridge the two products together. The Zune Social is Microsoft’s musical copy of MySpace. You can create you own “homepage” where you can tell about yourself and it displays the music you have been listening to to the Zune community. This is a unique way to network with others who listen to music with similar tastes as yourself and can help you in finding new artists. It clearly states that the Social is still in Beta testing and is not something you have to participate in to use the Zune or it’s PC software. The Zune Marketplace is probably the softwares biggest weakness. Microsoft insists on using their points system, which was originally created for the Xbox Live marketplace, instead of just using a saved credit card to purchase music as on Itunes and Amazon. This may have the potential of scaring off some customers. This doesn’t effect me too much, though, since I have been strictly using Amazon to buy all my MP3’s for the past several months. Hard to beat DRM free music at cheaper prices than Itunes or Zune Marketplace. If you are not doing this yet you need to be, NOW! There is absolutely no reason to buy DRM music. NONE!

As for the Zune device itself. When I first synced the Zune to the PC it did a firmware upgrade to the Zune and, once finished, then started moving all the music to the device. Flawless process! After about two hours the battery was fully charged and ready to go. The “squircle”, as some call it, is a little different than the Ipod, but works in a similar fashion that I found easy to use. When my wife first tried using it she found herself annoyed at first that it didn’t exactly “work like the Ipod” but she quickly got the hang of it. I enjoy the FM radio capability. I would have enjoyed an AM receiver even more since I listen to a lot of political talk radio and my local sports teams. Maybe in a future model they will add this function into the device. Later on, I added in photos of my daughter. The display looks fabulous. All of my pictures show beautifully on the screen as well as album covers. As other reviews point out, there is no equalizer. This troubled me at first, but after listening to the device for about an hour I could care less. The sound is superb and the earphones are, without question, a hundred times better than the Ipod’s. In comfort and sound, the Zune headphones are fantastic. The in-ear headphones do a good job of blocking out ambient noise and allowed me to keep the volume at reasonable levels while doing yard work for about three hours. My ipod would have left my ears ringing due to my having to turn the volume way up to overcome the hedge clipper noise. I am excited to see how this works on a plane ride, since I also always have to crank my ipod up to overcome the jet noise. I also really like the fact that the Zune does not use proprietary file types as Apple forces you to do. The device will accept just about anything you want to put on it, including TV you have recorded using Windows Media.

In conclusion, the Zune is a solid device and I am extremely happy with this wonderful gift. I have already showed it to several family and friends and have encouraged them to consider a Zune for themselves. Dump the ipod, get yourself a Zune!

Zune Review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I got a Zune a few weeks ago and decided to hold off for a little while before writing a short review for it. Now that I have been using it pretty much every day, I feel like I am familiar enough to tell you guys what I think of it.

I ordered my Zune 80 from Amazon, so it took about a week to get here. That’s fine since it gave me plenty of time to get the rest of my music collection ripped to my pc using windows media player. It filled out all of the track information for all my cds and got album art no problem, so I was pretty much ready to go once I got the Zune in the mail.

The Zune comes is a really small box that is actually pretty cool. I normally don’t care about packaging at all, but the box is pretty sweet. Inside the box is a short quick start guide that will walk you though the few steps needed to get the Zune up and running. The first step actually requires you to visit the Zune website to download the software. I was surprised that they didn’t actually include the software on a disc with the player. I don’t imagine this being a problem for most people, but if for some reason you don’t have internet access you won’t be able to install the software and get the music on the Zune. I guess that’s one of the down sides to having a small box.

The Zune software itself is pretty well designed. It’s similar to media player in how it functions (such as the library and monitoring folders for new content), but the layout is completely different and can take some getting used to. But once you know your way around, it’s pretty easy to get things done. You get files onto your Zune by “Syncing” it to the media library on your computer. The Zune software watches whatever folders you tell it to; automatically importing new content (video, music, or photos) into your library whenever they are added to any of those folders. For example, it monitors the “My Music” folder on my pc, which is where I rip all of my CDs to. If I want to add a new CD to my Zune, I just rip the tracks to that folder. The Zune software notices they are new and adds it to my library. The next time I plug in my Zune, the tracks will get “Synced” over to the Zune so that it has the exact same content as my library does. Overall, it works pretty well, when it works that is.

I only have one problem with the Zune software, but it happens all the time and is a bit annoying. Whenever I first plug the Zune into my pc, the player software automatically launches (which is an option you can turn off, but I like that it does this). However, when I go to Sync my library to the Zune, it says it’s not connected. This is strange, since it obviously knows it was connected (it did launch the software after all). So I have to unplug the Zune and connect it again before it will notice it. It’s not a huge problem, but it is a bit annoying. But other then that one issue, the software works great.

The player itself feels pretty good. The hardware is really well designed and seems to be made to last. The screen is a really nice size and looks beautiful, and is protected by actual glass, not plastic. So hopefully the screen won’t scratch as easily as some other players that use plastic screens. The port to connect the cable to it is located at the bottom, while the headphone jack as well as a lock switch is located at the top of the player. As for buttons, there is one large touch pad as well as a back button and a play/pause button.

Once you get all your media on the player, actually using it is a breeze. It categorizes your content based on type, such as music, video, photos and podcasts. Within those categories, you can further sort the list by artist, album, genre, or song title. They work as you would expect. For example, selecting an artist then brings up all the albums for that artist. You can select to play all of them, or drill down more to get individual albums and the songs within those albums. The album art is displayed right along with the titles, making it easy to find what you are looking for just by glancing at the covers.

Moving around is pretty easy. The Zune has a touch pad, so you simply slide your finger up and down to move around the list, or left and right to change the sorting method. Selecting a song is as easy as clicking the center down. If you are not a fan of touch sensitive input devices, you can turn it off to make it function as a normal button, but I don’t know why you would want to do that.

The podcast section is probably the one that gets the most use from me. Using the Zune software on my PC, I signed up for a dozen or so podcasts such as Major Nelson’s podcast (audio) and the 1up show (video). Each time I load the Zune software, it automatically checks to see if there are new episodes of the podcasts and automatically begins to download them if it finds some. If my Zune is connected, it goes ahead and syncs them as well. This is great for me. I listen to a ton of podcasts, and not having to go to all the sites and download new episodes myself is a huge time saver. After I listen or watch a show, it marks it as done. Next time I sync, it automatically deletes the old shows for me, which keeps things from getting out of control (which they would given the amount of podcasts I follow).

Aside from the music, movies, and photos categories, the Zune also has ones for social, radio, and settings. From there you can check friends, messages and scan for nearby Zunes. The player has wireless built into it, allowing the Zunes to talk to each other and send music. The radio is pretty much what you would expect, and allows you to scan through and find local radio stations. I don’t really use this much, but it seems to work pretty good. The settings section allows you to control some basic stuff, such as if the touch pad is on, how long before the display turns off, and other stuff like that. You can also start a wireless synch from here if you don’t feel like plugging the Zune into your PC.

Microsoft is essentially trying to do to music what they did with games via Xbox Live. That is, making music a social experience that you can share with your friends. Sending music to each other wireless is a part of that, but I don’t even think it’s the most interesting aspect of what they have done. On Zune.net, every Zune user can create a profile and a friends list (the friends list is actually integrated with your Xbox Live friends list if you have one). Your profile keeps track of your most recently played music, as well as what music you play the most. It does this for all your friends as well, so you can easily check out what they are listening to. This makes finding new music extremely easy and fun to do. I have spent hours looking at my friends profiles, listening to samples of their favorite tracks (if available), and have discovered some pretty cool new artists in the process. Once you find something you like, buying it is just a few clicks away (assuming it’s available on the Zune Marketplace).

Overall, I really like what Microsoft did with the Zune. It’s a really solid player (both hardware and software), and the social aspect of it is really appealing to me. The Zune really is a good device, and I have absolutely no reservations recommending it to friends and family.

Technical Problems
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
While this Zune is great to use when it’s working, I have had to send it in for repairs at least 4-5 times in the last year. One time I sent it in, it took over a month to get it back. Another time, they immediately sent a replacement, but then the replacement failed within a week. I’ve had to purchase the extended warranty since I don’t trust it not to break again. Also, when you sync your music to your Zune, it can take a very long time, and in general the software is a pain to use. If I had to do it over again, I would purchase another MP3 player. But when it works, the screen is large, videos look great, and the scroll pad is nice to use.

Great, but a few minor issues
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
First up is the installation of the software: I went to the website that it told me to and the download was right there. I started the download and waited, on dial-up, about 6 hours. Then when I went to install, it stalled at 99%. So after searching the website I found another, larger download of the file. After another long download, this one worked. I just don’t understand why this one wasn’t on the main download page. After this pain it’s almost all good from here on out.

The software: Great. You can choose which folders to retreive the files from, whether or not you want them to auto-sync, and you can then remove the ones you don’t want in the list. If you choose to manually sync your files you just drag and drop the files you want over to the zune icon. This process may not be the ideal drag and drop that some want, but it works well. For the videos you can classify them by media type(tv, movie, etc.), and by genre(this doesn’t have an effect yet). You can even group episodes of a tv series together. From what I’ve tried I haven’t had anything taken off of my Zune just because it was not on my computer.

The Zune: Awesome. The interface is great and the pad is very responsive, if a bit over-responsive at times. I love the fact that you can have your own background; it just makes it so much more personal. The sound is very good, and so is the picture. Sure, it’s not the highest resolution, but it still looks good and you really don’t notice unless you’re extremely picky. The radio doesn’t quite pick up all of the signals around, but it picks up a fair amount. AM signals would be nice, but I don’t listen to it enough to really fuss about it not being there.

Some problems: The pad stopped picking up any directional input, but after letting the battery drain and recharging, it all worked again. Some files weren’t showing up on my device even though it showed the space being taken up, but somehow it all worked itself out.

Overall, the device is amazing and the software works well. I would like to give it a five star, but the rather minor issues force me to knock some points off, and since I can only do full stars, that leaves me with a 4 star

zune 80gb
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player (Black)i was so disappointed this product. it has no equalizer. WMV conversion is very long unlike mp4 for ipod, it’s just ok. playlist is different, it’s really difficult to manage the software unlike itunes, it’s ver easy. poor sounds, poor features. i better like the ipod video.

How can you not give the Zune 5 Stars?!?!?!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I swear, how can people this 3 stars or below it completely kills and blows ipod’s out of the freakin’ water and I have already had this for like 7 months, and nothing so far has happened to it. Though there was this point when I had it, when I updated it with Zune 3.0 and every time the battery was like half-way the Zune would freeze, then I started to question whether it was the Zune. Turns out it was the update that was messing with my Zune because i updated it with Zune 3.1 and it stopped doing that. The whole point is that this thing is better than an 80 GB ipod because my cousin got his like 2 months before me and his messed up like 2 months ago (you do the math) so, basically if you ask me this is a much better buy then that peice o’ poop.

Great Music Player….until it breaks!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I received this MP3 player as a gift from my brother and mom last Christmas and was overly thrilled! I wasn’t expecting to get it, ya know? It was on my wish list but I thought it was an unrealistic request. I loved this thing! It was cool to have all my music on it, at least until near the end where I got close to maxing it out. This, along with the firmware 3.0 software, or maybe my wall outlet, or possibly cheap hardware started my problems. First off, it started by acting really sluggish. I thought, well Microsoft just released another Zune so maybe they also released an update to fix the slower 2.5 firmware. It solved it for a while. It then crashed more often. Recharged the player from the bottom up. Does it again. Now, I can’t get tracks to play or anything. Wow! Not even to this Christmas and its dead! Its dead!!! Unbelievable! My brother got a 120GB Zune two weeks ago and died the next day. He traded it in to Best Buy for an Ipod Touch. He’s happy and I’m broken hearted. Two things my experience has taught me. Don’t buy any hardware from microsoft and if you do, get a warranty 2 years or better not from Microsoft but from a local store where you can trade this piece of garbage for something worthwhile like an Ipod! Or….go back to Cd players is all I can say. Update!!! It is still alive as of November 2! but I do not know how long. I’m thinking oh no, now I can’t replace this thing. I will admit, it must have a brain inside it because like herbie, it has a mind of its own.

TOTALLY AWESOME!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Zune 80 is my first PMP (Personal Media Player) ever, and I must say that I think that it is AMAZING. All of my friends have mp3 players (mostly Ipods), but I never really liked them. I just thought that the screens were too small, and I really wanted something that would have great video playback. All of the Ipods (except for the Apple iPod touch 32 GB with Software Upgrade) have small screens in my opinion, especially the Apple iPod classic 80 GB Silver (6th Generation), with it’s huge amount of memory. I really didn’t warm up to the idea of watching a two hour movie on the Ipod Classic’s small 2.5 inch display. So I waited until I found something better than an Ipod. And I did.

A friend of mine bought the 1st gen Zune (Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player (Black)), and I loved the sceen size and the user interface, but I wanted more memory. Then the Zune 80 was released last November, and I fell in love.

Here’s why:

- The Zune 80’s GLASS (!!!) screen is 3.2 inches. That’s almost twice the size of the Ipod Classic’s!

- The Zune 80 has a nice, matte metal finished case back, instead of the Ipod’s freaking, scratch-prone chrome.

- The Zune 80 has a really cool, wi-fi sharing feature that allows you to send songs, photos, videos, and podcasts to other, nearby Zunesters.

- The Zune 80 can hold up to 20,000 songs, 25,000 photos, and 250 HOURS OF VIDEO!!!!

- The Zune 80 has the new Zune Pad, which is similar to the Ipod’s Cick Wheel, but alot easier to use (in my opinion, anyway).

- The Zune 80’s big sceen is glass instead of plastic, making it really scratch resistant.

- The Zune 80 is able to sync wirelessly with your PC.

- The Zune 80 can play videos, photos, and music through your XBox 360 using your home wi-fi network.

- The Zune 80 has an FM radio (unlike any of the ipods), that, with select channels, will display the call numbers, name of the channel, name of the artist, and the name of the song!

- The Zune 80 has an awesome user interface that is very attractive and easy to use and understand.

- The Zune 80’s design is elegant, sexy, and feels great in the hand.

- The Zune 80 comes with the Zune Premium Headphones v2, which are freaking AWESOME, with fantastic sound quality and great fit in your ears.

- The Zune 80 sells for the same price as the Ipod Classic ($149), so if you have saved up to buy an Ipod Classic, but decided you wanted the Zune 80 instead, then it’s no extra money out of you pocket!

So, I bought my Zune about a month ago from Amazon, and I haven’t had any problems with it. A few of my friends are even thinking about jumping off the Ipod bandwagon and buying one for themselves!

So, if you want a high-capacity mp3 player with amazing video playback and some out of the ordinary features, then go for the Zune 80. Get off the bandwagon!

Here are some accessories that I found that work well with the Zune 80:

- Insten – Retractable Audio Video Cable for Apple iPod Photo, iPod Video, iPod U2 Special Edition, Microsoft Zune by Eforcity

- Eforcity USB Travel Charger Adapter for Palm (PalmOne) m500, i705, Tungsten T, W, C, Zire, Zire 71, Treo 600, 650, HP iPAQ 3100, h5555, Jornada 500 series, Sony Clie NX70 /SL10 /N or S series Sony Clie 500 /600 /700 series, Toshiba e310 /e755 /Handsprin…

- iLive IBR2807DPBLK iPod Docking System/Boombox with Speakers, AM/FM Radio in Black This works well with the Zune 80 because it has an audio line-in jack, and the Zune 80 fits perfectly in the Ipod cradle, even though it will not charge it. The iLive comes in severral colors, too: pink, blue, green, white. You can also find them in almost any K-Mart store. To be able to use this with your Zune 80 you will also need: Scosche IU3.5RC 3.5mm Retractable Cable

- Monster Wireless Fm Transmitter

- Premium White Universal USB Car (Vehicle) Charger Adaptor [w/ LED power indicator] for Apple iPod Shuffle iPod/Zune and Microsoft Zune

- Zune Leather Case 80 GB

UPDATE:

Well, the Zune 3.0 update came out last month. And it is GREAT!!! The software is pretty much the same, but the new features added to both the new AND the Zunes are awesome!

- GAMES: Now even though the games that come with the 3.0 update (Texas hold ‘em and Hexic) aren’t that great, it IS promising, and Microsoft has said that they will release more. If they are free is another matter. Keep your fingers crossed!

- TAG SONGS ON FM: This is a really great feature. Unfortunatly, I can’t get it to work lol.

- AUDIOBOOKS: Very exciting!

- WI-FI MUSIC STORE: This is the best new feature! Really simple to use and REALLY fast. Only downside is the album art is low quality. I didn’t notice a difference in audio, thank God.

Cool hardware device, wretched software.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I’ve had the Zune 80 for a couple months now and my opinion of it is good, but with caveats: unless you have a new dual core processor computer with 3 or more GB of RAM, the Zune software will use 100% of your computer’s CPU and, run extremely slow and hang up any other application already open.

It’s the worst bloatware I think I’ve ever come across.

The only thing that’s prevented me from returning the Zune was unofficial hack software created by a Zune user, available after a Google search, that allows one to sync a Zune with Windows Media Player.

Microsoft should pay and thank that guy, whoever he is, because I’m sure that unofficial work-around has prevented many a return of the Zune.

The good points: it has fantastic sound quality, a beautiful glass screen, and is also built like a tank. The navigation is also great using the zunepad. I also bought the Zune dock, the new version, and it sounds great through my stereo system.

I do wish it had better book-marking, supported .aa (Audible books) files and expanded its video codec support. I mean, seriously, the free Xvid codec support was too hard? Come on Microsoft, it would have cost you nothing. Also, no .avi support? The Zune is a really, really good music player, but I find myself using my older Zen Vision M a lot more for videos, especially the great 16:9 output option to my HDTV, something the newer Zune doesn’t have over a four year old player. The Zune outputs video from component in 4:3 format. Good grief! What year is this, 2000?

I do have to say that whenever I have occasion to have to use the Zune software, even the 2.5 version update, I have a small inkling to what it likely feels like to be waterboarded. Now that I can use WMP 11, things are good.

The Good far outweighs the Bad…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have had my Zune 80gb for 3 weeks now and still love it. It isn’t perfect, but no device is.

THE GOOD: (that I use)

–big screen with great resolution

–radio

–great sound

–the premium earphones are very nice quality

–lots of space

–easy navigation to different areas

–durable

–the podcasts available on the Zune site are awesome

–the A/V cord (sold separately) lets you watch videos and podcasts, show pictures on your TV screen (this is great because I’m a teacher and I can show slideshows of my kids on the classroom TV or show my kids podcasts from PBS’s NATURE, the Discovery Channel, etc)

THE BAD: (I’ve learned through trial and error)

–your computer must be newer–or have the XP version newer than 2005

–if the music and videos aren’t saved on your hard drive, the Zune will delete them during the next sync

–you must buy points to purchase songs, etc from the marketplace

–an AC adaptor must by bought separately (be sure to buy the correct one with the correct Zune, either version 1 or 2, depending on whether you have the 30gb or the 80gb, respectively)

Overall, I’m very pleased, and the few “bads” are things I have been able to adapt to. I needed a new laptop anyway, so I bought one and the Zune software has been very easy to use. I also bought and downloaded the Cucusoft conversion software, which makes your movies compatible to the Zune. I currently have 340 CDs worth of music, 30 movies, and several TV episodes on my Zune. I’ll never be bored again!

BTW, I highly recommend buying the “cable pack” which runs about $40 and the pack that comes only with the car adaptor and AC adaptor. I found that at Best Buy for $29. The big fancy packs with the docks seem overpriced for the quality you’re getting.

This is for You.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
For real this is a fantastic product that beats out the iPod series. If you have problems choosing, just remember this: Microsoft made the Zune with idea of sharing and socializing music as well as making it a versatile device. The Zune supports not only the Mpeg-3 audio format and great sounding Windows Media Audio format (which supports a greater frequency range for great sound than both the mp3 or Apple branded Mpeg-4 audio layer), but also supports Apples own formats for both audio and video formats. The new 80 gig supporting zero conversion now for Mpeg-4 videos as well. Not convinced? How about the crystal-clear 3.2 inch display and sturdy device case. The screen displays beautiful quality images and videos. The screen is also cover by glass screen which is made to prevent scratches. And now XNA has begun to make Zune games and allowed users to make their own games an distribute them for free. And finally a support team that is continually taking ideas from Zune users online and using them for future updates to improve the devices even more. What else could you ask for?

My only suggestion is to buy this device else where. The Amazon price is way to high. You can get the 80 gig for as low as $250. Shop now!

Great Device
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I absolutely love this device. It is packed full of features and has great performance. With the latest firmware update, they have added 2 games onto the device (more games can be added by using some MS Tools).

The touch sensitive control pad makes it easy to navigate your selection, even quick movements of your finger in an up or down motion will make your selection bar move quickly, almost like a roulette wheel.

Movies are breeze to get on. I converted a number of my home movies using DVD Catalyst, and the quality was amazing on the device.

The 4 star rating is because of the quirks it has:

My only complaints are that it forces you to use the Zune Software. I would have much rather used Windows Media Player to create playlists and sync, or have the ability to copy files directly to it like a removable USB Device (my wife’s Gigabeat S30 can do this function). The only thing I do like about the Zune Software, is that it makes tagging/grouping movies I’ve converted (I ripped my Band Of Brothers Collection, and it allowed to mark them all as being related, with episode numbers, titles, etc), as for music and playlist transfer…I still would rather have WMP

I also have noticed that the touch pad is extremly sensitive. At times, I have accidentally jumped songs, or messed with the volume not even realizing it.

An included AC Adapter would have been nice too, but the only thing included in the box is a USB cable. While it does charge quickly, this makes getting a quick recharge in an airport difficult without pulling out lots of equipment.

Battery life is ok…depending on what you are doing…for music, it’ll last you a while, but for movies, I was only able to watch 1 1/2 movies before it powered off.

Overall, even with it’s quirks, I would 100% recommend this device who is looking for a feature loaded mp3 player.

100% satisfied
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
By far the best player on the market. Not one single complaint about my 80 GB Zune. It blows everything else out of the water.

Wow! Great picture and software quality, great sound & volume quality
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve had 3 Creative MP3 players, and decided to try a Zune after my Creative Vision W firmware crashed after about 10 months of use. I went with the Zune because of the 80GB storage capacity (I teach dance & exercise classes and need my entire music collection at my fingertips). I was a bit wary of switching to a different brand of MP3 player, but Zune exceeded my expectations. I liked the software much better than Creative’s, because it allows for more customizing. I also have a collection of audio books and it’s easier to organize them on the Zune. I am very pleased with the picture quality. A couple of things to be aware of:

Comes with wonderful earbuds—a nice surprise. The other MP3’s I’ve owned came with earbuds that I never used, because they weren’t comfortable.

Zune player does not come with plug-in wall charger—a seperate purchase. I consider this a necessity and was surprised that it cost $29 at the local big-box store.

Zune player does not have a bookmarking feature (for people who listen to audio books a lot, this is nice to have.)

Zune player does not come with an installation CD. Purchaser must visit Zune’s website to download software for the player. This can be a headache if you’re having internet access problems. Once loaded, the software is easy to use, and it walks you through the setup procedure. Nice.

Zune player comes with a rudimentary instruction booklet. Since I’ve owned other MP3 players in the past, figuring out the Zune wasn’t a problem. But it would have been nice to have a more complete instruction booklet or instructions on an installation CD with the software.

If you are interested in transferring home movies to the Zune, be aware that this may require DVD ripper software, since the Zune only accepts a couple of different video file formats. These can be purchased seperately from various online vendors.

Lil red Zune
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I thought I loved my 1st generation, 30 GB Zune until I got this one! From the display to the extra space I love everything about it. Its smaller size makes it easier to throw into my bag. The battery life seems to go on and on. My kids now want me to ugrade them to the 80 GB Zune.

Good while it lasts
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
While no I-Pod killer, the Zune is decent MP3 and video player. The GUI for the player is intuitive and easy to get around. However, the durability of this product leaves something to be desired. When I first got it, I had to send it in two times within the first year of the warranty. The last one I got worked for about another year before not playing audio anymore. I like it, but I’m definitely not getting another one.

Pros:

-Intuitive GUI for the MP3 player

-Comes with a very good pair of headphones

-Wireless sync function works great

-if you have the skills, you can develop your own games for it

-Syncing software is pretty good

-Very good battery life

Cons:

-Unreliable hardware & firmware, will die within a year or so (after warranty is up, how convenient)

Your stint with a Zune may not last long, but it’s good while it lasts.

The 80 GB Zune is good!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I own a 80GB Zune and wanted to give one to my wife for her birthday. She has been having lots of fun with it, doing various things. It is great for her needs.

Perhaps the only thing it lacks are some games to play on it, but I don’t consider that a serious drawback.

I recommend the 80 GB Zune to anyone considering a MP3 player.

Disappointed by Microsoft Strictness
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Tried to install. Doesn’t work on a Mac OSX. At all.

Then tried on an old Windows XP, but the software wanted a lot of updates, which some did not take well. Software still wouldn’t install.

Without Microsoft’s specific software, no music could be listened to.

Overall, this is rather restrictive. Seems the Zune is just an accessory to your Windows Vista.

Zune a Great Rival for the iPod
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had my Zune for 6 months now, and I love it!!! This review is solely to compare some of the pros of the Zune 80 GB over the iPod Classic. Yes, I’ve used both.

1. The Touchpad vs. The Clickwheel. I love the touchpad. It is very responsive and just feels smooth when you use it. No more going in circles.

2. FM Radio. Not a big deal for some people, but if you can have it, then why not? Makes it great for the gym when you often need to tune into a radio station to hear the sound on the tv.

3. Bigger screen. If you’re going to watch a lot of video on your player, then get the Zune. The screen is much bigger and more durable than the iPod’s.

4. Software (this sold me). I LOVE the Zune software. Okay, what I really love is the fact that I no longer have to import my music. The Zune software constantly searches your computer and updates your library for you. I’m assuming I’m not the only one who’s ended up with duplicate songs or even simply sound files when they imported music to iTunes. If you want to try it out, you can download it at Zune.net

5. Wireless. Just sort of cool. It’s nice to not have to worry about plugging your Zune into the USB to sync, and if you purchase the AC Adapter then you’ll really never need the USB cord again! Also, sharing music with friends can be cool, but I haven’t used it that much.

The iPod does have better battery life, more accessories, much more content for purchase through iTunes than the Zune Marketplace, and is compatible both on PC and Mac (Zune is PC-only). However, I simply just like the Zune more. It’s better-looking with features that I feel are more useful. If you are deciding which to go with (and you don’t use a Mac), choose the Zune!

Nice
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Works really well. The screen is a good size and the sound is nice and clear. The only annoying thing is that you have to plug it into your computer to charge it.

Zune 80 GB
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My grandsons christmas present was a big smash. He loves his Zune and said he was a little bored trying to fill it up completely since he has only used 28% of the space. He says it holds and holds and holds.

would definitely order from this seller again.

The best gift !!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought the Zune 80 GB as a graduation present and my children and I just love them. They look great, they are so easy to use, downloading music is totaly easy. Everybody with basic computer skills can use it. The screen is wonderful. I was kind’a sceptic about watching movies and videoclips on a screen like that but it looks brilliant and you can see all details. If you are looking for a MP3 player with lots of space and cool features ( like the social , where you can send songs and pictures to each other!) thats the thing to buy.

AMAZING
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love my Zune it’s great, I have had it for 2 years and I only just started having problems with it. I am a bit rough with the hold button so it doesn’t work anymore.

Other than that it’s amazing. I could sit here and sing it’s praises all day, but I have things to do.

-K

Took two,but was easy to do
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m fairly new at online ordering. I used my economic stimulis money to purchase A Zune-80. The Zune works great,but that’s not what this review is about. When the Zune arrived,the battery would charge just fine,then drain down to nothing within one day,even without my using it.At this point I knew I was in for A hard time; returning something online.I went to Amazons & clicked on the return instructions.Whoever set up Amazons return policy gets my vote for office.In no time I had A new Zune on its way to me,the necessary paperwork to return the defective one & several e-mails keeping me informed of all progress.Had I purchased from A local store,I would’ve gotten A replacement,but,I would have to drive to town,fight traffic,use up $20 worth of diesel,on top of that, it was about $15 cheaper at Amazon.

Great mp3 player
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I going to make this review short and simple. This is a great mp3 player. I have both the 160gp ipod and this zune. I would pick the zune over the ipod any day. The zune has a bigger screen and a raido. And for people who say the zune software sucks. well they must be the most retarted people on the fase of the earth. The zune’s software is easy to use. Well if you want a great mp3 player then get the zune.

Very good, but not perfect
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Things I like:

*The size and shape of the device

*The large, beautiful screen

*The Sound quality

*The picture viewer

*The optional touch feature

*The interface and menus

*The really cool headphones that come with it-fits nearly any sized ear

*The USB that comes with it

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 AWFUL 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 displayed 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 good service and everything. But this is a pretty cool gadget.

Waiting for it to blow up next!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I have never owned an ipod, or mp3 player. I read some reviews and talked to a few people and decided on the Zune, by Microsoft. Boy was that ever a mistake!

I mainly decided on the Zune, because I did not want to be strapped to just using itunes. I also wanted something with massive storage space and the 80 gig Zune filled the need for me. My Zune worked great for two weeks and then all heck broke loose.

It stopped syncing my music from my hard drive and from the Zune website. Massive synce problems, I mean massive. Then it crashed on me twice, dumping my extensive collection of music both times. I could never get my entire collection back onto my Zune. I couldn’t even get 1 song at a time to load.

The trouble shoot web pages did nothing for me and after reading the tech. support news forums I was amazed at the amount of problems that people were reporting. Especially right after buying their Zune. Can you say “class action law suit on the horizon?”

I called tech support and I don’t think the guy even knew what a Zune was. It sounded like he was asking me questions from a set of que cards. No help at all from those bozos. He finally told me that I had to send it in for repair. I was like “Dude, I just got this thing 2 weeks ago. It shouldn’t need any repair.” I told him that if he thought it needed repairing, that I should just be given a new one. No dice, and no help from the Zunnies.

My last attempt at syncing music from the Zune site resulted in a total melt-down of my Zune. I got another synce error, so I disconnected the Zune from my PC. Right after I did this, the screen went blank. Finally after some button pushing, a messege came on the screen telling me that I had to re-load the firm ware. This was the third crash mind you. Automatically knowing what to do after a crash now, I went and tried to re-install the firmware. Only this time it wouldn’t load. After 3 or 4 unsuccessful attempts at trying to re-load the firm ware I finally gave up and now I’m stuck with a $240.00 black brick that doesn’t do anything.

Whatever you do, don’t buy a Zune. Get anything but one of these. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get my money back and buy myself an ipod. The only thing else that could happen with my Zune, is that it could blow up in my face. I’ve got it secured in a cooler with dry ice. Zune = BAD!