Zune mixed reviews?

[Howard Roark]

I'm speculating on getting a Zune. It seems now, by the 3rd generation, they've smoothed out some of the kinks of the first two gen's. I hadn't really heard of Zune before, up until recently they weren't prominently stocked in electronics stores that I had noticed, with competitors to the iPod being iRiver and other ill-shaped mp3/video devices

The iPod is great for its portability, even the video ones are great with a reasonable size screen without an xbox hueg equivalent sized unit, so the fact that Zunes are near mirror images of iPods is a plus without the horror that is iTunes -- plus the price is great

looking for feedback from people that have them; I've been unhappy with iPods since my screen went to hell (the top portion went all staticky lines) and a mix of quicktime and iTunes aggravations made me swear them off for life


I haven't heard too much about them but until today all I had heard was good, but I just spoke to a friend who has heard nothing but bad, so I'm turning to you BG -- good/bad?

[Wintermute]

Entirely not what you want, but, I find my Creative Zen has never done me wrong.

Currently using one of the new 32Gb Zens and things are tiny with the screen taking up most of the space. They also come with an SD Card expansion bay so you plug an extra 16Gb of space into it. Or however many Gb your SD Card has.

Seeking on the Card is a bit annoying but if you pop videos/movies that you won't keep flicking through or rewinding you're golden.

This is the 16Gb model, all the Zens are literally as big as the image on the web-page. I went from my 30Gb Brick Zen Vision M to the 32Gb Zen and couldn't love it more.

Only bad thing is that the software can be a but iffy if you're not used to it and the screen doesn't come with one of the plastic protectors.

That said you'll want a cover to keep the thing from getting scratched to high hell when it's in your pocket with your keys and most incorporate a screen cover and are pretty cheap. The leather one is very nice.

[Howard Roark]

I actually had the 'Brick' one you mentioned, held 80gb or so, I don't recall, but it was heavier than a King James Bible, not exactly the portable comfort I wanted although the screen was great and I loved the ability to play outloud without the use of speakers

I do remember trying to sync some files though and it took unacceptably long -- the point I gave up and went to work without anything completed (not exactly drag and drop)

I'm hoping the Zune works fine with regular wmv files as it says it will, the zen only used formats like mp-something-"simple" I forget the format, but again, as I don't have anything in that gimp format, everything would be required to be synced at that god-awful rate

[Wintermute]

I actually had the 'Brick' one you mentioned, held 80gb or so, I don't recall, but it was heavier than a King James Bible, not exactly the portable comfort I wanted although the screen was great and I loved the ability to play outloud without the use of speakers

I do remember trying to sync some files though and it took unacceptably long -- the point I gave up and went to work without anything completed (not exactly drag and drop)

I'm hoping the Zune works fine with regular wmv files as it says it will, the zen only used formats like mp-something-"simple" I forget the format, but again, as I don't have anything in that gimp format, everything would be required to be synced at that god-awful rate

I loved my brick...survived 2 years of Skateboarding and has been banished to my desk drawer. It did make an unsightly bulge if you had anything other than baggy pants though.


New Zen doesn't use the same Musicplayer software for sync and upload, uses the Drag/Drop style Media explorer. Think Creative ditched that integrated player/sync thing.
Or you can just drag/drop music in through Windows Explorer.

New Zen doesn't play any old Video file like the old one did though, needs to convert them, provided you have the Codecs.
Not sure about music, all my stuff is in MP3 format.

It's a bit annoying, at times due to Video conversion but I still love it. The screen is the same size as the Vision M's screen too.
That said. It comes with the world's tiniest USB Cable. Shit is like 2 inches long from one connection to another.

[alexisamonster]

i have a zune and i love it, its nearly indestructible. dropped it countless times and never had a problem with it.

i had a problem with the syncing at first, but i fixed it by plugging the usb cord into the back of my computer. It had to do with the front not getting enough power to sync/charge at the same time i think.

now they have games on it and such which is a bigger plus. my favorite would be the galaga game they have.

Overall IMO i think its better than the ipod. I have had a couple ipods and they all broke or something would go wrong with it and i would just have to buy a new one in 6 months or less. I've had the zune for 2 years now and i am 100% satisfied with my purchase.

[EdgeMoragan]

I've had one for almost 2 years now and it does mostly fine. I have some trouble getting lesser known video formats to slide into it properly, but I assume that might even be the case with the iPod. I've found it to be pretty durable, and anything actually song related goes over into it well. It has always been pretty solid to me.

[Cephius]

I've had a 30GB Zune for a couple years now and I love it. Not having to deal with iTunes and the retarded DRM system and authorizing computers and all that is an absolute plus. The Zune software isn't perfect, but it's far and beyond better than iTunes. It plays vidoes fine, I love the games they recently put on it, and its usually a lot cheaper than iPods are. I'd recommend getting one, you won't be disappointed.

[zoobernut]

I have one of the first generation zunes I got for super cheap when they were fazing them out. I really love it. It works great and I use it everyday at work.

Not a software related issue more of an aesthetic one but when I had an ipod it always pissed me off how dirty it got and that the entire thing was gloss finish. The Zune looks really nice and barely shows any dirt or fingerprints at all.

As for things about it that are annoying, I am not sure if they fixed this but the Zune is not recognized as a portable HD like the ipod so you can't use it for storing random crap or at least I have not found a way. Also the software is a little bit annoying at times, sometimes it won't synch up all the way the first time so you need to hit the synch button again.

[Hiryo]

I have the 30gig Zune myself and i like it alot. Screen quality is just awesome (even moreso back when it came out when ipod screens were pretty retarded), as I mostly use mine for watching movies.

The only problem i have with it is the Zune software. I have plenty of programs to do what i want with my media, but even still, the software can get in your way sometimes.

The marketplace is probably my second favorite part about it. I have 10 podcast programs that get added automatically to my zune every day. Then music, I've heard great things about the Zune pass (unlimited music for 14.99 a month(?)). Not that i buy music myself, but Im sure its ncie for those people that do.

[Askari0]

I've had a 30gb zune for about two years now and I wouldn't ever consider changing to anything else. I've had minimal problems, most of which have been patched by now.

My main two problems are the zune freezing, which has been patched to the best of my knowledge b/c mine doesn't do it anymore.
And the software. The software can be a little frustrating at times but for the most part it does what you need it to do and does it in a timely fashion.

The worst problem with the software is syncing movies. I'll go through the trouble of using a converter to convert my movies to MP4 and then I'll tell the zune to sync then and when it does that it has to convert them again for some reason. That might have been something I did with my registry a while back and I haven't tried again with my "fresh" computer but I was planning on doing it today seeing as how I got a 120GB for christmas.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[Fhqwghads]

The one thing that pisses me off to no end is when I'm listening to music, it refuses to start playing where I left off if I shut if down and turn it back on. All I want to do is dump all my music on the thing, have it randomize a playlist, then have it play it back without losing both the playlist and where it was playing when I turn it off. I haven't really bothered investigating why it does this and if there is a setting, but for fuck's sake resume should be the default. This is a big factor for me, but since I only really use the thing in my vehicle, by the time I get into the house I completely forget about finding a solution.

[Dezzimal]

Unlock a 1st Gen iPod touch imo, unless 32gb is too small or its too expensive I guess.

[Howard Roark]

thanks for the feedback everyone

@dezz, I'd love to go status quo and stick with iPod, I enjoyed the actual usage of the hardware (until it went haywire days after warranty) but iTunes etc were just too terrible, no touch screen upgrade is going to make me want to put up with that again

plus with the positive feedback I feel more comfortable straying away from the Pod people

[kuronosan]

Reasons I love my Zune:

Software is so easy to use.
Firmware updates constantly.
Wi-fi sync.
Digital radio tuner with station and song identifier.
Supports most digital music formats.
Playlists are easy to set up.
Homebrew games and applications.

As much of a fan of apple as I am with their electronics and such, I have to stick with Microsoft on this one. The zune is probably the most underrated and underadvertised nugget on the market.

[Fhloston]

i have a zune and i love it, its nearly indestructible. dropped it countless times and never had a problem with it.

Had mine for a couple of months, dropped it at work and the SOB never worked right again. I would plug it in to my computer to sync it and the computer wouldn't recognize it anymore. :/ I just started using my iPod shuffle again for my previous job, since it clipped to the breast pocket of my scrubs.

Edit: Not trying to steer you away from buying one, I loved mine, for the short time I had it anyway...hopefully yours will be more durable than mine was.

[Pikarya]

Reports: 30GB Zunes Failing Everywhere, All At Once

[Howard Roark]

^ going for 3rd gen 120gb, hoping this bug isn't the same

[zoobernut]

Reports: 30GB Zunes Failing Everywhere, All At Once

Ok WTF not even joking, I have not connected my zune to my computer in about a month and I was using it yesterday just fine. I saw this article and read it and turned on my Zune to check it and it fucking froze just like in the article on the loading screen. What the hell?

Anyone else having this issue with the 30gb zunes?

[kuronosan]

No, my Zune has been locked up and it's a first generation. I'm pretty sure this is something that MS screwed up on with the auto-updating.

edit: Wasn't talking to Zoober... his post wasn't there when I made mine > <

Mine's a 30GB.

[Izzy]

I just came here to see if there was a thread about this haha. It looks like the vast majority of 30GB Zunes just stopped working lol.