Zune worth a damn?

[guanna]

opinions?

[Millie]

No, and I'll explain why:

1) The design is pretty ugly. Granted, you get a bigger screen and more "colorful" interface than you do with an iPod. But let's be honest; this advantage is going to last all of 1 or 2 months, before Apple puts a bigger screen on its next iPods. Not enough of a competitive advantage, in my opinion, to warrant a Zune purchase.

2) This is really the most important reason: Microsoft's music service SUCKS. I don't own a Zune, don't plan to, etc., but have seen friends with Zunes and watched them navigate the Microsoft server. It's arcane, so diametrically opposed to user-friendly that it might as well be dubbed "user-antagonistic," and has a very limited selection of songs. Furthermore, Microsoft's DRM is even worse than Apple's: ALL your non-MS-purchased (read: iTunes-bought, downloaded, etc) music will be nonfunctional with the Zune. You must re-purchase EVERYTHING from the Zune store in order to use it on your Zune. This is complete BS.

3) The Zune's trademark feature, "squirting" (Who came up with that name? It's disgusting.) songs from one Zune to the next, is pretty worthless. The songs you zap to your friends (and vice versa) will last 3 plays before disappearing, or 3 days if unplayed before that period expires. Either way, you get a maximum of 3 days or 3 plays on each song you receive in this fashion.

4) The iPod is the industry leader by such a significant margin that it makes owning a competing device risky to a certain degree. You don't know if that Zune will still be supported 1 or 2 years down the line, whereas you can almost guarantee that iPods and iTunes will still be alive and kicking.

[theawddone]

Originally Posted by Millie

1) The design is pretty ugly. Granted, you get a bigger screen and more "colorful" interface than you do with an iPod. But let's be honest; this advantage is going to last all of 1 or 2 months, before Apple puts a bigger screen on its next iPods. Not enough of a competitive advantage, in my opinion, to warrant a Zune purchase.

4) The iPod is the industry leader by such a significant margin that it makes owning a competing device risky to a certain degree. You don't know if that Zune will still be supported 1 or 2 years down the line, whereas you can almost guarantee that iPods and iTunes will still be alive and kicking.

I've been messing with these at a few different stores, and been watching videos exploring it's interface, and I am not sure how anyone cannot point out the clear superiority that the Zune has in this department. I found it far easier to create playlists on the go (and if anyone has an Ipod, like I do, you know you can only import playlists or only create one "on-the-go", which is rather annoying IMO) and just overall ease-of-use, in addition to the looks, far better than the Ipod UI.

Microsoft has put in a ton of money, and is even paying Universal a little bit of money from each Zune, for their support now, and in the future. Itunes wasn't awesome when it first came out (frankly I can't stand it now either, but that's for later), and given that this is Microsoft, I am sure it'll take them a little to figure it out, but I am sure the quality of their program service will increase.

I definitely am going to get one if they release an 80gb one or something in that range, that screen is large enough (to me) to actually warrant putting videos on, and the Zunes aren't as fragile that they scratch just by merely holding them (like my video Ipod, bleh).

After thought or two: when they announced the Zune awhile ago, Microsoft said that if you transfered over to their service, they will give you all of the songs you bought on Itunes for free, is this still true? Also, I find the ability to transfer songs to other people with Zunes awesome. It's great to tell someone to listen to a song, but the chances they actually do is rare, with this, you can just give it to them and listen to it right then, if they like it they can DL it (legally or illegally...).

[NoStem]

I bought one over my broken ipod video, and heres why:

1. I don't give a fuck about downloading music from itunes, because I'm a bastard coated RIAA hating pirate who gets most of his music illegally or by ripping friend's cd's.

2. The interface/screen is a million times better and once you get used to having your own wallpaper and menu swapping without having to constantly backpedal you won't want to go back.

3. The wi-fi is going to be money once I can get a hacked firmware for it, and use it to transfer videos/songs permanently (not that 3 time trial nonsense).

4. Because it is much more durable, and scratch resistant.

5. Because supporting the competition is better for the industry and will make both apple and by then following suit M$ work harder to produce cheaper and better products.

6. Also, even though I don't have a xbox 360 - but I can imagine the point system that is transferrable between the two turning out to be cool - in that getting points through games etc and then buying music/videos with them.

edit: why do you have to re-buy all your music? It would seem simple enough to just convert all the downloaded .acc files to mp3 with a coversion program.

[Lyenae]

Microsoft's first attempt at taking over a new product area is always fucked up and doomed to fail (see xbox vs ps3.) However, their next generation product will demolish the Ipod (see xbox360 vs ps3)

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Lyenae

Microsoft's first attempt at taking over a new product area is always fucked up and doomed to fail (see xbox vs ps3.) However, their next generation product will demolish the Ipod (see xbox360 vs ps3)

With all due respect, it's still WAY too early to call the 360 vs PS3 war. 360 has been on the market for about a year, and the PS3 just came out a few weeks ago!

[guanna]

if i can not play pirated music on the zune then consider that a deal breaker.

perhaps i misunderstood.

i just bought my 1st ipod ever, a shuffle (new tiny square clipon ones) for my daughter

i was absolutly blown away by the care and attention to detail in the packaging alone. the product was no different. exceptional in quality all the way around.

they even shipped (for no charge) internationally over the weekend.

i had a holiday message engrafved along with my daughters name on the back, again, no charge.

i was seriously impressed and this little shuffle swayed me from a dell xps laptop right into a 17" macbook pro.

im pretty sure an ipod is the way to go over a zune at this point.

[Millie]

Originally Posted by guanna

i was seriously impressed and this little shuffle swayed me from a dell xps laptop right into a 17" macbook pro.

And if you need any further reason: Dell laptops suck. My brand new XPS broke (failed motherboard & failed processor) about 3 weeks after purchase. I went through hell and high water to get it returned for a full refund.

Had this been an isolated incident, I'd have shrugged it off and chalked it up to bad luck. But I've had frighteningly similar experiences with other Dell laptops in years past.

Dell makes a horribly unreliable machine, and their customer service is for shit. Sure, you save a few bucks buying a Dell -- but that's because the saved costs were from cuts made to parts (Dell now users shitty components), assembly (Dells are now manufactured in Malaysia), and service (customer service in India...aka, Hell on Earth).

Sorry to sidetrack this thread, but I can't speak ill enough of Dell.

[Algol Devilstar]

Originally Posted by Millie

Sorry to sidetrack this thread, but I can't speak ill enough of Dell.

Or ill enough of non-apple products amirite?

I own an ipod 4gb nano. I like it, and it works well enough. However I have played with the zune at store and I agree with what was poster above that it is much easier to make playlists. In no way am I saying Im going to buy one, but I just love how mac-vs-pc people really are so polar. I own an Hypersonic Laptop(PC) and it fucking rips and the aforementioned ipod, with which Im satisfied. However if/when Microsoft drops a nano-style zune and if it's better than my current ipod, you bet your ass Im gonna get it.

Same goes other way, if apple's answer to the Zune is better then I wont bother with a Zune. However I do have one gripe about all music purchasing online: Why the fuck do they not tell me I already own the song Im about to purchase? So many times I've bought dulplicates that I now search my music library before making any purchase. So goddamn annoying. Also itunes blows chunks, it took me forever to figure out how to sample a song before purchase whereas on Micro's music service it was intuitively obvious. Minor gripes though I figure going either way you will be satisfied.

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Algol Devilstar

Or ill enough of non-apple products amirite?

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone accused me of being an Apple cheerleader. I can see why you'd arrive at such a conclusion, if you only read my initial post in this thread and then extrapolated my preferences from there.

In actuality, I am neither a blind lover nor blind hater of Apple products or PC/MS products. Case in point: the machine I chose to purchase when I turned in my broken Dell was a Velocity Micro (PC) laptop, not a MacBook.

You can prattle on all you want about how much you hate Apple fanatics, etc, but please don't lump me in with them. Personally speaking, I happen to enjoy Apple as a company, and I happen to enjoy some PC-based companies to an equal extent. I don't believe in fangirl-ism or blind devotion to brands. I buy and recommend what I believe to be the best products from personal experience, regardless of who manufactures those products.

That said, there are certain companies that I genuinely dislike, and Dell happens to be one of them. I have had nothing but horrible experiences with Dell products, and my dislike of Dell has jack-all to do with Apple.

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Algol Devilstar

it took me forever to figure out how to sample a song before purchase...

It took you forever to figure out you could double-click on the song title? :P

I agree that song sampling on iTunes isn't immediately obvious for the first time. But it is pretty easy to figure out for anyone with even a moderate amount of online shopping / e-commerce experience.

[Proctor72521]

8gb Zen Micro Photo + Yahoo! Unlimited to go = music bliss for $14 a month. I've had this combo for a year now and I can't stress how awesome it is.

[Fender]

Doesn't the Zune have an AM/FM radio receiver? I know the pods don't...and IMO it's a pretty big weakness.

I live in the D.C. area so I ride the metro as much as I can....and I'd love to get my daily talk radio on an mp3 player. Probably the only reason I'd consider the Zune.

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Fender

Doesn't the Zune have an AM/FM radio receiver? I know the pods don't...and IMO it's a pretty big weakness.

I live in the D.C. area so I ride the metro as much as I can....and I'd love to get my daily talk radio on an mp3 player. Probably the only reason I'd consider the Zune.

Once again, and at risk of sounding like I'm beating some sort of iPod drum here, i really doubt Apple is going to overlook AM/FM reception in their next generation of iPods.

In fact, I'd wager that iPods and Zunes will be virtually identical pieces of hardware within a few generations from now. There may be some "wins" here and there in the interim, but in a year or so, both players will have the same specs and same feature sets.

So, hardware eventually being equal, it comes down to the user experience of buying and owning the music. I can say with total impartiality that the iTunes experience is superior in this regard.

[Kaxmax]

Let me preface, I own an ipod, and have no plans on buying a Zune

Originally Posted by Millie

1) The design is pretty ugly. Granted, you get a bigger screen and more "colorful" interface than you do with an iPod. But let's be honest; this advantage is going to last all of 1 or 2 months, before Apple puts a bigger screen on its next iPods. Not enough of a competitive advantage, in my opinion, to warrant a Zune purchase.

I actually really like the shell they put on the Zune. Grips very nicely, and doesn't attract fingerprints/scratches like an ipod. The screen is very nice, although I agree that Apple will probably be competitive here by the next generation of ipods. I was very impressed by the Zune interface, it's superior to the ipod at the moment in my opinion.

Furthermore, Microsoft's DRM is even worse than Apple's: ALL your non-MS-purchased (read: iTunes-bought, downloaded, etc) music will be nonfunctional with the Zune. You must re-purchase EVERYTHING from the Zune store in order to use it on your Zune. This is complete BS.

Not exactly true. You can burn your iTunes songs to CD and rip, and Plays-for-sure has been cracked already. As for the Zune store, it has one thing over iTunes that I really want: subscription. I'd gladly pay $15 a month for a subscription service in iTunes

3) The Zune's trademark feature, "squirting" (Who came up with that name? It's disgusting.) songs from one Zune to the next, is pretty worthless. The songs you zap to your friends (and vice versa) will last 3 plays before disappearing, or 3 days if unplayed before that period expires. Either way, you get a maximum of 3 days or 3 plays on each song you receive in this fashion.

Agreed, they could have done this better

4) The iPod is the industry leader by such a significant margin that it makes owning a competing device risky to a certain degree. You don't know if that Zune will still be supported 1 or 2 years down the line, whereas you can almost guarantee that iPods and iTunes will still be alive and kicking.

With any other company I'd agree, but not with MS. They've shown repeatedly that once they decide to get into a market they're willing to bleed money until they make it work. The portable audio market is huge, and they want a piece of the pie. I'd expect them to throw even more money at it than console gaming.