Electronics : Zune 8 GB Video MP3 Player Black (2nd Generation)

Rating: - Great Buy
Im very satisfied with my purchase. It works great, its the perfect size and fits my needs just as I hoped.

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Rating: - Typical Microsoft Product - Broken
I had such high hopes this would be the music player to replace my old Ipod, but I was wrong. Just like everything Microsoft sells, it broke almost immediatly. I didn't even make it one week with this Zune before it bricked.

The device looked nice and worked pretty good out of the box. I liked the sound and video. And getting used to the touch pad was easy. Downloading the Zune software wasn't to bad and it installed real easy. I actually like the Zune software, it was a nice change from the Itunes. I was able to move most of my ripped CDs over to it by copying the MP3 files. I wasn't able to figure out how to get my Itunes purchased music transferred, that was something I was going to look into.

But, on day 3 my Zune died. The display screen turned black, the back light stayed slightly lit, and it stopped working. The support site reffers to this as frozen. I tried the online zune support, but my Zune wouldn't reset per the instructions from the support site. I called Microsoft's Zune support and they walked me through the same reset process, which still didn't work. So they suggested waiting a few days till the battery lost it's charge and see if the device would reset. Uh, ya right. That's just stupid. Maybe installing an on/off switch to physically disconnect power or a hardwired reset switch to interrupt power. The other option I had was to ship it to their repair center to have it fixed.

Well since it needed to be shipped, it got shipped back to Amazon for a refund, I only had the Zune for 4 days. In my opinion, Microsoft needs to stick to software, at least then they can make a patch. Hardware is just not for them. Between Xbox failures and now this Zune, Microsoft just fails every time.

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Rating: - The YUGO of mp3 players!
Oh, Microsoft why can you not compete with iPod in this device? I so wanted to like this product and software. Received it on a Friday, spent ALL weekend trying to get the darn thing to recognize ALL of my music collection in my hard drive, but it never did. I returned it on Monday. Bought a Creative Zen 30gb for just a little more money, but sooo much more capacity. If the Zen can't cut it, I'll break down and support Steve Jobs. What a disappointment Microsoft. Phooey on you. The device sounded o.k. That's why I gave it 1 star.

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Rating: - Best MP3/MP4 player i've ever had!
As a former iPOD nano user, I bought this player just to test it and see the difference between my ipod and the Zune. The winner stays with me, and the other goes to my sister. After testing the player out, Zune stays with me :)

Zune is more of your "music enjoyment device". If you dont need a calendar (which you can get in your mobile phones), games (which are better on PSP), PIM (which your organizer does best), or tend to forget your player cables often, then Zune is just for you. I got my hands on the Zune, the first thing that attracted me was the packaging! Not just a transparent cheap looking transparent plastic which many China players have imitated, but rather an elegant black box with a nice Zune logo embedded on it. I opened it and the player, earphones and USB cable are separated with smaller boxes. Very neat indeed! Above all, amusing but rather fashionable, Zune came with three pairs of earphone sponges with three different colors to suit your current style!

After charging the player, the Zune loaded and I just loved every second I discovered the new features in it. What it has and iPod doesnt have, is the Wireless sync which enables you to sync your player with your laptop without cables. Although syncing 8GB is slow and battery consuming, wireless syncing comes handy after you have added your favourite tunes for the first time! Another thing I love about Zune is the background changing feature. Trust me, I really dont like the root menu of iPOD. Even before I had my Zune. The idea of having the screen always splitted into two for iPOD just didnt attract me. Also, I love the quick playlist feature! I mean, I just uploaded all of my music from my hard disk to my Zune. BUT, not all of the songs are my favourites. Hence, as you are listening, shuffle all the songs, skip the ones you dont like, listen the one you like and add them to the quick playlist. You dont have to make a playlist from your computer anymore! I guess Zune's "Now Playing" screen is awesome! Why? Because the new iPOD nano has a similar interface for their Now Playing like that of Zune's! ;)

I know I'm sounding bias here. I'm not saying that iPOD is a flop. IN fact, iPOD ranks second among all other players (iRiver, Sony, Creative, etc) and that is why I have not used the term "loser" for iPOD at all :) Its just that Zune has won me over iPOD. And took the first place which once blonged to iPOD :)

Regards,
shahz

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Rating: - zune
The zune is good for ease of use and playing videos and such cause you do not have to go through all the different conversions like with the pod. in the hand it is also more sensitive to the touch for scrolling and such, but I think it is also less rugged. I got two for friends and they both got broken super quick. also the software support does not have data for many song yet unlike ipod, but since the zune is fairly new I expect these are growing pains which will be resolved soon enough. plus you can listen to the radio with no extra equipment.