Thoughts on Zune

[Dark Prince]

Hey guys, been looking at getting a Zune for a while now instead of sticking with my Ipod which I'm getting tired of. What does everything think of the device and how is the battery life on it?


Also, does anyone know of any places that have good deals on them?

[Adam Blue]

I think the Zune is great. But since I don't like proprietary software or cabling, I stuck with an open platform. What makes you want to go with a Zune?

[Dark Prince]

I think the Zune is great. But since I don't like proprietary software or cabling, I stuck with an open platform. What makes you want to go with a Zune?

I was looking at the way I can connect it to my 360 for when I download all the movies or music and pictures since I use my 360 a lot. Plus, the sizes of the different models seemed pretty decent. Though, I'm sure other brands have the same kind of hdd sizes too.

I'm just concerned about battery life too

[Adam Blue]

My bro has the ZuneHD and the battery life is good. I had a 30GB back when they came out, and it also had good battery life. If you use the Zune/Marketplace for movies and stuff between it and the 360, you might as well get a Zune.

[Smoof]

No idea on the other stuff you want to do with it, but my ZuneHD 16Gig has excellent battery life. As an example, I used it for about two hours on Friday in the car and then threw it into my backpack where it sat until yesterday (Wednesday) and it still has 3/4 of its battery left.

Generally when I'm using it everyday, it'll last a week to a week and a half without recharge.

[Dark Prince]

No idea on the other stuff you want to do with it, but my ZuneHD 16Gig has excellent battery life. As an example, I used it for about two hours on Friday in the car and then threw it into my backpack where it sat until yesterday (Wednesday) and it still has 3/4 of its battery left.

Generally when I'm using it everyday, it'll last a week to a week and a half without recharge.

That's great. I've been hearing mixed comments on the battery life so this is good to know.

I'm definitely thinking of getting the 16gb, though I don't know if I feel comfortable with the touch one, since touch screens don't go too well with me.

I was trying to find one of the previous generation players.

[Krispy]

The batteries can be hit or miss sometimes. I'm pretty confident the ZuneHD is energy efficient, though.

[Jason]

I have a ZuneHD and the battery life is very good so far. A single charge usually lasts me a couple weeks. But I don't use it for hours everyday though.

[Lance Uppercut]

I have a 64GB HD. Absolutely love it. It's even better with a Zune Pass since you can just download songs off the wifi.

[Smoof]

That's great. I've been hearing mixed comments on the battery life so this is good to know.

I'm definitely thinking of getting the 16gb, though I don't know if I feel comfortable with the touch one, since touch screens don't go too well with me.

I was trying to find one of the previous generation players.

The older Zunes are great players, but I find their battery life to be really strange. Sometimes they'll last a really long time and other times, they'll discharge completely in a matter of hours. This was the case with my old Zune 30 and is the case with my fiance's Zune 8 I bought her last year. The battery life on it has never been great and she generally has to charge it every night; most people seem to blame the last firmware update, but I have no idea. It was brand new when I bought it, so I don't know why the battery life is such shit.

[TheKeck]

But since I don't like proprietary software or cabling, I stuck with an open platform.
So, I'll piggy back on this comment (and thread). My wife wants an iPod. I told her that she doesn't want an iPod. She just wants an mp3 player and that you can do a lot better than an iPod. She thinks I'm just trying to cheap out on her, but that's not it at all.

I hate iPods. I hate itunes. I hate all their proprietary drm bullcrap. I'd like a device where files can be put on it and pulled off of it at will like any other usb mass storage device. She also is a fan of the touch screen and what she considers to be the nice interface of an iPod touch. Does anybody have any good recommendations for this?

[Camel]

So, I'll piggy back on this comment (and thread). My wife wants an iPod. I told her that she doesn't want an iPod. She just wants an mp3 player and that you can do a lot better than an iPod. She thinks I'm just trying to cheap out on her, but that's not it at all.

I hate iPods. I hate itunes. I hate all their proprietary drm bullcrap. I'd like a device where files can be put on it and pulled off of it at will like any other usb mass storage device. She also is a fan of the touch screen and what she considers to be the nice interface of an iPod touch. Does anybody have any good recommendations for this?
I was thinking the same thing and didn't want to threadjack, but seeing as how that's already been taken care of....

[Adam Blue]

I say look for some players that include syncing software, like Creative. Before just going with my Evo, I used a mix of Creative/Zune/iPhone to cover all bases. Creative was the most versatile and open, including syncing software. Zune was for messing with, and iPhone is for the few games.

[inmostlight]

I had an older Zune and the battery life was weird and it eventually died, but then I got a 120GB one about a year and a half to two years ago and the battery life is still great. It'll work fine on a 10 hour roadtrip and still have charge left over.

[Shjinta]

Uh i'll chime in. I bought a Zune 30 off a EvA member a long time ago. I've never had any problems with it. I loathe Itunes and Apple products. I've grown fond of the Zune software...and It hasn't stopped me from loading music I didn't get from the Zune pass on it. Never asks anything just does what I ask.

[Vyzov]

I had a 120 GB Zune and it was fantastic until it suddenly died on me. I can still use it as storage for hooking it up to a 360 for playback, but the screen is dead and the buttons won't work.

I would of purchased a second one but you can't get them here anymore.

[Suave Peanut]

I loved my Zune8 until the touchpad stopped working, which I attribute to my leaving it out in a hot car too many times.

[Chris_D]

So, I'll piggy back on this comment (and thread). My wife wants an iPod. I told her that she doesn't want an iPod. She just wants an mp3 player and that you can do a lot better than an iPod. She thinks I'm just trying to cheap out on her, but that's not it at all.

I hate iPods. I hate itunes. I hate all their proprietary drm bullcrap. I'd like a device where files can be put on it and pulled off of it at will like any other usb mass storage device. She also is a fan of the touch screen and what she considers to be the nice interface of an iPod touch. Does anybody have any good recommendations for this?

I personally think the iPod Touch is pretty awesome. And the interface is definitely really good and easy to use. If price is really not a problem then it might be a bit unfair of you to be nagging her not get an iPod. It's likely that many of her friends have iPods or iPhones so it can be a conversation piece for her too. Talking about favourite apps etc.

[muddi900]

ipod touch is not just an MP3 player. It is a great device though.

[Serapth]

So, I'll piggy back on this comment (and thread). My wife wants an iPod. I told her that she doesn't want an iPod. She just wants an mp3 player and that you can do a lot better than an iPod. She thinks I'm just trying to cheap out on her, but that's not it at all.

I hate iPods. I hate itunes. I hate all their proprietary drm bullcrap. I'd like a device where files can be put on it and pulled off of it at will like any other usb mass storage device. She also is a fan of the touch screen and what she considers to be the nice interface of an iPod touch. Does anybody have any good recommendations for this?

... how about...

http://www.gearfuse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/walkman.gif

[bapenguin]

I saw Newegg had a 32GB ZuneHD for $210 this morning.

[DoctorFinger]

I lucked out a year ago and got an 80GB Zune for $125 on Woot and I really like it. It's not perfect - you can't use it as a portable HDD - but for my purposes it's great.

[Satertek]

Got my dad a Zune HD and he loves it. Our whole family had original Zunes as well. I love em.

Now though, I probably wouldn't use one if I had one, but that's just because I've got an Android phone with a headphone jack. Does the job well enough.

If you were looking to get a new phone too I might wait till next month and see how the new Windows Phone turns out. Who knows, maybe Microsoft will finally learn from their mistakes and release an awesome product.

[maharahaj]

I love Zunes. I had one of the original 32gig ones for two years, then bought a new 32gig HD unit when my original stopped working because I got caught in the mother of all rain storms two miles from my car while exercising. Then, a month after buying the HD unit, it got stolen from my car, so the next day I went out and got another 32gig HD unit...without a second though. I love it that much. it has great battery life, a bright screen, great sound and intuitive software.

[Lance Uppercut]

If you wanna try out the Zune for yourself, Woot has both the 4GB (http://www.woot.com/) and 8GB (http://sellout.woot.com/?ts=1284628537&sig=680c77e9e62eee30) models for sale.

[Dark Prince]

Ok, so I've acquired an old 80gig Zune from the previous generation. Does anyone know of any places that sell cheap accessories for it that work? I've read some up and down reviews on several things I've found on Amazon and not quite sure what to go with. Don't exactly want to pay 20 bucks for one sync cable from the MS store, it would've been nice if they had a complete package or something with all kinds of charging cables and sync cable.

[zarathstra]

Ok, so I've acquired an old 80gig Zune from the previous generation. Does anyone know of any places that sell cheap accessories for it that work? I've read some up and down reviews on several things I've found on Amazon and not quite sure what to go with. Don't exactly want to pay 20 bucks for one sync cable from the MS store, it would've been nice if they had a complete package or something with all kinds of charging cables and sync cable.

I got my spare zune cords on Ebay. Never had any trouble with them. Outside of the cord, what were you looking for?

[Lance Uppercut]

The Zune dock for the 80s is only 15 bucks on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VWOKQM/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk). I recommend it. In fact, accessories for the older Zunes aren't very expensive in general.

[Dark Prince]

I got my spare zune cords on Ebay. Never had any trouble with them. Outside of the cord, what were you looking for?

Mostly the home adapater for it to charge the battery and any cheap accessories like covers/screen protectors.

The Zune dock for the 80s is only 15 bucks on Amazon. I recommend it. In fact, accessories for the older Zunes aren't very expensive in general.

Yea, that's what i'm looking to take advantage of. That Zune dock looks pretty awesome. Might think about getting that when I get paid.

[BabyJesus]

Too bad it looks like MS is abandoning the stand alone music playing zune for W7 phones. Its really too bad. I love all the ones I have had and I cant get a W7 phone because they are GSM only for the time being and I am on verizon.

[MachEnergy]

I love my 32GB ZuneHD, and I can tell you that I've almost never had a concern about the battery life. It's a fantastic PMP and combined with Zune Pass, it's easily one of my favorite gadgets I own. I only wish I had more space on it.