Sonos: Wireless music in any roomZune HD (32GB - platinum)
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp. Part number: END-00002
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- Bottom Line:
- The Zune HD delivers one of the best portable music and video experiences money can buy. At a time when many people have shifted their focus to games and applications, providing a killer media experience may not be enough for potential Zune buyers.
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CNET editors' review
Zune HD (32GB - platinum) price range: $246.54 - $289.99
- Reviewed by: Donald Bell
- Reviewed on: 09/18/2009
- Updated on:01/04/2010
- Released on: 09/15/2009
The good: The Zune HD's brilliant OLED display, HD Radio tuner, long battery life, movie rentals, and subscription music integration finally give iPod expatriates something to shout about.
The bad: You still can't use the Zune with a Mac, Marketplace purchases require "Microsoft Points," video format support is limited, audio quality lacks advanced controls, you'll need to purchase a dock accessory for HD video output, application and game selection stinks, and the recommended music subscription plan puts the real-world cost higher than the iPod.
The bottom line: The Zune HD delivers one of the best portable music and video experiences money can buy. At a time when many people have shifted their focus to games and applications, providing a killer media experience may not be enough for potential Zune buyers.
Editors' note: This review has been updated with battery test results from CNET Labs.
As the high-profile underdog alternative to Apple's iPod portable media player, the Zune has endured an unfair share of jokes and scorn. Proving the adage that "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger," Microsoft has taken four years'-worth of hard knocks and forged the Zune HD. As one of the only iPod alternatives that can match the iPod Touch in beauty and pricing, the 16GB ($219) and 32GB ($289) Zune HD also includes a unique stable of features worthy of Apple's envy.
Design
The most important aspect of the Zune HD's design to recognize is that there's something missing: the ugly. Gone are the days of the bulky, brown brick. Instead, the Zune HD's slender body (0.3 inch thick) and anodized aluminum construction has the futuristic and industrial look of a sci-fi movie prop. A glass-covered 3.3-inch screen defines the front of the device, while a slab of angled aluminum curves around the back, giving the Zune HD a cold and solid feel in the hand.
Like any touch-screen device, most of the Zune HD's functions are controlled by pressing or swiping your finger on the responsive capacitive display. Only three buttons have made their way into the hardware, including a large power/hold button on the top edge, a slim home button below the screen on the front of player, and a button on the left edge of the device for quickly calling up the Zune's onscreen playback and volume controls. We're not sure why the designers didn't just take a page from the iPod Touch and turn the side button into a dedicated volume control. Frankly, it's a pain to adjust volume on the Zune HD, and nearly impossible if the device is in your pocket. Granted, the Zune's full-screen volume icons are easier to work with than the onscreen volume slider on the first-gen iPod Touch (which also lacked a dedicated volume button), but that's about the only nice thing we can say about it."
If you've been raised on nothing but iPods over the years, your brain may need an adjustment period to get comfortable with the Zune user interface. We'll let the hard-core fans hash out which user interface works better, but for us, the difference feels like driving in Europe--the lanes may be switched around and the street signs use different symbols--but essentially it's all the same stuff. That may sound like a cop-out, but when it comes to designing a user interface, creating something that's comparable to Apple but still maintains its individual spirit is about as high a compliment as you can get.
To Microsoft's credit, the aesthetic of the Zune's interface is a bit more daring and informal than the tight, sterile icon grids and Rolodex menus of the iPhone and iPod Touch. On the Zune HD, you'll find oversize main-menu text that recklessly rolls off the screen, album pages with band photos hung in the background, and a secondary main menu called Quickplay, which works like a messy desk drawer filled with all the stuff you use frequently (play history, new content, and any songs, photos, videos, radio stations, or Web pages you've pinned for easy access). In a side-by-side comparison with the iPod Touch, you'd swear that Apple's whole "I'm a Mac" campaign got its characterizations reversed.
Features
The set of features packed into the Zune HD are unapologetically focused on media playback and entertainment. On the main menu you'll find options for music, videos, pictures, radio, Marketplace (Microsoft's music download portal), and Internet. Some features, such as podcasts, audio books, and applications, are given main menu categories once there's content to justify it.
Music tops the Zune HD's main menu for good reason. More than anything else, the Zune HD is a portable music machine designed for curious fans with large appetites for new music. The audio player supports MP3, AAC, WMA, and WMA Lossless formats, as well as audio book files from Audible or OverDrive. Like most MP3 players, the music you sync the Zune HD with can be quickly sorted by artist, album, song, genre, and playlist, but the Zune HD's unique strengths as a music player are revealed once you dig down to a particular artist or song. For example, when you select an artist to play, you'll get a list of their albums set against a background photo of the musician or band, along with tabs that offer biographical information, additional photos, and a list of related artists (all of which is pulled offline from the Zune software). If the Zune HD is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi, album listings will show an artist's entire album catalog and let you preview and download additional songs, or explore the music catalog of similar artists. Armed with Microsoft's Zune Pass subscription music plan, you can easily leverage the Zune HD's similar artist listings and extended album views to explore and download unlimited quantities of music at a flat monthly rate ($14.99 per month). Without the Zune Pass plan, the Zune HD's similar artist feature still connects you to Zune Marketplace, but previews are limited to 30 seconds and downloads are sold individually, much like the built-in iTunes store on the iPod Touch.
Another small feature that music fanatics will appreciate is the Zune HD's on-the-fly playlist creation and content management. The Quickplay menu found right off the main menu puts all your newest music right up front, along with your play history, currently playing song, and anything you've deliberately "pinned" to the menu. In other words, all the media you've recently shown an interest in is placed into a concise menu, letting you jump right into the good stuff without rooting around in menus. To pin something to the Quickplay screen, you hold your finger on the item you want pinned, and a context menu will pop up asking if you want to pin the content or add it to your Now Playing list. The latter option cues up the selection behind whatever you're currently playing, giving you a jukebox-like capability to throw playlists together on the fly. Entire albums, genres, or playlists can be thrown into the Now Playing queue, and a disk icon at the top of the Now Playing view allows you to permanently save and name your ad-hoc playlist.
A long story short is the Zune HD--more than anything--is a music fan's dream machine. However, when it comes to video, the results are more mixed. As far as the Zune's evolution goes, the Zune HD is the most video-friendly model yet, boasting a gorgeous 3.3-inch screen (480x272-pixel resolution), support for movie rentals, and an OLED display technology with color saturation and contrast advantages that leave competitors in the dust (with the exception of the equally stunning Sony X-Series Walkman). Unfortunately, no matter how pretty your screen is, when it comes to portable video players and the video junkies who seek them out, format support is crucial. Unless your video meets the MP4/H.264 video podcast standard or Microsoft's own WMV format, you'll need to jump through some video conversion hoops to load up AVI, DivX, MOV, or other files. Granted, the iPod Touch is equally restrictive when it comes to video format support, but the larger selection in the iTunes video catalog, along with its over-the-air downloads and dozens of options for streaming Internet video make it a better overall choice for video fans.
There is one more ace up Microsoft's sleeve when it comes to the Zune HD's video capabilities. If you have an extra $89 to spend on a Zune AV Dock, the Zune HD will output high-definition (720p) video to your TV via an HDMI connection (composite output is also available). Compatible HD videos can be purchased or rented from Microsoft's Zune Marketplace download store, or created manually using a DVD ripper if you know what you're doing. It's also worth mentioning that videos downloaded using the Zune Marketplace on Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console can be redownloaded to your computer's Zune software and synced with the Zune HD, although the process is far from automatic.
Radio has always helped to define the Zune HD against the iPod. And while there is some irony in the fact that Apple's latest iPod Nano is now imitating the RDS FM radio and song tagging capabilities that the Zune put on the map, Microsoft continues to innovate with the addition of an HD radio broadcast support to complement the existing FM radio tuner. HD Radio broadcasting is still in its infancy, but most major metropolitan areas offer a handful of HD Radio channels. Aside from improved sound quality, HD Radio stations often offer multiple subchannels with additional content. Another advantage offered by HD Radio signals is improved broadcast metadata, letting Zune HD users view information on the currently playing song, as well as tag the song for download. Overall, the Zune HD's combination of FM radio and HD broadcast support makes it one of the best radios we've used on a portable media player.
The Zune HD's Web browser rounds off its main feature set. The browser is a cleaner, leaner offshoot of Microsoft's mobile Internet Explorer browser, complete with a multitouch onscreen keyboard, and persistent icons for navigating backward, bookmarking, and Bing-powered Web search. Just like Apple's iPhone, the Zune's browser uses a built-in tilt sensor to orient pages in portrait or landscape views, pages can zoomed with a double-tap or pinch of the fingers, and scrolling is so smooth and responsive that it feels as if the page is floating on water. Compared with the browsers we've seen on similar products, such as the Sony X-Series Walkman or Archos 5 (Opera), the Zune HD is miles ahead of the pack. Unfortunately, the browser is still crippled by a lack of support for Flash Web content (sorry Pandora and YouTube), and an absence of many features that smartphone users have come to rely on, such as auto-fill, copy-paste, and multiwindow browsing. Sure, you can update your Facebook status, check your Gmail, or read the latest news, but pitted head-to-head with the iPhone's Safari browser, the Zune HD falls short.
Another slam-dunk Apple has over the Zune HD (or any portable media player, really) is the depth and breadth of third-party application support. At launch, the Zune HD has access to a handful of utility applications (calculator and weather) and games, with the promise of standalone apps for Twitter and Facebook on the horizon. Compared with the tens of thousands of apps available for the iPod Touch and iPhone, Microsoft has a long way to go if they plan to compete on this front. And while the majority of apps available on the iPhone and Touch have nothing to do with gaming or media playback, those that do (such as streaming Internet radio apps, streaming video apps, and literally thousands of games), lend a kind of diversity and open-ended freedom to the devices that many find irresistible.
In the end, the Zune HD's features are defined as much by what's missing, as what it includes. While the Wi-Fi equipped hardware is certainly capable of a great many things, it makes no attempt to emulate smartphone features such as e-mail, stock tickers, maps, or anything with even the faintest hint of workday productivity. The Zune HD is a portable media player, through-and-through, placing tremendous emphasis on the quality of its music and video experience.
Zune Pass
If you're considering buying the Zune HD because it's cheaper than the iPod Touch, you're not quite seeing the whole picture. Many of the Zune's most interesting and unique features, such as unlimited song downloads, over-the-air album and song streams, playlist channels, and the seamless exploration of new music through Similar Artist links, all require a Zune Pass subscription account. At $14.99 per month (about $0.50 per day or $180 per year), the Zune Pass doesn't come cheap, and not everyone will appreciate its benefits.
Compared with other on-the-go subscription music plans offered by Rhapsody and Napster, the Zune Pass offers a comparable music selection and features, as well as an allotment of 10 MP3 downloads per month that are yours to keep, even if you cancel your membership. What the Zune Pass doesn't offer, is the broad device support for products beyond the Zune, such as compatibility with other MP3 players or streaming audio products such as Squeezebox or Sonos.
Bottom line--if you're going to buy a Zune HD, expect to shell out for the Zune Pass, as well. In the final tally, it makes the Zune HD a considerably more expensive product, but it's really one of the only ways you'll be able to solicit a jealous response from your iPhone- and iPod Touch-toting peers.
Zune software
Just like an iPod needs Apple's iTunes music software to load up on music, videos, and podcasts, the Zune HD requires its own software, as well. Version 4.0 of Microsoft's Zune software client offers many of the same features and capabilities as iTunes, and presents your media collection using an interface that is arguably much prettier to look at.
Microsoft's Zune Marketplace download store has its own tab within the software, where you can browse a catalog of more than five million songs, as well as a huge library of free audio and video podcasts, and a remodeled video download section that includes TV shows, music videos, and movies that can be purchased or rented. Across all categories, we're impressed by the selection and presentation of downloadable content on Zune Marketplace; however, Microsoft still can't match iTunes' deep music and video catalog.
In spite of the improved selection and stylish interface, the odd pricing of Zune Marketplace downloads remains unchanged. For reasons we can't comprehend, Zune Marketplace downloads are all priced using a fictional currency called Microsoft Points (100 points equates to about $1.25). To Microsoft's credit, many of the songs and videos available on Zune Marketplace are priced competitively with offerings from Apple and Amazon--but you would never know it without a currency calculator on-hand. Overall, the effect of purchasing and spending "points" instead of cash feels a little childish, like cashing in tickets at a carnival.
While we're grinding old axes, it's also worth mentioning that the Zune Software is not Mac-compatible. Unless you plan to run a virtualized version of Windows, there is absolutely no way to get the Zune HD work with your Mac.
Performance
The Zune HD is a major leap forward when it comes to Zune performance benchmarks. Thanks to all the efficiencies afforded by the latest Nvidia Tegra processor and the power-thrifty OLED display, the Zune HD's battery life is rated longer than the iPod Touch battery life, boasting 33 hours of audio playback and 8.5 hours of video (both with Wi-Fi turned off). CNET Labs' test results achieved 29.5 hours of music playback with Wi-Fi switched off, and oddly enough, 30.4 hours with Wi-Fi turned on. By comparison, tests for the third-generation Apple iPod Touch scored 34.5 hours of continuous audio, which is not a significant lead, but notable nonetheless.
The Zune HD's video battery life held up well, with 8.5 hours of continuous playback with Wi-Fi off, and 8.2 hours with Wi-Fi turned on. The third-generation iPod Touch scored an average of 8.3 hours of video playback, making the difference negligible.
Battery hours are nice, but video quality is really where the Zune HD hit it out of the park. Everything from standard-definition video podcasts to HD Zune Marketplace movie rentals looks fantastic on the 16:9 wide-screen OLED display. And while the screen resolution taps out at 480x272 pixels, the Zune HD's video processor is capable of decoding videos as large as 1,280x720 pixels at 30 frames per second, provided that the video is routed to your TV using the optional Zune AV dock accessory. We still wish some of that video horsepower could be applied to a greater range of video formats, but with a screen this good, we'll take what we can get.
The OLED screen technology used in the Zune HD offers many advantages over the more common backlit LCDs found in most mobile phones and portable media players, but potential buyers should be aware that OLED performs poorly in direct sunlight. Testing the iPod Touch and Zune HD outdoors on a sunny afternoon, with both players set at full brightness, we found that the Touch offers noticeably better visibility than the Zune. Aside from the differences in screen technology, the Zune's usability in direct sunlight is also hampered by interface design choices, such as the prevalent use of white menu text set against a dark background. If we were evaluating a mobile phone or a GPS, we would consider poor performance under direct sunlight a significant flaw. Seeing as portable media player use is generally confined indoors, we expect that most people will find the screen's premium video quality a fair trade for decreased visibility under direct sunlight. That said, if you're an outdoorsy type, the Zune HD might not be the best choice.
As much as the Zune HD's handling of music playback is the star feature of the device, its audio quality hasn't budged much compared with prior generations. Microsoft was gracious enough to reintroduce the handful of EQ presets found only in the first-generation Zune, but without more advanced settings for sonic sculpting, competitors such as the Sony X-Series, Cowon S9, and Samsung P3 have more to offer those with picky ears. In side-by-side comparisons with the third-generation iPod Touch heard over a pair of Ultrasone HFI-2200 and a pair of Shure SE310 in-ear headphones, it was difficult to discern any sonic characteristics one device had over the other--except to say that the iPod's headphone amp offered a few more clicks of headroom over the maximum volume output of the Zune HD. Also, as much as we'd prefer to see a custom graphic EQ on both devices, the EQ presets on the Touch outshone the Zune HD in both quality and quantity.
If you've never seen the mobile Web browser on an iPhone or iPod Touch, the Zune HD's Web browser will knock your socks off. Its multitouch keyboard is more accurate and responsive than those on many touch-screen mobile phones we've tested. Page load speeds are relatively quick on the Zune and frequently used Wi-Fi hot spots are stored in memory (along with their associated passwords). Unfortunately, after putting the Zune HD toe-to-toe with the third-generation Touch (32GB model), there's no questioning the Safari browser's all-around supremacy. Connected to the same wireless hot spot, the iPod Touch and Zune HD each loaded The New York Times Web site in about three seconds, except the Touch was able to load the full, desktop version of the front page, while the Zune HD's browser could only load the lighter, text-only version of the page designed for mobile phones. Other little factors, such as the lack of forward navigation button, auto-fill, multiwindow browsing, image downloads, and typing suggestions, all made the Zune HD's browser a little less glamorous than the Touch. Parents should also be aware that the Zune HD offers no built-in safeguards against using the browser to view offensive content, whereas the iPod Touch offers restriction controls that can block the use of the browser, YouTube, and the downloading of inappropriate apps, songs, or videos.
Final thoughts
The Microsoft Zune HD is a beautiful device--inside and out--that presents one of the first appealing and affordable alternatives to the Apple iPod Touch. Microsoft deserves praise for taking the Zune's music and video experience beyond the standard set by Apple. What remains to be seen is whether people will value Microsoft's premium media experience enough to resist the increasingly multipurpose appeal of the iPod.
User reviews
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I hate cnet biased reviews
by terrycanfly on September 21, 2009
Pros: media playback, both audio and video.
Cons: cnet under rating superior devices and over rating ipods.
Summary: they discredit the zune for limited video formats when the ipod only supports 1 video format and doesn't even support HD yet they dont nay say apple for that? ...
Summary: they discredit the zune for limited video formats when the ipod only supports 1 video format and doesn't even support HD yet they dont nay say apple for that? the ipod is too closed and outdated. the interface is old and boring. the zune is sleek, has more support and the monthly subscription is optional. you can still pay for songs individually at comparable costs as itunes. then cnet goes on to complain that u have to use the zune marketplace which easier to use than itunes yet dont complain about ipods having to use itunes. its not microsofts fault that morons use tachnology and cant do simple math. and if not too stupid then too lazy. Its unfortunate that so many customers take the words of so called experts when the actual consumers are rating the xune higher than the ipod touch. i have lost all respect for cnet because they no longer have any credibility. and working in electronic retail you can bet i will convince some customers as well. either they review their reviews or down with cnet.
44 out of 54 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Zune HD Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger... and Smaller
by KingOfNerds on September 17, 2009
Pros: -Small sleek design
-Harder difficult to scratch all around
-Interface is fast intuitive & pleasing to look at
-Wifi features w/ zune pass you can download new songs whenever wherever
-Browser is awesome & loads everything well
-HD RadioCons: -Battery drains fast (about 5 or maybe a little more hours) when playing some games that use tilt feature
-No onboard speaker
-Makes my LG Dare look massive... If thats badSummary: The device has an awesome form factor and seems to fit perfectly in your hand. This is an awesome device for anyone that isn't already tied down to much ...
Summary: The device has an awesome form factor and seems to fit perfectly in your hand. This is an awesome device for anyone that isn't already tied down to much by apple, those people will pick at things like having no speaker, something that i have never even cared about. The metal finish on the back feels awesome in your hand and is pretty difficult to scratch.
The zune firmware on the device is blazin fast. I am still amazed by how fast everything loads with the Nvidia Tegra processor. I am still stunned by how awesome it looks, flipping through the menu's is fun for me for an unexplainable reason. I don't know if its how fast the response is or the look and feel, but i love it. The History and New features on the menu are an easy way to listen to music without searching through the menus to find what you want. You are also able to pin music to that menu so you can find what you want quickly.
Some of the new features are a lot of fun especially when integrated with zune pass. I love the new social features that let you look at the songs your friends have been listening to, and their favorites and download them if you want. Hd radio is also really enjoyable to listen to, and i hate the radio, but it sounds so amazing on this device i actually listen to it. The tagging features integrated with the radios metadata are really fun.
If you are paying for rhapsody right now, pick one of these up and switch to zune pass. If you are not sure about zune pass I can say it is 100% worth it, you get to download unlimited songs and get to keep 10 of those. With features in zune like channels the zune pass becomes even more worth it. Zune has channels which they update with new songs every week or maybe a little more, it is an awesome way to listen to new music that you wouldn't have heard otherwise.
The zune software is really nice and intuitive. It has a new smart dj feature that lets you hit that on an album or artist and it will do like a pandora sort of thing. Where it plays music that is similar sounding to what you choose, and with zune pass it will also integrate songs from zune marketplace to go along with the playlist.
Overall I am going to have to say that the Zune HD is probably the best ipod alternative on the market and definitely gives the Ipod touch a run for the money in the eyes of consumers.16 out of 17 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent Flash MP3 player w/OLED screen
by karmamule on September 15, 2009
Pros: Brilliant OLED screen; very lightweight and small, but not TOO small; versatile video capabilities including 720p out via dock; subscription music option; fun; can sync wirelessly; smart dj feature surprisingly good
Cons: Price should be lower to boost competitiveness; on-screen only volume controls; no 64gb size available (yet)
Summary: I've owned Zunes from each generation (first the 30gb, then the 80 and 120, and now the HD), and they've all been solid, capable players with a good ...
Summary: I've owned Zunes from each generation (first the 30gb, then the 80 and 120, and now the HD), and they've all been solid, capable players with a good set of features that stand up to any competitor out there. With the Zune HD a certain level of flair has been added that has been missing before, with a beautiful OLED screen, a slick and capable UI with some interesting features like the ability to 'pin' commonly used features to the front, and HD radio.
The player is on the lighter side, and may be smaller than you think if you've only seen it in photos by itself. It's very light and smaller than equivalent iPods, but the screen packs almost as much resolution as those larger players. Despite that, it doesn't feel cheap or flimsy.
The UI and player's design aesthetic is definitely different from the iPod, more angular for the player, and a much busier UI that nevertheless doesn't feel cluttered or cramped. Large bold fonts that don't always "fit" the screen feel right because the UI does a great job of having them fly in and out to be legible while given a certain level of style that past Zunes have lacked. It's the kind of thing you have to see in person to appreciate.
The expected tight integration with their 'Marketplace' software is as expected, with some nice capabilities others lack like wireless syncing with your PC, as well as the ability to stream and/or download subscription music wirelessly if within wifi range.
The subscription service, Zune Pass, is a key differentiator for me that led me to choose the Zune ecosystem instead of Apple's iTunes/iPod. iPods and iTunes are undeniably well designed, and work very well for most people.
However, as someone who likes to listen to a wide variety of music and enjoys finding new artists to listen to and appreciate, having the subscription service is a killer feature. For $15 a month you can download 10 MP3 songs to keep, and the other $5 goes towards the ability to stream and/or download from a huge selection of millions of songs. Unlike Pandora, LastFM, or other services you also have exact control over what you listen to, and when.
Many people seem to thinking buying or "renting" music is an either/or option, but if you can afford the extra $5 a month, then you can both buy your favorite songs above and beyond the 10 per month provided, AND enjoy the subscription music. It's a great combo, and is the primary feature that lead me to pick Zunes over iPods without a look back.
The Marketplace software itself is a worthy contender to iTunes, with a well-designed UI that has lots of slick features like 'mixview' to quickly see related artists and/or Zune users who are also fans of the artist, and also a surprisingly good Smart DJ feature that seems finally to actually work well and be of use, as opposed to past attempts. Inspired by Rhapsody's Channels (which came before Apple's Genius feature, and are similar in nature), the Smart DJ will instantly make a playlist from both your collection's music as well as music available via Zune Pass if you have it. This gives you a great way to mix in your favorites with new music discovery and I'm already having lots of fun with it.
Video and audio podcasts are available, as is a good selection of TV show episodes and movies available for both rental or purchase in most cases, in both standard and HD formats.
The built in web browser is surprisingly good too. This isn't too important to me, as I already have an iPhone, but it's good to have for fallback. It's not as polished as Safari on the iPod touch, but it came much closer than I thought it would.
In larger metropolitan areas like Boston the HD radio can also be an excellent feature. The sound quality isn't hugely better than regular FM in my opinion, but what is wonderful is that you have access to additional streams for each HD radio station. For example WGBH has 3 HD signals, so if you don't like what they're playing on one of them, try the other two.
The app store is the one feature that is no match for its iPod equivalent. There's a rather sad selection of a handful of apps at the moment, and is in no way currently a competitor to the vast and enjoyable Apple app store. Who knows what will come with time, but this certainly won't change anytime in the near future. If apps and/or internet browsing is a key feature for you, then an iPod Touch may still be your best choice.
But, if you are primarily concerned with using this player for music and video, then it's unique features make it something very much worth considering, with a unique and enjoyable combination of features and options that no other player has.10 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
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The best PMP on the market & best music player on PC
by GentleNation on September 18, 2009
Pros: Zune Pass changes the way you consume music
HD Radio w/tagging helps you find new music on the go
16:9 OLED screen = video w/out letterbox
Movie rentals
Compatible w/ Xbox 360 video store
3D games
Wi-fi sync
Battery life
Very light
Zune 4.0 softwareCons: HDMI out requires dock
Podcasts & Videos are not downloadable without PC sync
Web browser is very basic
Free games include ads
No speaker
No native Mac support - Boot Camp & Emulation work
Twitter app, Facebook, PGRacing, AudioSurf not until NovemSummary: Remember back when your 56K dial-up ISP went from a very limited timed internet usage per month to unlimited all you can eat usage? Remember when your cellphone provider made ...
Summary: Remember back when your 56K dial-up ISP went from a very limited timed internet usage per month to unlimited all you can eat usage? Remember when your cellphone provider made your text messaging plan and voice calls to other people on the network unlimited for a flat rate? Unlimited access fundamentally changes the way you use devices and the amount of time and enjoyment you get out of them. Zune Pass does this for MP3 players allowing you to take any song you like. Hear a brand new song or a classic favorite on the Zune's FM radio that you really like? No reason to hesitate. Click the purchase button on the radio screen and next time you connect to the internet it will download the song to your Zune. Heck take the whole album while you're at it, Zune Pass is all you can eat. By the end of the month you can choose 10 songs to keep forever so you'll automatically own 120 songs by the end of the year. That is Zune Pass and it's wonderful as I've just described it but it gets even better...
The Zune 4.0 software, which is the best, fastest, and most eye-pleasing music/marketplace I've ever used now has a feature called "Smart DJ." This feature doesn't just create playlists for you out of your own collection of MP3's, if you choose it can pull songs off of the Zune marketplace that you don't own and suggests them to you based upon your song preferences. Now once you combine Zune Pass with this new feature you have something really special. Like an iTunes Genius on steroids you can start grabbing music you like off of Zune marketplace by the handfuls as you discover new artists and albums. And then there are the hundreds of premade "playlists" you can download from the Zune marketplace conveniently ranked in order of popularity. These playlists include things like the 100 most popular songs from any year in the last 30 years. Want the best songs from 1985? A couple of clicks and they're all on your Zune in a playlist. How about all the songs that won a Grammy this year or all the songs that were nominated for a VMA? They're all yours with Zune Pass. You can also subscribe to channels like the Billboard top 40 and have the top music in the country automatically synced to your Zune every week. You see people write off Zune Pass as little more than "renting music" when it's so much more than that. It's more like having a personal chef live in your home with a menu of hundreds of dishes he can instantly prepare for you. Having an MP3 player without a Zune Pass is like having an Xbox without Xbox Live. Zune Pass opens up a whole new experience with music like you've never had on an iPod or in iTunes.
And lets talk about the experience of using the new Zune 4.0 software for the PC. It's phenomenal. Whether you get a Zune HD or not, you must go to the Zune website right now and download this software. I guarantee you will fall in love with Zune 4.0 the instant you discover the artist view visualizer in the Now Playing section. When the Zune software starts pulling down the images of your favorite artists from the songs you are playing and displaying their bio info and data on how many people have played their songs on the Zune network you will start to fall in love. This is the future of album art and liner notes. The people who made this software truly love music as much as you do and they treat the experience of playing and discovering new music with reverence. The Zune software is super speedy, visually pleasing, and well integrated into Windows 7 with jump lists to your favorite artists, and a mini taskbar player that is perfect. Give the Zune software a try and you will probably never want to play your music in iTunes ever again. Even if you don't spring for the Zune Pass the ability to have the software dynamically create playlists out of the standard 30 second previews is nice. Hey maybe you just want to listen to a 30 second per song rundown of all the top songs on the billboard charts or play a playlist of the top 100 songs from 1991 without having to listen to each song in it's entirety; in that case Zune Pass not needed.
There are also a ton of community features built into Zune as well. If you have Xbox Live you will immediately be familiar with the Zune cards which show your friends and what songs and albums they've been listening to. You can send these people songs, check out what they listen to and download anything they've listened to if you have a Zune Pass. The Zune software automatically shows you all the people on your Xbox Live friends list and what they've been listening to on Zune.
There's so much more to say, I haven't even talked about video. The Marketplace lets you rent and purchase standard definition and high definition movies and TV shows. The Zune HD w/ it's proper 16:9 OLED display will display videos w/out letterboxing. In November Xbox 360 will connect to the Zune video store and anything you purchase on PC/Zune/360 will be free to download on all devices linked to your account.8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Zune HD is sleek and sturdy. Audit and video - great.
by iuherd on September 16, 2009
Pros: Video is really something. I purchased a history channel program that had cartoon graphics, old video and interviews and was really pleased with the quality of the video. Organization of music songs is nice. Audio is crisp.
Cons: If this were a phone, I'd throw my Pre in the trash.
Summary: I've been waiting for the Zune for two months and could not be more pleased now that I have the device. It's a cool, sleek device that's ...
Summary: I've been waiting for the Zune for two months and could not be more pleased now that I have the device. It's a cool, sleek device that's come a long way. The music and audio are very, very good. It's quite a concession to the quality of the Zune if a main remaining difference with the IPod is the Apps - as I had an Apple rep in a Best Buy tell me yesterday. He said he had only "five or six" apps on his IPod - hardly a key differentiator to me.
A few more apps, a few more games, larger music selection .... come on Microsoft, I have bigger plans for my Zune HD, make it happen.7 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Best mp3 Player= Zune HD
by frozenseawolf on November 2, 2009
Pros: - Ridiculous Battery Life
- Appealing Form Factor
- Vivid OLED Screen
- Fluid User Interface
- Rich Audio Quality
- Underrated Internet Browsing Wi-FiCons: Nothing, except for the app store in its infancy
Summary: Microsoft's reboot of the Zune franchise was a risk that will pay off finally. As a long-time iPod/iPhone user, the Zune HD brings the portable audio/video experience ...
Summary: Microsoft's reboot of the Zune franchise was a risk that will pay off finally. As a long-time iPod/iPhone user, the Zune HD brings the portable audio/video experience to a whole new level that should rank it as the ultimate best-of-breed media player device.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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zune: not aimed at ipod touch
by thompsonator on October 14, 2009
Pros: excellent oled screen
beautiful slick interface
nvidia tegra chip
long battery life
hdmi out capable with $90 av dock
good sound quality
good format supportCons: app store severely lacking even for a newly released one
Summary: the zune hd is not a full on competitor to the ipod touch it does what the touch does and in certain cases does it better
the oled screen is ...Summary: the zune hd is not a full on competitor to the ipod touch it does what the touch does and in certain cases does it better
the oled screen is not good in daylight but the ipod is not good either most screens are not good in daylight
the tegra chip in the zune is worlds better than what is in the ipod it has multiple cores which can shut off certain functions of the zune when they are not in use nothing in the ipod does that
the app store is still in development and therefore cannot be compared to the apple app store even at its release because apple had an sdk released with its app store which is not available for the zune... yet
other than these things mentioned the zune does what the ipod does it plays video on a nicer screen but its smaller and it plays songs with sound quality just as good if not better than the ipod when it comes to interface thats subjective the zune is "louder" than apple's minimalist interface and that is strictly a prefernce.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Needs Flash to push it over the ipod
by mnkyhead on July 21, 2009
Pros: radio is cool
Cons: still not sure about the subscription based music service
Summary: MS needs to add Flash support to give Zune HD true web browsing experience. I think this would be a huge slap to mapple if they did, but I really ...
Summary: MS needs to add Flash support to give Zune HD true web browsing experience. I think this would be a huge slap to mapple if they did, but I really don't see it happening. MS is a partner with Adobe on the openscreen project, so you never know. I bet there will be some version of Silverlight on there though.
3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Best portable media player on the planet!!!
by modestmouserules on December 7, 2009
Pros: It does everything the itouch does, but better. Better battery life, faster, better graphics card, HD FM radio with a bunch of extra crystal-clear channels and more. It does a lot and you will be surprised.The web browser is much better on the Zune.
Cons: Not as many apps as the Itouch.
Summary: To get an i-touch or a Zune HD really depends on what you are setting out to do. If you are looking to play some fun little games or have ...
Summary: To get an i-touch or a Zune HD really depends on what you are setting out to do. If you are looking to play some fun little games or have some cool apps that can calculate your dinner bill, then get the itouch. But if you are looking for a PREMIUM MEDIA EXPERIENCE, then get a Zune HD. Zune HD Music quality is better, you can wireless sinc the Zune HD to your PC, which is awesome. So i can be sitting at work or at school and be like, oh, i want that new podcast that came out today or something. And as long as there's wi-fi wherever you are, you just click the button on the Zune HD and it updates all of your media in less than 5 minutes. You can also wirelessly purchase songs on your zune HD. Also, there is the Zune pass, where you pay $15 per month and recieve unlimited access to more than 4 million songs on the Zune software, which is awesome. And as long as you have a decent PC, the Zune software is superior to itunes. More visual fun to use with better music and it can choose music that you should like based on what you listen to most from your collection, like genius on itunes, but it actually does a good job :)
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Are you kidding CNET
by simmer006 on October 19, 2009
Pros: Screen, Survivability, Sound Quality, Size, Speed
Cons: Still growing community of programmers. Then again ITS A MP3!
Summary: So let me get this straight my Zune Pass makes my Zune more expensive then my iPod which i buy I buy songs for at $.99 a pop. Try again ...
Summary: So let me get this straight my Zune Pass makes my Zune more expensive then my iPod which i buy I buy songs for at $.99 a pop. Try again Mr. Bell. I have both a Zune HD and an iPod Touch. Let me tell you the sound is better then my iPod at all settings. And it is far cheaper then buying songs from iTunes. The iPod user interface also sucks, people only think it's good because that's what they are told to believe. Lets look at it I can play a song in two click on my Zune, I had a Sony MP3 player that was a twist of my thumb to do just about every thing. My iPod takes half a dozen movements to play any thing. How is that easier?
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
- Part number: END-00002
- Description: The Zune HD wireless media player connects you to a world of entertainment. With built-in HD Radio receiver, HD-compatible video, multi-touch navigation, OLED screen, and games, Zune HD delivers the next level in music and video experiences.
General
- Product type Digital player / radio
- PC interface(s) supported Wi-Fi, Hi-Speed USB
- Flash memory installed 32 GB Integrated
- Digital storage None
- Weight 2.6 oz
- Dimensions (W x D x H) 2.1 in x 0.4 in x 4 in
- Color Platinum silver
- Available body colors Black, Platinum silver
- Included accessories 3 pairs of ear tips
- Software type Drivers & Utilities
Digital Player / Recorder
- Supported digital audio standards AAC, MP3, WMA, WMAPro
- Playback modes Random play / shuffle
- ID3 tags support Yes
- Additional features MPEG-4 playback, JPEG photo playback, Variable bit-rate compatible
Built-in Display
- Audio system built-in display OLED
- Diagonal size 3.3 in
- Resolution 480 x 272
- Display menu language French, English, Spanish
- Features Touch screen
Audio Features
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Additional features WMV playback, Web browsing, Built-in games, H.264 playback, MPEG-4 playback, Built-in FM radio, Wireless music download
Video Playback Features
- Video playback support WMV, MPEG-4
- Still image format JPEG
CD System
- CD system type None
- Digital audio standards supported MP3, WMA, CBR, VBR, AAC
Radio
- Tuner type Digital Radio tuner
- Tuner bands FM
- Station memo display Yes
Remote Control
- Remote control None
Headphones
- Headphones type Binaural Ear-bud
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
- Cable(s) included 1 x Data cable - External
- Connector type 1 x Headphones / composite video, 1 x Docking station
Battery / Power
- Battery Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
- Mfr estimated battery life 33 hour(s)
- Recharge time 2 hour(s)
Product series
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Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 32 GB, AAC, MP3, WMA, WMAPro, Player battery - Rechargeable - Lithium ion
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Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 16 GB, AAC, MP3, WMA, WMAPro, Player battery - Rechargeable - Lithium ion
Manufacturer info
- Microsoft Corp.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Microsoft Corp. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.microsoft.com/
- Address:
One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052 - Phone: 1-425-882-8080
- Fax: 1-425-706-7329
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