11 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
Quite pleased with the Zune
Date of Review: Jun 26, 2009
The Bottom Line: This is definitely one of the best portable players out there.
For years I have done everything in my power to not buy a portable MP3 player (especially an Ipod, too expensive). It isn't because I don't have alot of music, I have a ton of music. It isn't because I love pulling cd after cd out of their cases and putting them in the car player, I get tired of searching for a disk. I just never saw a player I thought was truly worth the money. I bought my son and wife (awhile back) a 512mb sandisk sansa and they were ok but the capacity was not near enough for me so I shied away for 2 more years until now.
I had heard many good things about the Microsoft Zune and after some debate I decided I would go with the 8GB version. Now I am not one to spend alot of money on something like this so I did some research and found a nice red Zune on ebay for $70.
Ok so now I have this unit in my hands and I am amazed at how small this unit is. I really like the size of this unit because let's face it there is never enough room in your car to set one of these players.
The unit is sleek looking and the screen (which is 1.8 inches) is very bright and colorful. Very crisp looking and clear. It has a 320x240 resolution. I really like that when a song is playing the album artwork appears on the screen exactly as if you were looking at the disk only a bit smaller.
The controls of this unit are very easy to use. There is one larger control button to navigate and it can be clicked right/left and up/down or it is also a touch pad where you can lightly move your finger across it to navigate. There are 2 smaller buttons. the left button is basically just a back button to navigate out of the current screen and the right button is a play/pause button that also acts as the power on button. Now turning the Zune off is a bit tricky. I had to look it up online since the manual for the Zune does not tell all of it's features. To power off the unit you have to hold down the back button and hold the main larger button in the down position, this will shut the unit down. Easy once you know about it but the manual doesn't tell you.
The 8gb version will hold up to 2000 songs or 25,000 pictures or even up to 25 hours of video. It also has a place for games. I have a few games on mine and the checkers and sudoku are alot of fun if you are into that.
Another nice feature to this Zune is the wireless sync. Once you download and install the Zune software you can transfer songs from your computer wirelessly but I must say using the sync cable that comes with the Zune is faster. With the wireless you can also share songs with other Zune users which is a cool feature.
another feature of the Zune is a thing called the social. Now I am not sure exactly what is involved with this but it seems to be a Zune community to add friends and share with others on what you are listening to.
The Zune will recharge through the sync cable connected to your computer or you can buy 3rd party chargers for home and car.
There is also a standard 3.5mm connection on the bottom of the Zune which is used to either plug in headphones or connect to your car stereo through the aux port.
The Zune is very light weight and also comes with a set of headphones and 3 different colored ear sleeves to cover the ear piece. They are of good quality but I had alittle discomfort after prolonged use. My ears got alittle sore from these ear buds being in for an extended time.
Overall this unit for the price and what it does is a very nice unit that I would recommend to anyone. even the Zune software for transferring music and files is really easy to use. I am quite pleased with this purchase.
Also the Zune software will also link up to an Xbox 360 (amazing how Microsoft tries to get all their products working together).
a few other other things I want to mention is the Zune marketplace for one that for around $15 a month you get unlimited downloads compared to $.99 a song from other places. In marketplace you can also get TV shows and videos and games. Also this unit has a built in FM Radio function which is very nice and there are many accessories for the zune, you can get chargers and covers and docks. You name it some 3rd party has it.
